Coryn, Earl of Ardeth, has spent an eternity in Hell. Fed up, he gambles with the Devil and wins a second chance: if he can find his heart, his soul, and his hourglass in six months, he can return to life.Then he meets Genie, a disgraced water-girl at the Battle of Waterloo. Now, her only hope is this crazy stranger-and she's half-terrified of and half-in-love with the eccentric earl. Together they have to find his humanity, her social acceptance, and overcome someone bent on destroying their lives.
The Hourglass
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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*Starred Review* After penning lively Regency romances, including The Duel (2005), Metzger tries something different and imaginative. Sir Coryn of Ardsley, called "Ar," is a knight during the Crusades who plunders and pillages. When he dies, he becomes one of many beings known as "Death." After ending people's lives for hundreds of years, Ar tricks Satan into giving him a chance to regain his mortality. The catch is, within six months Ar has to find a specific hourglass. Meanwhile, Genie Macklin is an outcast, finally finding her calling giving succor to wounded soldiers. Satan delivers Ar to the battlefield at Waterloo, where he meets Genie and, smitten, marries her. Even though Ar is perceived as a wealthy albeit mysterious nobleman, society won't accept his wife. So he uses some tricks he learned in the Immortal realm, which, unfortunately, make Genie more than a little distrustful of her new spouse. With memorable characters, a compelling plot, and smart dialogue, Metzger presents an extraordinary book that commands the reader's attention and lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mediaeval Knight gets a second chance at life - in the Regency period,
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This review is from: The Hourglass (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)
This book is definitely different to your average Regency romance. Firstly there's an element of fantasy in it - our hero, who meets the heroine at the Battle of Waterloo, is actually a Knight from the Crusades. He's been working as one of the Grim Reapers for Satan for the last 500 years but wants a chance to atone for his sins as a Knight by living on earth again as a human and doing good deeds with all the wealth that he has amassed. He bargains with Satan and wins - he gets six months as a human and if he can find the special hourglass Satan has put on earth, he can live his full life span.
Despite the theoretically rather dark and disturbing initial content (Satan, death, grim reapers) this book is actually funny. It's not laugh-out-loud but it has a lot of amusing one-liners and the characters are great. Our heroine, Genie, a pregnant widow who is shunned by good ladies since her husband's death, is wonderfully pragmatic. She meets Ardeth and knows there's something distinctly odd about him (he seems to have a few magical powers, speaks strangely and doesn't know some basic things, like how to eat with a knife and fork) but she also sees that he is genuine in his attempts to help and care for others and she throws in her lot with him. Poor Ardeth, however, believes that to be noble and moral he has to allow Genie her full year's mourning for her dead husband, despite the fact that he marries her by chapter four of the book. Genie doesn't have any affection for her late husband and feels that she has no way of repaying Ardeth his kindness except through conjugal rights - which he won't accept. Ardeth knows he only has six months on earth and he wants to set Genie up for a happy future with her son, but equally he knows that will mean he won't get to consummate his marriage because six months isn't long enough. However this element of tension doesn't take over the story - the seduction side of this book is very much left to the reader's imagination without any detailed descriptions of love scenes. We follow the couple's introduction into the haute ton in England, Ardeth's attempt to bring about a reconciliation between Genie and her sister Lorraine (a historical error by the author - Lorraine was not used as a name until the 1870s) and later with her family. We see attempts made on both Genie's and Ardeth's lives and their establishment of a community at Ardeth Keep. Ardeth's charitable works are an important part of the book and one of the ways in which he tries to atone for his past sins. The love story part of the book is very gently written. There's no annoying 'Big Misunderstanding' or hatred between the characters, we just follow them as they slowly get to know one another and as Ardeth begins to learn what's important in this new life. Genie is great, with her ability to see beyond the apparent strangeness of her husband to the honourable and kind man, and the crow Olive, really a gremlin, with his intelligence and speech, is an enjoyable side character. Those who are Regency purists won't like the fantasy element of this book. However the historical detail is well researched and the language is mostly authentic (apart from some modern American phrases that creep in) and for those who are willing to read a little outside the Regency norm this is an enjoyable book. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book. Copyright Helen Hancox 2007
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hi, I actually read the book...,
By
This review is from: The Hourglass (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)
Barbara Metzger has become one of my favorite authors. The Hourglass is a departure from her recent series. While it is set in the Regency world, it gives barely a nod to society. (My sole complaint on this title might be that the time spent there seems out of place). The story unfolds so naturally and engagingly that it's a shame to reveal any of it at all.
Lord Coryn Ardsley died during the Crusades, a man not given to introspection or moral dilemma. As a result, he's been employed during his afterlife. Unlike those surrounding him, Coryn has managed to retain a sense of himself. Over the centuries he's prepared for his return to the world of the living and the opportunity of a second chance. His third good deed arrives in the form of recent widow Genie Macklin. Alone, expecting a child, destitute, she can't understand why a man like Lord Ardsley would offer her a marriage in name only. With her limited choices, she agrees to wed this strange man, so unlike any other she's known. He seems to truly put others above his self interest, to sincerely want to do good in the world. But can someone like that be real? Especially when the shortest distance to good can seem so harsh?
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
devilishly different type of Regency,
This review is from: The Hourglass (Signet Eclipse) (Paperback)
He knows he committed atrocities while fighting in the name of God during what foolish mankind called the Crusades. However, his eternal punishment is to be a Death collector, a minion of the Grim Reaper. Unlike most if not all of his peers, Ar Death remembers when he was Sir Coryn of Ardsley filled with a heart and soul. He could plead with his superior Sir Grimness to relieve him of duty as he believes he is a victim of battle fatigue, but that means ending up as a permanent resident of an even worse place, Hell. Still his only hope for salvation lies with gambling with His Eminence the Devil. The deal is simple six months on earth to find his missing humanity and freedom or more likely failure and eternity as one of the Devil's minion.
Imogene "Genie" Macklin tends to the wounded at Waterloo while pondering her future as an undesirable destitute pregnant soldier's widow though her preference is to not think at all. Also healing the cannon fodder is Coryn, claiming to be an Earl, as he rips into haughty aristocratic Major Willeford. Genie and Coryn meet over a dying soldier and he realizes she is a lady of quality who could enhance his lies. When he proposes she accepts because she must think of her baby. Though they fall in love with one another, the sands in his HOURGLASS are slipping into a future of eternal condemnation if he fails to find his humanity. This paranormal romance grips the audience from the opening gamble until the final confrontation with Ar's former boss. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action yet most critical to this enjoyable supernatural historical is the belief in Hell, the Grim Reaper, and the soul as described by Barbara Metzger. Romance fans who appreciate a devilishly different type of Regency will want to read this delightful second chance at life tale. Harriet Klausner
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