Title:  A Matter of Time
Series:  Matters of Love #2
Author:  Margaret Locke
Genre:  Time Travel, Regency Romance
Published:  November 30, 2015
Publisher:  Locked On Love Publishing
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Nobody would blame widowed doctoral student Eliza James for giving up on Happily Ever After; at twenty-nine, she’s suffered more loss than most people do in a lifetime. But Eliza’s convinced her own hero is still out there, waiting for her, just like in the beloved romance novels she devours. Every girl deserves a Darcy, right?

Only Eliza doesn’t dream of a modern-day affair: she wants the whole Regency experience. When a magical manuscript thrusts her back two hundred years into the arms and life of one Deveric Mattersley, Duke of Claremont, however, Eliza soon realizes some fantasies aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, especially when her duke proves himself less than a Prince Charming.

Deveric Mattersley has no interest in marriage. Determined to atone for his sins after convincing himself he’s at fault for the death of his first wife, he decrees himself content to focus on running his family’s estates, and on raising his son–until the mysterious Mrs. James appears. Who is she? What does shewant? And why does she make Dev’s blood run hot in a way no woman ever has?

Read on for my thoughts on A Matter of Time.  No true spoilers, promise.

Eliza is lonely in her own time.  She married young and lost her husband to the terror of one September morning.  Not really finding anything that truly moves her, she is coasting through life working on her papers, running the bookstore with her beloved friend, Catherine – and now thanks to that amazing old manuscript that was passed down to Cat, she is also an observer of real magic at work.  Her one love, or obsession perhaps are the Regency Romances that she devours wishing to find her own Duke and to live in that seemingly fairy tale world of the past.

She took a chance and asked Cat to write a love story for her.  One where she could travel back to 1812 and meet the Duke of her dreams.  An open ended story where they would have the chance to fall in love, but with openings the gave each the choice, not the written script, of truly loving each other.  Cat also wrote an escape clause so that if Eliza simply couldn’t stand to be in the past any longer, she would (they hoped) be able to return to her own time.

It worked!  Only… things aren’t going exactly as Eliza had hoped.  Deveric was everything she’d ever dreamed of for her perfect mate… well, almost.  While he was handsome as sin, and obviously felt something for her.  He was also holding himself aloof, not truly allowing the attraction between them to grow into anything.  Dev was haunted by his own demons.  The belief that his intimate relations with his wife had ultimately killed her and their newborn daughter in childbirth was constantly on his mind.  While there was no love between he and his wife, he still believed it was his fault that they had died.  He was convinced that he would never marry again, would never ever allow that kind of pain and loss touch him once more.

Eliza has her work cut out for her if she is ever to find the happily ever after that she dreamed of.

A Matter of Time is a magical, charming story of true love, even if Eliza has to travel back through time to find it.  She finds just about everything Regency she ever expected: simpering misses, a Dragon of a Duchess in the form of Dev’s mother, and a sudden appreciation for her modern day world’s luxuries like hot showers.  While calling on her knowledge of the time through her research and the romance novels she’s read nonstop is of some help – there is so much to adjust to in this time.  And perhaps the most difficult is the realization that the man she could, and perhaps already does, love is determined to never marry again.  Watching Eliza charm, stumble and utter a few phrases that are definitely not of the times is an enjoyable journey.  And seeing her slowly change the household through her stubborn, outspoken ways is also the source of more than a few chuckles along the way.

A love story and so much more, A Matter of Time should be on every fantasy, paranormal, contemporary and Regency romance readers “to read” list.  Part of the fun is knowing that there are plenty of fascinating, enjoyable secondary characters who will hopefully have their own stories told soon.  I am keeping a watch for the next book in this series, and you should be too.  I would definitely recommend this novel – you will be charmed, captivated, have a few good laughs and shed a few tears as you cheer Eliza and Dev on to find their happy every after ending.

Available in paperback and for the Kindle