In 1965, Mark Templeton is about to be executed for crimes he did not commit and offers his soul to the devil for a chance at vengeance. In 2010, author Kelly Kirkwood is researching an old murder case with a supernatural twist. A vividly erotic dream involving the accused sets the stage for that man to be miraculously transported into her life. Mark is gorgeous, fun, sexy as hell and completely dependent on her help to resolve his past. Their attraction is so intense, it's as though they've been together before. Assuming he will vanish at any moment, Kelly sheds her sexual inhibitions to try out some of the steamy scenes she's written and he's delighted to introduce her to a few things she never considered. Given time, lust could turn to love, but their time together has been limited by a challenge between the powers of light and dark, and by a group of hate-filled men who will do anything to prevent the past from being resurrected.
Marilyn Campbell has been writing fiction novels, nonfiction works and screenplays for nearly twenty years. A true thrill-junkie, she has jumped out of an airplane, raced around the Indy 500 track, driven solo throughout the United States and believes a great roller coaster ride can cure whatever ails her. She resides happily in Massachusetts with her daughter Joie and their lovable four-legged companions, Sweetie and Milk-Dud.
All of my "old" paperback books are still available in unopened condition on my personal website (autographed if desired) but I am in the process of getting them all into e-book format. www.marilyncampbell.com
Convicted for a murder and a series of rapes which he did not commit, the hero has run through the stages of grief from angry to crying and now he resides at acceptance. The night before his execution, all the hero wants is a bottle of wine and for the priest to witness his death to be sure it's quick and without any more pain then necessary. He's not afraid. He knows he is innocent and that if there is God, He will see things set right in Heaven. The hero goes into the light without fuss. Only to wake up in a bizarre place he believes must be purgatory.
The heroine is living her life without her cheating ex-husband and she's relatively happy even though her sexual adventures exist only in her novels. She's secluded herself in a cabin with no one to bother her, trying to find inspiration for her new book. The local scandal of a man being executed for a murder of his lover seems like a good premise for a book so she's researched everything she can find about the case. She never expected the actual man to show up half naked in her cabin wearing her clothes. She has a vivid imagination and it doesn't take long for her to be convince he has traveled forward in time. He is handsome and charming and so not a killer so when he tells her of his innocence she believes him. What she's not sure of is who framed the hero all those years ago and why. So, with the hero as her partner, she begins to investigate a 35-year-old mystery.
On one hand the hero was closure but on the other, he wants to live this new chance at life he has received. He sees the heroine as a stunning and all too tempting woman and now that the inconvenience of having electricity coursing through his body is gone, he finds it very hard to stay imperial. Fortunately, the heroine is game for that connection that comes between a man and a woman and the hero sparks within her the desire to experience everything she missed when she was married. They share a deep and solid connection that's more than lust. It's friendship and an understanding and the hero refuses to accept the possibility of him returning to 1965. But their investigation has predictably stirred up old memories and fear and now, the ones responsible are looking to have these questions silenced....It means the heroine's death. In his grief the hero learned he and his time traveling is all a game to 2 higher beings playing with his life but he doesn't care. As long as he gets a chance to save the love of his life, he will do anything.
Ok, so disregard the cheesy cover, this book is for real. This author has a gift for chemistry and relationships built upon friendship. This pairing had a fantastic interaction and I simply adored the ease and the likeness that lay between them. They had very like minds and as such made excellent partners in both the mystery and the sexual relationship to come. Feelings though sometimes hurt were always quick to be smoothed over because they were not immature kids looking to think the worst of every situation. They talked things over and as such, their bond was deep and honest. I loved that. I also loved the humor that was laced through the entire book. Despite the search for a killer, they had a lot of fun with each other. Especially the sex scenes. They were just a humorous as they were sexy and I loved that ability they had to laugh at each other and tease one another. The plot itself wasn't perhaps the most unique as the investigation into the death of the hero's lover was quite easy and predictable but I didn't mind when I could enjoy these 2 characters. I have to say I'm quite impressed by this author so far. Her covers leave a lot to be desired and at first glance I wince and doubt the integrity of the pages within but once you give it a chance you'll see a true story and you'll always get a great love tale with a paranormal twist.
