Customer Reviews

Daring Time

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ryan Daire, a vice cop working for the Chicago Police department is given a mansion on "Prairie Avenue", by his old college professor, family friend and mentor Alistair. The Prairie Avenue District in Chicago was the millionaire's row in late 19th and early 20th century. The mansion is therefore steeped in history and as Ryan and his partner Ramiro Menendez walk into the grand ballroom with it's glittering chandelier he feels an instant appreciation for its majesty. Ryan can even visualize the elegant décor and a flawlessly beautiful woman with long dark hair, dressed in a ball gown looking over her shoulder at him. He thinks she is a mirage.

During their exploration of the house, they find a woman's bedroom that hosts a large brass bed with two mahogany tables. Ramiro discovers an old leather bound book in one of the drawers which proves to be a book of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Ryan Vincent Daire isn't your average vice cop; he has a degree in history and was raised by a father who taught him a love of Shakespeare, which Alistair nurtured. As he cradles the book in his hands it falls open to a well-worn page which he immediately recognizes as the 116th Sonnet. A massive mahogany wardrobe is also housed within the room and Ryan finds a full-length mirror attached to the door. As he looks into the mirror, which appears somewhat cloudy with age he sees not his own reflection but the same stunning beauty he envisioned in the ballroom of the mansion. He is, needless to say, shocked and mystified; more than that he cannot believe she is an apparition of his imagination. From here things really get interesting.

In the year 1906, Hope Stillwater, an upper class virginal "gentlewoman", is in her bedroom in the Prairie Avenue mansion, she has locked the door and pulled out a provocative negligee she has secreted away in the back of the wardrobe. Hope was given the sheer black lacy garment by her unlikely acquaintance and friend Addie Sampson, the madam of one of the only "respectable" brothels in the city. She and Hope share a common goal of abolishing the practice of white slavery. While Hope feels scandalized wearing the garment, she carefully puts it on and stares at her reflection in the full length wardrobe mirror. Instead of seeing herself, a very tall handsome "exotic" man is staring back at her; Hope of course is startled and frightened, and leaps away from the mirror.

In a strange turn of events, she finds an inscription Ryan has left in her book of Shakespearean Sonnets. His name, the address of her house and the year 2008 is written in the margin on the page of her favorite sonnet. Ryan finds a dedication to Hope inscribed in the same book found in the bedroom.

After Ryan moves into the old house he has further magical, ghostly, erotic encounters with Hope. He manages to glean information from the police archives that Hope Stillwater was murdered at the young age of 25 in the year 1906 and he sets out to try and reach and save the woman who has become his erotic obsession. Through careful analysis and luck, he ascertains what the catalyst is to propel him 100 years into the past to find and hopefully rescue her.

Raised by a father who encouraged her independent spirit and nurtured her intelligence and love of literature and art, Hope is a crusader for poor woman who are taken advantage of by the low life misogynistic white slaver "Diamond Jack Fletcher". She and her father have proved to be a major thorn in Jack's side, which results in Hope being put in a gravely dangerous situation.

The dynamic between these two lovers is sensual and powerful, the erotic tension sizzles between them initially across the mirror, time's barrier. They can see each other but despite intense longing cannot actually touch; I felt goose bumps running up my arms as they attempted to reach and touch one another.

I really wasn't sure how their erotic encounters would evolve because of this being an early 20th century female heroine raised with all the social mores and restrictions of that time, and a 21st century sexually dominant male hero. However, Ms. Kery penned the love scenes beautifully. Ryan sexually initiates Hope in a highly unusual manner, given their situation, but he also nurtures her trust and passion.

Despite ingrained perceptions with respect to a woman's "station" in her time, Hope isn't a pushover; she is an intellectual and extremely well spoken. She challenges Ryan and her independent nature does put her in danger. As a reader, I loved this heroine because she is a woman with ideals, strength and beliefs well beyond her time. Ryan is forced to make some difficult decisions in order to save her life more than once. Further, he questions his own actions for fear of being the source of Hope's demise in her time.

There is a parallel fast moving suspense sub-plot in the two time periods involving female white slavery. Hope and her father are involved in thwarting Diamond Jack Fletcher in 1906. In 2008 Ryan and Ramiro have been working for a year to bring "Jim Donahue", to justice for similar crimes in present day. The plot twists and turns are thrilling and the parallels are surprising.

