Pub Date: July 15, 2012 | Matador Publishing | eBook, Paperback
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Genre: Historical Fiction
On a muggy August day in 2002 Alexandra Lind is inexplicably thrown several centuries backwards in time to 1658. Life will never be the same for Alex.
Alex lands at the feet of Matthew Graham – an escaped convict making his way home to Scotland. She gawks at this tall gaunt man with hazel eyes, dressed in what looks like rags. At first she thinks he might be some sort of hermit, an oddball, but she quickly realises that she is the odd one out, not him.
Catapulted from a life of modern comfort, Alex grapples with her frightening new existence. Potential compensation for this brutal shift in fate comes in the shape of Matthew – a man she should never have met, not when she was born three centuries after him. But Matthew comes with baggage of his own, and at times it seems his past will see them killed.
How will she ever get back? And more importantly, does she want to?
My Review
I suppose I should start this review with a disclaimer as I have a bit of history with the author. You see, I coordinated the blog tours for books two through six of the series with HF Virtual Book Tours. I have a policy in place that I don’t review books that I’ve worked on as it could be construed as a conflict of interest. However, since I didn’t technically coordinate the tour for the first book and I was dying to see what all the rave reviews were about, so I went for it. And I’m darn glad I did because it was so much fun!Time slips are fast becoming one of my new favorite types of reads, and Anna Belfrage really knows how to write ‘em! The oh-so modern Alex is thrust into the past via a “rip in the veil” of time, landing herself back in 1658 Scotland and smack dab into Matthew, an escaped prisoner on the run. The first encounter between the two makes for a very interesting and amusing scene as you can imagine, as they both try to figure the other one out!
Alex and Mattew band together and ultimately fall in love. Their chemistry is very palpable to the reader and both characters are extremely likable. I felt very connected to Alex; she’s feisty and passionate and doesn’t know when to keep quiet. I can totally relate to that! Not only are the characters fleshed out well, but the dialogue and atmosphere was spot on. Belfrage is an extremely talented writer, something that I had seen examples of in the phenomenal guest posts she wrote for her blog tours, but now that I see it fully I appreciate it all that much more.
So, if you’re like me and enjoy a good ole’ time slip novel with a touch of humor and romance with a hunky front man and sassy leading lady, A Rip in the Veil is the book for you! And if you like it (which I know you will) there are seven more books in the series left to devour, so sit back and escape reality for a while. You won’t be sorry!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via the author in exchange for an honest review.
About The Graham Saga
This is the story of Alex and Matthew, two people who should never have met – not when she was born three hundred years after him.It all began the day Alex Lind got caught in a thunderstorm. Not your ordinary storm, no this was the mother of all storms, causing a most unusual rift in the fabric of time. Alex was dragged three centuries backwards in time, landing more or less at the feet of a very surprised Matthew Graham.
In a series of books we follow the life and adventures of the expanding Graham family, both in Scotland and in the New World – and let me tell you it is quite an exciting life, at times excessively so in Alex’ opinion.
Sometimes people ask me why Alex had to be born in the twentieth century, why not make her a woman born and bred in the seventeenth century where the story is set? The answer to that is I have no idea. Alex Lind is an insistent, vibrant character that sprung into my head one morning and simply wouldn’t let go.
Seductively she whispered about terrible thunderstorms, about a gorgeous man with magic, hazel eyes, about loss and sorrow, about love – always this love, for her man and her children, for the people she lives with. With a throaty chuckle she shared insights into a life very far removed from mine, now and then stopping to shake her head and tell me that it probably hadn’t been easy for Matthew, to have such an outspoken, strange and independent woman at his side.
At this point Matthew groaned into life. Nay, he sighed, this woman of his was at times far too obstinate, with no notion of how a wife should be, meek and dutiful. But, he added with a laugh, he wouldn’t want her any different, for all that she was half heathen and a right hand-full. No, he said, stretching to his full length, if truth be told not a day went by without him offering fervent thanks for his marvelous wife, a gift from God no less, how else to explain the propitious circumstances that had her landing at his feet that long gone August day?
Still, dear reader, it isn’t always easy. At times Alex thinks he’s an overbearing bastard, at others he’s sorely tempted to belt her. But the moment their fingertips graze against each other, the moment their eyes meet, the electrical current that always buzzes between them peaks and surges, it rushes through their veins, it makes their breathing hitch and … She is his woman, he is her man. That’s how it is, that’s how it always will be.
Graham Saga Titles
Book One: A Rip in the VeilBook Two: Like Chaff in the Wind
Book Three: The Prodigal Son
Book Four: A Newfound Land
Book Five: Serpents in the Garden
Book Six: Revenge & Retribution
Book Seven: Whither Thou Goest
Book Eight: To Catch a Falling Star
About the Author
Anna was raised abroad, on a pungent mix of Latin American culture, English history and Swedish traditions. As a result she’s multilingual and most of her reading is historical- both non-fiction and fiction. Possessed of a lively imagination, she has drawers full of potential stories, all of them set in the past. She was always going to be a writer – or a historian, preferably both. Ideally, Anna aspired to becoming a pioneer time traveller, but science has as yet not advanced to the point of making that possible. Instead she ended up with a degree in Business and Finance, with very little time to spare for her most favourite pursuit. Still, one does as one must, and in between juggling a challenging career Anna raised her four children on a potent combination of invented stories, historical debates and masses of good food and homemade cakes. They seem to thrive…
For years she combined a challenging career with four children and the odd snatched moment of writing. Nowadays Anna spends most of her spare time at her writing desk. The children are half grown, the house is at times eerily silent and she slips away into her imaginary world, with her imaginary characters. Every now and then the one and only man in her life pops his head in to ensure she’s still there.
For additional information regarding Anna, her characters, extra scenes, and teasers for her next books, have a look at Anna’s website at: www.annabelfrage.com. You can also find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