**MINOR SPOILERS** This book is part of a time travel series but can be read as a standalone as each book is independent with just the time travel idea tying them together. Luke Templeton is accused of rape and murder because of a series of articles that he wrote as a reporter in the 1960s. Just before he is electrocuted, he is sent forward in time where he meets Kelly. Kelly believes his story because he gives off electricity and his behavior and lack of knowledge about the current year. They begin investigating what happened. Luke’s time traveling is the result of a bet between the angel Gabriel and the devil’s handmaiden, Jezebel. He has six weeks to either redeem or condemn himself. Luke was framed by a Ku Klux Klan member. Having the Klan as an enemy gave them less likely odds at surviving or succeeding at what they were trying to do. There were many people involved in the Klan or afraid of them and you did not know who you could trust or who might be bought off including police and officials. Luke and Kelly have a pillow fight early in the story. I think the author meant for this to be lighthearted and a bonding moment, but it seemed to be too early in their relationship. Later (spoiler), Luke wants to seduce Kelly and it was manipulative and I did not care for what it said about his personality. Shortly thereafter Kelly asks Luke to get her pregnant and he agrees almost instantly. For someone whose future is so uncertain (he could be sent back in time, he could die when they figure the story out, or he could simply be able to stay), I thought he should have given some thought to the child growing up without a father. It made their involvement with each other and their relationship superficial when all they wanted to do was have sex. It could have been intimate and lost a star for missing that opportunity. The book lost another star because, in my opinion, it was descriptive of a lot of big events without conveying the emotion or impact of them. Kelly’s ex husband wants to get back together with her. He had cheated on her continuously during their marriage and had very little sex with her. There needed to be more explanation for why. Spoiler ...Reincarnation makes a late, and in my opinion, unnecessary appearance into the story. Given the way the reincarnated person dies, you would think that trauma would linger into the current life. The story has a bit of humor which I enjoyed. I do not plan to continue reading this author.
At almost the half way mark, I popped on here to see what others had to say. I was repeatedly pulled out of the story due to a sense that this is set in the 90s, not 2016. Everything to do with technology was just so outdated. When she used the payphone at a laundromat instead of using her cell phone, even though she went to town where reception wouldn't be a problem, I thought, whaaaattt. Anyhow, now I get it. It was indeed written in the 90s, but a few dates and references were changed to update it. The author really should have put the effort into updating the whole thing, not simply the dates.
I wasn't impressed with the whole arguing angels bit, but in spite of some problems, it's holding my attention. I'm definitely going to read to the end. Rated 3 for now.
UPDATE. Okay, I'll admit I skimmed a bit. Once it hit me that the current versions of the antagonists from the past would now be in their 80s and 90s, the story kind of lost me. It would have been better to leave it as it was rather than use the bandaid approach to updating. It really didn't work. There were also some odd little errors, such as Jack meeting Will and introducing himself as Duke. A few minutes later, Will says, well, nice to meet you Jack.
But, mostly the writing is decent and I liked the characters. Sadly, it's too flawed to recommend and I won't continue with the series. Final rating is a 2.
This book started out great... too bad it went nowhere pretty fast at about 1/3 of the read. You may be asking "Monique, why didn't you just DNF the damned book?" I don't know. It took a MONTH to finish it, so the time spent on it should have told me something. I guess a part of me wanted to know how this convoluted ball of confusion would end. The ending? Meh.
Here are the WTF elements: * Many times, the characters were doing things as if they were in the 90s, even though the present-day parts were set in 2016. I'm thinking this was a re-release, and the author/editor didn't do a good job with the updating. * The bad Klan guys: With the exception of the one with the deformed face and twisted sexual proclivities, they were all the same. I kept getting them confused. * Some deus ex machina moments... which made me wonder on the angel/demon element... * Why was the angel Gabriel and the demon Lilith/Jezebel/? part of the story? Their whole bet over whether the H/h would make it out okay or not was dumb. Their appearances were totally random, and they were in the story for 3 or 4 brief scenes. WTF?
Yeah... I won't be reading any more of this series, or anything else by this author.
I really liked this book. While Jack is meeting with the priest, he states "I'd sell my soul to the devil for vengeance". The next thing we know the angel Gabriel is betting with the devil to save Jack's soul. The story then moves quickly. There's time travel, there's a murder to solve and there's a romance between Kelly and Jack. Jack's life becomes Kelly's inspiration for her next book. As they investigate the murder 30 years later the danger is still present. Jack doesn't want to return to the past, but when Kelly is murdered Jack knows he has to go back and prevent Kelly's death. Once the people that framed him for murder are caught, Jack's wants to get back to the future so he can convince Kelly to fall back in love with him. Once he admits to Kelly that he loves her, Gabriel wins the bet and Jack's soul is saved.
Angel Gabriel and Devil Jezebel bet on a man and a woman
The man is sentenced to death in the electric chair for a crime he did not commit. When the switch is pulled he is transported to 2016-- from 196(. She is a modern suspense/romance writer staying at a cabin in rural Georgia to try to unblock. He shows up naked and must get her to believe he has traveled through time. She researches and finds the newspaper story and photo. Together they research and interview and eventually prove his innocence. This is a well thought out story with believable characters. Very interesting and you will not want to put it down.
