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The Hope Chest #1
The Mesmerist
An antique hope chest containing five unique objects . . . five people inexorably drawn to the items inside . . . each sent to the past where they must accomplish a task and find their own path to true love with the help of a magical matchmaker determined to bring soul mates together, even across time.
On the eve of her wedding, dog trainer Gina Charles finds her fiancé in flagrante delicto with her maid of dishonor, so she flees to a hotel in a nearby town. Unfortunately, her room already has another occupant—a ghost with compelling dark eyes who cuddles up to her in the middle of the night.
Gina reluctantly agrees to help the ghostly mesmerist, Drake Manton, learn how he died. When her investigation leads her to the burned-out Chesterfield hotel, Gina finds a hope chest in the ruins and is drawn to the melted dueling pistol inside. When she touches it, she and her faithful terrier hurtle back in time to 1883 where she comes face-to-face with the very alive, very sexy mesmerist.
Now all Gina has to do is prevent Drake’s fiery death so she can return to her own time. Or will she give up her life in the future for a lifetime of love in Drake’s arms?
Originally published as Enchantment by Zebra Ballad.
On the eve of her wedding, dog trainer Gina Charles finds her fiancé in flagrante delicto with her maid of dishonor, so she flees to a hotel in a nearby town. Unfortunately, her room already has another occupant—a ghost with compelling dark eyes who cuddles up to her in the middle of the night.
Gina reluctantly agrees to help the ghostly mesmerist, Drake Manton, learn how he died. When her investigation leads her to the burned-out Chesterfield hotel, Gina finds a hope chest in the ruins and is drawn to the melted dueling pistol inside. When she touches it, she and her faithful terrier hurtle back in time to 1883 where she comes face-to-face with the very alive, very sexy mesmerist.
Now all Gina has to do is prevent Drake’s fiery death so she can return to her own time. Or will she give up her life in the future for a lifetime of love in Drake’s arms?
Originally published as Enchantment by Zebra Ballad.
371 pages, ebook
First published June 1, 2001
535 people are currently reading
880 people want to read
About the author
Pam McCutcheon
47 books44 followersI've been a reader all my life, starting out with fairy tales and graduating to reading everything in the house when I grew older, including my parents' romances, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and action/adventure.
If a writer can combine romance and humor with a fantasy, science fiction, or paranormal element, I'm hooked. Add action/adventure, and it's even better!
Since I couldn't find quite enough books that combine these elements, I sat down to write some of my own. The result is the books you'll see on my website.
I now live in Colorado with my three dogs: Mo, Daisy and Trixie.
Pseudonyms: Pamela Luzier (Fantasy genre) and Parker Blue (Young Adult urban fantasy genre).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
December 13, 2016
Meh
I preface this review by saying I know how time consuming writing is. And sometimes, a great idea just doesn't come to fruition as we hope. And once we get going...sometimes it's easier just to run with what we have than scrap it and start all over again.
Review:
I honestly only stayed until the end to pass the time & find out how it ends.
The heroine wasn't likable to my way of thinking. She was TOO stereotypically "21st century woman." Some of the interactions had me rolling my eyes and others were just downright boring.
I felt the plot was too glossed over in many aspects. This book takes place over a 6 month period of time, but much of it is showing versus telling.
There wasn't a real sense of 'feeling' between the 2 main characters and I certainly didn't feel anything for either of them.
I mostly plodded through to the end to see how the author wrapped it all up...and it was basically lackluster as I expected. (**SPOILER ALERT** It would have been far better to have Gina actually go back to her own time & have Drake pine for her...and Gina pine for him. And have some 'twist' that gets them back together with the reader feeling a profound sense of relief. (Because, honestly, I FELT no emotion reading this book.)
I preface this review by saying I know how time consuming writing is. And sometimes, a great idea just doesn't come to fruition as we hope. And once we get going...sometimes it's easier just to run with what we have than scrap it and start all over again.
Review:
I honestly only stayed until the end to pass the time & find out how it ends.
The heroine wasn't likable to my way of thinking. She was TOO stereotypically "21st century woman." Some of the interactions had me rolling my eyes and others were just downright boring.
I felt the plot was too glossed over in many aspects. This book takes place over a 6 month period of time, but much of it is showing versus telling.
