A Twist in Time is proof that the second book in a series can be sometimes just as good, if not better than the first book. I received a copy in exchange for review from NetGalley and also thank Pegasus for allowing me the chance to peak at the latest in the series. Julie McElwain is a gifted writer, and, dare I say, researcher also with an imagination that keeps the reader turning the pages. When I was working on my Bachelor’s degree I had trouble choosing a major and as these things go I was forced into the Liberal Arts program with three focus areas, of which, history was one of mine. I developed a particular interest in Chinese history with all of its dynasties. Part of that was driven by the fabulous textbook the professor chose for the course. A Twist in Time gives you that feeling. Since I am a very visual reader and literally picture most things I read in books in my head, this book was like watching a historical, murder mystery in my head.
Kendra is still in the wrong time. The plans for how she thought she might be able to return home did not go as planned and Duke Aldritch thinks there is a reason. She is meant to be there, especially given the mystery that needs to be solved in A Twist in Time. One of the terribly negative ladies she met in A Murder in Time. Lady Dover also happens to be a woman Alec was seeing until he broke things off, has been murdered. She was murdered in a hideous fashion also so not only is Alec thought to be the killer, the Ton are looking at him a bit differently now. His life is on the line not only from possibly being arrested for the murder but, some surprises have surfaced about Lady Dover’s past that put Alec’s life in danger. Kendra has a very short period of time to get to the truth. She also has to work without the technology and other gains that the passing of time has provided for law enforcement. She also has to remain cognizant of the fact that women do not usually perform law enforcement duties. Also, outside of the Bow Street Runners there really is no form of law enforcement in a time when duals are still legally fought. The reader still gets to see Kendra work her magic, even as she struggles to work around the prejudices that both men and women have against a woman’s ability to do law enforcement work, heck even against merely running across a street. But, the reader is also given the treat of watching Kendra struggle with the possibility that she just might be stuck in this time warp of hers. Either way, I look forward to seeing what Julie McElwain has in store for Kendra in the next book. Review can also be seen at LadyTechie’s Book Musings ladytechiesbookmusings.blogspot.com.

I quite enjoyed this second book about Kendra Donavan. I've always been drawn to novels involving time travel (hello, Outlander!) and after having just read another time travel ARC I'd obtained, I decided to give this - well, book one - a try. A Twist in Time was quite enjoyable if a bit hard to believe (the language was off) but I still had a lot of fun with it.

I read A Murder in Time and fairly honestly I was unimpressed. The blurb etc sounded like it would appeal to me. The sassy heroine, interesting side-characters, murder mystery, GEORGIAN ENGLAND ( double points) but The execution of it failed to amuse me or keep me interested/reading. I finished it but IT DRAAAGED.Sadly I got the same reaction with this novel.

Things I disliked:
• There was never much interaction between Mr Darcy I mean Alex and Kendra. Until the last third, they spoke of their attraction but with little to no page chemistry or actual “romance”. It really put the whole mystery at a loss as I couldn't get behind clearing Alex's name. Alex was also noted several times in the first half as being her lover. .....When she helped him undress in the first 30% he makes a joke about "better circumstances for this" etc...... Why call him her lover? If I had just kissed a man, I would have had quite a lot of lovers when I first got into snogging.
• It was harder to believe why Kendra would be involved in this case. Just because she is a ward of a famous Duke doesn’t grant her the need the author excuses her for being there. This would mean any rich Dom Dick or Hermoine would be helping solve modern murders if this was the case.
• Annoyed me the first novel, drove me even crazier the second time around. THE FAKE COCKNEY accents, They grate on the page so much. I'm British, I also live in London. It made reading it at times quite clunky as even I didn’t have a cream puff but was happening.
• It for a large portion of the novel was fairly boring.


Things I liked:
• The author has done her research, It was actually really lovely to read the small details of modern/past murders, food, dress and social etiquette. Well done Julie McElwain . The stuff around the class system and observations around addressing people ( the cut direct) were so good for a detail lover like me.
• The last 20% redeemed the novel.
• The murder was interesting and well explained.


I sadly don't think I will read the third novel as I find it just doesn't work for me BUT Kendra going back to present time with perhaps a fellow Georgian friend ( Alex) that might tickle me to return to the third book. 3 STARS.

