Thursday, April 14, 2011

My Review of Gate to Nowhere

Here's a description of the book from Amazon.com:

"Emma Franklin inherits a farm in the town of MacKinlay, once called 'Nowhere' by the Cherokee. When she steps through a rusty iron gate on her new property, she is transported back 177 years to Nowhere. There she meets and falls in love with the town's eventual namesake, Gavin MacKinlay. She needs to save Gavin from certain death at the hand of his twin brother while solving the mystery of why the townspeople in 2004 hate anything connected to the MacKinlay name. Through her, history is changed, but not without heartache and danger. Although she returns to her life in 2004, she longs to be back with Gavin in 1827."

My Rating: Fall/Spring

My Review:

Who knew that some gates could lead to the past? Emma Franklin discovers a gate on Golden Apple Farm that leads to the town of Nowhere--in 1827. And once the past is altered the rules of the game are different, and time is as easy to change as one step through the "Gate to Nowhere."

Gate to Nowhere is a creative story, with interesting twists and details. Above all it is a sweet yet quite different love story that has some endearing characters, like Gavin with his cute Scottish accent and his kind housekeeper, Grace. But there are also some rather nasty characters out to seek revenge.

I was surprised by the heroine. Sometimes her snarky thoughts and attitudes were funny, but sometimes they were a bit much for me, which kept me from fully sympathizing with her. I enjoyed her interactions with the hero for the most part, but I didn't always like how she treated others.

Also, I felt that the conversion scene was a bit abrupt, and while God was mentioned throughout the story, genuine belief wasn't really woven throughout the story so much as "peppered" here and there.

Overall, though, this was an interesting story with some unique elements that intrigued me (such as the gate and the history "behind" it--literally!). If you enjoy historical romance and are looking for an out-of-the-ordinary love story, you might want to take the Gate to Nowhere!

*With thanks to author Leanna Sain for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.*


Coming soon: A fun and unique interview with the author, Leanna Sain, and a giveaway!

4 comments:

Kav said...

Sounds intriguing. I love a good time-travel story and you don't see many of them in Christian fiction.

Bluerose said...

I've been looking forward to your thoughts on this one! It looks like my kind of story.

Amber Holcomb said...

Kav,

Yes, time travel stories are certainly interesting! :) Another Christian time travel I really recommend is Gallimore by Michelle Griep!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Amber

Amber Holcomb said...

Bluerose,

Sorry if I kept you waiting! ;) I hope you enjoyed the review, and be sure to stop by next week (I think) for the interview--we're trying to incorporate one of Vince's suggestions from yesterday. :D

~Amber