On Luna Time

On Luna Time #1

by Amber Crawley

Vanessa Marshall has spent her life in and out of foster care, with only a vague recollection of the women that left her behind. When she receives a strange letter from her mother three weeks before her 18th birthday, Vanessa knows it’s the only shot she has at finding her real family. The letter instructs her to jump off the Swan Pier into the ocean at midnight under the next full moon. With the steadfast hope that her mother would be waiting for her, Vanessa jumps, only to find that she’s come up for air seventy years in the past. Journals written by women who took the same time-altering jump help Vanessa realize that the mystery of her mother’s life spans generations and is far more complex than she could have ever dreamed. While living in 1949, Vanessa develops feelings for a boy despite the warnings from previous travelers not to fall in love. As she begins to unravel her mother’s web of secrets, Vanessa discovers that the truth is anything but easy, and the answers are not influenced by past, but have the power to alter her future forever.

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel, Contemporary, Young Adult, Magical Realism

210 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 2019

Reviews

[Jenna Marie ~Scheming Scribbler~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One time for the present, two times for the past"
My Time by BTS

Vanessa has lived her whole life going from one foster family to another, dreaming of the seemingly separate world where her mother met her years before. When she receives a pink letter a few weeks before her 18th birthday, though, Vanessa is introduced with the secret of the Marshall women, where they defy the universe's rules in Luna Time.

Jumping off of the pier at midnight seems cliché and pointless, until Vanessa wakes up in a completely different time. Given a month until the next full moon to live in her new life, Vanessa starts on an adventure, in which she will experience romance for the first time and untie the twisted secrets of her past. Then Vanessa disobeys one of the laws of Luna, and things grow complicated.

Written in a soothing, emotional voice, On Luna Tima is an entertaining time travel novel like none I've read before. Amber Crawley did well by this novel, I'm so grateful she reached out to me about reading this series! I can't wait to get started on the next book in this! :)

[Theresa]

DNF @25%. I didn't care about this story or the main character and the clumsy writing/editing made it really hard for me to get through. Unfortunately this wasn't for me.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you ready for a new adventure? Then you are not going to want to miss out on debut author, Amber Crawley's release, On Luna Time.

A time traveling story of identity, romance, and family. I was totally and completely blown away! Creative and unique, I have never read a story quite like this before. I was under Luna's spell from the very first chapter. The dynamics of the characters intertwined with the time-travel aspect make this story hard to put down.

It has been a LONG time since I have read an entire book in 1 day...and 1 sitting. It.is.so.good!!!!! I laughed, I cried, laughed again, cried again....and left me holding my breath! Getting to spend time with Vanessa on Luna time, makes me want to go jump off the nearest pier at the next full moon. I can't wait to read the next part of the adventure since I have a million questions swirling around in my brain now.

If you are a fan of historical romance with a dash of sci-fi, I HIGHLY recommend that you get your hands on this book as soon as you can! Releasing Feb 17th, you can pre-order now and enter the GIVEAWAYS below!

I received a complimentary copy of On Luna Time from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

[Haleigh DeRocher]

This was such a fun story. It kept me engaged and interested, and had a beautiful, nostalgic feel to it that really reminded me of books I ate up as a kid.
I loved the mystery and intrigue of the plotline, and the characters were fun to follow along with. Also, that cliffhanger ending!?! I just have to know what happens!
I'm not giving this a star rating as I rarely read self-published books and don't know how it really fits into my scale. As a whole it could use some editing, but I ultimately loved this story and would recommend to anyone looking for a fun, short read with magic, whimsy, and love.

[Johanna Lehto · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars actually.

I love this story! First of all, it's a time travel story (who does not love a good time travel story?) On Luna Time was well made and I couldn't put it down. I will for sure continue to read this series.

I would have give the it five out of five stars if it weren't for the fast pace of the romance between the main character Vanessa and the love interest. Other vice it was a great plot and an amazing story!

[Cristina Manzano]

For teenagers, I liked the cover though! I only read the book because of it, family motivation!

[Anna Bliss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book! I think it would be a nice book to read on a beach :)

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve read in the last year! I wish it had been longer as it ends on SUCH A CLIFFHANGER!!!!

