Time Trap by Danele Rotharmel

Time Trap

By Danele J. Rotharmel

Time Travel/Romance

$3.99 eBook/$16.99 print

ISBN: 978-1-943104-56-7

When problems arise during a field exam, Director Peter Matthews and Dr. Laura Nelson are sent through a time portal to investigate. While they search for their missing cadets, they encounter an enemy who is calculating and brutal—a mysterious nemesis who is holding a grudge against the TEMCO program. As Peter and Laura race to unravel clues directing them to their kidnapped cadets, their own survival comes into question. A deadly trap has been set, and they are forced to pit their wits against a serial killer who is intent on playing a deadly chess game through time itself.

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Amazon   Smashwords     Barnes and Noble LISA: Danielle, I love your series premise, though I wondered about how some of the travels worked. Can you share with us some of your conundrums? DANELE: Conundrums were definitely on my mind when I wrote Time Trap. You see, at the time, I was very ill—so ill that I was quarantined in my home. I literally talked to people through the window glass. Quarantine wasn’t fun, and it lasted a long time--seven years. Now, what does quarantine have to do with the conundrums in Time Trap? Everything! My whole life while I was writing Time Trap was a conundrum. That’s why I included so many in my story. You see, before I became ill, I served God faithfully. I expected Him to keep me from harm. Instead, I became so sick that I almost died. I had to quit my job and stop driving my car. I couldn’t go to church, to stores, to restaurants, or out with my friends. I was shut up inside my house like some sort of weird zoo exhibit. I felt so much despair that I turned my back on God, but eventually, I reconciled my faith and my circumstances. When I wrote Time Trap, I explored some of my questions about God. And as the years of isolation slowly passed, I learned several truths. I learned that God is faithful. I learned that He will stand by us even when we temporarily lose faith in Him. I learned that this life is truly a momentary vapor. Pain comes, and pain goes—but God remains the same. And most of all, I learned that when we are in the middle of a trial, we can’t always see the great things that are just up ahead. I thought God was being mean when He allowed me to become ill, but what I’ve learned is that God allowed me to walk that painful path because He knew it was going to lead to something beautiful. During quarantine, I had time to draw closer to God. I studied the Bible and memorized vast quantities of Scripture. What I went through was painful, but it was beneficial. Besides my spiritual transformation, Quarantine also gave me the time I needed to write my books. During those long, painful years, I wrote the first six books in The Time Counselor Chronicles (Time Trap is book two). If I hadn’t been ill, my books probably wouldn’t have been written. Quarantine also opened up a path of ministry. Because of the publication of my books, I started a blog, and on https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/, I discuss the lessons I learned during my illness. My blog is being read around the world. If my life hadn’t unfolded in the way that it did, I never would have had the opportunity to touch so many people for the Lord. Life isn’t fair. Life hurts. If we only look at the pain, we can become bitter toward God. But if we quiet ourselves and trust that everything will be okay, we learn that Romans 8:28 isn’t just a nice verse—it’s a powerful reality. God will turn every hurtful, confusing thing in our lives into something beautiful if we let Him. Our responsibility is to hold on and trust that God is real, God is good, God is concerned about everything that happens to us, and God is trustworthy. When we hold onto these truths, we can face the conundrums in life with peace—and even with joy. That’s what I have learned, and that’s what I tried to express in Time Trap.

My review:

Another romance amidst the astounding horror of a TEMCO project gone horribly awry. When a time counselor works to save a vulnerable teen in the near past, they unwittingly unleash a murderer who will stop at nothing to exact revenge on all those blamed for removing the object of desire. 

Book Two in the Time Counselor series takes a dramatic and gruesome turn even while loose ends are woven throughout and the future personas of those involved not only reach back to help at the exact right moments, but look fondly upon unfolding events. This begs the question, which is addressed in the story, of whether and especially why not prevent catastrophe when able to do so. Shouldn't suffering be avoided when possible? The answer is one for the ages and the subject of good discussion.

Told in multiple viewpoints in voices from the past and future, readers of the series, and new readers will welcome old friends and nemeses, find new villains to keep you awake at night, and a fluid, highly intertwined and entertaining visit to the future, the past, and a dramatic present as the founder of TEMCO is both available and unavailable to help his staff during their most dire project so far. Be warned: This ride is not for the faint of heart, despite the occasional lighter moments during the pursuit of true soulmates and the search for everlasting love. I especially enjoyed the creative clues used to track the murderer. Recommended for those who love a good conundrum with a truly warped antagonist and uber determined victors.

Book Review: The Blessed by Ann Gabhart

The Blessed

By Ann Gabhart

Revell, a division of Baker

c. 2011

ISBN 9780800734541

Historical Romance

From the publisher:

“Let the child go, Lacey. Right now! We’ve come into this community to leave things of the world behind and do as they say” said Preacher Palmer. “But she needs me.” She spoke barely above a whisper. “She needs discipline. And so do you...” he said.

It is a time of spiritual revival in the mid-1840s when the Shakers worship services received many spiritual messages from Mother Ann and other Shaker leaders. Harmony Hill was a place offering a different way of life from the world. This village was a place where the people were dedicated to community, hard work, practicing their worship, and engaging in long hours of worship each week.

My review:

The Blessed adds to the author’s collection of novels dealing heavily with a Shaker theme. This is the first novel I’ve read by Gabhart, and the first that features Shaker characters.

I appreciated the author’s brief history of the society before reading the book. The Blessed takes place in the mid nineteenth century in a small rural community at the home of the local Baptist preacher and his ailing wife. As a teenager, Lacey Bishop was sent to be the hired girl for Miss Mona. During this time, a newborn baby is left on the preacher’s doorstep, taken in and raised by Miss Mona and Lacey. When Miss Mona passes on, Lacey is forced into a marriage of convenience on her part, but not the pastor’s, in order to maintain propriety and stay in the preacher’s house and continue to care for the growing child. After a visit from two gentlemen from the nearby Shaker community who come proselytizing, the pastor leaves his church and moves his household to join with the Shakers. Once there, Lacey is oddly attracted to a young man, Brother Isaac. But Isaac is another refugee from the outside world, who has been in mourning and rejected after the death of his wife, a prominent judge’s daughter. Isaac was befriended by a Shaker brother who’d come to town on business, and decided to accompany the brother to his home, where he eventually meets Lacey.

The style of writing is introspective, mournful, dour, yet ribboned with snatches of joy and hope as Lacey attempts to keep memories of her happy childhood alive for her young charge. Brother Amos, the man who befriends Isaac, is a delight. But in all honesty, Isaac’s story of guilt and widowhood was a tough start to the book, and I was confused about the preacher’s household setup. The marriage of convenience took place so early in the book that I wondered what would happen to free Lacey even while she met her true love interest. Life in the Shaker community reminded me a lot of other nonfiction books I’ve read about closed societies. People are people no matter how they worship or how they live, and this early Shaker society held little attraction for me.

Gabhart’s fans will surely enjoy this story as an addition to the collection. I'm not sure the story exactly fits in the “romance” category, category, however, so if you expect any sparks to fly or relationship ups and downs between the protagonists throughout the book, you won’t find that with The Blessed.

“Available July 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”