"Love's not Time's fool", and this exquisite story, while a fantasy, proves that short beautiful line of poetry true.

By the way the picture of Ryan on the book's front cover? Perfect.....

This is the first book I have read from Ms. Kery and it was amazing. It was fast paced, easy read. The story line flows from current to past seamlessly and the characters are loveable. One of my favorite passages involves a mirror and the main characters on different sides as well a different time periods. I can't wait to read more by this author.

STORY BRIEF:
Ryan is a Chicago cop in 2008. He inherits a mansion from his former college professor. Through a mirror he sees Hope who is 25 years old in 1906. They are able to communicate and touch each other through the mirror. He searches historical records and learns that Hope was murdered in 1906. He tries to warn her but it doesn't work, and she is kidnapped. Ryan finds a way to time travel to try and save her. The bad guys in both 1906 and 2008 kidnap women and force them into prostitution slavery. Hope is a social activist trying to help women.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
There is a lot of erotic, graphic, explicit sex including bondage, pain, whipping and rear door activity. The story is well done. I like this author. She thinks differently from the pack of romance writers. I hadn't read time travel done this way before. She has an interesting group of characters with interesting links among them. Some of the sex scenes almost felt a little too long but still good. I recommend this for readers looking for a lot of erotic sex set within a good story.

DATA:
Story length: 341 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: 15. Total number of sex scene pages: 94. Setting: 1906 and 2008 Chicago, Illinois. Copyright: 2009. Genre: time travel romantic suspense.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Beth Kery books, see my 4 ½ star review of Release posted 2-7-10.

Writing science fiction type novels requires special writing skills otherwise the story falls flat in its failure to convince the reader. This is what I experienced while reading this book, probably because having read 'Wicked Burn' I had high expectations of this one hoping it would be equal to or surpass its predecessor.

Ryan Daire has inherited an imposing old mansion in the wealthiest part of Chicago, inhabited mostly by millionaires. An old professor of his bequethed it to him, but Ryan realizes that he does not posses the financial means to mantain this elegant house and will soon have to sell it. As he is showing a friend and work partner the ballroom, he thinks he is hallucinating when he sees an exquisitely beautiful young woman in a blue ball gown, walk past. He asks his friend if he saw her as well, but the friend believes that Ryan either saw an apparition or he is getting delusional from excessive work. The two men are FBI agents and are about to catch a notorious criminal involved in trafficking. They have been working hard on the case so Ryan may be 'seeing' thing due to stress. In one of the bedrooms, Ryan looks in the mirror of an old mahogany wardrobe and stares into the image of the same woman who stares back at him with an equal amount of shock. He realizes that he is not hallucinating and decides to further investigate, by moving into the house and taking time off work.

Ryan senses that the mirror is a kind of 'gate' which opens and allows him to see the past as if it were unfolding concurrently with our own time. The woman who has enticed him cannot be one who died a hundred years ago. She is vibrantly alive and so beautiful he is determined that no barriers, even that of time, will deter him from having her. Besides, in a secret drawer, he has found black and white photos of this pristine virginal beauty indulging in such extreme erotic acts with a mysterious stranger that have aroused not only his curiosity but also his ardour.

He does some research on her and finds out that she was actually murderd a hundred years earlier. In a few days it will be the 'anniversary' of her murder so Ryan senses the urgency to race against time, only in this case he has to race backwards, as if rewinding history.

The idea is riveting,yet I found the way that the heroes traveled backward and forward in time rather lame and could not be swept away by the story. There are also so many coincidences that made the story even more bizarre. After a while I felt that I was reading a children's fairy tale with adult content, but with dissipated enthusiasm as it all seemed way over the top.

Daring Time by Beth Kery
Contemporary Paranormal- May 5th 2009
4 ½ stars

Beth Kery has written a superb novel that seamlessly mixes: paranormal, super sexy characters and high suspense. Her book was a wonderful surprise from beginning to end. At first I was astonished to discover it was a paranormal, time travel romance. For those who do not enjoy paranormal romances, please do not let this stop you from grabbing this book! It in no way detracts from the story but only adds to it's vibrancy and originality.

