Timeless Deception

by Susanne Marie Knight

Waking up in 1816 as the Countess of Saybrooke, Alaina must convince the man of her dreams that she is cut from an altogether different cloth than his unfaithful wife Alicia. The Earl of Saybrooke must come to gripes with his wife’s sudden descent into virtue. Is it wishful thinking on his part or is she now his and his alone?

Genres: Time Travel, Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Time Travel Romance

200 pages, Paperback and eBook

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Award-winning author Susanne Marie Knight specializes in Romance Writing with a Twist! She currently has sold 75 books including the Dream Realm speculative fiction winner THE COMING and science fiction romance winner JANUS IS A TWO-HEADED GOD. She also is a seven-time EPPIE finalist and writes in such diverse genres as Regency, paranormal, science fiction, mystery, suspense, time-travel, and contemporaries. Find out more about her works at http://www.susanneknight.com, and her blog at http://romancewritingwithatwist.blogs...

Reviews

[Bex (Beckie Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alaina Sawyer a modern woman awakens two hundred years in the past to find she’s now living the life of Lady Alicia: a seemingly horrid woman who is estranged from her husband and child and presently residing on their country estate banished there by her husband Richard Cransworth the Earl of Saybrooke for her many past indiscretions.

Almost identical save a few inconsistencies Alaina figures her best bet is to impersonate the Countess until she can switch back and go home to the future. But living Alicia’s life comes with some problems and the former Countess has left quite a mess in her wake including that of a husband that detests and doesn’t trust her and a son that is virtually a stranger. There’s also an earned reputation that Alaina will need to overcome and with a return home looking doubtful Alaina may very well be stuck in 1818 for good.

This was a fun read the relationship at its centre is very much an antagonistic angsty one as Richard and Alaina constantly manage to bump heads. She with a need to prove herself and Richard convinced she’s still playing games. It’s not an overlay graphic read it very much follows the old formula when it comes to romances where we get all the angst misunderstandings and then the final resolution and intimacies.

I would have definitely preferred a less abrupt ending though and I would have liked at least a chapter of Richard and Alaina together and happy as a couple.
It also was rather predictable but overall this was still a fun sweet read. I used to read loads of time travel romances a few years back and this reminded me all over again why I liked them so much.




Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com

[Delirious Disquisitions · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet love-transcends-time story, that I very much enjoyed. It was really straight forward, avoiding all the complexities of time travel that you see in other books. It was refreshing yet slightly disappointing at the same time. Disappointing, because this book could have been so much better.

There are some technical mistakes in this book, primarily the way the servants talked and acted were quite out of character for the time period. Even with respect to some terms, which are I believe quite advanced for their time.

The ending was horribly abrupt. I was turning the pages asking what happened next, when I realized the book was over! Quite a disappointment. I would have at least preferred some sort of Epilogue or a little glimpse into what Alicia was up to in the present time. Other than these factors, the book was a good light read.

If you are looking for a quick, simple time travel romance, then this is your book! 2.5 stars.

[Sönïa Dhillion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I took a leap of faith with this one. You see there was only one review on this book on goodreads and I will be the second review. I usually wouldn't read a book if it never had a few reviews but I thought why not.

So my thoughts are that this book was good , okay read. It wasn't a entire surprise or shock for Alaina because she sort of knew what had happened. It's like you walking into a room thinking it's empty then getting a fright because you forget a dog was in the room. The story was good but it lacked compassion or intimacy. Did Rick really love Alaina???.

Alaina, Rick and Terry

[Alexandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sooo, this book started off really well for me. Alaina is a great character and the author dives right into the story with this book. You're immediately hooked to what's happening and you get a strong sense for Alaina's character from the get go.

And things progressed smoothly for a while....

And then they slowed down....

And then it seemed like things weren't progressing at all...

Then I realized I was at the 80% mark, wondering when the fuck things were gonna pick up...

And by the time they did, it ended.

That about sums up my problems with this book in a nutshell. The pacing was.....awkward to say the least. And good pacing is one of those crucial things about a book. It can kinda makes or breaks it. And here, it damn near broke it for me. We had enough time to really get to know and like Alaina in this book. And I wanted to like Rick too. But by the time things start to develop between these two, it's too little too late. And Rick's perspective and attitude towards Alaina seemingly changes over night.

Once again, I felt like I really didn't get a good chance to know him. Not only him, but all of the secondary characters as well. They just all seemed very superficial to me. Like if you asked me, I might be able to give you a one word description of each of them.

And lastly, this book came off really cheesy at times. It could be that this is an older novel. It could be that the writing just wasn't my usual standard. But some of the dialogue had me cringing, and thinking....


Once again, that's just me. But I've read books just as old if not older that have withstood the test of time much better.

This book wasn't bad. As I said, it started off really well. But it was it's progression and subsequent ending that really did me in. 3 stars.

[Nessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

PROMISING, BUT I FELT THE CHARACTERS LACKED TRUE INTERACTION TO REALLY CALL IT LOVE. The male lead's prejudiced against his wife's actions and often thought the worse of Alaina. The poor woman didn't even get a fighting chance, and it was more of an "I accuse you" story than a cute, endearing romance.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of travelling back to the regency period was what caught my attention. However the book itself was at times frustrating with both the plot and actions of the main heroine of the story. I think it was fine, it just didn't live up to the hype of the premise.

[Karen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Time Travel

This story is about a woman who looks like another in the 1800s of England. The woman from England is not a nice person and finds someone who can switch the two of them. Alaina, the American adjusts to the 1800s and falls in love with the nasty woman’s husband.

[Lillium · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! This was just what I was looking for in a timetravel story. Such a nice read!

[Saskia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming and delightful!