Stitch in Time

by Amanda James

A stitch in time saves nine - or does it? Sarah Yates is a thirty something history teacher, divorced, disillusioned and desperate to have more excitement in her life. Making all her dreams come true seems about as likely as climbing Everest in stilettos. Then one evening the door bell rings and the handsome and mysterious John Needler brings more excitement than Sarah could ever have imagined. John wants Sarah to go back in time - Sarah is whisked from the Sheffield Blitz to the suffragette movement in London to the Old American West, trying to make sure people find their happy endings. The only question is, will she ever be able to find hers?

• ISBN13: 9781781890004
• Publish Date: 4 April 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Choc Lit
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 301
• Language: English

Reviews

[zooloo1983]

My first foray into the writing of a non-thriller kind by Ms James, my Queen of Crazy Town has offered me something different and I did wonder what would happen when I dipped my toe into her first book.

Well, she blew me away with her imagination, her scene-setting and most of all her characters. This is the first book in the many that Mandy has written, she is already one of my favourite crazy writers but now in the romance fiction too! I loved the original take on a time travel book, the play on the phrase A Stitch in Time and look at the gorgeous cover!

When we meet Sarah, she is married, her best friend is distraught and her husband is distant, well you can guess what is going to happen! Yup, doucheville land. Yes Sarah is flawed, but there is something about Sarah that makes you warm to her straight away, she is endearing and she loves wholeheartedly. Even when everything is against her she still picks herself up and gets on with it, that strength she relies on later on.

Then one morning Sarah’s doorbell rings and in walks John, not only into her life but into her heart. He starts to tell her crazy things which couldn’t possibly be true…but what if they were, now that would be crazy!

Sarah, quite simply put is a Stitch, she has to go back in time to “save” certain people to prevent things going awry and ensure the future is kept in tack. It was so much fun for us, probably not Sarah at first, seeing her go back in time trying to figure out who she needs to “save” and having to adapt her current conditions. The blitz, suffragettes and the old American Wild West. However, this is obviously not enough drama for Sarah, when back in her real-life disaster strikes in the form of Josephina.

This delightful person is John’s ex, and she is there because she wants John back and is prepared to play dirty to win.

The romance between John and Sarah is enough to make anyone’s heart sing. It is a pure driven love, both recovering from previous heartaches but jumps in 100% regardless of what the consequences might be for them when the Powers of Be hear of it.

I loved listening to this book because Penelope Rawlins did an absolutely fantastic job of bringing Mandy’s characters to life. When Sarah was in the 1920s, Penelope adopted the twang and speech perfectly and again out in the Old Wild West. To me, I felt I was right there with her all down to awesome narration. I mean she is helped with an awesome book so both combined together = mind blown.

Sometimes Sci-Fi can be made to be over-complicated and confusing, yet here Mandy’s descriptions of how Stitches and Needles work together did not confuse. It made me wonder how I become one! How exciting would it be, if you walked through your front door one day and the next thing you knew you had walked into a completely different time and place! Plus I love the research that has gone into the book, not just with the different periods of time, but the descriptions, the speech, the little details. That is what makes you want to read on, the historical side of things have you sitting there almost in the same room with Sarah as she is clearing fireplaces out, facing off against a rattlesnake or running through the corridors in a hospital.

I mean this is Mandy’s debut! I don’t believe it! I have been reading her books for years now and I tell you this does not read like a debut at all. Yes her writing has changed and she has switched genres but it is still such a strong book in its own right and one that everyone needs to be reminded of. I was sad when the book came to an end because the story is not finished, far from it, and you know what…there is another book! I can not wait to get to it. These books are some of Mandy’s favourites and it is so easy to see why with forbidden love, time travel and a bit of drama thrown in what is not to love!

[Leah]

When I first read the synopsis for A Stitch In Time, I wasn’t sure it was my kind of novel. Time travel? No, thank you. But instead of just dismissing out right, as once I might did, I took a look at the preview of the novel, and I was hooked. I was captivated, and I was so excited to read and review the novel. I started it just before a four-day stint at work, and finished it after finishing my four-day stint and the best part was, in between that break, I didn’t forget a single thing that happened and I was so disappointed I’d had to wait to read it, and was so glad to get back to Sarah and John, and Sarah’s time travelling adventures, that I stayed up until 2am finishing it!

Sarah Yates’s life was going swimmingly – she had a beautiful husband, a brilliant job, and a best friend you’d love to have. So when she finds out her husband has knocked up her best friend, it throws her world into chaos. Divorced and disullusioned, she thinks she’s going mad when a man called John Needler shows up at her door, telling her that she’s a stitch, someone who can go back in time and fix holes that need to be fixed in order for history to be as it is. Sarah doesn’t believe a word he says, but soon finds herself whisked back in time, trying to fix things that were never meant to be broken. But as she finds other people their happy endings, and makes sure the history of the world is secure, will she be able to find her own happy ending?

I loved A Stitch In Time. I’m on a really good run of books I’m enjoying at the minute, and A Stitch In Time continued that run. It was great, I loved the plot even if it wasn’t something I thought I’d enjoy, I adored the characters, both the ones in the present and in the past, especially John Needler. I don’t know if A Stitch In Time was historically accurate, and there will be people who read the book and proclaim the whole time travel thing is hocum or not done correctly but I absolutely loved it. I loved seeing Sarah whisked through the ages, and each tale as she travelled from the Sheffield Blitz to the Old American West to the Suffragette’s in London had a fabulous backstory, and I was moved by all of them. I particularly loved the Suffragette bit of the book. I think James has created such a wonderful tale, and I warmed to it so much, and enjoyed it so much. I think it speaks volumes that I stayed up so late to finish it, but it was so darn addictive that I couldn’t give it up, I had to know what would happen to Sarah and John, and all the people Sarah was trying to help.

I really enjoyed A Stitch In Time, I was so sad when I’d finished it because I just didn’t want to leave any of the characters. I wanted to follow Sarah and John throughout their lives, and read so much more about the whole stitching/time needling idea. I could totally see Amanda James writing a sequel, and I’d totally be on board to read it, because I adored this book! It had such brilliant characters, I warmed to Sarah and John immediately and I was sucked into all the tales from the past. I am so pleased I didn’t just pass on this book because it didn’t sound like my kind of thing, I’m so glad I decided to give it a chance and I wasn’t disappointed at all. It’s so nice to read a book that’s not specifically something I’d pick up in a shop myself, and it proves (yet again) that you cannot judge a book by its cover or synopsis or anything, and the preview of the book really gripped me. Do give it a chance, you will not regret it because it was wonderful. I’d love to be able to go back in time and read this book for the first time again, because it was just that good!