On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - Thunder on the Moor by Andrea Matthews #BookReview #historicalromance #timetravelromance #borderreivers @AMatthewsAuthor @maryanneyarde

 

Maggie Armstrong grew up with tales of blood feuds and border raids, so when her father takes her back four hundred and fifty years to his Scottish home, she is enchanted. Enchanted, that is, until her uncle announces his intentions to betroth her to Ian Rutherford, the son of a neighboring laird. Maggie’s twentieth century sensibilities are outraged, but refusal to agree could ignite a blood feud. Maggie’s worlds are colliding. Betrayal, treachery, and a tragic murder have her questioning whether she should remain or try to make her way back to her own time. To make matters worse, tensions escalate when she stumbles across handsome Englishman, Will Foster. But could he be the hero she’s always dreaded of or will his need for revenge against Ian shatter more than her heart?

My Review

The purpose of a historical fiction novel is to transport the reader through time, and this book not only achieves that, it also transports the characters through time and places them where the reader can only imagine. The stark contrast between the grounds of a university and the Scottish border is written with such excellence that I fancied I could smell the heather and see the purples of the fells. The rugged beauty of Scotland is told, not sparing any detail and, like Robert’s desire to return to his homeland, I felt the deep desire to visit the country that has been captured in word more poetically than a picture could ever achieve.

What more can you ask for in a book, but blood feuds, opposing clans and an extended family that was previously unknown to the main character? Having grown up with no family or relations other than her father and her uncle Edward, although he is not technically her uncle, finding such an intricate network of family is bound to be shocking and slightly overwhelming Finding them four hundred and fifty years in the past adds just a little bit more shock to the discovery for Maggie. With such a large family, there is an extensive list of characters and at times I found myself a little lost, especially just after a scene change. That being said, it was only ever a brief moment of confusion as I placed the names and settled into the correct group of people in the right setting.

A tale wherein people are whisked back in time and the reader can do nothing but sit along for the ride is difficult to do right, but this book has succeeded in not only creating a novel that deals with time travel but also that makes it believable in the telling and is next to impossible to put down.

Buy this Book

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Barnes & Noble (paperback edition)

Andrea Matthews

Andrea Matthews is the pseudonym for Inez Foster, a historian and librarian who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogical speaking. In fact, it was while doing some genealogical research that she stumbled across the history of the Border reivers. The idea for her first novel came to mind almost at once, gradually growing into the Thunder on the Moor series. And the rest, as they say, is history…

Social Media Links:

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • BookBub • Amazon Author Page • Goodreads