nichtszusagen

This is part of the In Death series, #29 or thereabouts. A young woman is killed by exsanguination (I love that word!), and Eve Dallas is on the case. I was irritated by Roarke's credulity about vampires--I could buy him believing in witches and magic in Ceremony, but not vampires. Peabody's belief, on the other hand, seemed more on the order of someone who likes scary movies--that is, not as serious.

My other problem was that Eve "just knew" who the killer was. I realize that might be partly because it's a novella and length is a problem, but in the past, Eve has gone out of her way to confirm or disprove what her instincts tell her, so I don't buy that she'd go strictly on instinct in this case.

Regardless, though, it was a strong story, and I particularly appreciated the depiction of the bartender's character.

Amy is on vacation in England and when touring an earl's historical home, she's given a magic coin. Bartender Simon, brother of the current earl, recognizes it and demands an explanation.

Amy and Simon are whisked to the past where she's the earl's sister's companion and he's the earl, and they have to return the coin and figure out how to get back to their own time.

The premise was a little convoluted, as you can tell from my messy attempt at a synopsis, and all the activity didn't really give Amy and Simon enough time to convincingly fall in love, but I did enjoy the dual time travel, with both of them working together, and I thought their reactions to the different time period were believable. What was most fun was that Amy was better prepared for the time period because she'd read historical romances.

Laurel is touring a Scottish castle when she lifts a tapestry and finds herself in the past... and everyone believes she's the laird's wife who's been missing for some time.

This one was really hard to swallow. Laurel never comes up with an explanation for why she's dressed oddly or why she doesn't remember anyone including her own child. Worse yet, she's barely taken aback by the time travel. She never tried to convince anyone she's not the laird's wife, never tried to explain who she is. And then she spent way too much time angsting over her attraction to the laird because she's not his real wife, and it would be wrong.

Topping it off, it has my very least favorite time travel romance ending.

Bonnie's husband Joe has separated from her because she's "too distant." She's miserable, but she's waiting for him to take the first step toward reconciliation. Then her grandmother is injured and insists that Bonnie find the carpet in her attic.

It's a magic carpet, and it takes Bonnie on a voyage of what might-have-been.

I absolutely loved the magic carpet stuff. Once that showed up, the story became interesting. Too bad it took so long to show up though, because I heartily disliked the characters by the time it did.

I find it hard to believe a man asking for a separation because his wife is distant. Having an affair because of that, yes. Separating, no. It's probably sexist of me, but that seems more like a female action.

Then the ending with the grandmother contradicted what we'd been told about the magic carpet's rules. And I was not remotely happy that it turns out the whole thing came about because Joe was being paternalistic. Gah.

Read just the middle of this story--it's fabulous.