Rua remembers nothing but her name. So she lets the wealthy Harrington family think she is their missing daughter Emma while she tries to figure out the truth. She has memories of another world, one laced with darkness. Trying to fit in 1870s Manhattan society, she is drawn to the 'not for her' Lord of Donore, come for business from Ireland. He also feels like he knows her. An ancient secret connects them, and as they rediscover it they must save the future.

It is like we emerge into the story, no introduction, no prologue — nothing, though certainly in an attention-grabbing way. We are discovering this world along with the protagonist and share her sense of newness and that something is not right. The mystery of why she looks like social pariah Emma and the glimpses of another place elevate the intrigue. The frequent use of consecutive short paragraphs caters to a state of immediacy enhances the need to know what happens next. But the narrative has a tangible stillness, a solemnity even when things go crazy. The author uses gorgeous figurative speech to bring forth vivid imagery that is deeply expressive.

The writing has a descriptive nature that helps us visualize the time period admirably, the environment, the societal pressures, the prejudices, the position of women. Trying to be in the good graces of this so-called high, though certainly self-serving, society is exhausting for our main characters and there is drama. Thanks to their backhanded or outright nasty comments, their hurtful actions, there are quite a few characters I would like to slap silly. Rua does not take it lying down and answers accordingly and boy do her remarks cut them down to size.

The protagonists' humorous 'meet-hate' ignites a spark and you get excited for this prospective couple. She is delightfully feisty and her comments are chuckle-worthy zingers but he holds his own. I love the fact that they are trying not to like each other but cannot resist, and this turmoil of emotions — including the way they feel like they already know one another — is depicted deliciously. There are some unfortunately repetitive thoughts, too many comments about reputation, even on the same page, that threw me out of the generally good flow of the story. But I am so glad we get to see both sides of this budding/possibly renewed relationship. Their encounters are swoon-inducing with romance and often comical due to unexpected things occurring.

Details of the inspired by Irish mythology fantastical element lightly season the narrative from the beginning. The upper-class drama is interesting, though I do wish some scenes were tighter to give more time to the fantasy aspect of the story. I needed more of the fantasy side of the story. Leading to the finale, things get intense as the truth gradually sneaks up on them and I couldn't put it down. Their situation turns on the heart-wrenching, becoming increasingly dangerous and leads to an undeniably wild ride of an ending.

A second chances, very different enemies to lovers historical romance, captivating and yearnful.

3.5 rounded up
The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez
I first saw this on tiktok when it was still in draft form, so I was so excited to hear that it was going to be published. I was intrigued by the concept of Irish gods sent to Gilded Age New York. Overall I did find it enjoyable but I struggled with the very quick ending that left a lot unresolved.
I enjoyed the mythology flashbacks that are interwoven into the book, but these could have been used more to highlight the stakes. There was a lot of focus on the society dynamics and the main character being institutionalized depending on her behavior, which seemed a bit too forgiving.
If you like romantasy, historical fiction, mythology, and gods in alternate settings you might be interested!

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for an ARC!

CWs:
Graphic: Violence, Death, Sexism
Moderate: Murder, Infidelity, Blood
Minor: Forced institutionalization

I was super intrigued by the description and premise of this book - Outlander meets A Fate Inked In Blood but I ended up being kind of disappointed. Run crawls out of a Hell Hole and finds herself in 1870s New York. People think she is a young woman, Emma, who has been a bit of a trouble maker but it is time for her to make her debut into society and her family is trying to stay successful in their business plans amidst her scandals. We also get the POV of Finn, a young Irish businessman, who is opening a hotel with Rua's "father" and another man. As an Irish immigrant he is fighting against discrimination and doesn't want any drama. But he can Rua feel pulled to one another and he just might be the clue to who she really is and where she came from.

It isn't a particularly spicy book (fade to black) but there is romance. I wish we had gotten more of the mythology/world building of the magic but we rushed through that and there isnt' going to be another book.

When I read the synopsis of this book, it sounded intriguing. I was not disappointed. It didn't take long to really get into the story and once I was in, I was hooked. The mystery, the scandal, the characters complicated past and present...it all just sucks you in. I 100% recommend this book. This is a story I would like to read again.

Why couldn’t she remember her name?

