Customer Reviews

Here and Now

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

 

 

Not the most dramatic time travel ever ~ especially since the time gap was rather short and the time traveler, Charlie, had a less severe case of "fish-out-of-water" syndrome than most ~ but a great story. The whole bit about both romantic leads being able to get millions of dollars out of the villain (the lyin' cheatin' ex-husband, of course!) was a sort of a stretch, but forgiveable. We always like it when the story ends with the right people together AND rich, right?

Any-hoo, go ahead and give this one a try. It's good reading.

Here and Now begins with a promising premise. A very pregnant Suzanne McDermott, who's just tossed out her unfaithful husband, rescues a mysterious man from the river who, in turn, helps her give birth and heal her broken heart. Charles Garrity has been thrust from the Roaring Twenties seventy five years into the future and has his own broken trust and anger to deal with. Will Suzanne and Charles be able to overcome their emotional baggage to enjoy the true love they slowly find together?

The novel suffers mainly from being overwritten. I don't mind much the mundaneness or even the absolute predictability of the plot. But the bland, wordy dialogue and the endlessly repeated emotional descriptions should have been cut drastically: at least 50 of the 351 pages could have easily gone and left a better novel.

Also, the characters are largely bland and two-dimensional. If they displayed a more complete past, more complex emotions and a livelier feel, then the novel could have been interesting. For example, Suzanne and Charles both describe the other as funny, but there is no humor in the novel, just a bit of annoying sarcastic corniness.

If you're suffering from recent marital breakup, Here and Now may provide some comfort. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

The book was alright, but don't rush out to buy it. This was my first book by Constance O'Day-Flannery, and it will probably be my last. I love time-travel romances. But this just fell short of what I like. The beginning was priceless and I couldn't stop laughing as Charlie found himself in a strange place with a woman in labor. But then as the story went on and I kept waiting for the romance to grow I was disappointed. It was an OK romance, but if you want good time-travel romance..."A Knight In Shining Armor" is the best!!!

New Jersey -- 1926 and 2001

In the space of twenty-four hours, Suzanne McDermott's husband leaves her for her best friend, she fishes a drowning man out of a creek, administers CPR to him (did I mention she's eight and a half month's pregnant?), gives birth, goes home the following morning, climbs up and down stairs, starts laundry, makes lunch, etc., etc. A tad unbelievable? I thought so. Especially when the man Suzanne rescues is a time traveler from the roaring twenties, but he is capable of driving her to the hospital in her SUV, can find her house by way of the map she has drawn for him, and has barely any problem adjusting to the twenty-first century until halfway through the book.

One minute Charles Garrity is standing on a bridge facing off against his supposed best friend, who is holding a gun to him, demanding that Charles give over his deed. The next thing he knows, Charlie is being kissed by a beautiful pregnant woman while his head is on fire. Apparently the "friend" got off a lucky shot as Charlie jumped into the creek. Insulted, the woman informs Charlie that she was saving his life, NOT kissing him! Amidst all the confusion, the woman goes into labor and Charlie must carry her to her vehicle and drive her to the hospital where everyone takes it for granted that he's her husband. Charlie starts to feel a little out of place -- and for good reason. This is not the Baltimore, Maryland HE knows!

HERE AND NOW literally starts off with a bang -- to Charlie's head. The prologue looks promising, but the novel goes downhill from there. Suzanne wavers between being a self-pitying, whiny woman and Super Mom. Charlie's actions are more suited to a knight of old than a man from the 1920s. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it just didn't mesh with the character he was supposed to be. Suzanne's soon-to-be-ex-husband left much to be desired, as did her best friend. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

With the exception of the prologue, the beginning of the book is slow paced, focusing on Suzanne, her problems, and Charlie helping her out. The second half starts to pick up the pace when Charlie discovers he's been caring for and growing attached to his worst enemy's great-grandson! Now, Suzanne and Charlie need to figure out what really happened on that day so many decades ago. What happened to the guy who shot him? Who did Charlie's girlfriend, Grace, marry, if she married at all? The answers really won't surprise you.

Constance O'Day Flannery was the first time travel romance author I read, many years ago. One of my very favorite of her books is SECOND CHANCES. HERE AND NOW simply contains too many inconsistencies, and I never really connected with either Suzanne or Charlie. Of course, with a time travel romance, readers are expected to suspend their belief in certain things. I, however, found myself having to suspend my belief considerably, which pulled me out of the story several times. Near the end of the book, the bad guys get their comeuppances and the humor of the scene worked. I just wish the rest had been as good.

In 1926 at a New Jersey bridge, Mitch Davies points a gun at his partner Charles Garrity demanding he hand over the deed. Instead Charles jumps off the bridge taking his chances with the river.

In 2001 pregnant Suzanne McDermott sits near the same river pondering her future since her spouse left her to marry her best friend. Her musings end when Suzanne rescues a drowning person, but she begins bleeding as the baby is coming two weeks early. A confused Charles does not recognize a car's ignition, a clutch or her cell phone but drive her to the hospital in her vehicle. Matthew Charles is born and Charles becomes Suzanne's hero.

Charles explains to Suzanne that he leaped off a bridge in 1926. Though she doubts his story, she invites him to stay at her house, which he does. The next day he picks up Suzanne and the newborn and takes them to her home. Over the next few weeks, Charles realizes that he loves Suzanne, but will leave her because he has nothing to offer her. She pleads with him to stay because she loves him too, but his ego propels him to leave.

Award winning Constance O'Day-Flannery has written what may be the best time travel romance of the year in HERE AND NOW. The key is the reaction to the time differential by Charles with little things taken for granted by Suzanne seeming strange and almost magical to him. Augmented by a Twilight Zone twist on top of an exciting romance that leads readers to a fabulous one sitting plot.

Harriet Klausner

As a time travel romance - this book fell FAR short. As a person who has just traveled 76 years forward in time, Charles Garrity was able to adapt to the present time at a rather incredibly fast pace. After Suzanne accepted who this person was and where he came from, there was not much "time travel" interest in this book at all. You could also tell where the storyline was headed the first time Charles entered Suzanne's house. I felt this was quite a lame book. I've read other books by Constance O'Day-Flannery and this one (hopefully) is just an aberration on her part. I hope the next book she writes is much better than this.

Best I have read in some time! Couldn't put it down!

Dear Readers,if you are a devotee of Time Travel Romances, you
may wish to just get this from the Library.
The fact that it wasn't until page 289 that Susan finally used
bottles for her baby, instead of staying exhausted and having her
baby literally hooked to her chest,was a real bore.
If she was truly aware of the "baby books" she had read, a breast
pump would have been extrodinarily helpful. So,Miss O'Day-Flannery why keep the character acting stupid?
...perhaps the
writer needs to read the earliest of her delicious novels and
return to the Genre with a block buster,rested and in full form.

I enjoyed the book but found it hard to believe a man of any time would do so much "women's work. Also moving back to Ireland in 2001 a Protestant irish man means more stories abot Charles Suzie and Matty!what with the fighting going on between theCatholic and Protestant irish people this could be some story line maybe a time traveler for Matty only a Catholic one.