Daughter of Time

After Cilmeri #0

by Sarah Woodbury

Daughter of Time tells the story of a young widow, Meg, healing from the pain of a brief, unhappy marriage, who falls through time into the Middle Ages — and into the arms of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last Prince of Wales. He saves her, and she in turn saves him, thanks to her knowledge of future events. Although powerful forces seek to divide them, by working together, Meg and Llywelyn have a chance to navigate the dangerous and shifting alliances that constantly undermine his rule and threaten the very existence of Wales — and to create a future in which Llywelyn's death does not come too soon.

Daughter of Time is a stand-alone novel within the world of the After Cilmeri series.

Genres: Time Travel, Romance, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Historical Romance, Fiction

349 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2011

About the author

With over a million books sold to date, Sarah Woodbury is the author of more than forty novels, all set in medieval Wales. Although an anthropologist by training, and then a full-time homeschooling mom for twenty years, she began writing fiction when the stories in her head overflowed and demanded that she let them out. While her ancestry is Welsh, she only visited Wales for the first time at university. She has been in love with the country, language, and people ever since. She even convinced her husband to give all four of their children Welsh names.

Sarah is a member of the Historical Authors Fiction Cooperative (HFAC), the Historical Novel Society, and Novelists, Inc. (NINC).


She makes her home in Oregon.

Reviews

[Lyndi W. · Rating 1 out of 5]

WHAT THE EVERLIVING FUCK WAS THAT.

Please excuse me, because I'm about to rage out.

The title - the freaking title - of this book is "Daughter of Time: A Time Travel Romance", so you'd think the romance would be important, right? No. Not really. This book feels like an excuse for the author to show us how knowledgeable she is about 13th century Welsh skirmishes. It's constantly the Prince of Wales going to meet this guy, then that guy, then walking into a trap, then meeting another guy before walking into another trap. And then sprinkle in some romance where the girl gets pregnant before you even realize they had sex. I do not give a flying fuck about all the battles - I read this for the romance, god dammit.

But what really grinds my gears and gets into spoiler territory... (though really, you'd be doing yourself a favor to just read the spoiler, find out how disappointing the ending is, and skipping the book to save yourself)







THAT IS NOT A HAPPILY EVER AFTER, GOD DAMMIT! She ends up going back to the 20th century - like they always do - and raises her son alone, miserable, and constantly pining for her lost love. The end.

Well... fuck you, too, then! I'm just... I can't even... PEOPLE. I CAN'T EVEN ANYMORE. THERE WILL BE NO MORE EVENING ON MY PART. I HAVE LOST MY ABILITY TO EVEN.

You know that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where that Nazi's face melts? I felt like that when I got to the words "The End." and realized I had just been Punk'd. And Ashton Kutcher was nowhere to be found. That was so... OMG I'm raging. I'm raging hard.

That's not how you end a romance, if you could even call the story a romance. In the loosest sense of the word, sure... they fell in love. But mostly, we just got a lot of conversations about tactics and who would betray who on which battlefield named something you can't pronounce, but has lots of "wyns" in it. I'm pretty sure there was a Gwynwynwyn somewhere in there. What the fuck, man? I kept reading in the hope that there would be some epic romantic ending where we find that Meg has saved Llywelyn's life, rewritten history, and they live happily ever after. Or they get to be together until history has him die and then they're transported back to the 20th century. You know... together somehow?

But they're not. It's the most unsatisfying ending I've ever read.

[TXGAL1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Call me captivated because that is what I am after reading DAUGHTER OF TIME by Sarah Woodbury! This book, #0.5 in the “After Cilmeri series” has it all—adventure, history, romance, and fantasy all combined to tell the story of Meg and Llewelyn.

We are introduced to Meg as a down trodden young mother of Anna who has low self esteem. Through unforeseen events, she and Anna are driven through time into 13th century Wales without knowing how she got there much less how she will return home. Will she be able to communicate with anyone?! How will Meg be able to explain her sudden appearance? These are only two of MANY questions that will need to be addressed—and QUICKLY!!

Needless to say, I’ve become hooked on this series and will begin #1 in the series, FOOTSTEPS IN TIME, shortly—-I can’t wait 🏰🗡

[Lvmm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edit, re-read 05/11/20, rating: 5 → 4

—————————————————————
08/14/12

After completing this book, I looked over some of the reviews and felt compelled to justify my point of view, so here it is!