Do Warren and Vanessa end up together? Do Annabella and Vanessa find Gina and become a family? How was Warren able to jump through the “portal” when he’s not a Marshall woman? SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS! Gah.

I love the intertwined nature of this story as Vanessa gets to meet her family members in the past!

[Carolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Amarinske · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars with an average of 8.525/10
1 star: 1.0-2.9/10
2 stars: 3.0-5.4/10
3 stars: 5.5-7.0/10
4 stars: 7.1-9.0/10
5 stars: 9.1-10/10
Rating based on plot, characters, and writing.

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 8.5/10
Writing: 8.8/10
General enjoyment: 9/10

Review
Just before her 18th birthday, Vanessa gets a letter from her mother telling her to jump from Swan pier on the full moon and that she should trust her mother. As the only way to find her estranged mother (the one who left her behind in an orphanage, she jumps, and finds herself 70 years in the past.
From there on we get a nice little adorable romance that feels so innocent and cute. I loved it.
The character dynamics were done very well and the story flew by due to the very engaging and easy to follow writing style. The writing did have some flaws, however. Not things that were hard to fix either. It didn't even need paying for an editor, the browser extension/program Grammarly would've done the job (although this made it feel like the story hadn't been properly edited). Missing letters and wrong adjectives don't give off clean writing.
There were very few other flaws, except maybe the fact the story feels rushed at points due to the length of the book. This part of the story could've easily been 100-200 pages longer and still gotten a sequel like I feel like it will get It says: to be continued on the last page. There will be sequel
Not only were the character dynamics nice to see, but the way said characters were developed over the course of this short book was done very well in my opinion.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend this book if you like a romance, a family mystery, or just a fun, lighthearted adventure story.

[Rawan Al Melhem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED IT!
I can’t wait to read the 2nd book 😪.

Such a sweet story!

[Desirae · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Delightful and lush storytelling.

I stumbled onto this because of Merphy (the audiobook narrator) because I love her channel.

The story was interesting, blending through multiple genre's of magical realism, fantasy, and supernatural. I agree with other reviewers who've noted difficulties keeping track of all the Marshal women, where the came from and why they jumped, as it could get very confusing.

I think the story struggling with a lot of good ideas being crammed into a very small book - not sure why the author chose to go so short here, as it does have a very "self/small press publication" feel to it. Angles like Vanessa and Wrens romance felt, at times, very rushed. Louise was m try favorite character, but I'm really interested to see what Gina is up to with all the time hoping, and how Vanessa and her twin Annabelle ended up living parallel lives in (alternate?) The same universe. Also, how did Wren jump back with Vanessa? So many questions.

[Dani Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5-3.75

I love exploring different modes of time travel, I loved that this was a romance with a prominent family element, I loved all the journal entries and connecting the dots along with Vanessa.

However, I was not impressed with the twin sister reveal. It may make more sense in the sequel, but as of completing the first installment, it felt disjointed with the plot.

[Hanča · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a lovely story and characters. I don't really ever read self published books but there's definitely a lot of potential in this one.
The book could use some editing for sure. The scenes weren't always properly set or structured or certain movements in space didn't make sense which had me confused and I had to go back to see if I missed something a few times. It was also kind of hard to keep track of all the Marshall women, since the book is fairly short to give enough attention to all of their stories.
But overall I had fun reading this and the ending had me craving for more.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun and kept me enthralled. I read it in its entirety in two sittings. I was happily turning pages all day today to find out how it would turn out. I loved how the ending was satisfying enough but still left questions I can’t wait to get answered in the sequel. I really enjoyed the different personalities of the marshall women and Vanessa, especially!

[Kelly-Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just okay. 18-year-old Vanessa, who has been in foster care her whole life, receives a letter from her birth mother Gina, instructing her to jump off the pier at midnight during the full moon. She does it and finds herself in the same North Carolina coastal town in 1949! As it turns out, she and all other Marshall women are able to jump into different time periods if they follow the same pattern of:

- Jumping off into the ocean from the same point on the pier
- At precisely midnight
- At the full moon

As the subtitle says, “Time is not a game” and so the Marshall women are supposed to use their time wisely and jump back to their own time after one month, at the next full moon.

