TBR Challenge: TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE, by Suzanne Brockamnn

The topic of this month is Paranormal or romantic suspense

Published: 1997

Genre: Romantic suspense/Time Travel

My Rating: 3 stars

In October we have to choose something belonging either to the paranormal genre or a romantic suspense, and I think this book is both things at the same time.

It was in my TBR pile because, as I have already written here, I like Suzanne Brockmann’s books. She is –or, at least, she’s been- quite a prolific writer, so there are many books of hers out there. And although I’m trying to read them all there are still quite a few in my TBR pile.

This book is a strange mixture of romantic suspense and a Time Travel story. One night the heroine, Maggie Winthrop, finds a strange naked man in her backyard. He’s attractive and seems to know her. Of course, when he says he comes from the future, she can’t believe him.

Charles ‘Chuck’ Della Croce is a scientist and tells her that he had created a machine to time travel. But there was a problem with that device and therefore he has come from the future in order to convince his younger self, Charles Della Croce, not to keep on investigating in that line of work that would lead him eventually to discover how to travel in time. He is not going to do it himself, but wants to use this young woman, because he is in love with her. Rather, he was going to be in love in the future, and he thinks young Charles is going to fall for her.

A little bit complex, isn’t it?

All these time travel stories can make you crazy if you think too much.

Suzanne Brockmann does something very clever, which is put a name to the ‘older’ Charles –she calls him Chuck-, and then another one for ‘younger’ Charles –Charles or Charlie. Therefore you know when the heroine is with one or the other.

So Maggie falls for this stranger that comes from the future, and he loves her as well. As a matter of fact, he’s been wanting and loving her for seven years. At the same time, she feels this attraction towards the young Charlie. He also finds her very attractive but of course knowing her just for a few days, he’s not in love with her. So it will not be easy for him to forget his great aim in life which is this thing about time travel. Moreover, if Maggie convinces him to stop investigating that, Chuck would have never gone to the past and she will loose him forever.

That’s the paranormal part of the story –the time travel.

But there is also romantic suspense. Because Chuck is not the only one who comes from the future. Just on cue a group of villains that do terrible thing in the future, wants to be sure that Chuck is unsuccessful because they want to use his time travel machine. Therefore Chuck and Maggie have –first- to survive and –then- convince young Charles to stop investigating. The good thing is that Chuck, being a Suzanne Brockmann hero, has this Navy SEAL training, so he’s a resourceful man.

There’s something original in this book because Maggie falls in love with Chuck but at the same time feels this attraction toward the Charlie of her time. So in a sense she falls in love with two men, but two men that are the same man - only in different ages.

It’s written in that fabulous Brockmann’s style that keeps you with your eyes glued to the page. It doesn’t matter that is complicated, or you don’t understand it or sometimes sound like pure crazysauce. You just have to keep on reading.

So I would recommend it, because it’s very entertaining. But don't expect anything magical or unforgettable.