Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Downtime
AUTHOR: Tamara Allen
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 506 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2012
BLURB:
On assignment in London, FBI Agent Morgan Nash finds himself moments away from a bullet through the heart when the case he’s working goes awry. But fate has other plans, he discovers when he wakes in a world far removed from his own. At work cataloguing ancient manuscripts in the British Museum, Ezra Glacenbie inadvertently creates the magic that pulls Morgan out of the twenty-first century and into the nineteenth. It’s an impromptu vacation which may become permanent when the spellbook goes missing. Further upsetting Morgan’s search for a way home is the irresistible temptation to investigate the most notorious crime of the nineteenth century. But it’s the unexpected romance blossoming between Morgan and Ezra that becomes the most dangerous complication of all.
REVIEW:
Wow, this story was actually really different than I imagined it would be and I find myself, even a day after finishing it, still trying to adequately decipher my feelings about it. The book starts off with one of the main characters, Morgan, working a case in London when things go pear shaped and he finds himself waking up in 1888. Plans to send him back home the next day go awry and he’s forced to stay with those responsible for his little trip back in time while searching for the means to return him to his own time. Along the way Morgan begins investigating the Jack the Ripper killings, makes some unexpected friends and finds that, despite what he and everyone else thinks, he is capable of falling in love.
Let me start by saying that I generally liked the story but it did take me a little while to get into it. The beginning was great but I found that, once Morgan had been sent to the past, my interest began to wane a bit. One of my issues was that, while Morgan fairly easily accepted that he was in the past via a magical tome, he couldn’t accept that Ezra had the ability to speak with the dead. As a result, he and Ezra found themselves at odds and Morgan’s attitude and standoffishness kept them from really connecting in any meaningful way for a while. This is totally a slow burn story, and I can enjoy those when I’m in the mood for them, but when I say slow burn I mean slow burn. Like 200+ pages of glacially slow progress here. I wasn’t quite prepared for that level of snail pace progress and found myself putting the book down to read something a bit more attention grabbing more than once.
When Morgan and Ezra finally get their acts together, however, I was much happier with the story. Ezra was, by the way, my favorite character of the book; he was very nearly the best thing about the entire story. 😀 The Jack the Ripper investigation was interesting but didn’t really add anything meaningful to the story in my opinion; it was more a way to keep Morgan busy while waiting to leave. *shrugs* I’ve always been fascinated by the investigation into those killings so I’d have probably enjoyed that part of the story either way.
The story itself was enjoyable even with the parts I didn’t care for as much but the ending…the ending. The end of this book, which encompasses several chapters, was both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time and I’m totally not ashamed to admit there were a few tears shed here. The book has a happy ending, no fear there, but getting to that happy ending was probably my absolute favorite part of the book and made reading every other chapter before it worth the time put into it. I’d go back and read the ending all over again just on its own it was so good. Anyone that’s a fan of historical novels will enjoy this one but I’d recommend it to those that enjoy a good slow burn or a mystery as this will cater to you, as well. Really good book; I may not read it that often, but I will certainly read it again.
RATING: 
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