Sure, Meg is a pretty static protagonist. However, she isn't as bad as most protagonists in YA novels. I enjoyed the originality of the plot more than the writing style of Sarah Woodbury, which I might add needed some development. It would be easier to list what I liked about this book, so here goes:

- I loved that the author did not make her "magically" know the language.
- Loved it that she didn't sleep with the man who rescued her on the first day.
- It was also refreshing that she didn't succumb to the blatant womanizer-brother.
- It wasn't a magical, happy ending. She didn't all of a sudden transport her new-found husband back to the modern world, which is an overused occurrence in such novels.

So, yes, I understand that the characters could use some personality. The writing could be spiced up a bit. However, the book is a refreshing variation from most Time Travel novels and that I respect. So bravo, Mrs. Woodbury. I look forward to continuing the After Cilmeri Series.

[Tarra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is obviously the author's love letter to Wales. Unfortunately, I didn't fall in love with this book. Not even much "in like" with it.



I like the concept, take an apparently beloved historical figure (and I Wiki'd him online because I'd never heard of him), Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales, and combine his story with a "romantic" tale of time travel.



The characters were flat and most of the time pretty uninteresting. They didn't change or grow. They were static and forgettable. The point of view shifted from chapter to chapter between Meg and Llyweln. I didn't have a problem with the first person narrative, but the pacing was pretty slow in many places, especially during the long diatribes about military strategy and planning. There were so many characters all with unpronounceable Welsh names, it was hard to keep them straight. Who was the main villain? What was the main conflict? I was lost after a while, there was just too much, but not enough. I didn't know where the author wanted my attention.



I don't see how this is classified as a romance. There were a couple of kisses. And literally, that's about all that was said about them, "he kissed me." I don't understand why these two people would want to be together, why the Prince of Wales, in the Middle Ages, would let a strange woman be privy to all his military strategy.



And the time travel aspect. Ugh. It felt like a gimmick. It didn't work. You could have cut out the entire time travel and have a more focused historical fiction novel. A young woman from the 1990's suddenly travels back in time to the Middle Ages. She's pretty accepting of everything, so are all the people she meets. She drives (drives! Very few questions are asked about this strange "chariot" she rides in) through some portal , who knows why, it's never explained, and there still is no conflict! There was no point! Don't just tell me, hey it's time travel. Believe it. Give me the magic and mysticism to back it up. And all the back story of Meg's husband - - no point! Another gimmick. I don't think there has ever been a book where I felt you could cut out one of the two main characters and have a better, more interesting book. The ending was ridiculous. I actually screamed "No freakin' way!" I can't believe that the author finished it that way. Not because it was a shocking ending, or a cliff hanger, but because it just didn't explain anything. It was a cop out.



Was this book trying to be "Outlander"? At least that one was done right.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an Amazon Daily free deal and I'm super glad I picked it up at that time.

This is very much a love story over a romance as all the sex (even much more than hand holding) happens off page, but the love story is solid. There are two huge Deus Ex Machina at play, both what puts Meg in the past and a later one of spoilers.

Meg is a believable character and I enjoyed her reaction to time travel without warning. She goes through I think a lot of what a modern woman would do when confronted with such an abnormality, rather than the over quick acceptance other time-travel romance heroines often display. The male (who has a Welsh name and is therefore unspellable) lead is believably alpha for the Prince of Wales and yet has his internal honor that makes attraction and love work.

I was caught off guard by the ending, so fair warning to others that this is a more traditional trilogy in the the story is most certainly NOT over at the end of the novel. I'm interested in reading the next, so the freebie system worked well with 'the first hit is free...'

[Elizabeth West]

Love this book! Yes, it's a time travel sweetheart romance, and you do need to suspend your belief a bit. One of the biggest criticisms I've seen is the lack of explanation for the time travel, but I LIKED this. To me, it was a hiccough in time, got it, and I liked feeling a little confused as I'm sure the main character, MEG, was when she suddenly went from dying in a car accident to 13th century Wales.

I'm now on like book 4 of the After Climeri series which is the follow up. I highly recommend this historical time travel romance if you want a completely fresh time period to visit and a break from the bodice rippers (though to be clear, I also LOVE a good bodice ripper and petticoat violating, teehee).

