THE STEALING TIME SERIES
Stealing Time
Shattering Time
Killing Time
by
KJ WATERS
Time Travel / Suspense / Romance / Alt History / Mystery
Publisher: Blondie Books
Stealing Time, December 20, 2014, 319 pages
A devastating hurricane. A time travel betrayal. Will Ronnie survive the witch hunt or forever be lost in time?
Stealing Time is the first book in the “breathtakingly original” Stealing Time Series of time travel wrapped in a hurricane. If you like strong-willed modern women and gripping stories that transport you back in time, then you’ll love KJ Waters’s Books.
As Hurricane Charley churns a path of destruction towards Orlando, Florida, Ronnie Andrews scrambles to prepare for the storm and seeks shelter at her boyfriend’s weather lab. What she finds there is more terrifying than Mother Nature’s destruction.
During the peak of the hurricane, Ronnie is hurtled back in time to eighteenth-century London where she is caught in a web of superstition, deception, and lies in a life and death struggle to return to her own time. Her best friend Steph is thrust into the middle of the hurricane.
Shattering Time: June 27, 2017, 336 pages
A hurricane the size of Texas. Another time travel betrayal. Will Ronnie figure out how to return home or die trying?
Shattering Time is the second book in the best-selling “Breathtakingly original” time travel series that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Ronnie Andrews returns from 18th-century London shell-shocked from her first terrifying time travel encounter. Her boyfriend, Jeffrey Brennan, casts doubt on her sanity leaving Ronnie wondering if she went back in time or is having a mental breakdown. To add to the tension, Hurricane Francis, a storm the size of Texas, is barreling towards Florida and her fears of a repeat time travel experience mount. Ronnie’s best friend Steph, along with her friend Nick and Steph’s younger brother Ian, shield Ronnie from the dangers of Francis but cannot save her from traveling back in time. Unfortunately, their meddling brings Ronnie to the brink of destruction as they are caught in the throes of the hurricane’s wrath.
Once again, Ronnie is transported to dangerous places and desperate situations, while experiencing perilous cultures including one of America’s first mysteries — the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. A stunning conclusion brings Ronnie face to face with a dangerous ally who may hold the key to her past while offering salvation for her future.
Killing Time: August 27, 2021, 437 pages
When the Strongest Hurricane in Decades Takes Aim at Florida, Ronnie Tries to Escape its Wrath. Will she Die in the Storm or Be Lost in Time Forever?
Ronnie Andrews is lucky to be alive after a time travel glitch nearly took her life during Hurricane Frances. When Hurricane Ivan, one of the strongest storms in decades, sets its sights on Florida, Ronnie jumps at the chance to join Mike, her mysterious new boss, on a business trip to Puerto Rico.
Sparks fly, but when a newspaper article surfaces with horrific pictures of a woman who may have died at Mike’s hands, Ronnie regrets the decision. Before she can confront Mike about what she knows, Hurricane Jeanne forms off the coast, trapping them on the island. Her doctors warned that another time-travel-induced illness may kill her. Mike may be her only salvation.
The storm strikes and Ronnie time travels to Texas in 1872 where she is taken by Comanches. A rescue party saves her life led by Jesse and Frank James, hiding under assumed names.
Will Ronnie find a way to make the time-traveling episodes stop before the dangers of the past, and the damage from the journey destroy her?
“There was a distinctive downside to showing up back in time as a woman.”
Shattering Time by KJ Waters is Book Two in the Stealing Time Series. This series reads as one long story, so be sure to read them in order. In Book One, Stealing Time, the characters are introduced, and the time traveling scenario is set. Click here to read my review of Stealing Time on Goodreads.
In Shattering Time, Ronnie Andrews is facing the wrath of yet another hurricane in the short time she has been living in Florida. After the harrowing and extremely thrilling time traveling adventure in Stealing Time, Ronnie is just not physically or mentally ready for another. But with her boyfriend, Jeffrey Brennan, secretly and selfishly pulling the strings behind the scenes, rife with his time travel science and inventions, Ronnie doesn’t really have a choice. Brace yourself for another impact in Shattering Time, because Ronnie and her friends are in for one wild and stormy ride.
Time travel stories are not new, but in Shattering Time, KJ Waters offers a rare glimpse of Ronnie’s physical liminal existence in the modern time while she is internally off on a dangerous escapade in the distant past. Her friend Stephanie, along with Steph’s boyfriend, Nick, and brother, Ian, know what’s going on with her but not why or how, and they desperately want her unresponsive body to ‘wake up.’ Getting her to the hospital during a hurricane proves to be risky and life threatening. If a deadly hurricane isn’t bad enough, Jeffrey’s time travel manipulations on Ronnie to satisfy his own scientific vainglory are absolutely terrifying. His attitude and feelings toward Ronnie vacillate between perceived concern, lust, anger, and clinical psychopathy. He is most definitely not the guy for her. In Book One, Stealing Time, Ronnie goes back to 1752 London and meets Mathias, who helps her when everyone else calls her a witch. In Shattering Time, Ronnie meets her new boss, Mike Walsh, and instantly feels a connection. When she goes back in time to colonial Roanoke in the 1500s, Ronnie immediately connects with Morris, who also tries to help her battle a devilish predicament. But is Mike an actual reincarnation of these two men from Ronnie’s time travel capers, or is he just another wrong guy with a dark past? Book Three, Killing Time, just may shed a bit of light on this.
KJ Waters has a wonderful gift of capturing the reader’s attention and imagination in this time traveling series. Shattering Time has a dynamic mix of perilous situations, historical depictions and interactions, and the value of true friendships/relationships.
A word of caution for sensitive readers: Shattering Time has a few sexual scenes that may be a bit too descriptive for some and has a couple of male characters who objectify women and spout a few too many sexually offensive remarks that may turn off some readers. One such character, Ian, does redeem himself later in the story, so that is a positive. If you offend easily, skim the sexy scenes and innuendoes, if you can, because you won’t want to miss out on this extremely entertaining story.
Let’s talk about the actual time travel. While Jeffrey is despicable, he has created an interesting means to transport someone to a different time. But is his technology safe and ready to transport humans without causing any physical or mental damage? While Jeffrey’s experiments reveal many flaws, Ronnie’s episodes back in time are quite historically interesting and riveting. As with most time traveling stories, disrupting history by your mere presence could be problematic. The first two books in the Stealing Time series do not really explore this aspect, but they do project both the abrupt and ongoing jeopardy and thrill of landing in someone else’s body and situation in a different time, somewhat reminiscent of the late 1980s Quantum Leap TV show, which I love.
Hats off to KJ Waters for a truly intriguing time travel story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, contemplate the folly of greedy humans, and appreciate friends who will never leave your physical side while you are time traveling. Remember, read the books in this series in order if you want to appreciate the overall development of the characters and their ongoing journeys. And the next time you find yourself in a massive hurricane, make sure you surround yourself with plenty of food and good friends and that you’re not dating an evil scientist who has no qualms about using you as a time-traveling guinea pig.
Enter the giveaway below on or before June 10, 2022, for a chance to win some fabulous prizes.
I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.
Grand Prize: $25
Amazon Card & signed copies of three novels in a swag bag
Three Winners: eBooks of novella Blow
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(Ends midnight, CDT, 6/10/2022)
Two fabulous reviews! I can’t wait to binge read all 3 while waiting for the next book. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Awesome!