Killing Time: August 27, 2021, 437 pages

When the Strongest Hurricane in Decades Takes Aim at Florida, Ronnie Tries to Escape its Wrath. Will she Die in the Storm or Be Lost in Time Forever?

Ronnie Andrews is lucky to be alive after a time travel glitch nearly took her life during Hurricane Frances. When Hurricane Ivan, one of the strongest storms in decades, sets its sights on Florida, Ronnie jumps at the chance to join Mike, her mysterious new boss, on a business trip to Puerto Rico.

Sparks fly, but when a newspaper article surfaces with horrific pictures of a woman who may have died at Mike’s hands, Ronnie regrets the decision. Before she can confront Mike about what she knows, Hurricane Jeanne forms off the coast, trapping them on the island. Her doctors warned that another time-travel-induced illness may kill her. Mike may be her only salvation.

The storm strikes and Ronnie time travels to Texas in 1872 where she is taken by Comanches. A rescue party saves her life led by Jesse and Frank James, hiding under assumed names.

Will Ronnie find a way to make the time-traveling episodes stop before the dangers of the past, and the damage from the journey destroy her?

With its bananas time-travel plot, whirlwind-fast pace, and considerable evidence of diligent research, Stealing Time is one heck of an entertaining read.

Switching back and forth between present-day (2004) Florida and 18th century (1752) London in this series starter, Ms. Waters tells the story of American Ronnie Andrews who was flung into the past right before the Calendar Change, and her Scottish best friend Steph who had to endure the calamitous Hurricane Charley. Both stories were action-packed and placed the major characters in life-threatening situations.

Of the two parallel plotlines, I am partial to Ronnie’s unwilling adventures in the past.  Those scenes brought to life the awful living conditions of the common people in England, the evils of the patriarchy, and the horrors of the Witch Trials. Ronnie’s plight as the hapless Regina Ingram was downright heartbreaking. Her fight to survive amidst impossible obstacles endeared her to me. Matthias’ wholehearted support of her despite physical damage to himself did as well. My interest in the succeeding books is all because of the promise of these two eventually achieving their happily-ever-after ending.

While I was impressed with the realistic description of the disasters caused by a powerful hurricane, I wasn’t too engaged with the story of Steph and her friend Nick. Their scenes only distracted from knowing about what’s happening in Ronnie’s fight for her life.

One of the things I liked about this book is that it incorporated historical facts seamlessly. Before reading this, I wasn’t aware of the details of England’s switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the missing eleven days. And, although gruesome, the vivid depiction of the hangings was incredibly fascinating.

Along with the weakness in the B plot, the inconsistencies of the accents and the punctuation errors brought my rating lower for this otherwise entertaining book.

As always, I am grateful to Lone Star Lit for including me in this blog tour and to KJ Waters for providing me a copy of the book to review.