In Time for Christmas (Romance in the Rockies Postquel/Sequel #2.5) by Heather Blanton

In Time for Christmas (Romance in the Rockies Postquel/Sequel #2.5) Reviews

• 
  Joleen

  A cute little novella about a woman who travels back 100 years.
  
  Charlene had spent the last two years abused by her husband. When he takes her to an abandoned farmhouse that he recently inherited and left her there, he figured he'd come back in a few days to a cowed wife ready to submit to anything.
  
  Well, things didn’t turn out quite like that. After being knocked out by her husband before he left, Charlene woke up in the same house but at a different time.
  
  Good story. I’m not a fan of novellas, nor time travel in Christian fiction, but it kept my interest and the romance was sweet.
• 
  Jenna

  I've always enjoyed a time travel story and this holiday novella didn't disappoint.
  
  Charlene Williams is the daughter of a small town preacher, but she abandons the faith she grew up with in the face of a cruel and abusive marriage. When her husband leaves her to fend for herself at the ruined ranch house on his family's land, Carlene is sure she'll starve or freeze to death. Instead, she finds herself with her husband's family; more specifically, his ancestors. Over the course of a few days, Charlene comes to understand the miracle God has performed for her, bringing her to a place of refuge, healing, and rebirth. But what will happen when her husband returns for her?
  
  In Time for Christmas is a short story about the power of faith and the strength of God's love. I'm glad I spent an afternoon in Heather Blanton's world.
• 
  Anna Hurtt

  What does time travel, inspirational romance, a wounded heroine, and an abusive monster have in common? This novella, of course! I've never read a book quite like this one, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the underlying message: God cares about our problems and will rescue his children, but only in his way and his timing.
  
  I really liked the heroine. She seemed real and authentic... not a weak and powerless cut-out copy like some romantic heroines can be. The villain was believable and quite evil. I hated him thoroughly. I fell in love with the hero, of course.
  
  All in all, an intriguing and enjoyable read. I highly recommend it.
  
• 
  Karen Cornett

  Would give "In Time for Christmas" a 10 star rating if possible
  
  Heather Blanton has become my favorite author. She writes with a perfect mix of intrigue, interesting twists, life's struggles, romance and best of all happy endings resulting in learning to trust in the Lord to work out His best in the lives of those He loves. I also enjoy the opportunity to learn more about the everyday struggles of those who lived so many years ago........before we became to civilized to appreciate what God has provided for us.
• 
  Janice

  I read this on the Kindle
  
  This was a nice easy time travel book you have Charlene being abused by her husband who takes her & leaves her at an old family ranch & she goes back in time to 1903 where she meet his Great Grandfather & she sees the difference between them even if they do look alike
• 
  Kara

  A tough and touching novella that has time travel, forgiveness, sweet romance, and ultimately getting back into God's embrace. First time reading this author's work, loved the cover and the story :)
• 
  Anna Bowling

  Trigger warning for emotional and physical abuse.
  
  This story has a lot of things I love to find in historical romance. Our heroine is a domestic abuse survivor, and much of her journey involves her relationship with her abuser, a relationship that is ongoing at the start of the tale. There's also time travel, present to past, my favorite direction for this trope, and especially at Christmas, yes ma'am, I am there. There's also an inspirational element that, while not intrusive, is strong, steady, and deftly handled. While this is a part of the author's Romance in the Rockies series, it's billed as a standalone, and I was pretty okay with that.
  
  I may not be the target audience for western historicals, but I do love seeing characters whose faith plays an integral part of the story, and I definitely saw that here, both for our modern day heroine, Charlene, and our early twentieth century hero, Billy, as well as his grandmother, the sprightly Miss Kate. The author's love of the Colorado setting shines through, and there were enough hints about the other stories in the series to be intriguing rather than infodumps, which I greatly appreciated. I may have to mosey over in their direction next time I have a taste for the home and hearth flavor that Ms. Blanton does well.
  
  While I would have liked to see Charlene being more proactive regarding her situation at the start of the story, Ms. Blanton nailed the experience of a survivor in the thick of the abuse. Dale, Charlene's abuser, could come across with broad strokes at times, which I can accept in a novella better than in a novel. My favorite part was the epilogue, where Charlene really did end up having it all, an achievement she definitely deserved. Perfect read for a cozy Christmas season's afternoon, so grab an afghan and some cocoa and enjoy.
  
