Daring Time by Beth Kery

Not my style of novel.by Romance-Reader

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June 03, 2009: I had no idea when I got this novel that it was a time-travel style. I did love her prior one Wicked Burn.

Erotic, Enticing, Time Travel Fantasyby Lea25

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May 04, 2009: Ryan Daire, a vice cop working for the Chicago Police department is given a mansion on "Prairie Avenue", by his old college professor, family friend and mentor Alistair. The Prairie Avenue District in Chicago was the millionaire's row in late 19th and early 20th century. The mansion is therefore steeped in history and as Ryan and his partner Ramiro Menendez walk into the grand ballroom with it's glittering chandelier he feels an instant appreciation for its majesty. Ryan can even visualize the elegant décor and a flawlessly beautiful woman with long dark hair, dressed in a ball gown looking over her shoulder at him. He thinks she is a mirage.

During their exploration of the house, they find a woman's bedroom that hosts a large brass bed with two mahogany tables. Ramiro discovers an old leather bound book in one of the drawers which proves to be a book of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Ryan Vincent Daire isn't your average vice cop; he has a degree in history and was raised by a father who taught him a love of Shakespeare, which Alistair nurtured. As he cradles the book in his hands it falls open to a well-worn page which he immediately recognizes as the 116th Sonnet. A massive mahogany wardrobe is also housed within the room and Ryan finds a full-length mirror attached to the door. As he looks into the mirror, which appears somewhat cloudy with age he sees not his own reflection but the same stunning beauty he envisioned in the ballroom of the mansion. He is, needless to say, shocked and mystified; more than that he cannot believe she is an apparition of his imagination. From here things really get interesting.

In the year 1906, Hope Stillwater, an upper class virginal "gentlewoman", is in her bedroom in the Prairie Avenue mansion, she has locked the door and pulled out a provocative negligee she has secreted away in the back of the wardrobe. Hope was given the sheer black lacy garment by her unlikely acquaintance and friend Addie Sampson, the madam of one of the only "respectable" brothels in the city. She and Hope share a common goal of abolishing the practice of white slavery. While Hope feels scandalized wearing the garment, she carefully puts it on and stares at her reflection in the full length wardrobe mirror. Instead of seeing herself, a very tall handsome "exotic" man is staring back at her; Hope of course is startled and frightened, and leaps away from the mirror.

In a strange turn of events, she finds an inscription Ryan has left in her book of Shakespearean Sonnets. His name, the address of her house and the year 2008 is written in the margin on the page of her favorite sonnet. Ryan finds a dedication to Hope inscribed in the same book found in the bedroom.

After Ryan moves into the old house he has further magical, ghostly, erotic encounters with Hope. He manages to glean information from the police archives that Hope Stillwater was murdered at the young age of 25 in the year 1906 and he sets out to try and reach and save the woman who has become his erotic obsession. Through careful analysis and luck, he ascertains what the catalyst is to propel him 100 years into the past to find and hopefully rescue her.

Raised by a father who encouraged her independent spirit and nurtured her intelligence and love of literature and art, Hope is a crusader for poor woman who are taken advantage of by the low life misogynistic white slaver...