"A Twist in Time" is chock-full of mystery and secrecy in upper class British society. The novel which takes place against the backdrop of London in the 1800s is a surprisingly good read! When I read the description I was expecting it to be a bit like "Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict" but this book was far better!

Julie McElwain gives us a vivid view of life in 1815. Kendra Donovan the heroine of the series struggles to accept that she has been dropped somehow in 1815 and is thrown into a series of murder investigations. The literary is style engaging and Kendra's character is confident and adventurous. The plot of "A Twist in Time" keeps up a good pace moving from scene to scene and I didn't feel like there were any long and drawn out sections. Some time-shift novels have an heightened sense of implausibility but because Kendra has chose to trust the Duke of Aldridge and his nephew Alec with her secret, it somehow makes her presence in the 1800s more plausible. I also appreciated the author changing the point-of-view intermittingly from Kendra to some of the other characters to allow for differing perspectives. Kendra Donovan is an intelligent, solid and delightful heroine and I cannot wait to read more about her adventures.

I also want to thank NetGalley and Pegasus Books for a pre-release copy of the book to read and review.

This is the second book in the series, it makes for a really good read with the juxtaposition between modern day Kendra and world she finds herself in! The duke from the first book has taken her in after helping with a with bit of crime solving, they try to help her inhabit this new world but she finds the overt sexism of the age quite a trial. Although the language between the characters I found to be a bit unbelievable, the story being so good makes that boo-boo forgivable in book. Despite the repetitive nature of the investigation it does satisfy my two favourite genres- historical and crime fiction! I love the first book and this one is just as good! My only wish is that I could fall into a world just like Kendra's regency world- but perhaps not to be involved in such high stakes!

In general I avoid time travel in fiction like the plague. There's something about time travel as a fictional concept I find really, really unappealing, especially when it touches on the romance genre (how could that ever work???). That being said, I picked up the first book in McElwain's series on a whim and rather enjoyed it, I suspect because it had a mystery slant to it that distanced me from the strangeness of time travel. Ultimately the author convinced me of the premise to the series: an FBI agent travels back in time and starts solving crimes. The first book was entertaining and addressed some of the challenges Kendra experiences as a modern woman now living in 1815. Mix in some mystery and romance and I was hooked. So, when book two came around I snapped it up.

Twist in Time is a solid second instalment to the series and while I enjoyed returning to 1815 and Kendra I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. For me, Twist in Time required a much greater suspension of believe than the first book. In the first, Kendra more naturally finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery; however, in the second, while Kendra is connected the crime, the reasoning for her presence in the investigation seems thin. Quite frankly I find it difficult to believe that so many people are so accepting of Kendra's expertise and I would have like to have seen her been more challenged as I think this would have been more authentic. I appreciate the fact that Kendra questions her existence in the past, but I was surprised that no one else seemed to realize why this would be difficult for her. In fact, I would really like to see one of Kendra's inner circle travel into the present with her (Alec, I'm looking at you).

Aside from my struggle to really believe in the premise this time around, A Twist in Time offers readers a solid mystery. While I think it will continue to be a struggle for me to really "believe" the time travel aspect of the series, I am curious where the author is going to take this? Is Kendra going to stay in the past permanently? If she does, will she ever be content? What happens if she gets back to the present and wants to return to the past and the connections that she's made? All questions that will have me back for book three.

This novel. I loved it. I have to say that this is one of my favorite novels that involves time travel. The author does such a great job of highlighting the struggles that Kendra has adapting to her new place in time, with her new status and her lack of power. It puts things into perspective and makes one realize that women have come along way from the 1800s - even if we still have a ways to go! Another thing I really like about this series is that Kendra isn't some helpless woman who needs the men around her to solve all her problems. She is very adept at taking care of herself and figuring things out on her own. This image of power remains with her even though she is not in the 21st century, and I really liked that the author maintained that. The way the author showed the disparity in attitudes, mindsets, and language between Kendra and the people she interacted with in the 19th century was really interesting to read about. I also really enjoyed the actual mystery itself and the way Kendra and her allies worked together to solve it. All in all, this was a great read that caught my interest just like the first book in the series! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

A Twist in Time is the second instalment in the Kendra Donovan series, and as such, there’s no faffing about establishing back stories and motivations. The action begins immediately, which is a vast improvement over McElwain’s first offering. Then again, you got so much backstory in the first novel, I don’t think there’s really anything left to say on the subject. And there’s even less (read:none) time travel here.

