All in Time

The Hussies #1

by Ciana Stone

A story in The Hussies series.

Sara's life is filled with mysteries. Why did her parents abandon her as a baby? What's behind the baffling blackouts she suffers and the frightening images she creates while she's out? Who is the strange woman claiming to hold the answers - and why does she keep calling Sara a Hussy?

Morgan's got a few mysteries of his own. What was his father going to give him on the day he died, the gift he said would change Morgan's life? Who is this bewitching woman who keeps passing out and creating pictures of his past and future - and why was she sent to save his life?

All they both know from the moment they meet is that the bond between them is stronger and more passionate than anything either has ever known. And that fate has brought them together for a very important reason.

If only they knew what it was...

Genres: Romance, Erotica, Paranormal, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Ebooks, Contemporary

107 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 14, 2007

About the author

Ciana Stone has been reading since the age of three, and wrote her first story at age five. Since then she enjoyed writing as a solitary form of entertainment, before coming out of the closet to share her stories with others. She holds several post graduate degrees and has often been referred to as a professional student. Her latest fields of interest are quantum mechanics and Taoism. When she is not writing (or studying) she enjoys painting (canvas, not walls), sculpting, running, hiking and yoga. She lives with her longtime lover in several locations in the United States.

Reviews

[UniquelyMoi ~ BlithelyBookish · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fast, sexy read about a group of women called The Hussies. They're an old organization made up of special ladies who have the ability to sense those men who will somehow better the world. Each hussy has a particular ability that helps them in their quest.

I had a hard time getting past the whole "Hussy" thing. I mean, couldn't they have been called something more dignified, more threatening? Something that would strike terror in the hearts of those who seek to keep them from their calling? Anyway, the Hussy name was explained this way -

“Well, thank you,” Sara replied. “And by the way…hussy? Ugh. Do you have any idea what a hussy is?”

Danu chuckled. “Clearly you have no idea of the etymology of the word. While rarely used today, the word comes from Old Norse, meaning ‘mistress of the household’. Before the seventeenth century it carried the connotation of a thrifty, orderly or capable woman.

“Only in the seventeenth century did the sense of the word shift and take on the meaning of a rural woman of a low class. As is unfortunately often the case, the term unfairly degenerated to connote a woman of less than sterling character or moral standards. By the nineteenth century it had become a slur."

So there, you see! Being called a Hussy is actually a term of respect.

From the prologue, I get the feeling that this is somehow series related, but that might not be the case.

Sexual content - Oral, vaginal and a last minute encounter of the anal kind, thrown in for good measure.

[Bryan Kornele · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry for a 100 pg book it was just getting nowhere fast. I read the first 50 pages and the story was just uninteresting.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it was a freebie on amazon for kindle. If I could give the story separate stars from the book overall, the story would get 4, and the book itself would get 1. The idea behind this story was interesting--a line of women dedicated to protecting "warriors" (loosely defined) in their time, stretching into modern-day times with some fantasy, some time travel, and a hint of thriller. However, I found the story hard to follow because it was told so quickly, skating over the background, descriptions, character and plot development, and storytelling that would have invested the reader more into the characters and what happened to them. As a result, the plot came out quite unbelievable, the characters pretty flat, and the romance underdeveloped (but over-narrated.)
I would keep an eye on this author, because there is definitely potential there, but not waste time with this particular work--I'll be hoping for a future one that has been more developed. (I, personally, would have liked to read about two paragraphs for each one currently in the story.)

[Tawny Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I had a hard time rating this book. As an erotic romance, it was just okay. There wasn't a lot of erotic content, and what was there, didn't really work for me. Not that it was bad. The sex scenes were sizzling. But they didn't really move the story forward. It was easy to skim them to move ahead to the next plot scene.

And that's where I felt the author really shined. I liked the plotline, the paranormal elements were interesting, and the way she wove the characters' backstories was fabulous. Didn't care for the scenes with Danu, however. They dragged, there was no conflict, no tension, and the word "hussies" was repeated over and over to the point of distraction.

