Keeping Time

Servants of Fate #3

by Wendy Sparrow

When Ruin’s mortal sacrifice to the Fates on New Year’s Eve is already dying, it should be the easiest life he has to take, but not this year. The dying man knows Ruin is there to kill him, but he asks Father Time’s son to look after his twin sister. Ruin can’t stay away from the sweet and sensual Phoebe. His previous interactions with women changed the definition of his name, Ruin, so he can’t fall for her, especially when the lovely mortal doesn’t know he killed her brother.

Phoebe’s brother promised to send her a guardian angel, but Ruin seems too devilish to be holy. He only wants to be friends and keep watch over her, but she can’t resist him. Loving Ruin is a sin tempting her heart. How wrong is it to cause an angel’s fall?

Ruin and Phoebe’s time is running out as another New Year’s Eve sacrifice approaches, and Ruin might lose everything for keeping his true hand in fate secret.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal

142 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2016

About the author

At home in the Pacific Northwest, Wendy Sparrow writes for both an adult and young adult crowd in many genres but always with a happily ever after. She has two wonderfully quirky kids, a supportive husband, and a perpetually messy house because she hates cleaning. She’s an advocate both online and in her community for autistic children in addition to actively trying to raise awareness about obsessive compulsive disorder. Most days she spends on Twitter procrastinating doing the dishes.

Reviews

[The Book Junkie Reads . . . · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruin is my favorite of Father Time sons. I love Ruin and Phoebe as a couple. It was just something about the sacrifice of a brother, his dying devotion and love to a sister. Ruin gradual acceptance of what lay in store for him. Fate has a game going and seems to be stacking the deck in its favor.

There was so much more to this third installment of the Servants of Fate that just held me to the end and left me not wanting to lay it down. Ruin has ruined me for all others to come. I believe that it would be fun to see Father Time somewhere down the line get his.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eh, closer to 3.25, I think. It was fun, but the first two were better. By book three, things begin to feel very formulaic, and there was a pretty heft chunk from a scene in book #2 that was pretty much copy-pasted in.

I enjoyed it. Ruin was adorable. If more novellas were set in this world, I'd snatch them up in a heartbeat. They were the light hearted fluffy stories I was craving.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning and the end flowed well but the middle of the story just seemed forced.

[Amalia Dillin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruin is officially my favorite. His relationship with Phoebe is absolutely precious, and the way they meet and the slow build -- I love when a relationship takes its time, and Sparrow captures perfectly that strange intimate space of best friends who maybe want to be something more but are too afraid to take the next step for whatever reason. It was interesting to see how this novella intertwined with TAKING TIME, and I love love loved that in both of these sequels there are calls back to Zeit and Hannah for help as the Family Authorities on love and relationships.

Sparrow AGAIN gave us enough of a twist to keep the story fresh, and I didn't want to put this one down -- In fact, I wish it hadn't ended!

**I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
reread 2017:
Hi I still love this book too. Go buy it for your holiday reading pleasure.

[Soccergypsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

** I volunteered to read an advance reader copy. **

This was a wholesome read. (Another installment in the series that is able to be read as a stand-alone.) Characters that were mentioned in "Taking Time" are highlighted here in their own tale. I embraced this storyline with open arms. A pleasant and endearing escape.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed reading the books in this series. Perfect read for the days leading up the New Year.