  Three and half stars.
• 
  Julie Barrett

  IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS by HEATHER BLANTON
  Loved the summary of this book and the beautiful cover pictured.
  Story starts out with Charlene and she's married to a businessman, Dale. He's beat her ever since they got married. She ran back to her family and when he came to get her he told her he'd beat his family if she ever ran away again.
  She's endured two years with him now and has had it-she wants to go home for Christmas. He takes her-gives him time to spend with his lady friend, but he abandons her with no food, clothing or water. He brought her to the Page ranch-his family's ild dilapidated place.
  As he leaves he hits her and she falls, hits her head. When she comes to she's at the ranch but 100 years earlier. Love hearing how the grandson, Billy tends to the ranch with others and his grandmother Miss Kate. She fits right in helping them all out and she prays Dale never finds her...
  Story goes to the future and he had forgotten to get her a few days after he dropped her off-it's been over a week now.... Miss Kate had also been in the same circumstance so she told Charlene she could stay as long as she needed to. Bily takes a shine to her also..
  Love the detailed descriptions of the ranch itself, buildings and how they even tend to the garden. Had to look up a few words to find out what they meant as I had never head them-priceless! - love a book that teaches me things.
  She opens up to their questions and answers them truthfully. Life and death matters and miracles are explained in the Bible!
  Charlene's not seen her parents in years and she knows what she has to do to end the suffering...other works by the author are highlighted at the end.
  I was given the book by Book Fun (The Book Club Network) and here is my honest review
  
• 
  Charlie

  Yes, it was once again cover love. I was intrigued by the woman on the cover, her dress and the beautiful house in the background.
  
  No, I was not prepared for Charlene’s story. This novella dives right into the thick of things.
  
  Charlene is the daughter of a pastor, and married her husband in a rush. Everything changed after that. The abuse set in, both verbal and physical. To top it off, Dale thinks she’s having an affair with the mailman! To say the least, he’s beyond certifiable.
  
  Charlene has secluded herself from her family since her marriage. She no longer goes home for the holidays, and in fact rarely keeps in touch with them. Dale has a threatening hold over her that makes contact with her family rough and difficult.
  
  Dale’s plan is to drop Charlene off in the middle of nowhere on his family’s dilapidated, rocky ranch where there won’t be another soul for miles, let alone heat and food. Something about being at the Rocking J sets Charlene in the past, and it is most definitely a strange blast from the past. She comes face to face with Dale’s grandfather, Billy Page, and sets off a chain of events that sets even Dale on the edge of fear.
  
  I hated Dale, with a passion, as did Billy Page. It was odd having Charlene blast into the past and set off a ripple effect in time, revealing to Billy the horror that is his grandson even though Billy doesn’t know that little detail. All he knows is that he wants to beat the crap out of Charlene’s husband…and he gets his chance. It seems the time travel is not limited to just going back in the past…
• 
  Patricia

  This is a novella--like 150 pages or so. Just a heads up in case you don't notice that sometimes. I don't really like novellas but this was long enough to tell the story. There were things I liked about this story and things I didn't like at all.
  
  What I liked:
  It was a clean story.
  I liked the characters of Billy and Miss Kate.
  I like time travel, speaking generally and not specifically.
  The Bible reference was interesting. I had not taken notice of its possible time travel-ish interpretation before.
  I guess having God effect the time travel was OK.
  
  What I didn't like:
  This story had a lot of potential but didn't live up to it. I can't even put my finger on it.
  [SPOILER] Technically, even if the marriage was a fraud (and I didn't quite catch how that could be even if the preacher had a bankrupt church since he was still a preacher?), Charlene did not know that nor did she know her husband was killed at the end. However, she goes on to marry Billy. Not a really Christian theme.
  It was very weird to me how Miss Katie even surmised that Charlene was from the future. In fact, I thought perhaps I had paged past something in my Kindle and so I went back carefully over the pages. Of course, once she disappears from the kitchen without a trace, THAT may have given cause to wonder. Prior to that, it was just too vague for my taste.
  The premise that Charlene had no escape from the abuse except to time travel with God was an unsettling idea and not very empowering for any abused women who may find themselves in that circumstance.
  This was a dark story.
• 
  Rachel

  I hadn't read this author before this, but I won't hesitate to do so again. I enjoyed the book immensely. It was well written, the characters were well developed, the storyline was good, couldn't see any big problems with editing. Nothing that I could find fault with. I've read a few time travel books in the time travel genre, however this one had a little "twist". Interesting and I loved it. The fact that Charlene was a "preacher's daughter" but could still make mistakes was a real plus for me. It shows that everyone is human. The book does not "preach" at you, but instead tells a story with a lesson we all can learn. I'll definitely be reading more of Miss Blanton's books as I like her writing style. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance and time travel especially, however I think that almost everyone would enjoy it.
  