Here’s why it only gets two stars:

1. Despite Luna’s rule to not fall in love during your one month of Luna Time, Vanessa immediately does just that. Reading the journal entries of the other Marshall women, it turns out that many if not most of them break this major rule, and lose their virginity, all within their month on Luna time. Basically they all walk out of the ocean, and boom, there’s the young man of their dreams. It’s just stupid.
2. The whole thing felt kind of juvenile. Maybe this is YA fiction. If it is though, it makes the I’m-going-to-lose-my-virginity-to-the-first-boy-I-see attitude all the more irritating. In addition to Vanessa’s sexual experiences, in the journal entries the other Marshall women who have jumped talk of “letting him go all the way” and “letting him get to third base,” etc. So no, if I had a teenage daughter I would not recommend this to her. To be fair, the sex is not described, but you know that it happens.
3. Because of all the focus on the romance, I feel that there was so much more that Vanessa could have explored in her month on Luna Time. Imagine being transported back to 1949! What would you do? She didn’t do much but swoon over a boy. She did follow some other instructions, which included buying a tiny cottage with cash from 2019. But really it was mostly about being with the boy.
4. Speaking of the boy, whose name is Warren, I was irritated throughout the book that when she met him, she immediately nicknamed him “Wren.” Why? If anything, that is a feminine name. And she literally has barely met him, doesn’t know him from Adam, and she has already decided that she had a right to give him this other name.
5. There were so many typos that I couldn’t believe it. This needed a better editor so badly that it was embarrassing, and added to the juvenile feel of this effort.

I’m a bit of a sucker for time travel stories, but this one was a letdown. Even though the book ended with a “To be continued…”cliffhanger, I won’t be continuing with the series.

[Rmmccoy94 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a good time travel love story and this was a great quick read. I think the characters are reasonably well developed and their arcs are interesting. The book's pacing is decent, however, a lot of the timeline is really rushed. While there is a fantastical element, there are certain plot points that made it difficult for me to buy happened in the actual amount of time. Also while much of this book happens in the past, you really wouldn't know it. Besides some comments about clothing and things being slower and not seeing technology, not much is delved into about the time period. This isn't a problem, but don't go into this expecting to get much about the actual time period and history. But this book definitely had me enthralled and I read it (and it's sequels) in basically one sitting. If I could do half ratings, this would be a 3.5. I've given it a 4 because I did quite enjoy reading it. But I do think there are better books that use the time travel romance trope and have better developed romances and historical settings (Outlander being the obvious one and then What the Wind Knows being my personal favorite).

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting book involving magical realism and a family of women who find they can time travel twice on their eighteenth birthday.
Vanessa has grown up not knowing anything about her family until she receives a letter months before her eighteenth birthday. Fed up with being in a terrible foster home, she sets out on a journey to hopefully learn about her family and find a place where she belongs.

She will learn not only about her family through journals left behind by previous travelers but also the joy of love along with heartbreak and a surprise that will answer some of the questions she had and open the door to others. Vanesss will realize that sometimes a leap of faith can turn out to be the right path even with all its twists and turns.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next book whenever it's released!

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

“...my wishlist for life.
1. Find a place to call home...”
- Vanessa

This is a time travel, family focused story with a side of romance.

Personally it was a fast read, I didn’t want to put it down because I needed to know what was happening; the narration could’ve been better but it wasn’t an absolute put off (I’ve seen a lot worse).

On the ‘bad’ side, I would say that at times I felt lost because it was hard to keep up with all the characters that were being introduced to the story; and also the romance overall felt very rushed (it was practically an instant thing, in every relationship we saw in the book), though it’s understandable due to the time restriction imposed by the main plot.
And the ‘plot twist’ or ‘big revelation’ was no surprise, it was actually very foreseeable by the middle of the book.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read the 3rd book (not knowing it was a trilogy) 3 years ago, so I’ve always meant to get around to starting at the beginning. So I did.

I like this series from Amber Crawley. Easy and fast paced read, 3 hours from start to finish. I don’t particularly pay attention to minute details of whether everything is fully cohesive or not in a read like this, so I can’t say much about that. I love the characters, the young teenage romance, the excitement of what’s happening.

I read this on kindle and was really disappointed with the amount of typos and grammatical errors throughout. The book did not seem well edited. I eventually had to just ignore them due to the frequency they appeared.

