This was a really interesting story. I didn't know what I was getting myself into at first, but once I was sucked in I found myself jumping between thoughts. Is she really time traveling? Is she just hallucinating? I feel that a good book is one that keeps you wondering. If you're a fan of Outlander give this one a try, it has war and gory battlement scenes that would call out to any slightly macabre heart. It also talks about mental health, depression, and has room for fantasy lovers too.

I'm a little bit of a hopeless romantic so I wanted more love between the hero and heroine, but enjoyed the suspense.

Definitely a book for historical fiction fans.

Beyond the Moon is an excellent work of historical fiction by Catherine Taylor. First Lieutenant Robert Lovett is wounded in World War I and finds himself in Coldbrook Hall Convalescent Hospital in Sussex, England. He is a gifted artist but he's suffering horribly from PTSD and its resulting hysterical blindness. He can't see his hands in front of his face, let alone his paints and canvas. His outlook is not good. Flash forward one hundred years later to 2017. Louisa Casson is reeling from the death of her grandmother, her only family. Louisa drinks to ease her pain while wandering the South Downs cliffs and accidentally falls over the edge. Doctors think it was a suicide attempt so she's committed to the Coldbrook Hall mental hospital. Her outlook is bleak as well. That is until she wanders into an abandoned wing of the hospital. Its not ghosts she finds, but a real live man, lying in an old-fashioned bed. As it turns out, it is the First Lieutenant, injured over one hundred years before.

Fans of the Outland series and books by Kristen Hannah will love this. Taylor has produced an excellent novel and I appreciate the chance to read an ARC..

DNF at 7% and giving three stars because I obviously can't fairly rate this. It does mention the heroine is involuntarily confined in the description, but this is also billed as a romance. Major trigger warnings for medical abuse of power, confinement, a strip search upon arriving at the psych hospital. Or at least the threat of one - that's where I called off. It may be a great book, but this isn't one I can stomach.

While a little far fetched as far as a historical fiction it was very well written engaged my attention from the beginning and, for the most part, held it. I had to let go of a lot of my common sense and just go along for the ride through a lot of it. Guess it's because I'm not normally a paranormal fan. The characters were well rounded and very likable and the plot different and interesting.
4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the author and publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

A bit different than what I usually read this one was.
Time travel with well developed characters that I was able to follow along with.
The plot was well thought out and I'll look forward to more by this author.

Published January 2020 by The Cameo Press Ltd
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a really good read. I was quick , I liked how the characters developed throughout the story. Time travel is one of my favorite subjects, it has always fascinated me. This story reminds me a bit of The Time Travelers Wife.
Definitely worth a read if you into that kind of theme.

I have to be honest I was a bit frustrated by this book. It started strong and I felt like I was finally getting into the characters, but then the storyline shifted. The hideous behavior of everyone working at the institution Louisa is committed to was over the top and unrealistic.
I enjoyed the back and forth of the time period stories, but was lost on the time travel.
It had moments, but not a favorite.

Beyond the Moon was recommended on a Facebook group that I belong to. I am always looking for a new timeslip book and was impressed with this one.

The novel starts out in 1916 at Coldbrook Hall which is a military hospital where Lieutenant Robert Lovett is recuperating after being wounded during WWI. He is suffering from hysterical blindness and having a difficult time of it. In 2017 Louisa Casson finds herself involuntarily admitted to a a psychiatric hospital located at Coldbrook Hall. While wandering the hospital Louisa finds herself slipping in time from 2017 to 2016 and makes the acquaintance of Lieutenant Lovett.

The book is well written and covers the horrors of war and psychiatric hospitals with sensitivity. I have always been fascinated by novels set in WWI. The horrors and depravity of the war that was to end all wars is well written. The more disturbing parts for me were the scenes set in 2017 in the psychiatric hospital, how disturbingly easy it appears to be to take away a person’s freedom due to a misunderstanding.

The romance was well done, but the historical parts were what really drew me in. I look forward to more novels by Catherine Taylor, my Facebook group did well with the recommendation.


I really enjoyed the historical aspects of the book and recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical or timeslip novels.

Thanks to Netgalley, Catherine Taylor and The Cameo Press for the chance to review this book.

This book was so interesting! Definitely out of my normal! I really enjoyed the time jumps and the time interrupting bits. The connection between the two main characters was so lovely and refreshing. I felt the connection and the air about them. This was most assuredly a breath of fresh air between books. I feel the author really did her research within the time periods and the jumps were seamless.

This book was a little bit slow for me, but once I got into it I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. The Romance between Louisa and Robert was so endearing.

