Review of Tangled in Time, time-travelling romance set in Ireland by Barbara Longley.
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Synopsis
Regan MacCarthy is in Ireland for a break from her exhausting life. While trying to return her ability to see ghosts, she meets a gorgeous man who refuses to accept his death. Fáelán is a 3rd century warrior who was cursed by the faerie princess Morrigan. He is doomed to live in the Fae realm, invisible to most humans, until he falls so deeply in love he would sacrifice his life.
To this end, Fáelán spends the following weeks showing Regan around Ireland, longing for the solstice when the realms meet and he can touch her. Once Regan and Fáelán have fallen for each other, Morrigan steals him back into the void. With the help of Morrign’s daughter, Regan travels back in time to the 3rd century to prevent the curse and save Fáelán’s life.
Review
This book is called “Tangled in Time,” which gave me the impression that the characters get tangled up in time. But having read it, I think it’s time itself that gets tangled. Regan goes back in time, changes things, and returns. Fáelán both lives through time in the normal linear manner and jumps straight from the 3rd century to the 21st.
There’s a good amount of scientific explanations behind the alternate realms/dimensions. However, once time-travel gets involved in the second half of the book, the scientific explanations become a bit complicated – I had to think through it a bit to understand it.
I found how quickly Regan and Fáelán fell in love unconvincing. I know that Fáelán was desperate to fall in love (with anyone) to break his curse, but Regan had no such motivation. It seems even more unconvincing when early on in their relationship, there are scenes like this:
“Enough.” Her dismissive assumptions nearly chocked him. Fall in love with Regan MacCarthy? Impossible. She’d insulted him in the worst possible way, accusing him of deluding himself with faerie tales as if he were a laddie of but a handful of winters. Cursing his fate, he was sorely tempted to return to his island to wait a hundred years or so afore seeking out another woman who might see him.
I loved how Regan kept thinking of (and referring to) Fáelán as a “boasty ghosty.” That phrase made me giggle every time. Boasty ghosty.
Fáelán felt more real as the real as the book progressed. When we first meet him, he seems simple and two-dimensional. By the time he’s fallen madly in love, we have learned so much about him that he has become a really believable person with both good and bad qualities. However, this occurs so gradually that I didn’t notice it until I had almost finished to book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who didn’t enjoy science in high-school or who gets their knickers in a twist over magic.
Conclusion
Have you read Tangled in Time? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.
If you haven’t, you can buy it at Book Depository (they have free international shipping!).
