Stitch in Time

by Amanda James

[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!