A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong

A Stitch in Time (Stitch in Time, #1)

by Kelley Armstrong

Thorne Manor has always been haunted…and it has always haunted Bronwyn Dale. As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt's house, where she’d visit William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. In the wake of a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination. 

Twenty years later, Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor, exactly when she needs it most, her life stalled since her young husband’s death years earlier. And when she returns, William is waiting. 

William Thorne is no longer the calm and quiet boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by a tragedy and scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago. 

As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house, and soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor.

Reviewed by Berls on

4 of 5 stars

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Kelley Armstrong is an author I've had on my TBR for years and only managed to read a couple of times. I tend to prefer adult and she tends to write more YA - so I was eager to read this series when I saw it was adult. I've had book 2 for a while (not realizing it was book 2 when I first got it) but when the first book was selected for book club, I seized the opportunity. And I'm glad I did.

I really enjoyed the premise of A Stitch in Time and I think it works equally well for people who like time travel books and those who don't typically like them. You get the experience of going back in time, without the complications. It mainly feels like a contemporary romance, really.

But then there was also the ghost mystery, which was solid. It kept me on my toes to the very end with lots of twists and turns. I was second guessing so many characters!

And then the characters. First of all, I really appreciated that she has a trans character where pronouns are discussed but then it's just accepted and IS. It let me know a lot about Bronwyn - the heroine - that she understood her error and not only corrected but directly asked about pronouns. I knew at that moment I liked her. And I only grew to respect her so much more as the book progressed. She's a 38 year old widow and university professor. She's a historian, which perhaps drew me to her more, since I did my grad work in history. But I think what I respected most was the pragmatic way she thought about her relationship with William. She sees the barrier of the time between them in a very realistic way. Such a solid character.

I also really liked William. Since the story is told solely from Bronwyn's POV, we don't ever get to know him the way we do Bronwyn. But what we do see is someone who loves his family and friends deeply, respects Bronwyn, and is just an all around good guy. He and Bronwyn have incredible chemistry and I had no trouble routing for them to conquer their situation.

A really enjoyable story, only improved by a really solid audio performance. I enjoyed the narration by Samantha Brentmoor. I felt like she delivered the accents well (to an untrained ear) and brought the characters to life. I look forward to listening to more from her.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 August, 2022: Finished reading
  • 12 August, 2022: Reviewed