Book Review: A Time Traveling Romance With Pirates and a Ghost

 A Turn of the Tide (A Stitch in Time - Book 3) by Kelley Armstrong (KLA Fricke)

A Turn of the Tide is the third book of Kelley Armstrong’s “A Stitch in Time” series, the “stitch” being a time portal between modern and Victorian times, a room in Thorne Manor, England (now kept locked!). The first two were fun adventure-romances, linked by the women of Thorne Manor. These women also have “second sight,” the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, and to lay to rest the spirits of those who have been murdered by naming aloud their killers. (There’s a catch, which plays a part in the plot, which is that if the person calling aloud the name the murderer gets it wrong, dire consequences ensue for the ghost.)

This third “Stitch” novel features Miranda, a Victorian woman writer of “risqué pirate adventures who, having learned about the wonders and liberation of the 20^th Century, decides to embark upon her own time-travel adventure. Miranda’s plans go astray when the “stitch” lands her not in modern times but a century earlier, in the late 1700s. She encounters the love interest, a French expat named Nicolas, on the run from the French Revolution and repaying the locals who have given him shelter by acting as a Robin Hood, stealing from a corrupt lord and fencing smuggled goods on the village’s behalf. Almost immediately, before the couple can even begin to get to know one another, chemistry ignites.

This is where my interest bobbled. I feared I was in for the rest of the book being the typical Romance attraction/pulling back two-step. I enjoy a love story as the frosting on a compelling plot with strong ideas, but not the entire central driving force of the book. However, I’d enjoyed Armstrong’s other books and found her writing to be both pleasant and engaging, so I kept going.

Very soon, the story deepened. Not just in revealing the characters and their backstories but more serious themes. Armstrong is an author who sneaks in notions like compassion, altruism, and hope—not to mention a frank discussion of contraception and women’s sexual pleasure, this from the character of an 18^th Century Frenchman! I loved that although Miranda considers herself experienced and knowledgeable, having experimented with sex with several lovers (none of whom has had a clue, as one might expect from Victorian times), she is amazed and delighted by Nicolas’s sensitivity and amatory expertise. Once they decide to become intimate (cue: consent!), he refuses to have intercourse because he does not have condoms (I think they were made of sheepskin at this time), so he proceeds to make love to her (and teach her how to make love to him) without risking pregnancy. As a reader who is concerned about the depiction of consent, birth control/disease prevention, and frank discussions about pleasure, I give A Turn of the Tide high marks. Yes, one might question the historical accuracy of the knowledge and attitudes, but it is important that these topics not be shoved under the rug (or in the closet, as the case might be).

The story becomes emotionally even deeper with another complication. While hiding out from the evil lord on Nicolas’s old ship, Miranda encounters the ghost of the former cabin boy. Nicolas had no idea the boy was dead or how he died. This mystery becomes an important driver of the plot. More importantly, Miranda’s compassion for the suffering ghost and her determination to free him elevates and ennobles her character. And ultimately sets the book several levels above a typical time-travel romance.

The set-up for subsequent volumes involves a delicious twist on the “stitch.” I can hardly wait.