Review: A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong

A Stitch in Time (A Stitch in Time #1)
by Kelley Armstrong

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Time Travel Romance/ Paranormal Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
Thorne Manor has always been haunted…and it has always haunted Bronwyn Dale. As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt’s house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination.

Now, twenty years later Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor. And when she returns, William is waiting.

William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago.

As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past.

My Review

While I am usually not a big fan of time travel stories, this book caught my attention immediately when I first heard the author talk about it and as I love this author’s books I was excited to read it. A Stitch in Time is a great time travel romance with some paranormal mystery/ suspense added it. It’s about a haunted house, two times that are stitched together in time and a romance between Bronwyn who lives in the current time and William who lives in the past.

I really enjoyed A Stitch in Time. Kelley Armstrong has a pleasant writing style that I enjoy. And the story was a great one. The start is a bit slower than the rest of the story, but I enjoyed it from the start. I like the unique mash of genres, the time travel romance aspect and then the haunted house ghost mystery aspect. The author combines the two together into one engaging read. Both the romance and the mystery were compelling and was eager to keep reading to find out how Bronwyn and William could make their romance work as well as figure out the mystery surrounding the ghosts.

I liked the romance between Bronwyn and William. How they fell in love even though they came from different times. It’s a bit of a second chance romance and I liked learning how they fell in love in kids and now after not speaking for years meet again. It was nice to hear a bit about how they met as kids and how their relationship grew when they were 15. And now they meet again when they’re both adults and try to mend their relationship. I liked their conversations about what was different in their times and their willingness to understand the others life. They made for a great couple. Even William’s first reaction when he sees Bronwyn again was understandable. I was wondering for the whole book how they would make their romance work as only Bronwyn can move across times and she it’s clear she wants her own life as well and not only stay in the past. I liked the way this got resolved, while it was a bit convenient I also liked how this solved it all. I also liked the cats and there are some interesting side characters as well.

The mystery about the ghosts and the haunted house was a great one. There are plenty of twists and turns and I liked how this mystery tied back to the past. I also like how there is a bit of lore in this world about how Bronwyn can communicate with the ghosts and set them free. At first the mystery seemed quite obvious, but it had some amazing twists and turns that made sense and surprised me.

I am usually not a fan of time travel stories as the whole time travel aspect just doesn’t make sense to me. Luckily in this book there is little focus on how the actual time travel works and that allowed me to just get lost in the story. And I did like seeing how Bronwyn could switch between the two times and how we are able to see both times in this book.

To summarize: This was a great and engaging read. I like the author’s writing style and this book caught my attention from the start. I liked the combination of genres with the time travel romance as well as the haunted house/ ghost mystery part. Both the romance and the mystery plot line were well worked out and I enjoyed both of them. Bronwyn and William made for a great couple and I liked the second chance vibe of their romance and how they were both willing to do their best to make their relationship work. The mystery plot line was great too, it seemed obvious at first, but there are some great twists and turns along the way that make the whole mystery more complicated and still it all made sense. The time travel aspect is mild and I liked there isn’t as much focus on how it works, so I could just get lost in the story instead. All in all a great read and I look forward to the next book!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.