Chicago 2008
Detective Ryan Daire is shocked to discover he has inherited an opulent mansion from his old professor. He is more stunned when he immediately starts to have haunting visions of a beautiful woman when he arrives. When he begins to have strangely erotic dreams and finds a book of poetry belonging to a woman named Hope Stillwater he feels compelled to write his name in the book and questions his sanity. But his longing for this unknown woman will not go away. Ryan becomes determined to find the woman of his dreams. When he discovers Hope was murdered, Ryan is shaken. He must prevent her death, but is she really from the past? And if so, how can he possibly save her?

Chicago 1906
Hope is Victorian woman with a purpose. She is determined to save woman form being victimized into prostitution. However, her meddling has brought her enemies. When she tries on a scandalous dress she is startled to see a gorgeous stranger in strange clothing watching her in her mirror. Hope knows she should be worried but she can't help but be fascinated by the large stranger. She is even more confused to find someone has written Ryan Vincent Daire, 2008 in her book of sonnets. Could this be the name of the stranger? Heated encounters with the mysterious man make Hope long for something elusive. Unfortunately, Hope doesn't have the time to explore his origins or their encounters because she is suddenly abducted. When Hope wakes, she finds herself at one of the brothels she has tried to save other women from. Hope has interfered one too many times and it is about to pay the price.

Beth Kery's writing is strong and sure. I love time travel romances but admit to sometimes having trouble believing the time travel aspect. This not the case in this engrossing novel. The characters and their motivations make sense and the time travel aspect was convincing and realistic. What I enjoyed most was the hero's single minded determination to find and save Hope even if he had to cross time itself to do it. There is something about a man who is that macho and focused on his woman that makes my heart flutter! Plus, Ryan has a naughty dominant streak that heats up the pages and made me hot under the collar! Hope is no wallflower and it is enjoyable to read her resolve and strength of character especially as she is tested throughout the book. This story will also thrill readers who love danger and suspense. It was a joy to read. And a delicious treat that you will not want to miss! My only regret is that I read it too fast.

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

Other reviewers have provided such on point synopsis; I will not be reinventing the wheel. This book was SIZZLING HOT. There's romantic dreamy love story with hard core erotica (BDSM) so buyer beware if that's not your thing. Dominate male deflowers a strong female from 1906 in the most intoxicating scenes. I wanted to regain my virginity and go back to 2008. I loved the twist of the time traveling which I thought was going to be another ghost story. The fast pace kept me turning the pages eager to see what would happen next. I enjoyed seeing Hope see the modern world from the perspective of her time....the reference to toilet paper was eye-opening. I definitely have a renewed appreciation for the advances of man and I'm taking less for granted. The one thing that made me do a double take was who attacked the boxer that Ryan replaced; but, its fantasy so who really cares. This was another successful offering by Kery Beth. I was motivated to seek out all of her novels for my next read. I recommend this book with no hesitation; it's a uniquely weaved adventure.

This was my first book by this author and I found it intriguing. It read sort of like an erotic "Time and Again" if Jack Finney had been into BDSM fiction.

Plot Summary:
Vice cop Ryan inherits a turn-of-the-century mansion. He sees a woman in the mirror he thinks is a ghost at first. He finds hidden erotic photos of her that intrigue him. He communicates with her through a wardrobe mirror. Hope is a virginal feminist living in the mansion in 1906. She falls for the naked guy in the mirror and is seduced by him. Meanwhile, villainous pimp Jack Diamond kidnaps Hope to blackmail her powerful father. Ryan must go back in time to save her.

Pros:
This has a very interesting premise and a good plot that draws parallels between 1906 and 2008 Chicago situations and characters. I really enjoyed the story and felt I got more bang for my buck than I do with a lot of erotic romance. I liked the second half of the book's developing romance and was very satisfied that it didn't have a formulaic ending.

Cons:
I can happily suspend my disbelief about time travel, but not so much with things that seem out of character for the time, person, or situation. I had a hard time buying that an Edwardian virgin, even if she was a feminist 25-year-old, would be on board with banging a stranger through a mirror. It would have helped me if there was a little more romance between them before this scene, maybe in notes written in the book or something. I also didn't believe any woman, no matter how submissive, could get turned on in a kidnap situation knowing her life was in danger. Though the sex was well written, it was a little too hard-core too quickly in the evolution of a sexual relationship for me. Maybe it's just me, but I wanted more development.