There wasn't a real sense of 'feeling' between the 2 main characters and I certainly didn't feel anything for either of them.
I mostly plodded through to the end to see how the author wrapped it all up...and it was basically lackluster as I expected. (**SPOILER ALERT** It would have been far better to have Gina actually go back to her own time & have Drake pine for her...and Gina pine for him. And have some 'twist' that gets them back together with the reader feeling a profound sense of relief. (Because, honestly, I FELT no emotion reading this book.)
May 17, 2020
I had ambiguous feelings about this book. I love historical romance and mystery a lot, but I'm not big on sci-fi nor time travel. So I had mixed emotions about this book and its plot.
I really liked that it was an easy, fun, and quick read. I also enjoyed the historical and romance aspects of the book, and believe it or not the time travel hooked me a little bit too. It was a little different than other time travel books I've read; however, it didn't hook me enough to give the book more stars. I did like it enough, however, to continue the series and see what more the author will do with it.
Character development was done quite well, and I loved Gina and her sense of humor. She is a dog trainer, I'm a dog lover, so that helped me to enjoy her character, too. After a traumatic discovery she made, she met a man (or should I say a ghost?) named Drake Manton. He gets her to help him with finding out something that happened to him and in doing so she came across a chest and touches a pistol and that spirals her back into 1883. From there the story is quite fun.
I really liked that it was an easy, fun, and quick read. I also enjoyed the historical and romance aspects of the book, and believe it or not the time travel hooked me a little bit too. It was a little different than other time travel books I've read; however, it didn't hook me enough to give the book more stars. I did like it enough, however, to continue the series and see what more the author will do with it.
Character development was done quite well, and I loved Gina and her sense of humor. She is a dog trainer, I'm a dog lover, so that helped me to enjoy her character, too. After a traumatic discovery she made, she met a man (or should I say a ghost?) named Drake Manton. He gets her to help him with finding out something that happened to him and in doing so she came across a chest and touches a pistol and that spirals her back into 1883. From there the story is quite fun.
June 17, 2020
3.5 - 4 stars
This story was an interesting one. It had a mix of many different genres that made this quite a unique story. It was a ghost/time travel /historical romance type of story. What intrigued me most from the back cover was the time travel aspect of the story. I have read some, but not a lot of time travel romance stories so I was interested in how that element would be along with the other mixture of things.
The story began with Gina fleeing her wedding rehearsal after she caught the groom cheating on her with the maid of honor to this hotel in this small town. When she woke up was to find this ghost in her room, who she could see, speak, and touch when no one else could, surprising not only Gina, but Drake the ghost.
Ghost Drake knew he died, and that he was in fact a ghost, but had no clue on how he died. He had been haunting this town for over a hundred years and not able to leave. He thought the reason he couldn’t move on was because he didn’t remember why he died. So, he enlisted he help of Gina to help discover what happened to him.
They come up with some clues of how he died and where. Together they go to the place where he died to see if there were any more clues to reveal why he died. The discover a box with a bunch of junk in it with one of the items being a burnt pistol.
As soon as Gina touched the pistol, she was sent back to 1885 where Drake was very much alive, but would only be alive for six months unless she did something to save him. Thus story took off from there.
I get why the beginning was the way it was, but it just felt really rushed, and I thought ghost Drake was very unnecessary just because how little time that was spent with that particular storyline. I think that could have been drawn out a little more and have more of a rapport between them before Gina traveled back to the past. I think it would have been an interesting angle on the story if there was a relationship beforehand because it would have upped the stakes and just add additional layers to the story especially because Drake would have had no memory of Gina when she had gone back in time, but in the present she did, which could have complicated a lot of things especially if she had feelings involved for ghost Drake then seeing Drake in the flesh just would have put an awesome spin on the story I think. But ghost Drake really was only used in order to get her to the past by providing information that would have helped her in her quest to save him the past. I just think ghost Drake could have been used more, and I think it was a missed opportunity there. It would have helped the pace if more time was spent with ghost Drake than actually was, instead rushed in the way it was.