Just as in A Murder in Time, the murder mystery here is well thought out, the culprit is unexpected but believable, and the reveal is well written. Some twists are easy to see coming, but most aren’t. The stakes, however, weren’t actually that high, with Alec’s chances of being hanged for the murder practically non-existent. The Character of Bear eventually adds a little urgency, but to be honest, it never felt like Alec was actually in danger to me.

And then there’s Kendra, who is still kinda meh for me. Her beauty, brains and overall awesomeness aren’t shoved down our throats as much, and she does have her good moments, but they do not outweigh the bad. I understand that Kendra still wants to go back home, but that does not mean she should go about alienating everyone in the 19th Century, especially when there’s a very real possibility that she might be stuck in this era forever. There’s a line between submitting to the oppression on women, and doing enough to blend in. Kendra seems to be oblivious to this line, being downright bull headed about refusing to conform, even a little. You’d think someone as smart as Kendra would at least have a contingency plan. And let’s not forget that she’s reluctant to reveal the tiniest detail about the future to Duke, yet has no qualms about taking point on murder investigations, sharing future policing methods, and throwing around words like ‘unsub’ as much as possible. Inconsistencies, inconsistencies. At least her magical hair is still doing its thing, growing inches overnight. Whatever shampoo she’s using, I want it.

Lady Rebecca and Alec both had larger roles in A Twist in Time, and while I was glad to have more of Rebecca, I’m still failing to see the appeal of Alec. Much like Kendra, he is still meh (which might explain why they are attracted to each other). Does the character of Alec grow? Do any of them, really? I feel these guys are still the same people they were, not just at the beginning of this novel, but at the beginning of this series. This may be a plot driven story, but it doesn’t mean you can get away with cardboard characters. At least the romantic conflict between Kendra and Alec is plausible. There’s a valid reason as to why they shouldn’t be together, and it’s not just because Kendra keeps turning his proposals down.

Overall, I do think A Twist in Time is an improvement on it’s predecessor, especially in regards to its pacing, and if you enjoyed A Murder in Time, you’ll love this. If the first book in the series didn’t completely draw you in, and you’re on the fence, read it. A Twist in Time will either manage to convince you to stick with it, or put you off the series once and for all. But at least you’ll know!

I didn't read the first book in this series but I felt it was easy enough to follow anyways.

Kendra Donovan is a modern day FBI agent who has found herself "stuck" in Regency England. I loved the description of the era and felt myself transported through time.

The murder mystery was good but I found the story started to lag a bit towards the middle. The writing is good and I think this is a promising series. It's interesting to read how a "modern day woman" feels constricted in 1815 England.

kendra donovan warped into a regency house party from a 2015 movie set in a murder in time. in a twist in time, she's still stuck in regency england without a clue on how to get back home. she's also got another murder to solve and more people to outrage given her modern outlook on pretty much everything.

unlike a murder in time, this novel takes place exclusively in regency england. kendra still struggles with the differences between the modern era and this particular time period, especially given the strictures on women. though the truth is, in some ways things haven't changed. societal problems may take on a different cast, but poverty, misogyny, greed, murder all still look the same no matter the moment in history.

while kendra is still adapting to this world and she is still unclear on how she is going to get back to the present day, her focus in this novel is more exclusively on solving the murder. she is particularly invested in it, because the marquis of sutcliffe, alec, is implicated in the crime. she knows he didn't commit it. but she also does not trust the investigative methods of the day.

her dogged determination to solve the crime puts her and people she's come to care about in danger. and she's not sure how to handle this caring about others thing because she was always a lone wolf in her old life and these feelings can be such a distraction. and the worst of it is, what is she going to do if, when she finally makes it back to her own time and all these people who she's come to care about are long dead. what is she supposed to do about that? how is it going to feel? will she never be truly happy in either timeline?

i was surprised that we got no glimpse of 2015 in this novel. the end of the past novel seemed to indicate an open thread that would continue throughout the series. though i love how kendra has made a life for herself in regency england. even as she tries to get back home, she's made a place for herself, more of a place than she ever had. and this will i think continue to be her struggle. because now that she's invested so much of herself in this past, will she ever really be able to leave it behind? i'm so interested to see what the future holds for kendra donovan, both in the regency and modern periods. i love this character so much.

