THE HISTORY OF LUCY'S LOVE LIFE IN TEN AND A HALF CHAPTERS

Author: Deborah Wright ISBN: 9780452289147 2/2008 TIME TRAVEL Publisher: PLUME

Who would you date if you had a time machine? Casanova... Ovid ... Lord Byron? Lucy's love life needs a boost. When she isn't flirting with the gorgeous boy at the newsstand, she's daydreaming about torrid affairs with Lord Byron and George Clooney—anyone but her boyfriend Anthony. So she does what any sensible woman would do: she steals a time machine and tracks down the great lovers of the past. From Casanova to Ovid to Byron himself. Lucy's dating pool expands to truly historic proportions. But she quickly finds that even the world's most renowned lovers have their limitations—and that her true love may be closer to home than she ever believed.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE HISTORY OF LUCY'S LOVE LIFE IN TEN AND A HALF CHAPTERS has an interesting premise. Lucy, a woman with commitment issues, is in a relationship with Anthony. Neither of them seems truly focused on their romance, although between the two Anthony is definitely the more sympathetic character. Lucy is constantly daydreaming about men-other men-and finally decides to time-travel to meet some of the great lovers she's been fantasizing about. Byron chases her through the forest, Leonardo makes a scandalous confession, and there's a birth scene that defies description. In short, Lucy has an adventure.

While I'd love to be able to say I loved this book, I, unfortunately, can't do that. As I said, the premise is intriguing, but I was mostly annoyed by Lucy's inability to focus, her unwillingness to commit to anyone or anything and her scatter-brained personality in general. For goodness' sake, she had every man in history to commit to, yet she hopped around like a bunny rabbit on a burning lawn. I felt sorry for her, and I'm sure this wasn't the intention of the author when she wrote this book.

THE HISTORY OF LUCY'S LOVE LIFE IN TEN AND A HALF CHAPTERS is interesting and I certainly couldn't put it down. Deborah Wright writes well, but this story just wasn't what I'd hoped it would be.

Kay James