I gave this a generous 3 stars because I really liked the plot of this book. Jack time traveling from 1965 to late 1990's-early 2000's, oops, I mean 2016. Kelly using landline phones, pay phones, etc. She has a laptop she never really uses other than to babysit Jack with an encyclopedia. She even goes to the actual ball field to find out if there's a game playing instead of Googling it.The angel vs demon aspect was the most unnecessary of this book. In between that and the unnecessary amount of sex scenes made me start flipping to where the story started up again.
I read book two first and loved it. Book one starts out equally well but Bob's down about 75% of the way through. I skipped several pages, got back into the "real" story and enjoyed the twists and turns of time travel, the inclusion of the Klan, and the actual story line. I recommend this book without all the sex scenes through in for a reason I don't understand. Now, on to book three.
So the premise of this was interesting, a murder musters/suspense story. And I thought it was interesting to have time travel but it wasn’t hundreds of years ago, just a few decades, but things had still changed so much. The MMC was ok, not bad but not awesome. The FMC was a little better but nothing really special. I didn’t like how the “ah”s were spelled to indicate a southern accent, it was kind of weird to me. The whole lawyer subplot was weird too.
When Jack was executed for a murder he was framed for he disappeared 51 years to the future. He fell in love and together they found who framed him. Back to the past with proof of the murderer then back to the future. Will his love of his life remember him. All the while not knowing Jezebel and Gabriel had bets on him.
Wow! So very well written. The book was amazing. It’s almost 1:00AM; I couldn’t put it down. It’s so different than too many time-travel romance novels that follow the same story development. And all of the characters were developed more than the usual. This book was suspenseful, and had quite a plot. I’m definitely going to look for what ever else this author has written.
This very well written time travel romance has if all. Suspense, mystery, intrigue, and some erotic sex which will have you on the edge of your seat. Every character has a very interesting part in the mysterious Jack Templeton case. Loved the tale and highly recommend it.
This author knows how to write love stories. If you enjoy an easy read, with lots of romance and sex, this is the one for you. At times, I thought the story was a bit lingering, but I enjoyed the whole concept of time traveling and setting things right.
The story setup was novel. I enjoyed Jack and Kelly solving the old crime, their developing relationship, and the time travel. The twist at the end was a pleasant surprise. All in all, I really enjoyed the story and would recommend it!
I liked the characters. Took me a minute to get into but, but then really enjoyed it. I don’t often find books where a character goes forward in time or anything to do with the 60’s. Enjoyed both of those twists. I’ll probably read the next in the series.
I felt like I was pulled into this book!I fell in love with the characters and storyline. It was exciting, thrilling and a bit mysterious. I definitely want to read more by Marilyn Campbell.
I liked this story. It’s not a big span of time like in traditional time-travel stories but I’m filing it that way.
The description of the book I am listing below is from the back jacket of the book. I'm adding it because I believe the one on the Goodreads page does not depict this story.
HE MADE A PACT WITH THE DEVIL It was 1965. Newspaper reporter Luke Templeton, convicted for a murder he did not commit, was waiting to be put to death. Desperate, Luke was willing to do anything to live, even sell his soul to the devil.
SHE HAD THE ARMS OF AN ANGEL It was 1997. Kelly Kirkwood was hiding out in a remote Georgia cabin trying to beat writer's block. Reading a news clipping about a Georgia execution in which the killer's body had mysteriously vaporized roused her imagination, but finding that same killer standing in her living room sent her into shock. Luke Templeton, protesting his innocence, was very much alive, and so handsome . . . and sexy, Kelly wanted to take him in her arms to protect him.
AND THEY FOUND THE TIME FOR LOVE Luke was only "on loan" in the future until he found the real killer and could go back to 1965. As much as he wanted to make love to Kelly, heaven and hell were at war for his soul. No one in this world--or the next--figured on this gutsy woman being ready to do the impossible—battling time itself to win his heart--and his freedom.
What would you do if a man showed up with a claim of travelling through time? For author Kelly Kirkwood, the situation comes right out of a fiction book. Well, sometimes life is stranger than fiction. The last thing Mark remembers before appearing at Kelly's residence was being prepared to be executed- in 1965! And ironically enough, Kelly had been researching that very same murder that Mark had been convicted of for her new book idea.
I found In and Out of Time to be riveting and suspenseful. Time travels are so interesting and many are unique. That is the case with this story. I finished this book within only a few hours, I was so engaged. For anyone who loves romantic suspense and the concept of time travel, then definitely check out Marilyn Campbell's In and Out of Time, and hold on tight, for you'll be in for a thrill ride.
I loved this book! The story was well written and extremely entertaining. I’ve read other time travel books, and found this story much more detailed and realistic/believable in how it ends. I definitely want to check out other books by this author.