i think one fair criticism of a lot of modern regency romance is that the heroes and heroines have modern sensibilities rather than attitudes consistent with the historical period. and while it's true that the people closest to kendra are the most open-minded and accepting, the fact that she is this modern person confronting some pretty antiquated ideas head on makes for an interesting conflict. in one of the more fraught emotional beats between kendra and alec they argue about his need to protect her. and on the one hand his need to protect her stems from the social mores he was brought up to uphold, but on the other hand, he knows she can take care of herself. he wants to protect her because he loves her. but that kind of love is hard for kendra to accept. and so they find themselves at an impasse.

one that remains at a standstill by the end of the novel.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this title early. It was on my list of Most Anticipated Titles for 2017, I am happy to report that it was definitely worth the wait! I highly recommend A Twist in Time to readers of historical romance, romantic suspense, and time travel romance. FBI Agent Kendra Donovan remains stranded in 1858 England. She finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation when her confidante and potential lover, Alec (Lord Sutcliffe) is accused of murdering his former mistress. Along with Alec's uncle, the Duke of Aldridge, Kendra must use her modern investigative skills to work through the list of suspects, discover the identity of the real murderer and clear Alec's name. Kendra must also decide whether to stay in the past with Alec or to continue to try to find a way back to the present. Will Kendra remain stranded in the past? Will she find her way home again? If she makes it home, what will be waiting for her in the present?
I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of London (past and present) and the author's methodical elimination of suspects in a very long list of possible murderers. Kendra's struggle to remain strong and to be heard in a world where women have little power or voice was also very realistic. The supporting characters (the Duke of Aldridge, Rebecca and Sam) were well-developed and interesting. I look forward to meeting them again in Kendra's next story.

Kendra Donovan is a modern day FBI agent trapped in Georgian England. She's not sure how she was transported back 200y in history so doesn't know if she'll ever get back to her own time. In the meantime she is using her FBI profiling and investigating skills to track down a murderer in Georgian society.

This unusual combination of genres works surprisingly well with Kendra blaming her lack of society manners on being an ignorant American. In this second book in the series, Kendra has been taken in by a Duke who she helped solve a murder in the previous novel. His family is doing their best to make her behave like a lady with mixed results as she struggles to cope with the sexism and attitudes to women in the early 19th century. What results is a fun romp through the houses and lives of the aristocracy as Kendra tries to apply modern policing to discover the identity of the murderer.

I liked it very much, even better than A Murder in Time. It's just my kind of book, combining a murder mystery & time travel, but not a "bodice ripper." I look forward to her next installment!

I can't wait till the next book. A Twist in Time was just as exciting as the first book, a send off back in time, and a constant of "when" will Kendra get to go home. She is a very cool character, and this was a really quick and fun read. Thanks to NetGalley for the Perusal..as well as the Publishers...Pegasus Books...so...when is the third book coming out?

Lately I feel like I cannot read a book without some frustration at how the women characters are treated and thought of. As this is an issue I really care about, I liked how A Twist in Time handled it, for the most part. Kendra is strong, smart, quick thinking, brave, and honorable. She doesn't let the time, people's expectations, or women's roles define her or change her behavior. When she falls in love and Alec wants her to stay with him she doesn't immediately give everything up for a man. She always considers how she is now dependent in a way she never was in her own time. She thinks about men's attitudes toward women in this time, especially women who speak out or try to be free in any way. I really enjoyed watching her struggle between caring about the Duke, Alec, Rebecca, etc. and wanting to go home to a place where she was more lonely, but in her own words, at least she could vote.

The plot of this book was well paced I thought. It was similar to the first in that the author doesn't hide the killer from the reader so that it is a surprise. The killer is one of Kendra's suspects, but you never know which suspect actually did it until the end. This is harder to do then most people think. I just read a thriller where the ending is a shock but it is because the author set up so many side characters to have potential to be the killer, but in the end those little creepy issues were never explained, they were just there to trick the reader into not guessing. This book isn't like that.

I did think that the ending was abrupt and didn't wrap up as much as I would like. Without spoiling anything, certain issues just don't come up again, the book ends and we have very little idea of how Kendra is thinking or feeling, or her plans for the future. Is there supposed to be a third book? I would hope so because I wanted more for the end of Kendra's story.

Overall an entertaining thriller mixed with historical fiction mixed with time travel. A very interesting concept that was well done.

