Zachary Smith is an architect who lives a rather interesting life. His weekends are spent visiting different time zones. And I don't mean Eastern or Central time, I mean, in this particular instance, 2006 and 1258. He also talks to ghosts. One day he is at Artane, a castle owned by a good friend. He's doing his usual thing, exploring and looking at the architectual wonders of the place. He happens to stumble into a room filled with medieval goodies and bam!! he is thrown back to the year 1258, right in the middle of the Lady of Artane's solar. Screams erupt.Mary de Piaget is the daughter of Robin, the Lord of Artane. Her father has been denying suitors for her for years. She truly doesn't mind the situation as she'd rather tend to her horses and spend time having fun with her cousins. Robin decides that the time has come for her to marry Geoffrey of Styrr who is handsome, but a real idiot. Top that off with the fact that Mary thinks he is up to no good. While her intended betrothed is on his way to her castle, Mary decides to hide. Zachary is running from the screams in the solar and Mary is running to hide from her suitor. They both meet, in of all places, the garderobe. This is where the story begins and Kurland, as usual, does it very well. She keeps things interesting and suspenseful while at the same time bringing laughter and fun to the tale. The banter between Mary and Zachary is consistently amusing and they are truly a good match for each other, even if there is a several hundred year difference in their age.Till There Was You is an excellent read. I recommend it. ( )

I do enjoy this author's attempts at transporting the reader thru the middle ages. Not completely authentic in feel, but what do you expect. ( )

Yummy time traveling Scots! Do you really need any other reason to buy Lynn Kurland's books? I don't. Finding her latest, "Till There Was You" in the bookstore early was my favorite kind of serendipity.

Zachary needs to change his life. He's going to quit time-traveling with Jamie, find a nice woman and settle down...hopefully in a castle he can lovingly refurbish. So when the family ghosts turn their match-making eyes' towards him, he runs--and winds up in 13th century Scotland. Good thing he already knows the time-traveler's mantra "Leave no mar in the fabric of time". He can't change fate. No matter how much he comes to love the daughter of Robin of Artane. If he stays in her time, he has no riches and no title. If she disappears it will change the fabric of time. But when he remembers her fate, he can't NOT do anything.

Mary is the 13th version of a tomboy. She lives for training her father's horses and has no intention of marrying, and certainly not Sir Geoffrey. He's too slick, too pretty, and there's just something 'evil' about him. So when he returns to her father's keep and succeeds in gaining a betrothal, she's pretty sure she won't live long after the wedding. Then from out of nowhere a strangely-dressed man appears in her father's keep. He puts himself in danger to protect her, offers her all the courtesies she though she didn't want, and makes her feel beautiful...but he's not a lord and he says he must go home, wherever that is. But his eyes, oh his eyes say something else entirely.

Sappy smile accompanied by a happy sigh. Lynn Kurland has outdone herself this time with a Gamma hero who steps up even when he knows it's useless. Zachary is funny, sweet, protective, helpful, and pretty darn good with a sword too. He talks to himself and is a bit of a nerd in a manly kind of way. He's a man you want to take home, take care of, and do wicked things with! And Mary...what a lucky girl, for someone whose betrothed wants a dead bride anyway. They both know nothing can come of their friendship, but they can't seem to stay away from each other. Shades of the 'star crossed lovers' theme with the Lynn Kurland twist.

"Till There Was You" is a timeless story that confirms the power of love. Lynn Kurland keeps her plot tight and the story rolls out smoothly, even with the time jumps. Zachary and Mary are people I would want as friends. I loved reading their story and this book is already sitting on my keeper shelf with the rest of Kurland's time-traveler series. Care to take any bets on how long I can resist before reading it again? ( )

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