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book because it was free and it was something I usually don't read, just to change it up. But as soon as I started this book I could not put it down. I fell in love with Meg and Llywelyn. The end had me wanting more, I can't say anymore without spoiling the ending. For some who were familiar with the story it is obvious since this is a prequel of a book, but I had never heard of it so the ending was not expected for me, maybe somewhat since the time travel is in there from the start. I was interested from the start how the writer would play with how the Meg would be with her being from the future, but she was honest and upfront with it which was refreshing rather then beating around the bush the whole book. The story keeps the raunchiness out, which I was kind of wishing for one love scene once the two became more in love with one another, but Woodbury kept the love in with the emotions playing out from the two and through genuine touches from both, which held up in the place of the love scenes. One of my favorite parts of this book is that from chapter to chapter the viewpoints change from Meg to Llywelyn but keeping the chronology of the story in tact. Since the characters are from 2 different time periods and going through completely different emotions and circumstances while going through the same situation it was really nice to see both of their viewpoints. The only bad part of this book and the reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars, is that the first few chapters had a lot of welsh in it and for me that kind of sucks because I would really like to know how to really pronounce or say the words I'm reading. To help with that Woodbury did put a pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book, but since I was reading an eBook version it was more a pain to go back and refer to it. Once you get past the first few chapters the Welsh becomes less and it sticks to just the charterers and a few towns and castles and I just basically made up my own way of saying them for my own benefit and I was alright with it. Overall I loved this book and the story, I just finished it and have already bought the bundle of the first 2 eBooks of the After Climeri series and have it turned on to the first page ready for me to start reading it right away!

[Iva · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book's descriptions promises an exciting, romantic adventure novel. Needless to say, it fails to deliver.
Time travel fascinates me. Give me a book, tell me it's about someone ending up in another era, and I'll read it without question. That and the fact that this book was free cemented my decision to read it.
Meg has just escaped an abusive marriage with her two-year-old daughter. Her husband, Trevor, died in a drunk driving accident. (He had become alcoholic while battling cancer.) Sometime after the funeral Meg swerves off the road near where Trevor died, and falls into the thirteenth century.
At this point, one problem arrives. Anna is perfectly docile while all this is going on--the car is sinking into a swamp, her mother is injured, her surroundings are completely unfamiliar, and strangers are handling her. Besides having the vocabulary of a ten-year-old, this is indicative of Suism.
The next problem comes when Meg awakes to find Llywelyn. Convinced that hes a lunatic about to rape her, she grabs his knife intending to threaten him with it, but is beaten. This is the first incident that indicates she isn't necessarily an ally, the second being her knowledge of a future ambush, yet Llywelyn continues to trust her.
And then there's the issue of how easily he believes her claims of time travel. Even as she's foretelling his death he's quite indifferent. Huh?!
Alas, these are not the problems that made me put it down. Around the halfway point I became extremely bored and confused. Though not as obvious as some other freebies, this one is trash.

[David Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just so well done all round - engaging, flawless writing, thoroughly researched foundation, great characters, pace, plot. Will be reading more Sarah Woodbury!

P.S. I see a few reviewers have failed to appreciate a good book when they find one. I think that the author
a) has been bold enough to diverge from the mainstream (*cough, cough, lemming*) stampede to draft, style and plot her story in a way completely appropriate to the setting;
b) has written to a high standard of English, which some would find unfamiliar;
c) has refrained from devoting 25% of her pages to a detailed description of what went on between the sheets; and
d) has failed to deliver instant romantic gratification, clearly a major issue for some readers.

[Amanda Lauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book as I'm in the middle of writing a time-travel tale and wanted to see how other authors present the moment a person travels back in time, their knowledge and acceptance of what has passed, and how they come back to present day. The story is reasonably well-written and has tons of Welsh history but I wasn't a fan of the first person limited perspective. It felt like the characters were going about their business and then turn to the readers and give them snippets of history. Too much telling, not enough showing. Our female protagonist just seemed to accept her fate living in Medieval times and move on with her life. Um, ok... As a reader, you want your protagonists to become better versions of themselves, I wasn't seeing that. The male protagonist spoke in too-modern of language that kept drawing me out of their time frame into my own. While I enjoy reading clean romances, it would be nice to have some romance between our main characters. Had this been the first book in a trilogy, I'd probably have read the other two, but when I saw there were 19 books (and counting), I decided to move on to another series.