Let me first start by saying that it's been long over-due for me to read an Historical Fiction Novel. The last time, was about three years ago, finishing an excellent fictional series of novels about Churchill, written by the uncanny Michael Dobbs.
I was a bit worried about Julie McElwain's "A Twist in Time" which I was approved to review by Netgalley - time travel? Georgian England? can these mix?
Well they certainly do!
Kendra (a very untypical name to 19th Century England, to emphasize her alien-ness) Donovon is stuck in the past. She is a capable FBI agent, and a very much free woman of the 21st Century. So, when her benefactor and protector (the Duke of Aldridge) needs her help proving his nephew Alec is innocent from murder allegations of the promiscuous Lady Dover - she immediately accepts the challenge.
It is fortunate that the Duke is a is an all-powerful figure in the classes society of PRE-Victorian England, but it is also an inconvenience to Kendra, who finds herself bound by Victorian gowns, the need for a chaperon outdoors, and the underestimation of people. She is resentful to a society that thinks less of women, especially those who do not find a good husband, and do more than to raise children and stay at home... the novel takes place in filthy 19th Century London, but is Kendra up for the challenge?
I found the book a fresh breath of air. There aren't too many temporal mambo-jambo, and the differences between our society to Georgian England's sticks out through Kendra inaptness to the strict rules enforced on the women of the era.
in a Poirot fashion, she will slowly cross off suspects from her blackboard, while employing modern day form of investigation, on an almost lawless society. She is aided by bow street runner Sam Kelly, who's authority is weak at best, and is torn between her attraction to Alec, to the need of getting back home.
I found the novel is not over-sophisticated, it is a fun murder-she-wrote, that tics all the boxes for me. I will most definitely read the first book at some point (which says it all), Thumbs up!

(not to be confused with "Cinderella A Twist in Time" the 3rd sequel to Cinderella who left me and my little girl traumatized...!)

I never managed to finish the first book but I still tried to read this one. Just wasn't for me. Well written and all but I wasn't a huge fan of the main character.

Fans of the first book will not be disappointed! Kendra Donovan still finds herself stuck in 1815 London and hasn't solved the mystery of how she went from a modern FBI agent into a wormhole back in time. But there's not much time for solving that mystery as it seems a woman has been murdered and since police haven't been established as we know it she's set out to find the killer.

She's acclimated enough to her circumstances to no longer be as shocked by the sexism and fights back and is also afraid of the butterfly effect and tries her best not to slip up about future happenings that might change things--although easier said then done. As for the murder victim, she'd taken on many lovers and had no qualms about pissing people off so let's say there are plenty of suspects--including Donovan's possible love interest. Hey-o!

I find this series to be a fun, feminist, historical fic mystery and look forward to more.

Kendra Donovan is still stuck in Regency times. Seems like her job there is not finished. Now she has to save Alec from being charged with Lady Dover's murder. Actually, according to the mores of the time, it is doubtful Alec will be charged by the House of Lords, but someone in Lady Dover's past is determined to see justice done.
I do have some problems with this book, minor though they may be. Kendra still has the miracle growing hair. Whatever she is on, I want some. Plus, Kendra is an FBI profiler. Guess what job description does not exist in the FBI? Lucky I didn't review the first book, I really could have gone to town on her FBI sections. She could have used the same meticulous research there as she does on the other parts of the book. Finally, I know this is a Regency, but I don't think even Georgette Heyer's are as chaste.
Now for the good. This is how I like to learn history! Through the people. Their dress, their homes, their street life, their etiquette, their transportation problems. Other than what I mentioned above, I can't find the hint of one wrong note. I was especially intrigued by some of the hygiene or lack of hygiene info. but that's just me.
McElwain does a great job with her characters. I want to be adopted by the Duke and I want Rebecca as my friend. As for Alec.... It was nice to see the band back together again.
I love the plot, and I can just imagine how the particular brutality of the crime would really mess with that rarefied world that Kendra has entered.
As rarefied as it might be, Kendra still struggles against the strictures of that time. But she is
beginning to understand some of the problems she encounters in Regency times aren't miraculously solved in her enlightened time. She might have a heck of a lot more opportunities, resources, and freedom, but she still had to fight for everything she wanted. Maybe Recency times are starting to look better to Kendra. She is finding all of the love there that she did without in her time, parental, friendship, and romantic.
I really enjoyed this book and I hope #3 is on the hozizon.
Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read this review in exchange of an honest review.