Just Finished:
Synopsis: Can love be a lifetime away?

Waking up after an accident, the last thing Susan Butler remembered was living in the 1990s, happily married and joyously especting her first child. Now, suddenly, inexplicably, she is Margaret Johnsbury, the year is 1888, and she is about to find out she is detested not only by her handsome husband, Carter, but by the entire town of Newport.

Learning to live in 19th century Newport's rigid Victorian society is only the first of "Maggie's" challenges. Far more difficult is winning the trust of Carter, the sexy, volatile stranger who so grudgingly shares her home. But just when it seems Maggie will regain all the joy she possessed in her old life, a devastating secret surfaces to shatter her world to pieces. Now she must fight, not only for the heart of the man she has fallen desperately in love with, but for her very life.

What I Liked: I absolutely loved the story. I loved the fact Susan/Maggie went from being Susan, a well-liked, warm, kind-hearted woman to that of Margaret, who prior to Susan’s soul taking over her body had been a cold-hearted, manipulative………well, for lack of a better word, bitch.

I enjoyed the relationship between Carter and Maggie. His hesitant; hers accepting. They had to start from scratch and build a friendship before they could build a relationship. This was fun for me as a reader to experience and Jane Goodger did a phenomenal job in telling this story.

I also really enjoyed watching Maggie befriend all the people in her life whom Margaret had previously offended or taken for granted. It was great fun watching this people grow from being suspicious and almost hateful to actually admiring and trusting the new woman Maggie had become.

What I Didn’t Like: I didn’t like how quickly Susan seemed to get over the fact that she wasn’t Susan anymore. She started referring to herself as Maggie right away, with almost no thought at all to her previous life. In the book, this was explained away as Susan’s (Maggie’s) eternal optimism, but this was a woman who was happily married and who was expecting her first child. How does someone just dust themselves off and get over it, just like that?

Along with that, I also didn’t like the fact that it seemed like Susan/Maggie seemed to get over her former husband, Steve, all too quickly and then fell head over heels in love with her current husband, Carter, all within a short amount of time. I just didn’t understand how that could happen so quickly; but in the interest of a good story I suppose I can understand it. I mean if the story had been written any other way, it probably would have had to have been at least 1,000 pages in order for Susan to grieve her previous life the way I think she should have.

Verdict: This was Very Good. Jane Goodger is an excellent storyteller and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Labels: Jane Goodger, Time Travel, Very Good