[Jeannie Glanville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! I loved this story! I have read so many historical romances, but never one this tender and fantastic. I haven't studied the history of Wales, for some silly reason. I know so much about the rest of Europe and the British Isles during the time frame of this book, and now I am hooked into reading about Wales. I think it makes it all the more interesting to me since I live in the area of PA that the book starts in.

This is the best historical romance I have read in ages! I don't want to give any details because I want you all to read it. The Prince of Wales is what all of us females have always dreamed of finding, whether you have Welsh blood or not. The fact that I am a descendant of Glamorganshire brings this story closer to my heart than if I did not have Welsh blood flowing through my veins.

Clean, beautifully written, and engaging throughout. Absolutely wonderful!

[Fawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book along with Footsteps in Time & Prince of time. I am not sure why it is listed as book #3 it should be book 1.
It's a time travel/historical romance with a twist. The description of Wales was beautifully done. I liked the characters and the way they interacted with each other. Sarah Woodbury did a great job of showing the love between Llywelyn and Meg without being smutty.
She also did a really good job blending the 13th and 20th century together. It was just really an enjoyable read.
Also, All 3 books flowed really well together yet they were all good on their own.

[L.W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had all the parts to it to make this a good story and worth the read. However, there were lots of really boring parts while foundations were laid to further the plot. Then the author committed THE Cardinal Sin as far as I'm concerned and had a really crappy ending, with the intent to fix it all in another book. I wont be sucked in that way unless the book is fantastic like a Harry Potter or the like. But even those books can stand on their own...this one cannot. So sadly, it's a passable story with a bs ending. Try it at your own risk

[Debrac2014 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good! I liked the way the author mixed history with time travel!

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently widowed Meg was the victim of spousal abuse. Trevor, her deceased husband, was gone but not forgotten. Thoughts of him were on her mind as she approached the place of his demise on a cold winter’s day when the roads were treacherously slippery with ice. Despite her caution, her car slid out of control, sending her and her daughter Anna off the road and into a ravine. This was the catalyst that took them back into time. Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, was on the ramparts of one of his many castles, contemplating the present and future when he saw the strange contraption come through the hedgerow and plunge into the bog. Instinctively he rushed to investigate. Seeing people in distress and knowing how dangerous the bog was, he instinctively rushed to save the occupants. Thus starts a relationship and journey few would want to miss. I must admit that the time travel concept has interested and intrigued me since reading the Outlander Series by Diane Gabaldon. This said, every time-travel book I read, I subconsciously compare to this truly extraordinary series. Sarah Woodbury didn’t make her literary task any lighter by sending her heroine back seven hundred years in time and pairing her up with a monarch. Meg, as an expatriate in time soon adjusts to the age as the epoch adjusts to her. She doesn’t add the medical tidbits that make the Gabaldon creation what it is. In the Outlander Series, Jamie is a minor noble that would have a very limited impact on history as a whole but Llywelyn was the last independent ruler of Wales. Any changes in his life changes the course of history and could and probably would have a significant affect on history. Putting this hyper theoretical point aside and judging the story purely on its merits, I enjoyed it and wouldn’t hesitate to read more books in this series or by this author. With so many new and old writers out there, competition is fierce and the lat is higher than it has ever been. Coming up with a unique concept and making it work is becoming increasingly difficult and the use of revolving grammatical personal forms only adds to the confusion. This story didn’t hit the bull’s eye but it certainly hit the target. This tale is sure to appeal to a wide audience.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meg is a young mother whose abusive husband has just been killed in a car accident. Not long after she is free, she and her daughter, Anna, find themselves transported to medieval Wales and Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's (last prince of Wales) court. Meg eventually makes her peace with where and when she finds herself and eventually falls in love with Llywelyn. Told in alternating points of view between Meg and Llywelyn, what happens when a doomed prince meets a woman who can tell him his future?

I am a sucker for time travel. Twice the sucker for when aforementioned time travel sends the traveler (intentional or otherwise) to medieval Europe. It's fantasy and historical fiction in one! My two favorite things! Plus I got this for free! I was predisposed to like this book....but I just couldn't, and I feel terrible about it.

