A Window in Time

It was a twist of fate that had placed Brianna Daniels in the hot air balloon. The balloonist, Tom Shaffer, says that he is a devoted fan of her great-great grandfather, Lucas Daniels. Lucas was famous for his use of hot air balloons during the civil war and Tom has read every page of his diary in the local museum. Brianna is frightened when they hit air turbulence and head for a spinning vortex. She is knocked over and blacks out.

When Brianna comes to, she is on the side of a dusty road near a carriage accident. Although she is still dazed, Brianna soon realises that she has travelled back in time; her identity is assumed to be that of her own great-great grandmother, Anna: a mail order bride who is travelling to meet her new husband, Lucas Daniels.

Family legend boasted a great love between Anna and Lucas, but the man that Brianna meets is a chauvinistic pig. He has a body to worship but his arrogance and outright rudeness infuriate Brianna. As much as she wants to put him in his place, Brianna is aware that if her great-great grandparents do not unite she will never be born.

Conversely, Anna has taken Brianna’s place in the hot air balloon. She meets a man who has idolised her husband and his love for his dear wife. Tom was shocked when Brianna disappeared and was replaced by Anna, but it is not long before he places the pieces together and wonders at how the time-travel was possible. As he gets to know Anna, Tom is in a quandary, for he is falling in love with the wife of a man he hero worships and he does not want to give her back.

A Window in Time will take readers from the present day back to America’s early days during the months preceding President Lincoln’s successful election and the outbreak of the Civil War. Lucas Daniels is stationmaster of a stop along the Pony Express route. It is also a place where stagecoaches change horses. Our 21st century heroine sorely misses comforts that she had taken for granted; hauling water and baking bread from scratch are nothing compared to the lack of provisions or the threats of Indian raids and buffalo stampedes.

Brianna does not wish to alter history, so must hide her technological knowledge and beliefs of female equality. Each day she falls a little more in love with Lucas, but can never act on this because he is her own ancestor. Lucas is purposely critical and unapproachable to discourage Brianna, but is in fact in turmoil as he struggles with his growing admiration and love for this headstrong, difficult woman. He is sure that she is hiding something, so keeps a distance with his aloofness so that he cannot be hurt.

Carolyn Lampman’s descriptions of life during the pioneer days are so vivid that it is easy to picture the small cabin kitchen, Lucas’s inventions and Brianna’s long hot walks down to the river. The time travel concept is quite brilliantly executed and links the stories of two impossible romances. Unique family traits and ideas glossed over in the opening chapters are clues that will keep readers glued to the pages as they try to anticipate how events will unfold. The skill with which Carolyn Lampman weaves and ties all of these loose ends together proves once again why she is an award-winning author. Although this is a time travel romance, I would also recommend it to readers who follow early American historical romances because of the authentic feel that the author has for this period. I strongly urge readers to try Carolyn Lampman’s romances; she is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors.

Reviewed by: Naomi