This was an Ok and had a great story line... though I felt the author didn't go into the relationship between Shelly and Max. It was more about Max's life. I guess for me there wasn't enough of a reason for her to choose what she did in the end... ( )

I could not get into this book. I read about 50 pages and couldn't follow it. I guess time travel is not for me....

it was a good love story ( )

Loved it. The hero gets blown to pieces in the prologue, leaving Shelley, the heroine, a rich if heartbroken young widow. So the story is shown in flashback style, a la The Time Traveler's Wife, but this is a very different book. Yes, it's a love story, and it's happy, and sad, and there's much mystery as the story unfolds, but it's also light and funny, with tasty turns of phrase sprinkled in: "Shelly made do with a breakfast of burned toast slathered with trans-fat-free disappointment."

I fell in love with Max and Shelley, with Max's baked eggs with cheese - and chicken obsession, with The Slight Detour (which I so want to take) trip across Europe. Sotto does a wonderful job weaving in historical places and events and sensual details. My only quibble is sometimes her metaphors are a little overdone. When Shelley was bothered by a big yellow and black bee buzzing around her, I thought it was an actual bee, and it threw me off, though the elephant lumbering after them, after their first kiss worked. There is a magic/paranormal element, but if you pick it up looking specifically for that, there probably won't be enough to satisfy you. ( )

This is one of those historical fiction/romance/mystery books that grabbed me at the first page, pulled me in, and kept me intrigued until the book was finished. Samantha Sotto's writing style is witty and rich in language. I highly recommend this "good read"! ( )