REVIEW: A Time for Everything [ARC] by Brona Mills

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A Time For Everything is a time travel romance with the majority of the novel set in the mid-90s and early 2000s. University student Michael makes a life changing wish during his 20th birthday celebration and finds his life drastically changing as a result. That birthday, a woman from the future appears in a flash of light. Not only that, but she knows his future self as a rich man and famous actor. While Audrey knows some of how he got to where he is in the future, a mystery surrounds her appearance in the past as well as there being memory loss that keeps her from remembering important but also traumatic information. Over the next 20 years, Michael experiences regular visitation from Audrey who simultaneously tries to help him maintain the same arc of his life while pushing for resolution to the mystery of her appearances and disappearances. Along the way, Michael falls deeply in love with his ‘spotlight’ angel. Each reappearance takes a greater and greater toll on Audrey and he comes to fear that what is a wondrous thing for him could have deadly consequences for her.

This book takes a look at a few different questions – If you had the power to change something in your life, would you? And, better still, would you be happy with the results? It also loops back to the power of responsibilities to family and community. Michael is a character driven by responsibility and guilt to protect and support his family, friends and community. Finally, perhaps the biggest question this book posed for me was the question: If people don’t have the ability to leave or be independent, can love truly continue to exist and grow? I enjoyed seeing this question reflected in different ways with various characters throughout the story.

In terms of my personal thoughts on the story, this is not necessarily a genre (time travel romance) or setting (90s/early 2000s) that I would normally gravitate to in choosing a novel. That being said, I did end up enjoying this story and the twists the author created. While it’s categorized as a romance, I would warn that the progression of the romance is quite slow and that there are minimal sexy scenes in the story. For me as a reader, this wasn’t a big issue (I would have liked maybe one more sexy scene, I think) but if you’re the type that likes a bit more spiciness, this might not be your cup of tea. The romance itself was a long-term smolder with lots of internal angst on the part of the hero.

I really enjoyed getting to see Michael’s progression from young adult to adulthood and I think the author did a good job of showing his growing maturity and evolving sense of responsibility. Along the way, Michael makes huge decisions about his career, leaving his birth country and everything familiar, creates lasting friendships and has failed loves. The author did a great job of engaging me with Michael’s early career development and the formation of his lifelong friendships in the first half of the book and then with the growing romantic elements in the second half. I was struck by Michael’s need for social justice, need to support his family, and the ever-expanding circle of responsibilities he takes on over time.

Tension in this book comes down to whether Michael will ‘make it’, will Audrey survive her time travel, and will Michael’s love for Audrey ever be fulfilled? Ultimately, these questions were all answered in a satisfying way for me as a reader.

As far as the pros for the book: it was filled with engaging characters that I found myself rooting for over time. The writing was clear and concise: I flew through this book in only a few days. The dynamics between all the characters – their friendships and loves – really drew me in and kept me invested in the story, start to finish. Michael was adorable as a young man – goofy and unsure of himself but grew into a more confident and sexy lead man over time. I loved watching him grow!

For cons with this book, I did find the opening chapter to be confusing as it plunks the reader into the middle of the story. That being said, I stuck through it and after the first chapter had an easier time understanding everything that was going on. I also found that the ending came a bit abruptly (maybe this is a good thing – that I wanted it to keep going?) and jumps around a bit. Some more transition at that point might have been good to really flesh out what was going on. Last, if you’re looking for something with a more developed ‘science’ or further world building around the time travel, I don’t think this will be the book for you. But, the book doesn’t hinge on needing a really in depth understanding of the whys and wherefores of the time travel – it can be enjoyed without this aspect.

All of this considered, I give the book 4 stars and would definitely consider reading more from this author in the future.

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