• 
  Barbie

  [4.25 stars] I don't like cheesy time travel premises, but this was thoughtfully done and believable in the same way as Jack Finney's "Time and Again." The Christian element was not heavy-handed at all, but rather sincere and authentic, and the dialogue was really natural for the most part (there were a couple of phrases of Charlene's that struck me as a tad cliché). The characterization of both Dale and Billy seemed spot on, and I could practically feel the evil lurking under Dale's façade and picture his nasty sneer. I was both surprised and impressed by the way the tension was resolved. I won't spoil it but suffice it to say, that's not how I thought it would go! In short, "In Time for Christmas" is a lovely quick read that will fit perfectly into any snowy afternoon (or morning, or evening) this Christmas season.
• 
  Cynthia

  One of the things I love about Christmas stories is that they aren't shy about miracles. The miracles in this book are big ones. It requires some suspended disbelief, but that's the fun of it. The book starts out with a heroine in extreme danger. I won't go into detail except to say there's violence in the book that may be more edgy than readers of a sweet romance are looking for. It didn't feel gratuitous, though. Those concerns aside, this book is a quick read, well-written, and very original. It also has a satisfying ending, which can be hard to come by in a shorter novel. If you enjoy both contemporary and historical Christian romance, this one's a two-fer!
  
  **As with all my reviews, this review is based on how well a book met my expectations and my own taste as a reader.
• 
  Daniela

  Gripping tale.
  
  This is the first story that I read of this kind. At first I did not realise that Charlene time-travelled and I was a little bit confused. However, after I realised that fact, I started liking the story more and more.
  
  The Christianity aspect was a plus in this tale.
  
  Was not expecting that kind of ending though. I can't say that I did not enjoyed it, but I was imagining something else.
• 
  Diane Estrella

  Good storyline and I liked how the author found a Biblical Scripture to "support" time travel. Clever and suspenseful.
  
  There were scenes included in the book which depicted spousal abuse but not graphically and not gratuitously. They were there to explain the gravity of the abuse being suffered by Charlene and the danger she was in.
  
  I "purchased" this book on Amazon when the author offered it to readers for free. Yeah me!
• 
  Joan Arning

  I hate to give a book this low a rating but I stayed confused during the book. It takes the main character back and forth between today and 100 years ago. I would have thought she was mentally ill but at the end, her parents were included. I thought the book was totally weird! Someone who enjoys time warp stories would probably enjoy this book.
• 
  Jill

  Short time-travel Christmas story
  
  Overall good Christian Christmas novella.
  A few typos here and there that I overlooked.
  It was excessively violent in a few places for my tastes.
  I bought it for free so it was worth the download.
• 
  Pamela

  I loved this book
  
  What a wonderful Christmas story that combines time travel and love in a fantastic way. The way God and his love for was woven through the story was exceptional. You must read this book.
• 
  Brittany

  I got this for free from Kindle unlimited (like my new favorite thing ever) Anyway, It was a pretty solid read I liked how she leaned on her faith in God but they only new each other for a few days and she is willing to leave her family? Kind of a stretch for me to believe.
• 
  Tammi

  Wow! I've been on Heather Blanton reading binge and this novella does not disappoint! It ties in with the Defiance Series in such a creative way. I highly recommend this author and all the books she writes.
• 
  Sharon

  I enjoyed the book and most of the characters. The subject was a little different than what I've read before.
• 
  Marilyn

  This was a sweet time travel romance. It does have a message concerning domestic violence. Love going back in time.
• 
  Deloris Mercer

  Good read
  
  Thank you Msn. Blanton for a refreshing and surprising book. Characters are good setting is great, some surprising twists. Look forward to more from this author.
• 
  Cat Bras

  Very nice book. I really enjoyed the story line and the characters. It was kind of hard to swallow the abuse scenes but in the end of the story, I was happy with the outcome!