Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Another Place in Time Anthology
AUTHORS: Tamara Allen, Joanna Chambers, KJ Charles, Kaje Harper, Jordan L. Hawk, & Aleksandr Voinov
PUBLISHER: Boys in Our Books
LENGTH: 232 pages
BLURB:
Welcome to another place in time…where one can be swept away into lands and eras long forgotten.
This collection of short stories was birthed because a sworn “I don’t like historicals” reader fell in love with what have become some of her favorite books by most of her favorite writers. Surprisingly, they were all historicals. Determined to make others feel the love, these authors were asked to contribute small tastes of how amazing historical storytelling can be.
Included in this anthology:
“Office Romance” by Tamara Allen
“Introducing Mr. Winterbourne” by Joanna Chambers
“The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh” by KJ Charles
“Unfair in Love and War” by Kaje Harper
“Carousel” by Jordan L. Hawk
“Deliverance” by Aleksandr Voinov
Along with a foreword written by Alex Beecroft, enjoy these original short stories that make up “Another Place in Time”.
All proceeds from the purchase of this anthology will be donated to AllOut.org in celebration of LGBT History Month, October 2014.
Blurbs:
“Office Romance” by Tamara Allen
The post-war economy is at a standstill, much like Foster Wetherly’s life until he’s forced to do battle with irritatingly confident—and competent—fellow ex-doughboy Casey Gladwin for a position in their shrinking department at Manhattan Security Mutual.
“Introducing Mr. Winterbourne” by Joanna Chambers
Lysander Winterbourne appears to lead a charmed life. Handsome, amiable, and a renowned sportsman, he is the darling of London society. As far as Adam Freeman is concerned though, Lysander is just another spoiled aristocrat.
A wealthy mill owner, Adam has no time for the frivolous world of the ton, but when his younger brother becomes engaged to Althea Winterbourne, he reluctantly agrees to be introduced to society–with the Winterbourne clan’s golden boy as his guide.
Resigning himself to a few days of boredom, Adam is surprised to learn that there is much more to Lysander than his perfect surface. But will Adam have the courage to introduce Lysander Winterbourne to his own secret self?
“The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh” by KJ Charles
Lord Gabriel Ashleigh is a ruined man. Last night he lost everything at the card tables to his brother’s worst enemy, notorious gambler Francis Webster. Tonight, he’s going back for one more game. Ash thinks he has nothing left to lose. But Francis sets the stakes, and they’re higher than Ash could have imagined…
Two Regency bucks. One game of cards. Everything to play for.
“Unfair in Love and War” by Kaje Harper
Many men lost brothers overseas in the summer of 1944. Warren Burch was one of them. For months he still clung to his big city life in Philadelphia, but finally he’s made the difficult choice to return to his home town. Warren’s polio-stricken leg won’t let him serve, so the least he can do is be there for his mother, when brother Charlie never again will. Arriving home means a whole new life, constrained by the rhythms and prejudices of a small town. Fortunately, it’s made more interesting by the mysterious and attractive young man next door.
“Carousel” by Jordan L. Hawk
When a child goes missing, is it a simple case of a young runaway, or are more sinister forces at work?
“Carousel” is part of the Whyborne & Griffin series and takes place between the events of Stormhaven and Necropolis. It can be read as a standalone.
“Deliverance” by Aleksandr Voinov
This is a re-vamped, re-edited, improved version of “Deliverance”. It’s about William Raven, a templar, who thought he’d escaped his past. (Same character as in “The Lion of Kent”.)
REVIEW:
Office Romance by Tamara Allen
Hmmm… this one was ok, but there wasn’t enough backstory on either Casey or Foster for me to really care about them. They are co-workers in the same department at Manhattan Security Mutual, doing something with accounting I think. They are informed there will be a layoff in their department, since they are the last ones in, one of them will be the first out. They are basically set up to compete against each other to save their job. They don’t know much about each other, or really like one another, until they are forced to sit side by side. There is a bit of conniving by each of them, they meet at Casey’s home, have a little thing, and… I’ll stop there.
So this isn’t a bad story by any means, but I just didn’t get much out of it, most of the story takes place in their office, and there isn’t much of a connection established between them. They have both been in the war, but not much is said about that. We get a bit of Foster’s family life with his parents, and Casey’s mother is mentioned, but there just wasn’t enough character development for me to get in to it. The writing was decent, and the plot was potentially interesting, if there had been more to the characters.
RATING: 4 stars
Introducing Mr. Winterbourne by Joanna Chambers
Yes! Regency romance, I love it! Lysander Winterbourne is the younger son of an aristocratic but broke family. The Winterbournes have the title, but the elder Mr. Winterbourne had gambled away all of the family fortune and basically sells his daughter to Simon Freeman. The Freeman family have money but no title…. Simon Freeman convinces his older brother Adam, the heir, to come to London early for his wedding and get to know the obnoxious wealthy people. Lysander’s father asks him to show Adam around town and introduce him to society. Unfortunately the stuffy folks of the ton are not impressed with Adam. But Adam and Lysander make a nice personal connection.
