Veils of Time

I loved Lynn Kurland story in this book, couldn't get into the other stores much, but that could have just been me as I'm into time travel and Scottish historical right now. Romance for me has to have more then boy meets girl, boy looses girl, boy gets girl or vis versa. An adventure, or a myster...those who like the other author's in this group will more then likely like there stories.

And the Groom Wore Tulle - Lynn Kurland -This short story follows Ian MacLeod from the Scottish Highlands dungeon of his arch enemy William Ferguson in 1313 to the backroom of a bridal boutique in New York city 1999. Ian MacLeod was thought to be dead and in disposing of his body, the knaves dropped him off in just the right forest that contained the portal to the future and his kinsman, Jamie MacLeod - only geographically he ended up thousands of miles off the mark but thankfully with a young woman who after her initial shock, took him in and would help him find his way home - somewhat the same way he would find his way into her heart. Fast, and amusing tale, highly entertaining. 4*

The Con and The Crusader - Maggie Shayne - This was a real cute story of a consummate con man, Jack McCain, about to be blown away by the mob, jumps into a well, and swears if he gets one last chance to mend his ways, he will `work' as hard as he can for a living. Naturally, this is a `time machine' well and he ends up 100 years in the past where `hard work' is a way of life. He is picked up by the local sheriff and herded along with a prison work gang until the widow Hawkins, needing a handyman and not able to hire one, uses a little used rule where a woman could save a man from prison if he wanted to marry her. Well, getting married was not in this con man's agenda but it sure beats prison and before he new it his heart was captured! 3-1/2*

A Bride Most Common - Angie Ray - I really liked this one, where the time travel was planned with a unique way of transporting a person's consciousness into a person on the verge of dying in another time, namely Regency England. The plain, short, but quite intelligent Lucy Taylor was hurtled back into the beautiful but impoverished Lady Cynthia's body just as she was about to take her wedding vows! Not quite revived from the transformation, she found herself agreeing to be married. Now she had a month to build an antique radio, right a mistake that could change environmental hazards, and put off consummating a marriage to a perfectly handsome studmuffin that was her husband! 4*

Conyn's Bride - Ingrid Weaver - On the eve of her wedding, Alanna Moore, museum curator, slips on an old bracelet she is cataloging, and is trying to get some last minute details completed when the lights go out and out of nowhere appears this handsome hunk, dressed in little more than leather pants, and a cloak who calls her by name and knows everything there is to know about her. He is Conan ap Rhys and he is back to wed her. - This was a delight and thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the poetically sensual dialog Conan uses as he tries to convince Alanna of their past love. Great story. 5*

AND THE GROOM WORE TULLE BY Lynn Kurland is about Ian Mc'Cloud, cousin to Jamie. Having found himself in his enemy's dungeon waiting to die, Ian is transported 700 into the future. THE CON AND THE CRUSADER BY Maggie Shayne is about a con man who jumps down a well when he is being chased by some people who want to kill him. He promises to work as hard as he can if he can get away from them. After he jumps down the well he wakes to find himself in the past. A BRIDE MOST COMMON BY Angie Ray is about Lucy who is sent back in time by her empolyer and finds herself in the body of Cynthia Randal and about to be married to Kieran Walcott. She is sent back in time to correct a mistake that will have a devistating effect on the wildlife of the future. CONYN'S BRIDE BY Ingrid Weaver is about a man who has traveled hundreds of years in the future to find his long- lost bride. When he does find her she is about to marry another man. These four stories are all wonderfull if a little on the short side. They could all have been given there own book each. Well done.

Veils of Time is similar to most anthologies. At least most that I've read. Two of the stories are painfully average, one is good with the final being outstanding. Few authors can create a full fledged love story in less than 100 pages and as a result most of these left me feeling less than satisfied with the too rushed outcome.

Lynn Kurland's "And The Groom Wore Tulle" is a good story if you're looking for a laugh. It's about a 1313 Scotsman who time-travels to 1999 (just don't ask me how because I still can't figure it out). He meets the heroine who immediately takes him home (hey, this is a short story so things have to move unbelievably *fast*). The heroine is of the doormat variety and the story is light on logic and romance development but nonetheless it's still a fun read.