Typos aside, I think this is a sweet YA read and sent a copy to my 18-year old niece to read too. I’m excited to see what happens in book 2!

[Bridie Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time travel? Check.
Romance? Check.
Family drama? Check.
Vanessa Marshall jumps from a pier on her 18th birthday and finds herself in 1949. That alone is interesting, but then Amber Crawley delves deeper into the Marshall family and introduces us to a tribe of women who will steal your heart and make you wish they were real so you could meet them! I loved following Vanessa as she discovered more about the family she's never known, and always wanted, and as she fell in love with the sweetest guy in the world. Wren, you have my heart:) On Luna Time takes you on a journey through decades and heartbreak and love and loss and is a must read and I can't wait for the release of In Light of Luna later this year.

[N.F. Afrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is simple yet so enthralling. Easiest 4 star given ever. It's tastes like that simple view out of your room window with a mug of hot chocolate in your hands. Nessa is not a hard character to love. I admit that the love story is quite cliche and I'm not a big fan of it but I love how it is not a big chunk of the story.

I went ahead and purchased the next book in the series because this book ended with a perfect cliffhanger. Can't wait to read the next book. Can't wait as in I'm downloading it in my Kindle right at this second.

[Grace Cave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one truly exciting read! In fact, I had trouble putting it down! A quick and satisfying read with truly interesting twists and turns. Amber draws you in with rich descriptions of the town most of the story takes place in and keeps you interested with colourful characters and like I said before, some really interesting plot twists! The cliff hanger ended has me eagerly waiting for the next book to be written and if you follow @ambercrawleywrites on Instagram, you get to see behind the scenes into the process as she works on her books!

If you like a quick and satisfying read with a twist then this book is for you!

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. It's not something I would usually read but I'm so glad I picked it up. It had me hooked from the very first page & loved the emphasis on family. There were some little spelling mistakes but that honestly wasn't a big deal to me as I know this is self-pub. I was a little worried about the romance being rushed because it seemed as though that was going to happen but it totally wasn't the case. I'm trying to pinpoint what I liked so much but all I can say is this is a really sweet story and a captivating read.

Written: 01/22/2021
Age: 18

[Marcy Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has one of my least favorite tropes—insta-love. It seems to be a family trait, too. Because the relationships are so central to the plot, I really wish more attention had been paid to them. The characters were also under-developed. They make choices-pivotal ones-without enough motivation given.

I still gave this book 4 stars, though, because the mystery behind what’s going on is compelling. The journal entries are some of the best parts.

This book unfortunately did have some editing issues.

[Syn :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending of this book 5 stars. The concept 5 stars. The flashbacks 5 stars. The main character? Not sure I even remember her name. We spend almost no time with her outside of her reading the journals, and most of that time she is talking about how deeply in love she is with some guy and how much her trip has changed her that had no build up whatsoever. The book was too short for what it was trying to accomplish. However, the concept and the ending are enough for me to pick up the second novel.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A pretty charming book! That's twice in the past year that I've been pleasantly surprised by a self-published book. The story was interesting and kept my attention, though at times I found it hard to keep track of all the Marshall girls...how everyone was related and who jumped from when and landed when. Overall a nice quick read and I definitely wasn't expecting those two twisty things near the end! Looking forward to the sequel.

[Courtney Hatch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as part of a book box which put a fun twist on my reading. Every 40 pages or so there was a little bag to open with an item inside that had to do with that part of the book. The writing wasn’t my cup of tea, and I was sometimes distracted by it, but the concept was fun, and it motivated me to keep reading so I could open the next bag. I wish I had known it is the first book of a series before I began but oh well. It was fun.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable read. It was quick, fund and very interesting. The romance was nit the focus of the story and didn’t feel too intrusive. The whole „I-have-never-been-loved-like-that“ part was a bit cringey but there weren’t enough of these moments to really bother me anyway. The part about the time travelling and the twist at the end were really fascinating and make me want to continue with this story.

[Camila Crocker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting! Loved it!
Will say this though-- if the writer took more time with these characters and was a bit more descriptive- it could have been phenomenal. 200 pages is not enough for everything that happens to be taken in. However if you wish for a cute interesting story about time travel, love and family that you can read in just a few hours (which is just what I was looking for go be fair)- this one's for you
Looking forward for number 2