And connect they do! I really like this time period, when men like Lysander and Adam have to be so careful. I’m fascinated by the way they have to be so sneaky and figure out who shares their feelings. What a hard time to be a gay man, I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to know that you could be punished and possibly killed for loving someone. So, this is a very good story, just like I like my historical romances. Enough background on Adam and Lysander to give them some depth and for me to really like them and care about them. Interesting additional characters, we see their family a bit, plus a fencing instructor. They go out and about, so we see them at a ball, a fencing match, a club for dinner, as well as at Adam’s house. They do have a very nice connection for having just met, not insta-love, but certainly insta-lust. And they are very good in bed together. Just a great story!
RATING: 4.5 stars
The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles
Another regency period story! Yumm… Gabriel is such a mess, he wakes up with a serious hangover to remember he has literally gambled everything away. To his brother’s enemy know less. He’s hoping maybe his brother will save him, but nope! He’s on his own. Francis, the winner of Gabriel’s family home due to his stupidity, invites him over in the evening to discuss the possession of his winnings, or so Gabriel assumes. This however, is not what Francis thinks.
Turns out Francis has a nasty case of lust for Gabriel! What follows is a hot and naughty bit of gambling, Gabriel proving again he has no clue how to play cards and losing his jacket, shirt, and ass to Francis. Oh, it was wonderful! What a great story, simple but exciting, with a nice ending. Again, I’m a fan of the time period and KJ Charles knows her stuff. She give us a very well written short bit of hotness, with some good characters. I’d love to know what happens next!
RATING: 4.5 stars
Unfair in Love and War by Kaje Harper
This one blew me away. It starts out interesting, but takes a turn at the end that I didn’t see coming and went from a very good story to an incredible one. Warren returns home to his mother’s house after losing his job in the city. It’s 1944, his brother has been killed in the war, his mother needs help, and he’s unemployed, so why not go home and start over there…. He arrives home to discover his neighbor’s home being vandalized, but can’t chase down the bastards because he’s got a bad leg due to a bout of polio as a child. He learns from his mother that this is not the first time this has happened to Mr. Koehler, a Swiss man who looks German. He’s had his windows broken and a swastika painted on his front door.
Warren eventually befriends Stefan Koehler, and begins to spend some time with him, getting to know him, and teach him how good it can be to have a lover who cares for your pleasure. Warren is very stubborn and comes to Stefan’s defense with the continuing vandalism he faces, and ostracism by the local community, but Stefan has a big secret that may threaten their growing relationship…. No I won’t tell you what it is!
This was a fantastic story. Really fantastic. It felt much longer than it was, the plot isn’t huge, just between Warren and Stefan, but their stories as they come out are so deep and interesting. It was a hard time to be alive, Warren unable to fight, Stefan facing hatred just because he looks German. Not to mention the whole gay issue. They move so slowly and gently with one another, it was beautiful. I loved them together as a couple and as individuals. Then the ending was so incredible. I didn’t know where the story was going and just loved it. Soooo good! Kaje is a fantastic author, I’ve loved her other books, this one was equally as good.
RATING: 5 stars
Carousel by Jordan L. Hawk
Whyborne and Griffin… How can it be anything other than perfect? This one is short and creepy, and just right. A nice little bit of mystery for the boys to solve. Whyborne and Griffon are enjoying an evening at home when there is a knock at the door… A man’s ten year old son has been missing since the night before, and he is desperate for help. Of course they agree to help and head to the man’s home to talk to his other son, who may know what happened.
What we get is a little creepy story involving magic, a creepy man, a creepy carousel and some really creepy horses! There’s not a lot of plot here so I won’t give you any details, but it was short and cool. If you know Whyborne and Griffon you’ll love this one, if not, you may not get the full effect without knowing their story. There’s a nice little bit of bathtub sex to top it off as well! So it’s Jordan L. Hawk, the writing is great, the details are perfect, the story is odd, and it works very well. I loved it!
RATING: 4.5 stars
Deliverance by Aleksandr Voinov
Templar knights, and Aleksandr Voinov. Perfect. This story is a companion piece to a book Aleksandr wrote called The Lion of Kent, which I read a few years ago and enjoyed. William, from the first book, is now a Templar night in Israel fighting the Saracen’s for the holy land. He and his brother knights are sent out to rescue a group of pilgrims, only to discover a former lover in their party. William and Guy were as close as men can be at one time, but William ran and joined the Templars, breaking their bond and their hearts.
This is a small but very well written story, it is just about the relationship between William and Guy as it was, and as it could be. There actually is no ending, I was almost annoyed by that. We are left with no resolution for them, but it looks like there might be another story planned that might give us more. It’s a great story though, hard men living a secret life, in a dark time. I liked both of them as characters, this is just a little glimpse of their lives and relationship. The sex between them is rough and hard, more a fight than sex, but you can see the deep feelings between them. This story really did leave me wanting more. Aleksandr is an amazing writer, especially with the darker times and characters like this one.
RATING: 4.5 stars
What a great anthology! I am a fan of historical romance novels, of different time periods, so I was sold before I started. But I can see how this could be a good introduction to someone who isn’t familiar with historical books, and wasn’t sure what time period would interest them. There are several eras covered in one book, with a range of stories. I will say that Kaje Harper stole the show with her WWII story, the others were certainly good, but that one was amazing. So everyone should read this, if you already like historical books or not. The stories were all well written and seemed to be well researched, I enjoyed them all, and it made me want to go read more by these authors and more historical books!
OVERALL RATING: 
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