For whatever reason this story reminded me of the tv show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman , and I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. It had that same type of feeling even though it did not take place in the west, nor was it a time travel story. It felt very town-like despite the fact it took place at a resort. Just the whole vibe of it gave me those type of feels which I really appreciated. It really made me want to delve more into the resort, and its characters as explored 1885 right along with Gina. It was just done really well.
I also really liked seeing Gina deal with the fact that she was in 1885, and all the new rules she had to adhere to because wasn’t used to them because of the time period. She had to learn to cope with that all while dealing with trying to save Drake from his fate from the first time she arrived. I liked seeing her adapt to her circumstance as she learned more and more about 1885.
It just really immersed me in the whole historical aspect of this story. It was very much different from the highlander and regency romance that I have read in historical romance. It was interesting to see that time period in the United States. I don’t think I have ever read this time period and this type of setting before, but I found I very much enjoyed it.
I really liked the urgency to this story once Gina arrived in the past. There was a literal ticking clock of the death of Drake. She only had six months to save his life as well figure out why he was going to die all the while trying to convince him of this fact. When she revealed the truth to him after doing everything in her power to convince his to leave the resort, which some of the things she did were pretty freaking funny, they butted heads a little bit on this because he didn’t believe her at first while she did everything to convince him of the truth. It was really entertaining, but that pressure of time was there wafting in the background with that unspoken danger of what was to come.
Though I will say the six months went fast throughout the story because after certain event weeks or even a month went by without any real detail and just more of a summary of “two weeks past after..” or One moment it was October then it was November in the next chapter the past. I understand why it was done, and why the six month period was used (because there was a certain reason), but it almost felt too quick at times. Six months went by within flash. I think it wouldn’t have bothered me if there was a little bit more relationship development between Gina and Drake in those months that past, but there was very little in terms of them as a romance so that was what made it feel very fast too.
I enjoyed the part of his being a memoirist aka hypnotist/psychologist. It was interesting to see how they dealt with mental health back in the day. And just to see the mental health profession in its infancy was very interesting to me. I loved that Drake wanted to help heal people with his skills. I loved how he cared about every one around him. How he used his skills to help people was really sweet to see.
As for the romance between Gina and Drake, I felt a little lukewarm towards almost to the neutral. Yes, they had some good moments together. I believed cared about each other. They had a couple passionate moments together. They worked really good together as a team as they helped people while Gina was trying to convince him to leave to save him. They had some feisty moments. They had some cute moments. They had a lot of funny moments together. I liked seeing them together. There was just something that was missing that I wasn’t totally gun ho for them. Even though they did get know each other and learned what made they other tick, I think they could have been more emotional intimate with one another. I think they could have delved a level deeper than they went. I feel a lot more focus was on keeping him alive, getting him to believe her, and the physical stuff that there wasn’t a lot of focus on more of the emotional closeness between them. I wanted to see more intimacy scenes between them. I wanted to see more development and growth between them as a couple. They did have their moments as I said, but I needed a little bit more. I think the romance was a bit let down for me.
I did like Drake and respected what he wanted to do with his memoirist skills, but I think he was a little too beta for me especially when he was a ghost. He just came off weird to me. It just didn’t feel realistic of a depiction of person. It felt forced in the beginning. He just felt off to me. He got better as the story progressed, but in the beginning I wasn’t feeling him. He was just very flat of a character.
Overall I did like the story. I wasn’t bored by it, but overwhelmed about the story either. At times I felt the story was rushed and made me wish that there was more exploration and development especially in the beginning of the story. It was just a weird pacing in the beginning. It got better once Gina landed in 1885 then the story got more interesting not only with her dealing with the fact that she was in 1885, but dealing with how to figure out to keep Drake alive. I liked seeing thee time crunch aspect, which upped the intensity to the story. It gave the story a kick of adrenaline and suspense that I really enjoyed seeing play out. There were some funny moments in there too especially during some of the interactions with Drake and Gina. The story was just really good aside from the romance. The romance just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t hate it, but I think so much more could have happen that would have made me more behind it. Don’t get me wrong I liked them together, but I wanted more development in their relationship. I wanted see more intimacy scenes between them. Something more. The romance was what I was looking forward to the most, but it was a little disappointing. They weren’t my favorite couple or romance of all time. Everything else in the 1885 part I really enjoyed and found myself really interested in that really kept my eyes glued to the page. I was glad I read it.