I couldn't get over the flat characters. I think we're supposed to see Meg grow past her dead, abusive husband and become a stronger person...but that never really happens. As soon as she decides to trust him, she pretty much lets Llywelyn make the decisions and lead her about as he will. She remains more or less the same character beginning to end and it's only in the epilogue where she shows any drive or ambition. The relationship between Meg and Llywelyn just kind of happens, it doesn't grow, she just kind of decides one day, yeah ok, I guess I'm in love with you, sure.

Llywelyn was better, if slightly. He at least seemed to have a bit of a personality. He also had a lot more to actually do in the action of the story, being the prince of Wales and able to battle and whatnot.

This is a prequel to Woodbury's After Cilmeri series which follows Anna (Meg's daughter) and David's (Meg and Llywelyn's son) adventures back to medieval Wales which makes me wonder if this book was more of a writing exercise Woodbury decided to publish. Though looking at her website, it does appear she enjoys writing the prequels...so who knows.

All that being said, f the premise appeals to you, it's a very quick read, try it out and decide for yourself. It just wasn't really my bag.

[Angela Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time travel is one of my favourite genres, so this appealed to me and just what I needed it seemed. I would have given this story 4 stars, but I guess I was in a bit of a picky mood when I read a 12th century Welshman using the word "bugs" for insects. Granted that it was a tricky one, because the word bugs had no use in the English language until around the 15th century and the word Insects even later. Anyway I will stop being a picky ... and say that I liked the story.

Meg has been through a difficult marriage at a young age. She is still only twenty in the story when she is a widow with a two year old daughter. Her husband was abusive and cruel and died in a car accident. Meg whose family are of Welsh descent, is out in a car herself with her young daughter (Anna) in the back and the car skids on ice and when she next wakes up she is in 12th century Wales.

Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (The last Prince of Wales) saves her from her strange vehicle and takes her and her daughter into his castle and household. To be honest the story is pure escapism and fantasy at a high level. (Well duh that is what time travel is, lol) It's fine if that is what you need while reading it, although the ending annoyed me a bit too because of how it comes about.

Funny really that Diana Gabaldon can write about Jamie and Claire being parted but it makes perfect sense. She is still the master of romantic/historical time travel to me. However, I might at some point read the second book in this series just to see how the story continues...

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to give Mrs. Woodbury one more chance. I didn't enjoy the last book I read of hers, but I also go threw periods where I want a heavy or light book, or books with Lots of romance, or more about one character. Woodbury is a good Historical fiction author. The romance does take a back seat and the characters don't get deeply developed. You don't get to get into there heads as much and hear there every thought. This appeals to some, but I like a lot of character detail. This is deep in history a time before England conquered Wales. I think I liked this one more because it started with Meg and her story. Then you go back in time and you here about Llywelyn and his struggles. They meet and are in love fairly quickly and then the story drug for me. It was about 60 percent that I lost interest in Wales, I wanted to hear more about the characters. Then it ended.......let me just say if you want a happily ever after you need to read the second book and maybe even the 3rd. I won't be reading any more. Sarah is a good author just not my type of author and that is ok. This book has no sexual content but there is some swearing, just little hear and there. There is violence but it is not too detailed. I would say this is a PG13 read mostly because it is true to life and the history of the time.

[Margaret Metz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I am a total sucker for time travel books -- and those with heroes with heroes that are . . . heroes in the true sense of the word. This may not be classic literature, but as a romance it pushed all the right buttons without going too far into the areas that make me uncomfortable.

It also had a lot of action and adventure. There were some things that stretched the believability test, but I think that's true of all time travel books. You have to walk out with a little faith when you decide to read them.

I loved the characters in this book. One of the things that wins you over is how Meg, Llywelyn, and the various knights interact with Meg's daughter. That was so precious and felt very genuine. It also was very touching the relationship between the knights and how they reacted to the loss and wounding of one another. There were scenes I swear I could picture it happening and feel the tension when enemies were among them and they were all on guard.