The Gods Time Forgot had an intriguingly mystery start with leads that had catch your attention flickering chemistry but stagnated too much in the middle and delivered a rushed ending. Told from the leads, Emma/Rua and Finn's point-of-view, readers come into the story as a girl awakes lost in the woods, without her memory. A search party is crowding her and calling her Emma, but she doesn't recognize or feel that name. When the searchers express horror at her standing in a river, without harm, and she flicks water at a man, which in turn burns him, she's frightened into going where they want to lead her. She's brought back to her home and is impressed by the grandeur but still doesn't recognize anything. A portrait on the wall looks exactly like her and we learn she is supposed to be Emma Harrington, the only daughter of a rich tycoon in Gilded Age New York.

After what they’d just done— after what Badb had made Rua do? How dare she speak of love. Rua let out a sob.
“I have done this for us,” Badb said, desperate to make Rua believe it. She cupped Rua’s cheek, blood lust swirling in the gold of her eyes. “I will protect you, always.”
Lies. Rua jerked her head away.

While Emma goes along with the identity everyone has given her, she starts to have memories of a different place, time, and called Rua. In that place and time, she loved a man called Cú Chulainn (Irish mythology is woven into the story). It's hard for Emma to act proper and she has the looming threat of her mother telling her if she doesn't act right, she'll be sent to an asylum. Her maid, Mara, seems to know what happened in the woods but is cagey about giving Emma any true answers. When the Harrington family arrives in New York City, Emma meets a Lord Donore, Finn, and they are instantly drawn to each other. We don't get much about Finn, except that he's trying to get in with society's elite so that he can gain enough money to support his charitable works. He's in business with one of the top families and is about to propose to their daughter. After the beginning of the story's allure, who is Emma really?, what happened between the time she entered the “hellmouth” and left it?, and what do these memories/dreams mean?, the middle stagnated with Emma/Rua contemplating the same questions over and over without many trickling answers given, and Finn constantly saying he couldn't have anything to do with Rua because it would ruin his reputation and thus money flow.

She continued walking, flexing her palm, wondering why she could still feel the touch of his hand on her skin.

As we get a little more from Finn in the latter second half, we learn that he is also having dreams of a different time and place and when Rua and Finn finally confide into each other about their dreams, the story and pace finally leaves the embedded in place of Rua trying to behave to appease her mother and Finn trying not to be drawn to Rua so he can marry rich and high society, and we get movement on the Irish mythology woven in plot. If Morrígan; Macha, Badb, Nemain are names that mean anything to you, then you'll have some knowledge to where the story is heading and if it's all new to you, you'll probably enjoy some of the reveals. I liked the Irish mythology inclusion and general plot idea but it stagnated far too long. I know the middle is supposed to be where Rua and Finn are falling in love but after that initial spark of chemistry, it felt more like words telling me they were made to be together instead of providing the emotion.

The man was quarrelsome and arrogant, born to be her adversary. But there was something else there, something warm and familiar, and it felt like hers.

The ending will give you the hows and whys of Emma/Rua and Finn but, for me, left out some dynamic scenes of confrontation and overcoming with key characters (Badb). I don't know, it just felt like the ending was left dangling, even though it was sort of wrapped up. The Irish mythology was a delightful additive but the story's pace stagnated too much for me in the middle.

The premise of this book is super cool. A God and Demi God forced apart for centuries by betrayal and duty, stripped of their memories, and brought together in a new world. As their memories return, they are drawn back together.

Unfortunately it was too long, super slow, at 50% there was still a ton to be revealed, and then when it finally got going, it abruptly ended.

Stunning and beautifully written fantasy romance. Amnesia trope laced with Irish mythology woven into a gilded age standalone romance. Perfect for fans of bridgerton.

I loved this one! I loved the historical setting of this book and the mystery behind the FMCs amnesia! I loved the plot of this book it was entertaining and had me hooked from the first page! I also read enjoyed the romance in this one I thought the characters had a lot of chemistry! The ending I feel a bit rushed, I just wish we had gotten a bit more from it rather than it end so suddenly. Overall though great read that I definitely recommend checking out!

I was interested in this book because of the title and the summary, however I couldn’t fully get into the story.

I really enjoyed that it was set in the 1800’s and I haven’t read a book before about Irish mythology which was interesting!

This was just okay.
I was so excited to read this as the premise sounds like something I would like, but this one just didn’t work for me.
The pacing felt off, the ending was abrupt; the only real saving grace was the romance and banter.
Overall, I was just really disappointed and almost thought of dnfing this multiple times.

2.5/5 stars

I was really intrigued in the beginning but unfortunately this just lost my attention and I couldn't get it back. I ended up DNFing.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. This review is voluntary and is my honest feedback.

This book took me a while to get into but once I did, I sort of enjoyed it.

