Ride the Whirlwind: Love Across Time Book 4, Jackie North

Soft and sweet, this had so much healing, love, exploration, and tenderness that I think it's my favorite of the series.  We got a chance to check in with John and Laurie, Layton and Zach, and to watch Trent realize the balance he can find between love and duty.  And watching Maxton deal with his less-than-awesome upbringing and embrace the soft, loving version of himself he previously only felt free to be with Laurie was fantastic.  There's not much more beyond this that I could hope for these men.

Maxton's story was a long time coming.  We knew him to be the surly, sarcastic, prickly roommate to Laurie except there were so many other parts of him we hadn't known about until now.  The reasons for his attitude are heartbreaking and while I kind of feel like I wanted more explanation and detail, what we were given was enough to grasp the depth of his hurt and damage.  And in his softer moments I fell in love with him.  I don't know that I'd call him fully healed from his past trauma and reformed of his salty behavior, but he promised it best when he promised Laurie he'd try.  He made so many strides to showing his best self and believing that he would no longer be punished for it that I couldn't help but feel for him and see that he'd be just fine in the end.

For Maxton's partner we could have had someone "alpha" who could be the strong hand Maxton needed to call him out on his behavior, we could have had someone just as abused and hurt as he was so they could find comfort in and empathy for one another, or we could have had Trent.  Trent was the  strong, silent, infinitely kind man who needed the brightness Max buried deep and could give Max the patience he needed to figure himself out.  It was the perfect pairing and while both men really did need one another, they served more as a catalyst for their individual self-reflection and turnaround that was essential to them finding their future happiness.

If we had gotten a little bit of an epilogue or some closure to Trent's family situation I would have really liked that, but since this story was more focused on the relationship between Trent and Maxton, I didn't think it diminished the overall story by being omitted.  What stuck for me was all the small things that made my heart tighten and swell: the rocking chair, the little yellow house, the tender touches, the sweet confessions, the softness, the love...and really, it's always all about the love.

*$2.99 on Amazon

Soulmates across time. Two hearts, stronger together.

In present day, Maxton is good at finding trouble and bad at everything else.

In 1892, Trent Harrington, sheriff of Trinidad, Colorado, lives a respectable but lonely life, devoid of any closeness.

Trying to escape a past that keeps chasing him, Maxton drives south to avoid getting arrested. When his car spins off the road, he is swept up in a desert whirlwind and finds himself in the year 1892. Lost and alone, unused to the laws of the wild west, Maxton gets arrested anyway.

Trent is tasked with escorting Maxton to Trinidad. The request isn’t unusual, but the miscreant is. Maxton draws Trent’s heart out of its shell with his flashing green eyes and lush head of hair. It isn’t right. It isn’t natural. It’s illegal. Yet Trent cannot resist the impetuous young man.

As the two men travel through the vast, empty desert to their destination, will they find in each other the love and companionship they never thought they’d have?

A male/male time travel romance, complete with the scent of desert roses, brilliantly colored sunsets, starlit nights, bitter campfire coffee, growing honesty and trust, and true love across time.

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.