For writing a basically clean, action-packed romance with a great hero, this gets a thumbs up from me.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happen to love Time travel stories and this one was pretty good. There is no real explanation for why Meg got transported to 1282 Wales, but as she was driving her car in a storm, just before impact, in what might have been a fatal crash, her car just leaps through time and drops her there. Most time travel stories I've read, don't have to deal with the artifacts that are brought along as much as this book. It is one thing to get some more appropriate clothes, but quite another to hide a car! Since I've done a lot of genealogy and have Welsh ancestors, it was interesting to read about the history of the country. I really had no idea there was som much animosity between the Welsh and English. This book is the prequel to the series Footsteps in Time series by the same author. I really wish I had a clue as to how the names are pronounced because Welsh has WAY too many consonants, especially W and Y and I kept getting caught trying to figure out how to pronounce them in my head. Sure would have been nice if she'd included a parenthetical pronunciation guide!

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! I would call it an "Outlander" type without the 'sexy-time'! :) I love any/all/most time travel books....romance thrown in can be a plus, but I like the gals who get to go back and see what it was really all about. This one was no different. It gave me what I wanted.

Girl has some minor troubles (or major depending on your thoughts), girl heads to ice-cream shop with daughter, girl finds worm-hole through time and lands in medieval Wales! Sweet! I love the interaction between the two main characters (because neither believes the other).

Now...do you like cliff-hangers? Do you like everything wrapped up nice and neat? Well....I guess I'd call this a cliff-hanger. It certainly left me wanting more!

If you like Wales, Time-Travel, Girl-in-the-wrong-time-but-it's-oh-so-right, a wee bit of romance, and a tad of humor...pick it up, it's worth the read!

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review after reading through book 10 of this series.

Something about this time travel series really captured my imagination and it was not hard in the least to blow through to book 10! Very well written, both in terms of characters, setting and history, it very refreshingly unique. The books take place in the modern day US and both modern and medieval Wales, and have the added distinction of time travelers not afraid to change or influence the future. The ever expanding cast of characters grab you. I'm looking forward to more books from this talented author!

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a free Kindle book so my expectations were not very high, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a time travel romance leaning toward the romance, but it is also a bit of historical fiction. Meg and her daughter are involved in a auto accident that propels them back to the Middle Ages and 13th century Wales, and right into the arms of Llywelyn, the Prince of Wales. The book was well written and a nice piece of light reading, and you can't beat the price.

[Vikki Vaught · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I did enjoy the story and the characters, I listened to the audio version. The author uses I said, he said, she said all the characters said way too often for an audio book, so I found it very annoying. Also at times, the dialogue, especially for the prince was too modern. If I had time to read instead of listen, I would probably continue the series. Happy reading!

[Isis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The author told the story from both of the main character's point of view, alternating the storyteller with each chapter. It seems like it would be awkward, but it worked. As soon as I finished this book, I immediately bought book two.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how Meg reacted to time travel without warning. If it were me I would probably freak out but then enjoy it. The Prince of Wales was a loveable alpha male. It was a good book but definitely need to read the next book to see what happens next.

[Deborah Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am liking the mix of historical with modern views. Good romance too.

[Robynne Lozier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a vague idea I may have read this book way back in 2011 or 2012 when it was first published, but have never done a review. So I have just read this book again.

This was a great story, only took me 3 hours to read it in one sitting. Deserves the full 5 stars.

It is numbered as 0.5 because it is the prequel of the series - the story of when and how Meg found herself in 13th century Wales and became the spouse of the last true Prince of Wales - Llewellyn ap Gruffydd.

Book 1 in this series starts off with 2 American teenagers, Anna and David, travelling through time (from 2012 to 1282) to a place called Cilmeri (pronounced Kil-mary) in Wales.

History says that Llewellyn was killed by the English at Cilmeri in 1282.

In Book 1, these 2 teenagers crashed through time and killed the English soldiers, leaving Llewellyn slightly wounded. But he did survive.

History says that Wales was conquered and subsumed by the English after Llewellyns death in 1282. The Welsh people never forgot.

But this review is supposed to be about the prequel. The story of Meg, became the wife of Llewellyn and the mother of both David and Anna.

Meg does tell Llewellyn some things of the future, uncluding the day he would die and also the difference between 13th century peasants and 20th century humans. Not necessarily of their technology, but more of how people themselves have changed.

A very interesting book. Cannot wait to read more of this series.

5 stars because, as I said above, I could not put this down!!!

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got the free Kindle version of this, which is always sort of a hit and miss venture. The risk just keeps me coming back, though. Like gambling! Sweet, literary gambling.