I felt that the book was more of a historical romance with a hint of fantasy, rather than the overused ‘romantasy’ trope. As with other books of this genre, Rua and Finn’s relationship developed a little too quickly for me, so it did take me a while to become invested in their story.

I did enjoy the affluent Manhattan setting. I also enjoyed the Irish mythology, as it’s something I haven’t read about much before, but I wish there was more of it.

I started this, but it aside until I completely forgot about it and then tried reading it again and was bored.

I was originally invested, but found that I was easily bored and underwhelmed as it went on. I couldn’t tell you a single plot point except that it’s in New York and that she’s a social climber. Supposedly there is a romance but I didn’t see it within the plot because it was so flat

The concept of this book totally caught my eye—Gilded Age setting, Irish mythology, and loved an mysterious identity twist with a possible storyline with gods, really intrigued me.
That said… I’ll admit historical fiction isn’t always my go-to genre, and this leaned a bit too hard into the slow pacing for me which really made it hard to get into it and read and I had to convince myself not to DNF several times. And just when the plot started picking up, the ending came in super fast without much payoff in comparison to the slow start. I would've loved more time to sit with the story, or at least an epilogue to round things out bit better
The romance and banter had potential, and I can see the appeal if you love a slow, atmospheric build. But for me, it really needed more tension and character depth to really land as a good enjoyable read for me

I wanted to love this more than I did. The title and cover pulled me in, however the story didn’t. I couldn’t stay engaged as much as I’d like to. Getting the pacing to go a bit faster would improve this a lot.

I loved the banter within; definitely a redeeming quality that kept me going.

The Time Gods Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez is an enemies-to-lovers historical romantasy with Irish mythology. And it’s the story of Rua and Finn and it’s perfectly reflected in the cover as well.
 
I really liked the concept of this book and it’s set in New York in the Gilded Age and Rua wakes up one day and doesn’t know where she is. We discover this world with her and that was really cool, and I was immediately hooked on the story. I’m currently doing an Edith Wharton seminar at university, so I was totally into the setting and time period. Rua has a difficult time fitting into the society and as a reader from the present time, I could totally understand that. I often don’t really like a story with memory loss but here I was rather intrigued, and it added a lot of mystery and I liked that.
 
Finn is also known as the Lord of Donore and he tries to fit in perfectly in society and knows all the right people. He is intrigued by Rua but he shouldn’t be interested in her. I honestly don’t want to say too much because it’s best to go into the story as blind as possible because it will hit you completely. If you’re like me and you like star-crossed lovers stories, you definitely need to check out this story.
 
The story had the perfect mixture of historical elements and really mysterious and thrilling elements and that made me practically inhale the story. Sometimes I didn’t fully know where the story was going but it all made sense in the end. I also think the Irish mythology vibes were really cool and certain parts totally reminded me of Outlander. But overall, the fantasy aspect was the smallest aspect of the book and definitely not the focus. I also think the ending was a bit abrupt but that was mainly because so much was happening towards the end.
 
If you like enemies-to-lovers and historical fantasy books, you totally need to check out The Time Gods Forgot. 4 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

This was an enjoyable read with a unique blend of historical fiction and fantasy. The Gilded Age New York setting was great —I loved the atmosphere, the society of the era, and all the other glittering details of that era with a little bit of magic thrown in.

The central mystery surrounding Rua’s identity kept me engaged the whole way through. I especially liked how the fantasy elements were slowly revealed—it felt like a natural unraveling, and it paired really well with the more grounded historical romance plot. The Irish mythology tie-ins were a fun surprise and added a deeper, slightly darker layer that I didn’t see coming.

That said, there were a few moments where I found myself a bit confused—mostly around what each character actually knew versus what they were remembering. It didn’t ruin anything, but I had to pause a couple times to reorient myself, especially when the memories and magic started to mix in more heavily.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this debut. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

What an amazing read! The cover was giving me serious Doctor-Donna vibes, and I absolutely loved this book from start to finish.

Although I was initially very invested in this story and the characters it doesn’t take long for the same scenario to replay over and over again making it feel like a weird loop of events. I liked the boldness of the MC but it got old after a bit and I was over by the end. The ending felt a bit rushed it overall it an okay story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

This is a romantasy that is heavy on the romance and light on the fantasy. The romance was a good historical hate-to-love full of tension and banter. I really liked the relationship between Rua and Finn and the battle they each have within themselves to not like the other for their own reasons. But no matter what, they continue to fall back into each other's orbits. The fantasy, on the other hand, was lacking. I did enjoy the Irish mythology, as it’s something I haven’t read about much before, but I wish there was more of it. We get glimpses of the fantasy, but we never get a full look at it.