Nit-picky cons:
There were three POVs: Ryan, Hope and Jack Diamond. However I think Jack needed to be used a little more and I wanted his current time parallel character Jim Donahue to have a POV in 2008. Some turns-of-phrase were repetitious. Some words were not consistent with 1906 (e.g. "male" and "female" used as nouns is modern and would have been "man" and "woman" until fairly recently.) There were a few annoying grammatical errors missed in copy editing.

Overall I liked this book because it was unique and the plot was well-handled. There's lots of good erotic fiction out there and this holds its own among them. This is pretty good time travel, however, for exceptional time travel romance (sorry, no sex) I highly recommend Jack Finney's "Time and Again".

I like love stories with a supernatural twist, but this one didn't do a lot for me.
After I sampled this story on my kindle, I wanted to read it right away. I was very intrigued by Ryan, a tough, kind of dominant vice cop, who is given this mansion by an elderly family friend. Once Ryan moves in, he begins seeing images of Hope.

Hope is not really a ghost. From what I got from the story, Hope is in 1906 and Ryan is in 2008, yet they seemed to be co-existing in this same house, just in different time periods. So instead of a love/ghost romance, it is more a time travel romance. Ryan and Hope seem to have this connection between them, as if the house is a string tying them to each other, a string pulled by Destiny.

As Ryan and Hope travel from 1906 to 2008 and back, various mysteries of how they met, the deja vu, the erotic photos, the sense of familiarity and the closeness they feel are explained, as is the idea of how a soul can transcend one place and time and, in essence, be eternal.

Although, I liked Ryan and Hope well enough, I didn't feel a strong connection to them. There is just something missing for me. Maybe it's Ryan's relunctance to take the leap, as he called it, and ask Hope to stay. For a dominant man, he was almost faint-hearted in this instance, at least in my opinion. He can believe that he time-travelled, but then he finds it hard to believe that Hope can cope with 2008 and make a life with him? I know he goes back to 1906 to bring her back, but he seemed a little weak to me there, in that scene.

And, at the ending, I know it is implied, but I still would have liked to have had some I love you's exchanged, considering all they had been through, the time-travel, the abductions, being held at gun point, etc.

I enjoyed the first third of the book but have to say I was let down by the rest of it. It just doesn't have the depth of strong emotion (love, sadness, anger, sympathy) that Wicked Burn made me feel. And while I liked the premise of the story, I'm just a little disappointed overall. I guess I was expecting more.

A new twist on time travel with lots of hot sex scenes. I thought the story was very good, but it was more about the time travel and mystery than developing the romance between the characters. And... I am all about the romance.

Chicago detective Ryan Daire can't believe his favorite college professor has gifted him with a sprawling mansion. Puzzled by his generosity, Ryan decides to live in the mansion but realizes on his cop's salary, at some point he'll have to sell it. Taking his partner to view it for the first time, Ryan spies a lady in period costume. Knowing his partner thinks he's crazy because only Ryan saw her; he can't help but be drawn by this luscious beauty. While continuing to live there, Ryan quickly figures out the mysterious woman in none other than Hope Stillwell, a lady who lived in the mansion over 100 years ago. Why does Ryan only see this woman who haunts his everyday life?

While you don't have to be a native Chicagoan to enjoy Beth Kery's Daring Time, it sure will make the places Ms. Kery describes come `alive' for you. Weaving seamlessly back and forth from present day to a Chicago one hundred years ago, we are presented with two unlikely characters, so much alike, separated by the barrier of time. Ryan Daire isn't your ordinary flatfoot - he's been classically trained under the tutelage of the famous University of Chicago professors and can quote Shakespeare by heart! He's a dominant man who's into BDSM, making sure his play partners are highly satisfied. Delving into Hope's past, he finds direct correlations to his current investigation of a man who is reputed to be the organizer of a human trafficking ring.

Hope Stillwell is a legend among the women of Chicago during her time. She's made it her cause to eradicate white slavery within the streets of Chicago, tirelessly saving women from prostitution. When she sees Ryan, she's immediately attracted to him, sensing he's the man for her. It's interesting to watch as Hope puts some of her antiquated feelings aside as she acquiesces to Ryan's dominant demands. Ryan is such a tender lover with Hope, sharing some highly intimate scenes which left me breathless.

If you love paranormal stories laced with mysterious and erotic elements, pick up Daring Time today. Bravo Ms. Kery! You warmed my heart to read such a superb story now chained to my "keeper shelf" set in my beloved city.