Title: The Time Thief Author: Natalia Schellhaas Series: (The St. Claire Legacy #1) Genres: Fantasy, Sci-fi Publisher: CreateSpace Published: 19 December 2016 Pages: 383 Format: ebook Source: Author via Quirky Blind Date Reading Challenges: COYER Buy:Amazon
This is not the official blurb
WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT
The Time Thief tells the story of Sebastian Abnett, a thief by profession and his fiancée Amelia St. Claire/Langley.
It is 1878, two years since Sebastian witnessed the death of Amelia and the Arrandale stone went missing. This stone is believed to have the power to allow the members of the Consel, a secret group made up of time guardians, to jump through time.
Sebastian has been accused of stealing the stone, however when the Consel saw he knew nothing of its whereabouts they offered him a deal he would be hard pressed to refuse. Locate the stone and prevent the incident that led to Amelia’s death.
Amelia Langley is down on her luck and desperately needs a job. Her efforts to secure a job led to her being teleported from the year 2012 to 1887. Here she finds herself caught up in the search for the Arrandale stone. It did not help that she was the spitting image of Amelia St. Claire. She has now become a target for the Consel, sorcerers and many others determined to get their hands on the stone.
Forced to form an alliance with Sebastian will lead to her being plunged into a world of intrigue, danger, magic and time travel. Will Amelia and Sebastian be able to find the stone before time runs out?
If you enjoy time travel stories filled with mystery, magic and adventure then The Time Thief is for you.
When I received this for review, I had no idea what to expect. The author was new to me and I did not choose the book. I had no idea if I would enjoy it, but I was willing to go outside my comfort zone. I am glad I’ took the chance as it proved to be a worthwhile adventure.
WHAT I LOVED
POV
The story narrated from the POV of Amelia and Sebastian made it easy for me to establish a connection with them as it relates to their fears, doubts, pain, triumphs and challenges. Although they exuded strength and bravery seeing their fears and doubts made them realistic, relatable and likeable.
The Characters
Amelia is the perfect character for a story such as this. She is a strong, feisty, intelligent and kick ass female who takes no crap from anyone. Initially, she is cautious about her approach to the searching of the stone, but as events became clearer, she assumed an authoritative approach.
Sebastian is having a hard time dealing with the loss of Amelia, so it is no surprise he accepted the offer to locate the stone. When he comes face to face with the woman who looks like his dead fiancé and shares the same first name he is determined to protect her at all costs. Not only is he protective, he is arrogant, short-tempered and impulsive.
Then there was Marco, Sebastian’s best friend who works for the constabulary. How ironic. He is the polar opposite of Sebastian. He is optimistic, cautious and even-tempered. He is always making fun of his friend, insulting him in an amusing fashion.
I enjoyed their banter and loved how they had each other’s back. Their friendship appeared genuine and unshakeable.
The secondary characters helped to make things interesting and mysterious. Everyone appeared suspect making it difficult to determine the villains from the good guys.
The story moved at a solid pace. There was so much happening; I did not have time to be bored. From the moment, I began reading I was held captive. The manner in which the story was told would make it seem that there was a previous book as there were events in the protagonists’ lives that took place prior to this story being told. However, the flashbacks provided helped in piecing the events together which made for a smooth and clear read.
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
The ending was a big doozy of a cliffhanger, my biggest pet peeve. To make matters worse the second book is not yet available. I am so not amused.
Sexual tension existed between the protagonists, but I could not get on board with these feelings. This was due in part to me not getting a feel into the strength of the prior relationship that existed between Sebastian and Amela. All I was privy to, was how they met, but had no idea how they fell in love.
Conclusion /Recommendation
Overall, this was a great start to the trilogy. I enjoyed my journey through time, and I am eager to see what next is in store for Amelia and Sebastian.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natalia Schellhaas is a master’s student, working on her degree in Library Science with a concentration in Archival Management at Simmons College in Boston, MA. She lives in Florida with six cats, and a rather large book collection.
When she was younger, she never used to enjoy reading until her father taught her to see the story as a movie unfurling in her mind. It was all downhill–or uphill?–from there.
The Time Thief is the first book in the St. Claire Legacy series. You can follow her on Facebook, Goodreads and Instagram .
Nadene's addiction to reading began at an early age, when a family friend gifted her a copy of Wuthering Heights. From that moment she was never without a book.She will read anything as long the material is compelling enough to hold her attention. She gained many experiences through the pages of the books she had the opportunity to read.She created this blog to share her love of books with like minded individuals hopes that in sharing reviews of the books read visitors to the blog will discover their next addictive read. When not reading, Nadene enjoys cooking, listening to music and watching television.
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Ahh I hate cliffhangers especially when the next book isn’t available or has no release date yet. I’m like urggghh. So I know your feeling. This sounds great though. Glad that you enjoyed it despite your issues. Awesome review, Nadene. ?❤️
This is the kind of book that I usually enjoy and I adore that cover. I am not a fan of cliffhanger though so I will probably wait to see what others think of the books in the trilogy before picking it up.
This isn’t a book I would normally pick up, but it sounds really fun and creative. I tend to stay away from series these days, so the cliffhanger is a real downer, though. Great review! Hugs…and Happy Tuesday! RO
I hate cliffhangers too! So sorry you are going to have to wait for the next book. Glad you did like the rest of the story though.
sounds like an interesting read, glad you made it out of the comfort zone only to be surprised. I find that the best 😀
Not a fan of cliffhangers, but wow is that cover awesome! Sounds like a great read, too. Nice to hear reading outside your comfort zone paid off 🙂
Ahh I hate cliffhangers especially when the next book isn’t available or has no release date yet. I’m like urggghh. So I know your feeling. This sounds great though. Glad that you enjoyed it despite your issues. Awesome review, Nadene. ?❤️
I’m not a fan of time travel books but I have a few friends who are that I will recommend this one to.
For What It’s Worth
Cliffy aside this does sound good.
Argh, the dreaded cliffhanger!! I’m glad you enjoyed it until then though.
This is the kind of book that I usually enjoy and I adore that cover. I am not a fan of cliffhanger though so I will probably wait to see what others think of the books in the trilogy before picking it up.
Oh no, not a cliffhanger. Dang, it was sounding good up to that point.
Better hide those legs if she is gonna walk around in the olden days
This isn’t a book I would normally pick up, but it sounds really fun and creative. I tend to stay away from series these days, so the cliffhanger is a real downer, though. Great review! Hugs…and Happy Tuesday! RO