This story was an interesting one. It had a mix of many different genres that made this quite a unique story. It was a ghost/time travel /historical romance type of story. What intrigued me most from the back cover was the time travel aspect of the story. I have read some, but not a lot of time travel romance stories so I was interested in how that element would be along with the other mixture of things.
The story began with Gina fleeing her wedding rehearsal after she caught the groom cheating on her with the maid of honor to this hotel in this small town. When she woke up was to find this ghost in her room, who she could see, speak, and touch when no one else could, surprising not only Gina, but Drake the ghost.
Ghost Drake knew he died, and that he was in fact a ghost, but had no clue on how he died. He had been haunting this town for over a hundred years and not able to leave. He thought the reason he couldn’t move on was because he didn’t remember why he died. So, he enlisted he help of Gina to help discover what happened to him.
They come up with some clues of how he died and where. Together they go to the place where he died to see if there were any more clues to reveal why he died. The discover a box with a bunch of junk in it with one of the items being a burnt pistol.
As soon as Gina touched the pistol, she was sent back to 1885 where Drake was very much alive, but would only be alive for six months unless she did something to save him. Thus story took off from there.
I get why the beginning was the way it was, but it just felt really rushed, and I thought ghost Drake was very unnecessary just because how little time that was spent with that particular storyline. I think that could have been drawn out a little more and have more of a rapport between them before Gina traveled back to the past. I think it would have been an interesting angle on the story if there was a relationship beforehand because it would have upped the stakes and just add additional layers to the story especially because Drake would have had no memory of Gina when she had gone back in time, but in the present she did, which could have complicated a lot of things especially if she had feelings involved for ghost Drake then seeing Drake in the flesh just would have put an awesome spin on the story I think. But ghost Drake really was only used in order to get her to the past by providing information that would have helped her in her quest to save him the past. I just think ghost Drake could have been used more, and I think it was a missed opportunity there. It would have helped the pace if more time was spent with ghost Drake than actually was, instead rushed in the way it was.
For whatever reason this story reminded me of the tv show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman , and I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. It had that same type of feeling even though it did not take place in the west, nor was it a time travel story. It felt very town-like despite the fact it took place at a resort. Just the whole vibe of it gave me those type of feels which I really appreciated. It really made me want to delve more into the resort, and its characters as explored 1885 right along with Gina. It was just done really well.
I also really liked seeing Gina deal with the fact that she was in 1885, and all the new rules she had to adhere to because wasn’t used to them because of the time period. She had to learn to cope with that all while dealing with trying to save Drake from his fate from the first time she arrived. I liked seeing her adapt to her circumstance as she learned more and more about 1885.
It just really immersed me in the whole historical aspect of this story. It was very much different from the highlander and regency romance that I have read in historical romance. It was interesting to see that time period in the United States. I don’t think I have ever read this time period and this type of setting before, but I found I very much enjoyed it.
I really liked the urgency to this story once Gina arrived in the past. There was a literal ticking clock of the death of Drake. She only had six months to save his life as well figure out why he was going to die all the while trying to convince him of this fact. When she revealed the truth to him after doing everything in her power to convince his to leave the resort, which some of the things she did were pretty freaking funny, they butted heads a little bit on this because he didn’t believe her at first while she did everything to convince him of the truth. It was really entertaining, but that pressure of time was there wafting in the background with that unspoken danger of what was to come.
Though I will say the six months went fast throughout the story because after certain event weeks or even a month went by without any real detail and just more of a summary of “two weeks past after..” or One moment it was October then it was November in the next chapter the past. I understand why it was done, and why the six month period was used (because there was a certain reason), but it almost felt too quick at times. Six months went by within flash. I think it wouldn’t have bothered me if there was a little bit more relationship development between Gina and Drake in those months that past, but there was very little in terms of them as a romance so that was what made it feel very fast too.
I enjoyed the part of his being a memoirist aka hypnotist/psychologist. It was interesting to see how they dealt with mental health back in the day. And just to see the mental health profession in its infancy was very interesting to me. I loved that Drake wanted to help heal people with his skills. I loved how he cared about every one around him. How he used his skills to help people was really sweet to see.