Overall, I felt it was a good read. And, for a free read, a substantial story with great characters and an interesting plot.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Découverte de l'auteure et de son univers. Découverte agréable et plutot réussie !
C'est très bien écrit !
En tout cas cela m'a donné envie de lire la suite !!

[Sarah Marriott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

It was an ok book. There was nothing I really disliked about this book but on the other hand there was nothing I really liked either. The characters were ok and the plot line was ok it just felt really rushed. I couldn't say that I would re-read this book. Sorry.

[Marlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful

Great writing, action, suspense, romance and fantasy, what more do you need for a good read. Maybe a good pot of tea or coffee to drink while you enjoy reading.

[Starry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sara had searched for answers her entire life — why had she been abandoned as an infant and why did she possess the ability to paint things that foretold the future? What was she supposed to do with her ability? Exactly what was her destiny supposed to be?

Help comes from an unexpected source. A mysterious woman from a time long past offers her the opportunity to find the answers. But to do so, she has to locate and protect a man who is fated to play an important role in mankind’s destiny.

Sara never imagined that her task would bring her face to face with a man she’d idolized for years. That their meeting would spark a passion so hot it threatened to consume them. Or that her mission would be one that demanded only one of two outcomes. Succeed and live, or fail and die. Will love be strong enough to save them or will the price of failure be both their lives? The answers will be revealed. All in time.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sara-girl character
Morgan-guy character
Prologue: Danu and her beloved Ragna have been seperated because of Ragna's death, and now her Duty tears her awake from her sleep with Ragna in the Netherland...and she knows that if she doesnt finish her duty and follow back into the Netherland, she will no longer ever hear Ragna's voice again.
Sara was just in her real world, when suddenly bam, like that she was in a fairytale world, and then theres this beautiful lady named Danu who tells her that Danu has to recreate her army of warriors and all, and that Sara is needed to help.Including her gift.
Morgan's birthday was the day his father died, and today was that day again.....he was with his friend at the booth when 2 women came into the restraunt, kelly and a random female who was hidden behind kelly, and when he saw who he was, he thought he was ganna have a heart attack...because he's seen her before, in his *** dreams.Sara nearly fainted when she saw Morgan, the man shes been dreaming about....over, and over, and over.
Dara uses her sight gift later on when she went home, and what she drew was of a boy in a womans arm, with fire all around them....This part in the book lets the readers know who it was already, that the boy is morgan and the woman was the lady who lost her daughter...we readers know that, but the characters dont...yet.
Later on Sara meets Morgan and knows that the picture she drew was of him and her....mom?!?!
Sara risks her life to save Morgan, and thinks that her job is done. but Danu tells her that she will be morgans wife in life in the future, and they will have a baby boy who will be the president of the united startes in the future. so Sara and morgan get married and morgan finally found out what his dad said that would change his life.....a camra with love.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't really say much about this book other than it was ok. The author had a decent premise going about an immortal woman, Danu, who finds and trains women who have the power to save a man who is destined to do something that will change the world, presumably for the better. As a premise for a modern-day, real-world fantasy series, it has promise. But the execution of it leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion, starting with the name given to these women: The Hussy Warriors. Yes, it's explained that the term "hussy" is being used in an ancient connotation where it denoted a strong woman who was the leader of her household and who fought to protect those she loved and all that, but the explantion simply can't outweight the current connotations the word has, and so calling them Hussy Warriors just sounds super-cheezy I think, and makes it sound too much like they're just going to be a bunch of nymphos that "save" their men by giving them all the sex they want or something.

Sara, one of the Hussy warriors Danu has trained, is actually a pretty down to earth, believable sort of character, as is Morgan, the man she's destined to save so he can achieve his purpose in life. But their lives are bound together by so many convenient coincidences that their story becomes a little too hokey for my tastes, with things working out for them just a little too easily with an all too convenient Deus ex Machina type plot device being used to make a dire situation all come out ok so they can all live happily ever after. Maybe some of it was from the author having to rush things too much to keep the story within some sort of word limit, but the overall effect is a story that's just too superficial and that misses living up to its potential.

