Brought to you by OBS reviewer Daniele

Synopsis:

When her controlling husband refuses to grant a divorce, Jessica Bragg doesn’t get mad – she gets even. Taking a hidden stash of cash from his desk, she starts a new life as a reporter in West Virginia. Covering Civil War reenactments isn’t exactly headline-making until an eerie flash of light brings her face-to-face with a living, breathing, strapping hunk of a Confederate soldier . . .

Colonel Gideon MacAllister can’t explain how he ended up in his old homestead after 150 years-or why its beautiful new occupant reminds him of his own beloved wife. But when Gideon takes Jessica into his arms, it’s as if he’s known and loved her forever. Soon these star-crossed soulmates must fight for every moment together . . . before time runs out again. (Goodreads)

Review:

In present day, Jessica has been married to Richard, the face of the ultra right-wing Traditional Family Movement, for seven years but is deeply unhappy.  She has no freedom or children, but when she asks for a divorce Richard strikes her then continues on about his business as if she had said nothing.  She decides to flee and moves to West Virginia and finds work as a freelance journalist, mostly covering human interest stories such as Civil War reenactments.  She took a good portion of Richard’s secret money stash and used the money to buy a somewhat rundown farmhouse and is waiting for her divorce to be finalized.

Richard, as expected, is furious with Jessica and feels her filing for divorce has led to his downfall.  He lost his job because of her.  Even so, he wants her back, not because he loves her, but because he views her as his property and thinks their marriage vows should be until death.  He hires a private investigator to keep track of her.

One evening during a particularly nasty storm, Gideon McAllister, a Confederate colonel, somehow travels through time and is shocked to find a strange woman, Jessica, living in his house.  Jessica initially believes that Gideon’s dress and talk of 1864 are just delusional side effects of his pneumonia, and she agrees to take him in as a tenant while he recuperates.  They are inexplicably attracted to each other and feel like they have met before.

Gideon has “spells” and dreams of a dragon-like beast, Draygan, who is a conduit portal between worlds (thus explaining Gideon’s time travel) who needs a vessel to speak through.  Draygan repeated taunts:

“Evil will descend upon the land of the Greenbriar.  The red man cometh.  Those in high places will perish in the flames of hell.  So sayeth the beast.”  At the same time, Jessica dreams of the 1860s through the eyes of Sarah, Gideon’s deceased wife.  Gideon blames himself for Sarah’s tragic untimely death.  Could Jessica be Sarah reincarnated?

Our Time is Now is an entertaining, sweet historical romance of sorts.  It takes place more in present day than 1860, but the bits looking into the past are interesting and flow seamlessly with the current time period.  It is a story about soul mates and the obstacles they face to be together.  It is a story about second chances and learning from mistakes.  The prime lesson here is that love is the most important thing of all.  I liked Jessica and found her to be a strong character despite her misogynistic circumstances.  She is an intelligent protagonist, and I appreciated that she went about accepting time travel in a logical way.  Gideon was expectedly charming in his nineteenth century manner, and his “fish out of water” moments dealing with a changed world provided levity to an otherwise serious book. Richard (and his 1860’s counterpart Oren) was deliciously evil, and I rooted for them to get what they deserved in the end.  I had feared that the premise of the book would be too fantastical, but I found the time travel, dragons, and reincarnation to be realistically presented.  I was compelled to keep reading in hopes of a happy ending and that vengeance would be served where deserved.

This is the second book in the Time Wanderer series, but I think it read just fine as a standalone novel.  Though I wish there was a bit more history included, the story is well paced and the characters believable.  I enjoyed this paranormal romp and recommend it to fans of time travel romance.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*