Rating: 4/5 stars
Plot:
"Gemma Hart never knows when her father is going to whisk her
back in time. Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a
secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place.
While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she
completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has
selected.
Gemma's parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her
family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be
"used and abused", as her mother always says. Afraid she might
accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma
spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life
askew... Harrison Granger.
Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl,
but after a brief encounter he can't stop thinking about her. He begins a
campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences.
As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him
fighting to keep his newfound love and his life."
Review:
I started this book this morning and finished it just now,
at about seven thirty. A lot of this
timing was down to having time to kill but the fact remains that it was a very
easy book to get into.
It’s a bit of an ‘overdone’ concept with a fantastical girl/boy
meeting someone who they’re meant to be with and fate draws them together. That
said, every now and then you get a book that follows this formula and still
manages to be fresh.
Quite frankly, the strength of this book was the time
traveling aspect. Gemma was a likable character. She’s moral put without being
a push-over. She’s special yet she’s unwillingly forced into this role yet her
sense of duty means that she does it almost willingly. The fact is that no
matter what happened with the plot, Gemma’s sheer likability factor would have
made it worthwhile reading. Admittedly, I had some problem with her parents
during the novel and found them very difficult to empathise with (etc.) but
this, I think, was rather the point, and I therefore have no major complaints
about this.
The small interludes in which the family go back in time are
really interesting. Other than the fact that the new settings break up the
monotony of the other repeated settings (meaning that the limited settings don’t
actually detract) they also allow the humanity of the characters to really show
through. Yes, they are all highly trained fighters but this is no gratuitous martial
arts themed book as the emphasis always seems focused on why they are doing
this, to save a life, to change the future. Of course, the question is always
there: why are they really there?
This is a question that grows in importance as the novel
continues and as other questions arise. By the ending I felt that this novel,
in its entirety, was really an introduction and that the real action will
happen in the rest of the series. Yep, in the last chapter or two, I started to
feel a bit cheated and, to be honest, this is why ‘Golden Blood’ lost a star.
Call me fickle but, although a series needs some unanswered questions, I much
prefer some kind of partial conclusion! Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to read
the next book!
As I write, this novel is free on amazon. For a UK download link click here.
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