Desperado

Creole Historical #3

by Sandra Hill

When a military skydive goes horribly wrong, Major Helen Prescott and National Guardsman Rafe Santiago are transported back in time to the 1850 California Gold Rush where they, mistaken for a legendary bandit and his mistress, go on the run from the law and straight into each other's arms. Original.

Genres: Time Travel, Romance, Historical, Westerns, Historical Romance, Paranormal, Contemporary

391 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Sandra Hill is a graduate of Penn State and worked for more than 10 years as a features writer and education editor for publications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Writing about serious issues taught her the merits of seeking the lighter side of even the darkest stories. She is the wife of a stockbroker and the mother of four sons.

This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

Reviews

[Melissa Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I loved this book from beginning to the end, i really fell in love with these characters, Helen and Rafe, i just loved the whole journey between the two, there chemestry was wonderful, im so glad that they went in the past together and that they went into 1850 during the California Gold Rush, the friends they made were priceless, the things they learned and actully having a life in the past, there love between eachother was so magical and so romantic and sweet, Sandra Hill is hilarious, she makes each character have this remarkable personality, i just love it!i've almost cried in this book towards the end, and that is a good book when u have so many emotions going on, i really didn't want to finish this book, deff one of my FAVORITE book of all time!

[Tetty Marlinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

#179 - 2022
Genre: Historical Romance, Time Travel

[Lessoire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book that I've read by Sandra Hill and I really enjoyed it. I specially loved the time travel experience that Rafe and Helen had.

[Petra Jayne Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 This was the most hilariously bad erotica I've ever read. The dialogue is like something from a cheesy script for a cheesy Porno. It was very hard to try not to laugh out loud while purchasing this book from a charity shop just because of the eye candy cover being hilarious to me. Overall, it was a fun guilty pleasure.

[Tracy Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago. My best friend got me hooked on Sandra Hill with one of her Viking books and she quickly became one of my favorite authors! Great stories, great characters. The time traveling is really humorous, especially when "historic" times come to present. This is the type of author you can read more than once.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timeless

Really enjoyed Rafe and Helen story. Swept from the 20th century back in time to the wild wild west both Rafe and Helen do their damdest to survive after being mistaken for a Mexican banditos. Trying to survive brings them all sorts of perils. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Irene N · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a wonderful book and series!
I wish for another one.... :)

[BB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, but not the best I've read of Sandra Hill's works.

[Rebecca Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting past the obnoxiously alpha asshole of a love interest. I kind of skimmed through the end to figure out what happened. Also, I'm pretty sure vasectomies don't leave scars...

[Uchechi Duru]

Read it, loved it

[Magdalena Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book.

Kept me reading!!! Enjoyed this crazy love story. I Recommend this book. Will keep you entertained and you will not want to put it down.

[Myra Wray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again I found a good read in this book. I would not mind more stories in this series.

[Mancho283 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Sandra R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly, funny, dramatic, corny, well written - loved it ! Perfect for a few hours of pure escapism...

[Lover of Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helen Prescott is a Major of the US military, she grew up 'army brat' style, moving from place to place, since her mother at died of cancer when she was eight. Helen is one of those women that follows after her father, and doesn't let anyone see the gentle and caring side of her. Most people only see the strict hard-ass that she has had to portray as a office of the Military. Then comes strolling in is Rafe Santiago, who has always had a thing for Helen since he fell for her in College. When he see's her again, his blood starts pumping and he wants her even more. They go on a op together, where they are Parachuting, and then right when she is about to jump he jumps with her grabbing onto her. Of course Helen is furious, tossing at him army regulations, but they then realize that they have been taken back in time to the American West. At first Rafe thinks its some Army joke and not real, but after some time they realize how real it really is. Because they are then discovered by bandits, who see them as 'wanted killers' and thus begins their adventure with danger, gun slingers, gold digging, and a heated desire that they rekindle.

I think I fall in love with each of Sandra Hill's novels, and this was is no different. It has a very intriguing plot and I love reading Time travel romances. But there were times especially at the beginning that I had a hard time getting into it. There is such antaganism between them both, its like a cat and dog fight but over and over again. You have Helen who is such a tough woman, and especially at first, lectures Rafe time and time again on army regulations and doesn't believe that they have been swept back in time. Rafe is one of those males that loves to tease and have fun for the most part, especially shows that side of himself to Helen. I found myself loving Rafe at the beginning way more than Helen, I felt like I wanted to tell her to 'lighten up', but then she does eventually and thats when I started falling in love with the characters and really getting into the story. I definitely loved the sparks of desire that builds up between Rafe and Helen. Once I got into the book, it flowed smoothly for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it was just me. I read the first thirty pages based on reviews and stopped. I re-read the reviews again and thought I was being unfair. That said, I managed to finish the rest of the book and I still thought it was stupid. I should have known better.

Supposedly Helen was a major in the military. Her character does a dis-service to all those brave women who are in the military today. And Rafe is a lawyer; he is a letdown for the Hispanic community. Checkmarks on a board, taunting, sparring, waffling back and forth between wanting each other, then not wanting the other, insults, yelling,...they are suppose to be 34 years old with careers! No wonder they have never been married or had a deep relationship before now.

Helen and Rafe's characters wanted sex or should I say Rafe wanted sex from the beginning of the story. Supposedly he always wanted her...where was he the past decade if he thought about her so much? I didn't feel the love was there until the last eleven pages of the book.

**Spoilers** Did I believe Rafe went from never wanting a child to suddenly willing to take on another man's child? Not in the least.**

If you like time travel, as I do, read The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser. It is soooooo much better.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love, love, LOVE Sandra Hill books...she captivates me with her writing every book and this one was no different.
I also love how when you read her books they some of them intertwine with one another. The characters reoccur throughout the books even though the book has a completely different set of main characters.

This one had me laughing so hard when they came upon Selene amd James...I was so excited to she she wrote this book to entwine into Frankly, My Dear...

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not real keen on time travel romance and this book uses too much of the "they fight constantly, so they MUST love each other" cliche. Overall I enjoyed it and it did have sections that would have had their pages turned down to the good parts so we could pass it around in high school

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was odd.
That's sort of normal for the Sandra Hill novels.
Time travel.
I'm used to it.
But it was weird to NOT read a Viking novel by Sandra Hill.
It was written like it WAS one of the Viking series.
It was TRULY weird as hell!

[Dr. Kat]

ending seemed a bit abrupt.. and i'm not so into time travelling stories.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good time travel book, but the man and woman need to talk to each other more...got kinda annoying with them misinturptering each other.

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again. Saandra will have you wiping away the tears from laughter. Time travel story done right. Not one but two people going back in time together. Helen and Rafe were a blast.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hero, Rafe and the heroine, Major Helen Prescott go back in time when they parachute out of a plane. They go back to the California gold rush days.....fun book.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved this book even though the ending was a bit disappointing.

[Mimna]

อ่านครั้งแรกเมื่อหลายปีก่อน แล้วชอบมากก
แต่พอเร็วๆ นี้ หยิบมาอ่านอีกที แล้วไปกันไม่รอดเลย
ผ่านไปสองสามบท แล้วทำไมรำคาญตัวเอกอย่างนี้
เอาไว้ก่อนแล้วกันน้าา เดี๋ยวจะมาอ่านใหม่แน่นอน

[Sharleen Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

Sandra Hill never disappoints. I love her characters and their stories. Rafe and Helen were so much fun to read about

[Gel]

hmmm