Love Across Time Books 1-3, Jackie North

  

• Heroes for Ghosts: Love Across Time Book 1
• Honey from the Lion: Love Across Time Book 2
• Wild as the West Texas Wind: Love Across Time Book 3

A message sends Stanley across a battlefield and across time to end up in the care of Devon, a master's student obsessed with the very battle that changed the course of Stanley's life.  There's an instant attraction on both their parts, but there's a lot of hesitance too.  Devon thinks the young man is off his rocker yet delicate so he'll have to tread lightly when trying to get information from him and to get him help.  Stanley is lost and the kindness of Devon has him thinking of all the ways things are different in the time period he left.  There's a lot standing between them and a possible future; not just the future Stanley was thrust into, but the one they might have together.

Their interactions are pretty much in a bubble.  Stanley's adjustment to modern times isn't exactly believable as it's so smooth.  The love between them would have been a bit more believable if there were a little more emphasis put on the transition from gratitude to love on Stanley's part, and academic interest to love on Devon's.  I'm pretty oblivious to historical facts so I was able to sink into the story without issue.  What I do love is the tenderness that abounds in this story.  I also really like Stanley's personal journey of going back and forth in time to save his men.  This was actually the most captivating part of the story with all the details, the struggles, the interactions, and the re-do's until Fate/Time was satisfied.  As I was reading I could feel the characters' struggles and am pretty sure I'm going to be a big fan of this author's work going forward.  4 stars.

 

Stepping out of your normal life and into an experience doesn't end up like Laurie plans.  There's mysticism that draws his interest and a yearning for a simpler life.  So when he finds himself lost in the snow and at the mercy of a grumpy mountain man, he's left to wonder just what he did to deserve being lost in time as well.  Their story moved along at a much slower pace than I expected, but there's so much in terms of learning about one another, adjusting to harsh living, navigating homosexuality in the time period, and the interactions of their community.  I found that I absolutely enjoyed how detailed their story was, not just the little details, but weaving their story and how they built something solid together.

I would have loved to hear John's POV.  His gruffness as well as his giant heart were so captivating and yet we don't get to hear his wonder, his discovery, his conflict with everything Laurie is.  Laurie's sacrifice and learning of how John would have ended up had he not found a way back to him was achingly beautiful.  I also really, really wanted an epilogue.  There's so much about their simple life and profoundly warm love that was given a vague happily ever after.  I wish there were more.  It's kind of not fair to make me fall in love with these men and to leave me hanging a little.  With an outstanding and richly crafted cast of characters and all the focus on the two men learning to love, I fully enjoyed reading this story.  4.5 stars.

 

Where Honey from the Lion wasn't related to Heroes for Ghosts in any way outside of time travel, Wild as the West Texas Wind is directly related to Honey from the Lion.  The time period, the characters, the circumstances they end up in, all of it takes us back to the couple I fell in love with previously.  What I truly loved about this story was the tenderness, the warmth, the tentative way Zach and Layton found their love and future.

There was quite a bit more excitement to this story as there were so many things that could and did go wrong for them.  With Tom's cruelty, the perils of the times, the hesitation on Layton's part as he tried to break free from his fear, Zach's struggles with injustice, I felt so many things so often that I couldn't do anything but enjoy the ride.  And we got to see Laurie and John again =].  This story was more tender, more timid, and more hopeful than the other stories, I feel, and it was a great change of pace to the series.  My only hope now is that Maxton gets his own time-traveling love.  4.5 stars.