As for the romance between Gina and Drake, I felt a little lukewarm towards almost to the neutral. Yes, they had some good moments together. I believed cared about each other. They had a couple passionate moments together. They worked really good together as a team as they helped people while Gina was trying to convince him to leave to save him. They had some feisty moments. They had some cute moments. They had a lot of funny moments together. I liked seeing them together. There was just something that was missing that I wasn’t totally gun ho for them. Even though they did get know each other and learned what made they other tick, I think they could have been more emotional intimate with one another. I think they could have delved a level deeper than they went. I feel a lot more focus was on keeping him alive, getting him to believe her, and the physical stuff that there wasn’t a lot of focus on more of the emotional closeness between them. I wanted to see more intimacy scenes between them. I wanted to see more development and growth between them as a couple. They did have their moments as I said, but I needed a little bit more. I think the romance was a bit let down for me.
I did like Drake and respected what he wanted to do with his memoirist skills, but I think he was a little too beta for me especially when he was a ghost. He just came off weird to me. It just didn’t feel realistic of a depiction of person. It felt forced in the beginning. He just felt off to me. He got better as the story progressed, but in the beginning I wasn’t feeling him. He was just very flat of a character.
Overall I did like the story. I wasn’t bored by it, but overwhelmed about the story either. At times I felt the story was rushed and made me wish that there was more exploration and development especially in the beginning of the story. It was just a weird pacing in the beginning. It got better once Gina landed in 1885 then the story got more interesting not only with her dealing with the fact that she was in 1885, but dealing with how to figure out to keep Drake alive. I liked seeing thee time crunch aspect, which upped the intensity to the story. It gave the story a kick of adrenaline and suspense that I really enjoyed seeing play out. There were some funny moments in there too especially during some of the interactions with Drake and Gina. The story was just really good aside from the romance. The romance just didn’t do it for me. I didn’t hate it, but I think so much more could have happen that would have made me more behind it. Don’t get me wrong I liked them together, but I wanted more development in their relationship. I wanted see more intimacy scenes between them. Something more. The romance was what I was looking forward to the most, but it was a little disappointing. They weren’t my favorite couple or romance of all time. Everything else in the 1885 part I really enjoyed and found myself really interested in that really kept my eyes glued to the page. I was glad I read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2018
An enjoyable afternoon’s read. This is a sweet, sometimes silly, entertaining romance.
January 10, 2018
I believe in time travel after reading this book, never have I lost time while reading a story quite like this one, I am a fast reader but even I was shocked at the speed in which I devoured this story.
It completely captivated me, I feel as if at the beginning, I took one big inhale and by the time I exhaled I was done.
I loved both characters and side characters and felt connected to their story throughout.
The only Criticism I could give and also the reason I couldn’t rate 5 is merely that I felt more time could have been spent while Drake was a ghost, I would have liked for the two main characters to have been more connected before Gina traveled back in time.
The ghost dynamic was what roped me in to read initially and it just felt rushed and underdeveloped.
But other then that like I said before it was “a couldn’t put down read”...
and a book I will remember and even come back to enjoy again.
It completely captivated me, I feel as if at the beginning, I took one big inhale and by the time I exhaled I was done.
I loved both characters and side characters and felt connected to their story throughout.
The only Criticism I could give and also the reason I couldn’t rate 5 is merely that I felt more time could have been spent while Drake was a ghost, I would have liked for the two main characters to have been more connected before Gina traveled back in time.
The ghost dynamic was what roped me in to read initially and it just felt rushed and underdeveloped.
But other then that like I said before it was “a couldn’t put down read”...
and a book I will remember and even come back to enjoy again.
June 15, 2018
Cheesy? This romance is limburger! The first page has our heroine betrayed by her fiance (in the back seat of the limo, no less) with her maid of (dis)honour. But her mother still wants her to go through with the wedding cause the prospective groom is rich! Ugh!
Having thus established that the 21st Century sucks, our heroine stumbles on a lonely but handsome and virile ghost, and then on a hope chest, which contains an object which, only on the solstice day, will vault her back to the 19th century when her ghost is still very much alive and available. She knows he is doomed to die in a fire on the next winter solstice day, but not the actual circumstances of his death. The plot is naturally consumed with her efforts to prevent that early death.