Anyway, I started this book with fairly low/ambiguous expectations, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised! The simplest way to sum up how I felt about it is to do the what I liked/what I didn't like bit. So, behold:

What I liked:

1. The characters--even though they were in a fantastical situation, everyone was pretty believable all around. Even those who happened to be noblemen seemed like people you might meet on the street. I genuinely cared what happened to the protagonists, which is not something that just any book can inspire.

2. The setting--I know approximately nothing about thirteenth-century Wales, which is where the majority of this book takes place, and it was interesting to learn a bit more about that slice of history. Pretty cool stuff!

3. The chemistry--This is true for most of the characters, but is particularly great when it comes to the protagonists. They felt so natural together, which is impressive on the author's part, since she's portraying a romance between people who have a 20-year age gap. There were so many moments when I wanted to squee a little bit, because it was so fantastic and sweet and romantic, especially since the romance didn't stray into corny territory, which I very much appreciated.

4. The good clean fun--I'll just come right out and say it: I fully expected there to be adult scenes in this book. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that there weren't any--they were alluded to, but in the vaguest way possible. The story didn't need scenes like that, and was much classier without them.

5. The perspective--This book is narrated in dual first-person perspective, which is one of my favorite types. It gives a more well-rounded view, since we get to find out what other people think of what's going on, and we even get to hear what one narrator thinks of the other, which is such a great device for an author to use. There's always as many opinions about an event or person as there are other people to have an opinion about it, and this perspective makes the narrators feel much more human because of the way it portrays that variation.

What I didn't like:

1. The language barrier issues--As this takes place in Wales, everyone is naturally speaking Welsh and/or French (which, according to the book, was the language spoken in court during that time period). The female protagonist lets us know that she took French in high school and that her mom taught her some Welsh when she was growing up. So basically, she has, at best, a working knowledge of these languages. However, once she's in Wales, she very quickly "remembers" what she's learned and becomes fluent in both. I've studies Spanish for six years, and there are definitely some things Meg says that I would have no clue how to say in Spanish, regardless of the fact that I have probably had more education in it than she has supposedly had in Welsh and French. It's a recurring problem with language barriers in books, though ultimately a forgivable one--there's no way characters like Meg could find it so easy to become fluent, but then, it would be annoying to the reader to have to struggle along with the character as they try and fail to communicate. In short, it's a necessary evil for books like this one.

2. Some errors in verisimilitude--I've said it before and I'll say it again: verisimilitude is crucial, even (and maybe especially) for fantasy writers. There were times when the fantastic elements of the story were easier to believe than supposedly more realistic details. For example, Meg, the female protagonist, has almost no qualms about the fact that her mother and sister are probably going crazy wondering what happened to her and her daughter after they traveled back in time (at least, she never mentions any such misgivings), and her mom takes the whole thing pretty much in stride. Maybe there are some people who would react that way, but I didn't buy it.

3. Typographical errors--I've found that e-books are much more prone to this problem than print books tend to be, and this book was, unfortunately, far from being an exception to this rule. I mean, I get that e-books are a very new thing and that there are still plenty of bugs to work out, but it's discouraging to see error after error. The word usage ones were particularly jarring--for example, the author used "emersion" instead of "immersion," and other such vocabulary gaffes. Things like that tended to tear me back out of what was otherwise a pretty mesmerizing story.

4. Difficult to follow--Like most historical fiction, this book necessarily had quite bit of historical narrative that the author used to set the scene and keep things real. Usually, this was okay, but at times, it was hard to keep the names straight and figure out who was related to whom. I'm not sure if this was the author's fault or mine, but regardless, it could be frustrating at times. Also, there were several time shifts that sort of bled into each other--I was tracking with it, and then all the sudden, with no real warning, something entirely different was happening and I wasn't sure how we had gotten there. I think the plot would have benefited from cleaner, more obvious time shifts in general.

In short, this book is far from perfect, but it's a very sweet story, and a very fun one to read. The historical aspect is an added bonus. I heartily recommend this one to anyone who loves historical fiction, romance, time travel stories, or all three!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meg Lloyd and her 2 year old daughter are mysteriously transported back to 1268 Wales and the time of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales. How do they cope with their new lives.
An enjoyable story.