While this certainly isn't the worst book I've ever read, partly because it does have some interesting main characters that keep the story from being completely cheezy fluff, I can't really say that I'd recommend it to anyone. There are likely many other books out there with a similar sort of concept to them that are done much better than this one.

[Ucale · Rating 1 out of 5]

I believe I picked this one up for free on my Kindle because it seemed like an amusing concept. It is, to a certain extent. A bloodline of warrior women who search out and protect heroes. Not bad, right? Hmm. It's mostly just an excuse for a couple of sex scenes really, and to be fair the book is, upon closer inspection, in the erotica section. I honestly have no idea how I missed that when I was browsing through the Kindle books.

So, in terms of erotica yes, it's not bad. I'm not enormously experienced in terms of reading the genre so I don't really have anything to compare to, so they struck me as a bit purple in places, and somewhat dull. Also, amusing.

"She exploded."

Did she now?

Sadly, the author pretty much sacrifices the plot on the altar of sex and the selling point of these legendary warrior women all gets a bit side-lined in favour of magic fixes to ensure the sex gets written in. Fair enough I guess.

Still, it's written in a mediocre style, the two sex scenes had too much in common with each other to avoid skim-reading them and the plot makes enormous leaps from one point to another, only filling in the background details when a magical fix is necessary.

I suspect strongly that there's better romance and erotica out there.

[Cindy (Squin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very fast read - it was entertaining and I loved how the two main characters' lives were intertwined. However, like many previous readers, I have a problem with using the word "Hussy" in a positive light! I understand that within the story the usage of the word has vastly changed from its' original meaning - but because that meaning is so well ingrained as a bad thing, it's hard to get over.

I think the reason this wasn't a higher rating for me is because I read Ciana Stone's other short story, An Unwanted Hunger, a day before this. I was dumbfounded when one of the sex scenes was the same in both books. I don't mean that the same things happen - I mean that literally the entire scene was copied and pasted with the names changed. I'm not sure which was written first, as they both have the same publishing month and year, but I was so surprised and somewhat disappointed!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't bad but I had a really hard time getting past the use of the word "Hussy" as meaning a proud, powerful, warrior woman. Ciana Stone even has a discussion between two of the characters about the etymology of the word and while that helped put things in perspective whenever Sara was called a Hussy it kinda made me cringe.

Once I managed to worm my way past the whole Hussy thing, the book was pretty good. It moves quickly, the characters are likable, the sex is pretty hot. While it would have been nice if the mystery behind Sara's abandonment as a baby had been a little more difficult to figure out, Morgan's confusion and emotional demons made up for it.

Decent, not necessarily outstanding, but it was a nice afternoon reading diversion.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Dorel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by this author. To be honest I didn't finish this book I stopped at chapter 2. The reason I stopped is becuse I wasn't sure what the book was suppose to be about. I was confused with what type of book the author wanted it to be erotica or something else. I think as an author you should know what type of book you wanted it to be so the readers can understand what kind of book it is. I honestly agree with everyone who rated this book a 1. I am glad it was a free book because I would have been very upset if I had paid for it. I wouldn't recommend anyone to by this book.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was I thnking? I found this on my kindle, son know I downloaded it, but it's not too good. I don't remember downloading it and I don't remember starting it, though it opened mid-way through the novel.

Too high concept, not enough explanation and,I think, unintentionally humorous. Every time the author mention the Hussies, which she calls female warriors, I giggle as I associate that term with the name my grandma called loose women.

This needed some vetting by a writers group prior to publication and a strong editor to just say no to some of the ideas.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as a kindle freebie. It was a very quick read. I thought maybe it was meant to be a teaser to get you into the series. The summary says it is part of the Hussies series, but I don't see any others to the said series.

This was an odd book. I think it could have been better if the story was told in more detail. The only part that really had detail was the romance, which really isn't even the appropriate word for what it was. It really was just a faint storyline overcome with raw sex.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sara was a woman with a unique ability. She could draw pictures so well she did it in her sleep sometimes. She would go into a trance like state and when she awoke she would see things she didnt like. She Met the man of her Dreams and right away weird things started happening. She realized that they were destined to meet and they had a unique bond that transcended through time and space and she had to protect this man at all costs. They both were drawn together and both of them used the powers within themselves to overcome whatever life threw at them!

