On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club, Thunder on the Moor by Andrea Matthews #BookReview #timetravelromance #CoffeePotBookClub @AMatthewsAuthor @maryanneyarde

It is one virtual tour after another - but the books are so good, and today's novel is no exception. Before you head over to read my review, you have to check out the blurb for Thunder on the Moor by Andrea Matthews. 

Thank you, once again, to The Coffee Pot Book Club for introducing me to another fabulous author.

Thunder on the Moor

By Andrea Matthews

Maggie Armstrong grew up with tales of blood feuds and border raids, so when her father takes her back four hundred and fifty years to his Scottish home, she is enchanted. Enchanted, that is, until her uncle announces his intentions to betroth her to Ian Rutherford, the son of a neighboring laird. Maggie’s twentieth century sensibilities are outraged, but refusal to agree could ignite a blood feud. Maggie’s worlds are colliding. Betrayal, treachery, and a tragic murder have her questioning whether she should remain or try to make her way back to her own time. To make matters worse, tensions escalate when she stumbles across handsome Englishman, Will Foster. But could he be the hero she’s always dreaded of or will his need for revenge against Ian shatter more than her heart?

If you are an avid reader of my reviews, you might be starting to sense a pattern in that I tend to go into books blind. Don’t get me wrong, I always determine whether or not I am likely to enjoy a book before I agree to review it, but my to-read pile is an ever-growing list, which is written in a messy scrawl on a piece of lined paper, which I am constantly losing. By the time I get to a book, I have long since forgotten the premise of the story and often get a little confused. So you can understand why I had to look up the blurb again when an Englishman in 1513 says the phrase ‘who do I blasted think I am, James Bond?’ 

I have always found time travel an incredibly romantic notion, especially when the main character meets someone in a time unbeknown to them and falls in love. This book is no different, except it adds in the drama of funding families and the character not knowing who her heart truly belongs to, which only adds to the excitement and joy I felt when reading.

Robert had been dragged into the twentieth century as proof that time travel works, but with no feasible way to return him, Eddie can do nothing but help him in this new world. However, skip forward twenty five years, Eddie has figured it out and Robert has the chance to return home, to his family. The only problem is that now he has a daughter, and he’s not about to force her to travel back in time to the sixteenth century. 

Luckily, she comes somewhat willingly, and the adventure begins! 

The background that is written in this story, of the beautiful moors and fells, is simply gorgeous to read about and imagine, and this is only the canvas on which the story has been created! Maggie has to adjust to a new way of life, where, as a female, she does not get to join in with the raids, but has to sit back and hope that those she loves returns. She adjusts remarkably well, for although her adjustment is wonderfully believable, there is no way I could deal without a nice cup of tea and a lie in every so often.

I am definitely a sucker for an accent, and the dialogue in this book is written in dialect (gasp!) so you can practically hear the accent in your head as you read. I am particularly partial to Irish and Scottish accents (although don’t tell my husband that, he possesses the most posh, English accent I’ve ever come across) so this was definitely a bonus when reading. Also, I learnt a wonderful new phrase ‘wagging a wand in the water’, which means a waste of time, as the glossary at the back tells me. Shortly after learning this, and clapping my hands in glee at the new phrase, my washing machine beeped and my husband walked into the kitchen to make a cup of tea to find me sorting the washing and muttering ‘I’m wagging a wand in the water, the laundry in this house is never ending’ under my breath. He frowned a little, didn’t bother asking what I was talking about, and proceeded to offer to make me a drink, but not putting enough water in the kettle to fill more than half a cup. Men are so useless sometimes.

Out of this whole book, of which I enjoyed immensely, there was one detail that bugged me. One of the characters goes through a very hard time, in that they get shot with an arrow through the shoulder, nearly pass out from the pain, then proceed to wield a bow and sword in battle not half an hour later, with no apparent difficulty. Later, they are drowned to the point of needing resuscitation, obviously struggle with a foggy head and can’t stay upright without feeling sick, and then a little later are fine to make love in the woods. This all happened within a day and I can’t help but think that maybe they wouldn’t have been able to pull a bow back, or make love after drowning, but you never know. Men are extraordinary creatures, you never know quite what they’ll do next! (Seriously though, who doesn’t fill up a kettle before boiling it?!)

This is a rather long review, but when I get excited about a book, I tend to ramble about it and my husband clearly did not care whether or not Maggie ended up with the slimy man or the dreamboat, so it is you who gets to hear about it instead! I implore you to grab yourself a copy of this book, because it is an absolute delight!

I received a copy of this book from The Coffee Pot Book Club, but you can pick up yours on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon AU. You can also find the paperback edition over on good old Barnes & Noble!

Andrea Matthews

Andrea Matthews is the pseudonym for Inez Foster, a historian and librarian who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogical speaking. In fact, it was while doing some genealogical research that she stumbled across the history of the Border reivers. The idea for her first novel came to mind almost at once, gradually growing into the Thunder on the Moor series. And the rest, as they say, is history…

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