Love Beyond Time, Nancy Campbell Allen

Title: Love Beyond Time
Author: Nancy Campbell Allen
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Publishing Date: 1999
Length: 196 pages
Summary: (from book) Amber Saxton is a bright young LDS doctor on the cutting edge of twenty-first century medicine. But when she has a head on collision with a swinging door, life as she knows it is suddenly reduced to a heart full of searing memories when she awakens in another time and place. How can she practice modern medicine on a Civil War battlefield-and how can she get out of this mess? She longs for her comfortable apartment and her dear little Pirmary class, but she's trapped in a world that is not her own. And it's anything but friendly.
Meanwhile, Tyler Tyler Montgomery, an overworked accountant, is spending the night at his computer, preparing for an audit, when two of his worst nightmares walk through his office door. The last thing he remembers is the blow from the butt of their sawed off shotgun-until he comes to in a tiny room adjacent to a nineteenth century Army hospital. I've died and I'm not in heaven, he thinks.
Amber and Tyler have just begun the adventure of their lives, fraught with danger, intrigue and unbelievable discoveries at every turn. Thrown together in a world apart, they must somehow find their way back to the present. But first, they need to find each other and learn what matters most in life. Can they meet the test- or will it cost them their lives  before they can unravel the mystery of generations past?

My Thoughts: Mm....what to say about this one. It was given to me by a friend who loved it, but I'm not sure this is my cuppa tea.  The title is bona fide cheesy, and I don't think I would call this much of  a time travel fic.  I didn't like the pacing of the novel at all and just read through it for it to get it over with.  I quickly grew tired of Tyler's 'heated blood' when it came to his attraction to Amber, but since this is an LDS novel, it never really goes anywhere except for more kissing than I like, which is surprising since the author claims her objective is to write enjoyable romance without guilt.
I feel horrible for never really liking LDS fiction. It just always has to be so perfect and everybody has to join the church at the end. If I read Christian lit, I much prefer to read from other sects rather than my own, not for the religious perspective, but just for the content.
The one thing I did like about this book is that both Amber and Tyler met some of their ancestors while living in 1862. It was a happy touch for the genealogist in me.
What I Learned:   I need to stop bashing LDS fics.
 

Review: I'll Be Seeing You, Jerry Borrowman

Title: I'll Be Seeing You
Author: Jerry Borrowman
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Publishing Date: 2006
Length: 386 Pages
Summary: (From book) As the Depression worsens, a distant war draws near. Dan O'Brian finds he is once again embroiled with the inner conflicts he had hoped were far behind him after returning from World War I. Dan holds a strong conviction that the United States should stay out of this new war-because this time it is his son, Cory, whose life could be threatened by a foreign menace. But convictions can change.
Through his work as a musician, Dan finds an unlikely friend in Josh Brown, a man who challenges Dan's view of the world. And though both men share a common tragic link to the past, events of the future will soon forever bond the two men's families together.
In an era where the future is as uncertain as it is exciting, Cory O'Brian and Nathan Brown know they must defend freedom, just as their fathers have done. What they don't yet understand are the human costs of war-to those in the battle and those at home.
My Thoughts: Augh...why do these books make me cry so hard? I seriously sobbed towards the end of the book. Something in these stories really get to me and I will be finding the rest of the series as soon as I can to  keep the emotional roller coaster going.
I guess my only issue with this one is that I got a little bored with the technical, explaining of the submarines and war machines, but I guess that's because these books are more boy-centered in that regard. It's just so nice to find good series of books that uplift and inspire while teaching about important facts in an interesting and touching manner.
This is a series that I am going to recommend to anyone interested in the Great Wars.

Review: 'Til The Boys Come Home, Jerry Borrowman

Title: 'Til The Boys Come Home
Author: Jerry Borrowman
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Publishing Date: March 2005
Length: 407 Pages
Summary: (From book) At fifteen, Danny O'Brian dreams of being something different than what his union-leader father has become-and now that the Richards family has moved to town, maybe it's possible. The Richardses have everything that the O'Brian's seem to lack-education, money, social standing-and best of all, they and their son are truly kind to Danny.
Everything changes, however, when war takes the two young men far from the peaceful streets of Pocatello, Idaho.  Danny must fight in the trenches, reluctantly using the one skill he was taught by his father. Meanwhile, Trevor battles the enemy in the skies. But war will not  be kind to these two men with a brotherly bond.

My Thoughts: Why is this author so amazing? Again, I literally sat there and cried for the last one hundred pages of this novel. What a beautiful, sweeping story of the pain of the war to end all wars. I fell deeply attached to both boys, and cheered and cried with them. The plot got a little slow right before the pre war dive, but other than that, this story was engaging and hard to put down. Borrowman is truly a gifted word weaver and I am going to eagerly dive into his other two historical fiction novels, but not after I've given myself a bit of a breather-I need to find more tissues.