Rating:  Summary: A good first effort, but not without flaw Review: Karen White has whipped up a rip-roaring plot for her first time out - a women who first looses her daughter, and then is herself transported back in time, where she must simulateously search for her daughter, unravel her love life, foil an assassination plot, and keep her new family from being overrun by the ravages of war and reconstruction. It is a tough assignment for anybody, so the reader should be prepared to cut our heroine a little slack.And a little slack is definitely needed--the heroine, Laura Truitt, is certainly plucky and determined, but she is also crude, rude, and with frequent bouts of obliviousness and stupidity. One scene, where she repays one woman's slight rudeness with an extensive comeback on the piano, and then tricks the woman into propositioning a cook in front of a roomful of important houseguests--bordered on the cruel. Everyone likes a little payback, but like many things with this headstrong heroine, she took it way too far. At another point, she is so clueless she needs a ghost to point her in a very obvious direction. She also keeps information from the supposed love of her life for way too long to be believable--trust is non-existent in this relationship, which made the romance one of the weaker elements in the novel. So read this book for a fun, fast-paced plot, and some accurate history, and an interesting paranormal premise. Recommended for those who don't mind flawed characters, a flawed romance, and a villianess who--I kid you not--comes complete with her own black cloud, which she carries around with her from place to place. Very convenient.
Rating:  Summary: A good first effort, but not without flaw Review: Karen White has whipped up a rip-roaring plot for her first time out - a women who first looses her daughter, and then is herself transported back in time, where she must simulateously search for her daughter, unravel her love life, foil an assassination plot, and keep her new family from being overrun by the ravages of war and reconstruction. It is a tough assignment for anybody, so the reader should be prepared to cut our heroine a little slack. And a little slack is definitely needed--the heroine, Laura Truitt, is certainly plucky and determined, but she is also crude, rude, and with frequent bouts of obliviousness and stupidity. One scene, where she repays one woman's slight rudeness with an extensive comeback on the piano, and then tricks the woman into propositioning a cook in front of a roomful of important houseguests--bordered on the cruel. Everyone likes a little payback, but like many things with this headstrong heroine, she took it way too far. At another point, she is so clueless she needs a ghost to point her in a very obvious direction. She also keeps information from the supposed love of her life for way too long to be believable--trust is non-existent in this relationship, which made the romance one of the weaker elements in the novel. So read this book for a fun, fast-paced plot, and some accurate history, and an interesting paranormal premise. Recommended for those who don't mind flawed characters, a flawed romance, and a villianess who--I kid you not--comes complete with her own black cloud, which she carries around with her from place to place. Very convenient.
Rating:  Summary: If this is a first book, look out world... Review: Karen White has written an engrossing love story that spans time and will keep you turning the pages. If you like romance, time travel, and Civil War settings, you're going to love this book. There's just the right touch of historical and geographic detail to make this story real. It's clear the author has done her homework. If practice makes perfect, I can't wait to see what books Karen White will gift us with in the future.
Rating:  Summary: Brilliant first novel! Review: Karen White is a rising star whose first novel was a "grabber" from beginning to end. Current reading tastes don't favor the first person but Ms.White has used this technique so superbly, I can't imagine this tale told in any other format. Nor was there ever a moment during the reading that I was wishing the book were written in other than the first person. Though we weren't in the thoughts of any one but the heroine, Ms. White was still able to develop the hero so well, I "knew" him just as well as I might have had we been privy to his thoughts. All her characters are very well drawn and the paranormal/time travel element handled to perfection. This is a well-researched book that reflects the authors strong grasp of history--but she weaves it through the tale so skillfully, the action is never halted. From the first moment Linda Truitt stepped over the threshold of that house, I felt like I became her and traveled with her as she searched for her lost daughter and stepped into the turmoil of our country's civil war. I was as torn as Linda was when she couldn't reveal all to the hero for fear of changing history and wondered whether had I been put to such a test would I have had the same strength. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough but by the book's end-- satisfying ending that it was-- I would've loved 400 more pages so I could continue experiencing the trials and joys Linda faced living out her life in a time long before her actual birth. Instead I closed the book with a sigh and am eager for the next book by this talented new writer.