Oh, I forgot to mention: our heroine has an adorable cairn terrier named Scruffy (same breed as Dorothy's Toto) who will do anything she wants, cause she's a dog trainer by trade. Said trade she was willing to give up when she got married. Say, is this the 21st Century or the 1950's? Gotta wonder, truly! I will NOT forgive this author for the groaner when the ultimate villain threatens to kill her "and your little dog too!"
Our hero is a budding hypnotist, or mesmerist as they were known in the 19th century. He only has a vague idea of the uses to which hypnosis can be put, but our heroine will help him develop a successful therapy practice and market himself to the local public. She shows herself to have a lusty libido in between times.
Will our heroine choose to go back to the 21st century after helping out her virile mesmerist and saving him from a fiery death, or will she stay with him despite the inconveniences of a 19th century small town life? Suspense, suspense! Take 3 guesses and the first two don't count!
Having thus established that the 21st Century sucks, our heroine stumbles on a lonely but handsome and virile ghost, and then on a hope chest, which contains an object which, only on the solstice day, will vault her back to the 19th century when her ghost is still very much alive and available. She knows he is doomed to die in a fire on the next winter solstice day, but not the actual circumstances of his death. The plot is naturally consumed with her efforts to prevent that early death.
Oh, I forgot to mention: our heroine has an adorable cairn terrier named Scruffy (same breed as Dorothy's Toto) who will do anything she wants, cause she's a dog trainer by trade. Said trade she was willing to give up when she got married. Say, is this the 21st Century or the 1950's? Gotta wonder, truly! I will NOT forgive this author for the groaner when the ultimate villain threatens to kill her "and your little dog too!"
Our hero is a budding hypnotist, or mesmerist as they were known in the 19th century. He only has a vague idea of the uses to which hypnosis can be put, but our heroine will help him develop a successful therapy practice and market himself to the local public. She shows herself to have a lusty libido in between times.
Will our heroine choose to go back to the 21st century after helping out her virile mesmerist and saving him from a fiery death, or will she stay with him despite the inconveniences of a 19th century small town life? Suspense, suspense! Take 3 guesses and the first two don't count!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2021
Thoroughly enjoy this book. The time travel, twist & turns. Danger intrigue. How romance builds with Gina & the ghostly mesmerist, Drake Manton. Who died in a fire.
Gina gets transported into the past where she meets Drake Manton in person. She now has to secretly protect him & find out who set him up to be in the hotel fire to die.
Gina does realize that she is falling for the man.
Drake Manton a mesmerist finds Gina very interesting & different from all the woman at the ton. He wants to prove his method's on mesmerist can help clients. Not a gimmick. That is where Gina as his assistant helps him.
With 21st century tactics. Drake wants to know what Gina is hiding. But when she tells him the truth, he refused to believe her. Even after showing his obituary in the paper.
Can love out beat danger & the death of Drake. Will he allow Gina to leave & go back to her century or will he admit he is in love with Gina & have her stay in his time.
Can Gina safe Drake & have him believe she is from the future. Before he dies to protect a woman who is being abused by her husband.
Great plot, love the twists & turns & the growing love for the two characters
Gina gets transported into the past where she meets Drake Manton in person. She now has to secretly protect him & find out who set him up to be in the hotel fire to die.
Gina does realize that she is falling for the man.
Drake Manton a mesmerist finds Gina very interesting & different from all the woman at the ton. He wants to prove his method's on mesmerist can help clients. Not a gimmick. That is where Gina as his assistant helps him.
With 21st century tactics. Drake wants to know what Gina is hiding. But when she tells him the truth, he refused to believe her. Even after showing his obituary in the paper.
Can love out beat danger & the death of Drake. Will he allow Gina to leave & go back to her century or will he admit he is in love with Gina & have her stay in his time.
Can Gina safe Drake & have him believe she is from the future. Before he dies to protect a woman who is being abused by her husband.