[Cary Morton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite the name i tried to read this novel with as little bias as possible, but by about 26% i gave up and tossed it. The writing at the beginning was dense and difficult to follow. I found myself skimming, but the farther in i got... it never really let up. The beginning of a story should hook you and pull you along into the story and i couldn't seem to find the hook. The first introduction to the main female lead instantly made me dislike her... she came across as trashy. This just isn't my kind of book.

[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a freebie. Sounded good. Tried it out. I actually really liked it. I liked the characters and the plot. I liked how this was written too. It pulled me in and had enough meat to it that I wasn't bored. I might read it again, but I probably won't search it out. I would like to read more in this series though. I enjoyed the 'gifts' that were included and the way 'fate' played it's parts. This was interesting and a little steamy. There was a little I didn't like but it was mostly personal preference but it wasn't so big a diff as to deter me. Enjoy

[R J Royer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not a bad book though it was not the best I have ever read. It is an interesting approach to erotic fantasy and story telling as a whole. If I am honest the sex in the book was good, not great but not bad, and the story was better than most erotica I have read. It is not one night stand sort of story it is actually inventive and rather good. I honestly would have given the book a higher rating if the story was more detailed. Even the sex scenes seemed to be a bit toned down to me considering what I was expecting. Overall, not bad but also not great.

[Sorcha O'Dowd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, fun read with a great storyline and storytelling. However, because it was such a short story I felt it was quite rushed and so I don't think I really grasped the complete point of the story. The storyline of the 'Hussy's' was really interesting and I think if this had been written as a novel, the concept would have been a lot clearer. However this was a great book and I liked the author's writing style.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was ok. A quick read and not difficult. I felt like the book had unnecessary elements. The book could have been a great story, but it needed to pick if it wanted to be a mystical, supernatural, (predictable) fate type book or if it wanted to be a sci-fi matrix type deal. If the movies Practical Magic and The Matrix had an illegitimate book child, this is what the weird middle school picture of that child would look like.

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

All In Time is a faced paced short story. I enjoyed it. I noticed in other reviews of this book that a lot of people had/have issue with the word "hussie" being used to describe these woman warriors. It was explained in the story the evolution of the word. So personally I didn't take offense to it.

[Merissa (Archaeolibrarian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has the basis of a good story but it tended to move so quickly at times that you had to go back in case you had missed any of it - you finish one paragraph and then suddenly you are 3 months later!

The storyline of the Hussies is one that I would love to read more of and, no, I didn't have a problem with the word hussy.

A light read, perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

[pianogirl05 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know several reviewers gave this a low rating, but I actually liked the story. It had a great plot and I liked the characters. I do wish we could have seen more of the beginning development of Morgan and Sara's relationship. One minute they were getting together and then we jump ahead three months. I did enjoy their relationship overall.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first this book was hard for me to actually get into, then about the second chapter you actually really start to hear more of both Morgan and Sarah's sides of everything and pieces really start to fall together so that's when the story started to pick up speed for me. Great romance between the two!!! :)

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the concept of this book and I couldn't wait to read it. It was also free! The actual story was a bit too over dramatic for me and too dull. It was just okay. This "time" traveling bit ended up being too hokey for me.

[Lynette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review coming. I liked it a lot. I was surprised how much it pulled me in. There are some plot craters, but the charecters and the situation was so endearing that it didn't bother me as much as normal.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book some of the reviews had me worried births sorry like was good. I smiled everytime I read the word hussies but I didn't let the effect the story for me. really good short read I will read more by this author.

[Jessica Komarek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. I needed a touch of romance before heading back into the dire world of Game of Thrones.

This was a freebe on the Nook so I picked it up. It has a nice fantasy/paranormal twist and a little adventure. I liked it. Ciana Stone tells a nice story.

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read. Read the prologe 2 days ago, then started the actual chapters today. 2 hours after starting it I was done with the book. I personally think it could've been longer, and have a bit more action.