Review: Fated Memories by Joan Carney

Fated Memories
by Joan Carney
Genre: Historical Romance/ Time Travel Romance
Age category: Adult
Release Date: April 15, 2016

Blurb:
A woman, a war, a vision of the future past...

Burdened with the scars of a tortured childhood and a shattered romance, Kitty is being forced to resign from the dull, anonymous job she’s been hiding behind. With her life in shambles and her friends moving on without her, she jumps at her cousin, Maggie’s, invitation to visit.

However, Maggie’s new boyfriend, Simon, has a secret that accidentally hurls the trio a hundred and fifty years into the past. Trapped in the midst of the bloodiest war in American history, and acutely aware their actions might trigger a butterfly effect on the future, the events that unfold will require more mettle than Kitty’s ever had.

My Review:
Fated Memories is a fusion of time travel, historical fiction, and romance. The story takes the perspectives of Kitty and her cousin Maggie in turn. Kitty’s just coming out of a bad situation and jumps at the chance to get away and figure things out. Maggie’s trying to prepare for her grandmother’s final days. Simon is intrigued by Maggie, who resembles a woman named Lucy, a remnant of a past life of whom he’s dreamed since childhood. None of them expect to be dropped right in the middle of the American Civil War.

This story focuses less on the time travel and more on how the main characters deal with being dumped into the past with no way home. I really enjoyed the level of detail and the immersion into the life of field nurses in the American Civil War. There’s also a bit of light romance with some interesting twists, particularly when it starts to look like the three are doomed to live out their lives in the past.

I guess the only things I didn’t quite buy were the herbal remedies from one soldier’s wife that very much mimicked modern medicine and the wealthy seamstress who becomes Kitty and Maggie’s benefactor. Both seemed to be rather deus ex machina. Also, the reader knows very early on what causes the time travel, so it can be painful watching the characters consistently overlook that possibility. I mean, it’s really obvious.

Overall I enjoyed this story. It’s immersive and intriguing, and the main characters are likeable and believable. I’d recommend it to folks who enjoy historical fiction, romance, and time travel.

I received the review copy of this book from the author via Lola’s Blog Tours.
You can find Fated Memories on Goodreads

You can buy Fated Memories on Amazon. This book is part of Kindle Unlimited.

About the Author:
A transplant from the concrete sidewalks of New York City to the sunny beaches of Southern California, Ms. Carney enjoys writing stories about women who are strong—whether by nature or circumstance—and the men who love and respect them for who they are. Things that make her happy are rainy days (too much sun is a bore), writing the perfect first line, family get-togethers, reading books that grab her heart, and finding new connections in her genealogy research. Bold coffee and dark chocolate fuel the artistic fire inspired by her family, friends, and psycho, lizard hunting cat.

You can find and contact Joan here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads

Review of Historical Memoir: Night by Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Night is a personal account by the author of his experiences during the Holocaust. His village was far from the worst of things, sheltered and apart from the growing horrors. No one in the community believed the one man who had witnessed their fate and come back to warn them.

Elie recounts everything from being confined in a ghetto in his home town, to being processed at Birkenau, the reception center for Auschwitz, to being used for work, to the final march ahead of the Russian forces, to his father, to the final image of himself, little more than a corpse, looking back at him through a mirror. The story spans his fourteenth and fifteenth years.

This book, wow. My heart hurts. That this could happen, did happen, is beyond tragic. Survival, shattered faith, loss, suffering. And his father, so close! I feel like crying.

I borrowed the trilogy from the library, but I don't know if I have the heart to keep reading the others. I need to think about it.

View all my reviews

The Color of Thunder by J.C. Wing
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful and satisfying, though sometimes bogged down in the details.

The Color of Thunder follows young Faith Linsey as she grows up in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. As the daughter of a prominent and respected pastor, her role in the family and the community is one of service. To her father, she is an extra female useful for helping her mother with the household and for keeping her unruly sister, Hope, out of trouble.

Faith embraces her responsibilities and accepts the world at face value until one fateful night when she witnesses her father sneaking out into the night to send a fiery message to a family who committed the unspeakable crime of showing kindness and giving a ride to their young black housekeeper. Rocked by the revelation that her father isn't the righteous man she'd always believed him to be, Faith begins to take note of the things happening in her family, her town and the world.