Great plot, love the twists & turns & the growing love for the two characters
December 27, 2018
I want to state up front that I am not a big reader of the romance genre - I've nothing against it, but they're typically not the sort of stories I enjoy. This one bridged genres so masterfully that I was hooked from early on, and plan to read the rest in the series at some point. Each book is written by a different author (members of a writers group) with the same premise: a Hope Chest sends the protagonist back in time, to meet his or her soulmate.
In The Mesmerist, a compelling unsolved mystery forms the basis of the plot. The characters - the fated lovers, to be sure, but also the rest of the main cast - are well-developed and natural. The setting, at times, feels unresearched, but never enough to pull me completely out of the story, and as we're dealing with time travel, a certain suspension of disbelief ought to be reasonably exercised!
In The Mesmerist, a compelling unsolved mystery forms the basis of the plot. The characters - the fated lovers, to be sure, but also the rest of the main cast - are well-developed and natural. The setting, at times, feels unresearched, but never enough to pull me completely out of the story, and as we're dealing with time travel, a certain suspension of disbelief ought to be reasonably exercised!
June 13, 2018
What a nice suprise! I’d only read one other book by this author (My Favorite Husband) and it was a huge disappointment. This one had me hooked since the first page. It was well paced, intriguing, and laced with enough comedy and romance throughout the whole book. I also loved how Gina the heroine was such a resourceful kickass girl and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was entertaining as hell to read.
It was a pretty clean romance, showing how good books don’t need sex scenes to be described as if it was a scene from a porn movie. A very well done piece of work by the author.
It was a pretty clean romance, showing how good books don’t need sex scenes to be described as if it was a scene from a porn movie. A very well done piece of work by the author.
January 31, 2018
5 🌟
Great time travel adventure! This is true beginning book in what promises to be a very enjoyable series. I have always loved time travel stories and these look to be a grand adventure, sweeping this heroin into 1885 to save the life of of the ghost she encounters while staying at an Inn. I loved the first book so I am ordering the full set of books in the series. Well done, ladies.
Great time travel adventure! This is true beginning book in what promises to be a very enjoyable series. I have always loved time travel stories and these look to be a grand adventure, sweeping this heroin into 1885 to save the life of of the ghost she encounters while staying at an Inn. I loved the first book so I am ordering the full set of books in the series. Well done, ladies.
April 3, 2018
The Mesmerist: A Mesmerizing Romance
This was a really unusual and very entertaining romance. I'm not usually a fan of time travel romances,but I was attracted by the title,and stayed because this tale was so much fun! Ms. McCutcheon had me laughing out loud,thrilling to the love-making, and amazement at the way she brought all the crazy ends together to a happy ending. Bravo to Pam McCutcheon!
This was a really unusual and very entertaining romance. I'm not usually a fan of time travel romances,but I was attracted by the title,and stayed because this tale was so much fun! Ms. McCutcheon had me laughing out loud,thrilling to the love-making, and amazement at the way she brought all the crazy ends together to a happy ending. Bravo to Pam McCutcheon!
April 15, 2018
In the space of a few pages, it opens with any Brides devastation of self worth and
It opens with a Bride's devastation, in less than one page! And the emotional rollercoaster never lets up! Heartbreak, new attractions, self-worth, suspense, murder, friendship, laughter, trust, learning to truly love.. It's all here! Driven by unique and well developed characters , I HAD to read straight thru!! Well worth the list sleep!
It opens with a Bride's devastation, in less than one page! And the emotional rollercoaster never lets up! Heartbreak, new attractions, self-worth, suspense, murder, friendship, laughter, trust, learning to truly love.. It's all here! Driven by unique and well developed characters , I HAD to read straight thru!! Well worth the list sleep!
July 11, 2019
I don’t usually read books like this, and have been reminded why. Predictable, little in the way of character development (one character is more interesting dead), and no explanation for the time travel. I admit I wanted a fun brainless read, it was definitely one of those. Sorry, obviously just not my thing!
October 2, 2017
Such a sweet time travel book
I must admit I thought this would be sappy and cliche but it was a really good book. The characters were well defined and very likable. It's a sweet book with romantic love scenes but not gratuitous sex scenes.
A definite must read!
I must admit I thought this would be sappy and cliche but it was a really good book. The characters were well defined and very likable. It's a sweet book with romantic love scenes but not gratuitous sex scenes.
A definite must read!
