ROMEO VS JULIET

Author: Laura Hogg ISBN: 1601540833 6/2007 TIME TRAVEL Publisher: THE WILD ROSE PRESS
Time Period: Back to Elizabethan England

Ambrose works for Queen Elizabeth Ist and has searched the centuries for his beloved Josephine, from Cleopatra’s court and Charlemagne’s service to 1950s America and the twenty second century. He has finally found her. He takes his love from twenty-first century America back to Elizabethan England for a short while. These two have a steamy, deep love affair, and all is well until he does something that forces her to stand up to him. She must chase him through time to stop his sinister plan from coming to full fruition. The problem is, every time they meet up, they fall into each other’s arms, unable to deny the crazy feelings they have for each other. Still, she has a mission and must complete it or die trying. Josephine is called to be a hero and discovers her darker side.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

ROMEO VS. JULIET has an intriguing premise. A time-travel novel, it has the heroine, Josephine, strike a bargain with the portal keeper in a time chamber of his own making in order to right the past. Or in this case, the future, depending on where the portal keeper decides to send those who enter the chamber.

The romance element is firmly in place in this story, with Josephine willing to do practically anything for Ambrose, her husband. There is also an element of comedic relief in this book, but I wondered if it was intentional or not. However, the funnier bits of this story, some dialogue and time travel quirks, are highly entertaining.

Honestly, though, the rest is somewhat ponderous and often convoluted. There are a whole host of secondary characters who seem unnecessary, as well as some side-tracked plotting. All in all, while the premise was promising and the love between heroine and hero interesting, this book falls short. It reads like a great story that needed to be polished-but wasn't. The best part of this book is the ending. It is uplifting and romantic, but I won't give it away.

Even though ROMEO VS. JULIET wasn't one of my favorites, it did leave me with a smile on my face.

Kay James