A Matter of Time (Time Passages) [Paperback]

Terri Brisbin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Time Passages | Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Propelled reluctantly back in time by his family's unpleasant penchant for time travel, a twentieth-century Scottish doctor falls for a fourteenth-century beauty with a compassionate heart. Original.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Jove (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515126837
• ISBN-13: 978-0515126839
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,187,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brought Laughter, Tears, and Sighs - Excellent!, May 19, 2000

By 

Leslie Tramposch "PNR Reviewer" (Moon Township, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Matter of Time (Time Passages) (Paperback)

The MacKendimen saga comes full circle with this stunning conclusion to the two part series that began with "A LOVE THROUGH TIME". Dr. Douglas MacKendimen (30 year old son of Maggie and Alex - ALTT) is once again in Scotland for the annual clan gathering. This has been a family tradition, since his parents met there and fell in love with the help of the fates and a magical stone arch. Douglas has grown up on his parents tales, but regards them as nothing more than "bedtime stories".

Of late he's been troubled by two dreams, each involving the same mysterious woman, a woman like none other, a woman he's never met. One dream is frightening, the other erotic, and Douglas can't help but compare all others to the "woman of his dreams", he's waiting for something, what? he doesn't know.

The clan seer, the old woman Mairi who was instrumental in his parent's own journey of discovery, tells him that he must now meet his destiny, which will involve saving this woman, and being saved by her, and answering to the fates, which are not pleased with him.

He scoffs but a woman's cry of distress finds him dashing through the arch, to find her under attack by a rival clan. Without hesitation he acts to save her. At the very moment he recognizes her as the woman he has dreamed of, he's rendered unconscious by a severe blow to the head.

The woman is Caitlin, the 17 year old daughter of Moira, the visionary who had helped Maggie and Alex during their journey through time, and the smithy Pol. Caitlin too, has had the dreams, of this man, the man she knows she will love with all her heart. She is the clan healer, an herbalist, but she also has a "gift" - the ability to cure with her touch. The gift has its price for Caitlin assumes her patients' pain.

Douglas is awed by the care she has for her patients and the sacrifices she is willing to make for them. Why have the fates sent him here when any involvement will surely end in heartbreak when returns home as prophesied? He soon comes to realize that he has defied the fates by immersing himself in technology and shielding himself from his patients suffering. He's forgotten to care. He was conceived in this time through his parent's great love for each other, their very own lesson, and he realizes he's been sent back to the place where HIS soul began to find it once more. But in finding his soul will he lose his heart? What will become of him and of Caitlin when he is sent back home, having learned the lesson of the fates? Will these few short weeks be enough to last them a lifetime? Can the fates be defied?

I cried at the end of this story, but don't let that put you off, I loved both stories and the saga ends happily, never you fear. I highly recommend reading both books and there's a little surprise at the end of this one that I think you will enjoy.

I've also learned that there is the possibility of a straight historical featuring Anice, who appears in both stories, and Robert who succeeded his half brother Sandy as laird to the MacKendimen clan in the past time. It is to be hoped that this is truly so, as I think it is a story that needs to be told! Ms. Brisbin will give us a new tale with the September release of the Queen's Man. I'm greatly looking forward to reading more of this fine author's efforts. -- Leslie Tramposch Copyright © 2000 ~Paranormal Romance Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars TIME TRAVEL WITH A TWIST..., July 8, 2001

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Matter of Time (Time Passages) (Paperback)

This book is enjoyable, escapist entertainment. It is a fairly well written, time travel romance. I read it, not realizing that there was a prequel to it. It did not really matter, as the author had enough background information interwoven in the book, so as to make it totally comprehensible. The only thing it did was whet my appetite for the prequel, which I fully intend to read.

Here, a twentieth century doctor, Douglas MacKendimen, disillusioned with the practice of medicine, inadvertently goes back in time to fourteenth century Scotland. Having been brought up with tales of time travel by his parents, stories that he took to be fairy tales, he is amazed to find them to be true. While in the past, he discovers people who knew his parents and is amazed to realize that he himself was conceived in the past.

He also meets the woman of his dreams, literally. You see, Douglas had, for some time, been dreaming of a raven haired, green eyed beauty, and here she is in the flesh in the fourteenth century! It turns out that she is Caitlin MacInnis, a healer in her own time. With her help, the disillusioned doctor rediscovers why it was that he went into the medical profession in the first place, and he regains his joy in being a healer. Having fallen in love with Caitlin, he must now decide whether he will return to his own time, or remain in the past with the love of his life.

Read the book, to find out what he decides to do.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great follow-up to Terri's first Scottish Time-Travel..., November 16, 1999

By 

Barbara Deane - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Matter of Time (Time Passages) (Paperback)

A MATTER OF TIME by Terri Brisbin Review by Barb Deane, Barb'sAll Romance Book Store

Terri Brisbin's second book from the JoveTime Passages imprint, A Matter of Time, is the sequel to her first book, A Love Through Time. This book features Douglas MacKendimen, son of Maggie and Alex. If you haven't read A Love Through Time, rush out and get it too so that you can read both of these beautiful books.

Terri is a new author and has found a wonderful voice for these time-travel books. Both are set in modern day and fourteenth Century Scotland, although Maggie, Alex and Douglas are actually Americans. Whereas Alex and Maggie travelled through time together, their son Douglas walks through the stone arch all alone. This makes for an interesting contrast to the previous book and leaves you wondering from the very start if he stays or she goes.

Douglas is a twentieth century American doctor visiting Scotland for the annual MacKendimen family gathering. When he finds himself running through the forest of his fourteenth century clansmen, killing three men in an attempt to save the young woman whose face has haunted his dreams for years, he ends up unconscious from a heavy duty knock on the head. Fortunately for him, this woman, Caitlin, is the clan MacKendimen healer and she is able to bring him back from the fires of fever and the doors of death. She, too, has foreseen their meeting in her dreams, which are identical to the dreams Douglas has had.

Once he awakens, it is difficult for him to believe that he has actually travelled through time, even though his parents told him of their own journey to this very time. Although a few things have changed in the years since his parents left, many of the people there remember his parents and knew of their time-travel. They help him adjust and come to believe in the impossible, as well as finding him useful work with Caitlin in healing the clan's ill.

The sexual chemistry between Douglas and Caitlin is immediate; actually it begins before they ever meet, due to their intense dreams. Their skills and knowledge in healing compliment each other, all to the benefit of the clan. But they both know that Douglas is a visitor in this time and that he will be going back when the Fates dictate it. Although they try to fight the attraction they feel for each other, it is much too strong to be denied.

Terri has done a wonderful job of making the logistics and reasoning behind time-travel believable. I believed that Douglas found ways to make himself useful in medieval Scotland, although he longed for the comforts of his own time as well as the technology of his medical training. The love story is strong and compelling, as is the suspense of how these two will end up together. If you enjoy time-travels, or even if you have never tried one, I strongly recommend A Matter of Time, as well as A Love Through Time. Read and enjoy! Barb Deane Copyright© 1999, Barb's All Romance Book Store. All rights reserved