If you enjoy time travel romances, this is for you! Very interesting story with characters to love and characters to hate.

Beyond the Moon is an interesting time travel romance. It's unique in that it's more like a time overlap (the author calls it a timeslip) than true time travel, at least at first. Our heroine first meets Lieutenant Robert Lovett in an abandoned section of the psychiatric hospital that she accidentally finds herself involuntarily admitted to in 2017. Except when she enters his room, she finds herself back in 1917, going back and forth between the two time periods. It's only after falling through the floor of the abandoned wing, that she picks up as Rose, a VAD nurse at a British field hospital in France. Lt. Lovett is sent back to his unit in France to continue fighting and eventually is captured and beomes a German POW.

This story is a difficult one to read sometimes. Not only of the conditions of the mental hospital but of the war and its injuries on the battlefront. Frequently jumping back and forth from Robert's POV in the trenches and German POW camp to Louisa/Rose's, you certainly get a feel for the times. While in some books the dual POV can take away from the story, I enjoyed it here, especially as the characters spent so little time together.  The author has a wonderful voice and while I'm no expert, it appears that she must have done her research in order to write details the way she did.

As far as the comparison to Outlander goes, these are very different tales. Having read all the published books for the Outlander series, the relationship between the two main characters is more established. Unfortunately, Louisa and Robert spend more time separately than together. If you are looking for a historical read, then this one is for you. If you are looking for a replacement for your Outlander fix, you'd be better served elsewhere. While the soul mate/meant to be vibe is clear, the strength of this novel lies in its ability to tell the story of the era.

I would recommend Beyond the Moon to readers of historical fiction that won't mind the romance on the side. Bodice ripper readers will be bored with the lack of action between these two as it's a fairly clean romance. Those that appreciate reading of the trials of war and don't mind explanations of graphic war wounds and surgeries will enjoy  Beyond the Moon.

This a lovely story of time travel between current times and WWI. I can't imagine the amount of research that went into this book. You feel as though you are in the latter teens of the 20th century due to the descriptions of the battlefield and duties of a VAD nurse. It's prosy and a bit long for if you're busy but worth it.

A magical story that effortlessly weaves the past with the present.

I was instantly drawn to the premise of this book - historical/romantic fiction with a time travel twist? Sign me up!

2017 - Louisa is admitted to a mental hospital against her will after being found near a cliff edge following her grandmother's funeral. What started out as some alone time ends with her being force-fed pills with no way to escape. She befriends a girl, Kerry, who shows her where she can sneak out to an abandoned wing in the hospital. There she has a hidden stash of vodka, but Louisa finds something far more interesting.
1916 - 1st Lieutenant Robert Lovett is admitted to Coldbrook Hospital with hysterical blindness. Distraught and shell-shocked from war, he is saved by the presence of a wonderful lady. She visits him now and again, and he lives for those days, hoping he'll actually be able to lay his eyes on her in the future. He knows the lady is hiding something, he can tell. But what is her secret?

I can honestly say I was not disappointed. Catherine Taylor is an incredible storyteller, contrasting the same world set 100 years apart. The details from the war were harrowing and stomach-churning, making me feel like I was right there on the front line with the rest of the troops. The present-day descriptions of the mental hospital felt exaggerated with Louisa admitted by force, nurses not putting the welfare of patients first, and handing out drugs that made patients worse. But in truth, this is the reality of many privately-run mental health institutions. Taylor used her journalistic skills to incorporate this critique of the shocking conditions patients are often subjected to. It certainly opened my eyes and gave the story more credibility.

The realism in this story was something I didn't expect. There are fantasy elements with the time travel but the author had clearly done her research and made it feel like it could actually happen. I was so invested in Robert and Louisa's love story, desperate for them to find a way to be together.

Thank you so much to the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is going to be a huge hit for this author. This is an exceptional Historical Fiction!.

I really don't want to discuss the plot because I want everyone to discover this story on their own terms. It's intricate. It's breathtaking. It's heart-pumping. It's shiver inducing. It's everything I could ever ask for in this genre. I started this book yesterday morning and read it in 2 days.. I was completely riveted to the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishing company for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am very thankful for Netgalley for allowing me to read this book, however it was hard to keep my interest and I felt that the book was a little slow. The theme was very good, just the story wasn't all there.