Rating:  Summary: A Stunning First Book! Review: Laura has the perfect life. She and her husband have bought her dream house and are about to have a baby. There's nothing else she can ever want. But when her daughter Annie is two, she disappears. Then her husband dies. Laura is heart broken and alone the night she goes back to the mountain where her daughter disappeared. And there on the mountain, Laura is pulled into another time--a time that may contain her missing daughter. As she searches for Annie, Laura also finds her heart--it's held by a Confederate soldier. But is Stuart strong enough to accept Laura's past lies in the future, or that in order to save the daughter she loves she may have to betray him? In the Shadow of the Moon is a stunning romance that spans from the '90's to the Civil War, from a war that tore apart a nation, to love that transcends time. First time author, Karen white, carries the reader on a mystical journey--a journey that will touch even the hardest of hearts and convince them that nothing can stand between true love, not even time itself.
Rating:  Summary: Not so good. Review: Laura Truitt knew, as soon as she stood on the sidewalk of the old house, that this was her house. And it was right that her daughter Anne be born in this house. After suffering the disappearance of Anne on Moon Mountain while comet watching and then the subsequent death of her husband Jack, Laura finds that the house doesn't hold the same warm feeling that it had before. In an act of desperation, she returns to Moon Mountain in hopes of finding some clues as to the whereabouts of her daughter. While watching the comet pass over the mountain, Laura is overcome with a dizzy spell and wakes up in the 19th century! Is this what happened to her daughter? Did her baby, somehow, get transported back in time? Major Stuart Elliott was on medical leave from the Confederate Army and helping his small nephew hunt for game for dinner. The last thing he expected to find in the woods surrounding Roswell, Georgia, in the middle of the Civil War was a confused, young woman running around in men's clothing looking for her baby! And as confused as she was, even more confusing was the fact that Stuart felt like he had met her before. That she was meant to be there. In Roswell, in this time period, for him. This time-travel romance has everything a reader could want--a wonderful storyline, fantasy time-travel, a dashing hero, a strong (but confused) heroine, hot romance, and an ending that leaves you crying for more! Karen White has outdone herself on this effort, and all I can say is, when is the sequel?
Rating:  Summary: A Time Travel That Has It All. Review: Laura Truitt knew, as soon as she stood on the sidewalk of the old house, that this was her house. And it was right that her daughter Anne be born in this house. After suffering the disappearance of Anne on Moon Mountain while comet watching and then the subsequent death of her husband Jack, Laura finds that the house doesn't hold the same warm feeling that it had before. In an act of desperation, she returns to Moon Mountain in hopes of finding some clues as to the whereabouts of her daughter. While watching the comet pass over the mountain, Laura is overcome with a dizzy spell and wakes up in the 19th century! Is this what happened to her daughter? Did her baby, somehow, get transported back in time? Major Stuart Elliott was on medical leave from the Confederate Army and helping his small nephew hunt for game for dinner. The last thing he expected to find in the woods surrounding Roswell, Georgia, in the middle of the Civil War was a confused, young woman running around in men's clothing looking for her baby! And as confused as she was, even more confusing was the fact that Stuart felt like he had met her before. That she was meant to be there. In Roswell, in this time period, for him. This time-travel romance has everything a reader could want--a wonderful storyline, fantasy time-travel, a dashing hero, a strong (but confused) heroine, hot romance, and an ending that leaves you crying for more! Karen White has outdone herself on this effort, and all I can say is, when is the sequel?
Rating:  Summary: Fans of Diana Gabaldon rejoice!!! Review: Readers who are fans of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, should love this book by new author Karen White. A time-travel set in present day and Civil War era Georgia, it's written in first person, with a dose of history, and in an era where there were brothers fighting brothers (much like the Jacobite rebellion which was at the forefront of Gabaldon's series much of which is set in Scotland). Strong writing, compelling plot, all combine in this emotional story. This is a terrific book from beginning to end! Very highly recommended.
Rating:  Summary: True Entertainment! Review: The main character is Laura Truit --- an educated and spunky woman of the 21st century. Unexpectedly she finds herself flung back into the 1860's. I cried with her, and learned a new perspective of the Civil War. I also laughed with her, got frustrated and angry, and fell in love with the people in her new life. In other words -- I became her and couldn't put the book down. In my opinion, this is true entertainment. Buy it, you'll love it!
Rating:  Summary: True Entertainment! Review: The main character is Laura Truit --- an educated and spunky woman of the 21st century. Unexpectedly she finds herself flung back into the 1860's. I cried with her, and learned a new perspective of the Civil War. I also laughed with her, got frustrated and angry, and fell in love with the people in her new life. In other words -- I became her and couldn't put the book down. In my opinion, this is true entertainment. Buy it, you'll love it!
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