December 5, 2017
I loved the time-travel aspect of the story. Although I was able to pick out the actual murderer before the characters the author kept that a secret well for most of the story. I love the combination of paranormal, time-travel, and romance. I will definitely read the other Hope Chest books.
June 19, 2018
I really liked the mesmerist as a ghost. But once Gina traveled back to the past, he turned into a pumpkin with his personality and she turned into a crazy psycho trying to get him to leave the inn. And the time travel part was not explained and it was just 🤷♀️.
July 21, 2018
Interesting time travel info on mesmerism and a nice romance.
Great history on mesmirism- beginning of therapy. Nice time travel romance. Enjoyed the dog training aspect too! Quick enjoyable read!
Great history on mesmirism- beginning of therapy. Nice time travel romance. Enjoyed the dog training aspect too! Quick enjoyable read!
January 9, 2019
Interesting, fun story
I liked Ms. McCutcheon 's way of bringing one of the main characters into the past. It was clever and thoughtful. I also was gave to see who was really responsible for taking care of the hope chest.
I liked Ms. McCutcheon 's way of bringing one of the main characters into the past. It was clever and thoughtful. I also was gave to see who was really responsible for taking care of the hope chest.
March 14, 2019
Mesmerizing
I don't usually like time travel books & I can't say why I downloaded it, but I'm very glad I did. It has everything, romance, mystery, ghosts & of course time travel. One of the best books I have read in a long time.
I don't usually like time travel books & I can't say why I downloaded it, but I'm very glad I did. It has everything, romance, mystery, ghosts & of course time travel. One of the best books I have read in a long time.
June 4, 2019
Interesting time travel story
I've been attempting to find a gripping time travel story over the past few years and this is the first I have enjoyed and finished. The story unravelled nicely and kept my attention.
I've been attempting to find a gripping time travel story over the past few years and this is the first I have enjoyed and finished. The story unravelled nicely and kept my attention.
September 21, 2019
Fun Read
Funny, light, easy read. Good character creation, romantic (mostly) time travel. Great feel good story. At some point in time, I will read the rest of the series by the various authors.
Funny, light, easy read. Good character creation, romantic (mostly) time travel. Great feel good story. At some point in time, I will read the rest of the series by the various authors.
February 15, 2020
This was a really cute time travel story!
Loved this book! It had a great storyline and romance combined! Was so disappointed that it nor the rest of the series were in Kindle Unlimited as my income doesn't leave money to buy books! Maybe next month...
Loved this book! It had a great storyline and romance combined! Was so disappointed that it nor the rest of the series were in Kindle Unlimited as my income doesn't leave money to buy books! Maybe next month...
July 24, 2021
Fun story
It is warm loving story with lots of fun characters. I was enjoying reading it. I like Drake's integrity. Gina is fun and do unexpected und funny things. They have lovely friends. Esme is secretive and good friend. The dog is great.
It is warm loving story with lots of fun characters. I was enjoying reading it. I like Drake's integrity. Gina is fun and do unexpected und funny things. They have lovely friends. Esme is secretive and good friend. The dog is great.
September 26, 2022
Time travel
Gina traveled to the past in order to save Drakes life. She ran away when her fiancee cheated on her. And she had an encounter with Drakes ghost in the present time. So read and find out about Gina's adventure.
Gina traveled to the past in order to save Drakes life. She ran away when her fiancee cheated on her. And she had an encounter with Drakes ghost in the present time. So read and find out about Gina's adventure.
October 12, 2024
I found this in the depths of my kindle and have no memory of buying it but I didn’t have anything else I wanted to read so I figured I’d try it. It reads like a first, maybe second draft, manuscript with the typos and editing issues, but I actually enjoyed the story overall.
September 23, 2017
I enjoyed this book. The modern 21 century woman thrown into the 1800's and how she had to adapt to chauvinist men and no modern convinces. Good ending.
October 9, 2017
So much potential with the concept but unfortunately predictable, not well thought out, not well written.
March 26, 2018
I felt that about 30% of the story could have been removed because too much time was spent on Gina convincing Drake that she was from the future and getting him to save himself. Way too slow for my taste.
June 14, 2018
Such a fun romp! Thoroughly enjoyed
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