Since I didn’t really remember the synopsis for this book when I started it, I really had no idea what I was in for, and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Beyond the Moon is an intriguing story that is part historical fiction, part love story, and part paranormal perhaps. Reminiscent of Outlander, Louisa Casson, in 2017,finds herself involuntarily committed to a mental facility in England after a falling accident is confused for a suicide attempt. With a prior history of depressive episodes, doctors don’t believe Louisa isn’t a danger to herself and they refuse to release her. Stuck in a hellish landscape of uncaring staff and mentally unstable people, Louisa tries her best to adjust to life on the inside. While on a chance excursion into the abandoned wing of the hospital, Louisa unexpectedly finds herself in another place and time. Without explanation Louisa finds herself face to face with a handsome army lieutenant by the name of Robert Lovett. A skilled artist on temporary leave from an active military deployment, Louisa quickly becomes enamored by Robert. Only one problem, he lived 100 years prior to her time, in 1917. Unable to explain her connection to this historical timeline, Louisa continues to visit Robert, until he realizes that she isn’t what he thought she was. Believing she is some kind of figment of his war rattled mind, Robert shuns Louisa, and on her last visit to the old wing of the hospital, Louisa discovers Robert has been discharged, and he has returned to the war. Unable to carry on, Louisa wishes to abandon her time, forsaking her life in 2017 to pursue the love she can’t live without in 1917. Through an unexplainable time ripple, Louisa falls through a window in time and finds herself in 1917 France, at the forefront of WW1. Thrust into a world she doesn’t understand, Louisa is determined to do all she can to find her Robert. A moving love story made all the more dramatic set against the backdrop of a vicious world war. You can’t help but root for Louisa as she embarks on this journey to find her beloved and adapt into a time she can never imagine living in. Louisa is on a mission to understand why she can fall through time and what is her reason for coming back to this moment. Definitely should appeal to fans of Outlander and historical fiction novels as well. Thank you to Netgalley for the early copy.

I read Beyond the Moon, the debut novel by Catherine Taylor, at the invitation of NetGalley and The Cameo Press. It is an engaging love story set against today’s mental health insufficiencies and the horror of World War II.

It is August of 1916, and World War II is in full swing. Lieutenant Robert Lovett finds himself in Coldbrook Hall, a military hospital located in Sussex, England. A talented artist, Robert is now suffering from hysterical blindness brought on by shell shock. Parts of Robert’s story are told in flashbacks as he lies in his hospital bed and thinks back over his life.

In Sussex, it is now April of 2017. Louisa Casson is a medical student who dropped out of classes to care for her beloved grandmother, her last remaining relative – unless you count her father who abandoned her as a young girl. She has just buried her grandmother.

While mourning her grandmother, Louisa wanders onto Sussex Downs on the white chalk cliffs for which the area is famous. After overindulging Granny’s aged cognac, she falls asleep. When she awakens, it is dark. Very near the edge of the cliffs, she cannot find her way to safety. Next, she finds herself in a hospital bed, being treated for attempted suicide. It seems the area where she was found is notorious for suicides and suicide attempts. No one believes her when she denies attempting suicide.

Coldbrook is now a mental health hospital with staff members who are cold, abusive, and uncaring. Privately run, it is not subject to the regulations of the National Health System. Louisa soon wanders into a section of the aging building that is slated for demolition. Stepping through a door, she meets Robert. She assures him his blindness is stress-related, and with time and patience, will resolve itself.

Of course, Robert and Louisa fall in love, and she decides to remain in his time. Ms. Taylor has woven an enchanting tale of time travel and the love of two people who don’t care what century it is, as long as they can be together. Lovers of time travel novels will enjoy Beyond the Moon.

What makes The Grumpy Book Reviewer grumpy?
• Confusing French macarons with macaroons.
Aside from that, only the usual things:
• Referring to people as “that” rather than as “who”;
• Beginning sentences with conjunctions;
• Incorrect verb usage: bring vs. take and was vs. were;
• Missing commas.

The devastation of WW1 to a generation of young people and the contemporary attitudes to mental health are explored in this romantic timeslip story,

The historical fiction is well-researched and demonstrates the horrors of trench warfare vividly. The contemporary reflection of mental health provision feels a little outdated, more a reflection of mental health institutions in the late seventies than in 2017, but the institution is necessary for the timeslip element of the story, so the setting does not need to be strictly factual.

There is also an epic love story which stretches across time and illustrates the characters emotional damage and vulnerability well, The characters are believable and easy to empathise. They are soulmates and bring out the best in the other. This is an emotional story, the scenes of war, and the damage it brings are not easy to read, but they are integral to the story and current mental and physical health of the young artist turned soldier.

This is a compelling read, and you are so caught up in the emotion and the poignancy, you forget the improbability of the time travel.

I received a copy of this book from The Cameo Press via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I was appreciative of the opportunity to read this book, however it was a DNF for me. Just wasn't catching my interest and a bit slow.