The Con & the Crusader by Maggie Shayne doesn't fare quite so well. It's about a con man who gets flung back in time (this time at least it's explained!) and saved from life in the slammer when the heroine rescues him by offering her hand in marriage. She quickly proceeds to turn this criminal into a hardworking family man. Sorry, I just didn't buy his quick reformation and Jack was just too smarmy to fit my idea of a hero. This one is my least favorite of the anthology because of its predictability and over-the-top sweetness.

A Bride Most Common by Angie Ray starts out great but peters out by the end because it becomes overstuffed with plot threads. Lucy gets sent back in time by her kindly old boss to correct an error. She awakens holding the hand of a regency hunk and quickly discovers that she's no longer in her own body and is married to the dude! Like I said, this one starts out great with lots of wit and charm but quickly becomes bogged down with other less interesting stuff and I lost interest.

Conyn's Bride by Ingrid Weaver is my favorite. The heroine, an antiquities dealer, finds a gorgeous Celtic bracelet in one of her shipments and can't resist slipping it on her wrist and, boy, does her life ever change for the better! Suddenly a gorgeous man appears professing his undying to love to her. He insists he's been traveling far and wide to find her and that she is long lost bride. She's excited (who wouldn't be?) but soon learns that he's only bumped his head _really_ hard and is more than a little bit confused. Or is he? This story works on all levels and is simply charming. It's very romantic, super funny, sensual and may even evoke a tear from a few readers.

Okay I love everything Lynn Kurland has ever written, "And The Groom Wore Tulle" is no exception. A continuation of Ian MacLeod's character (Jamie's Cousin) from "A Dance Through Time" (I recommend you read this first), this tale is hysterical. A mediaval Scottish warrior, and fabled lover, finds he's spoiled one virgin too many and winds up in the dungeon of his worst enemy. Thinking he is going to die, he wishes he could have found the way to the future and his cousin Jamie. Upon passing out the enemy's cohorts think he's dead and deposit him back on MacCleod land in the midst of the magical faery ring which transports him to 20th century NYC in the storage room of a bridal shop full of wedding dress, just waiting for the woman of his dreams to discover him and decide that he's INSANE! Thinking he's in heaven he dons one of the gowns (his angel robe no doubt) and things just get funnier from there. Maggie Shayne is probably best known for her vampire stories, so she's no stranger to paranormal romance. In this story, "The Con and the Crusader", a boy who's spent his life avoiding work has grown up into a conman. Having a shred of scruples left he doesn't con good folk only criminal types. When arrested by the police as a possible crime witness he is caught in the crossfire as the now wise criminals catch up with him. He escapes, still handcuffed and dives into a wishing well. As he falls he promises God he will work hard from now on, if only he survives this experience. Be careful what you wish for! He lands in the prison yard in a time gone by and is being perused by a beautiful older woman, a widow with two wards, who is decided upon making an inmate her husband to save her farm and the room over the children's heads in exchange for his freedom. It's a sweet story as love reforms him. Angie Ray's "Bride Most Common" is a tale about a time machine. The heroine is a scientist, her boss has invented a time machine, the time traveller enter's a dead body at the moment of death and carries on from there. Unfortunately his feckless relative, who tested the machine, freaked at the major bullet wound he finds in his new body and doesn't complete his task thereby changing history, Pollution is rampant, many species of animals are going extinct. The heroine must go back and fix things. To her surprise she finds herself the in the role of the bride in a marriage of convenience. It isn't long before the groom realizes this isn't the cold woman he thought would let him live his life in peace. He is drawn to her and she to him, but here's the catch he has to die to save the future and she has to return home. Whatever will they do?

Ingrid Weaver's "Conyn's Bride" is by far the best story of all. The heroine is a museum expert. She is cataloging a shipment of Celtic antiquities when a box bursts open and suddenly she is faced with an authentic Celtic warrior who claims to be her long lost fiancee. A Sleeping Beauty story of sorts, one of timeless love. You see he left his love behind to do his duty, only to return as she has decided to go to him, she drowns in a flooding river as he watches unable to save her life. He feels his own life is ended but a woman of magic tells him that he will have another chance with his soulmate in another time, another place. He knows his heart's mate at once but will he convince this woman that he is the love of HER life?

Fabulous collection of stories, I hope they will do others. ~ Leslie Tramposch - Pghromance