Review: Silent Vows by Catherine Bybee

Format read: ebook
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Genre: Time travel romance
Series: MacCoinnich Time Travels #2
Length: 278 pages
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press (first edition); Self-published (second edition)
Date Released: August 4, 2010 (original); January 13, 2013 (second edition)
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Myra, a medieval virgin druidess, flees five hundred years into the future to escape death at the hands of a cursed witch and lands in the arms of a handsome but cynical twenty-first century cop.

Officer Todd Blakely knows Myra is hiding something , but can’t resist her innocent charms. Destiny throws them both into a world of intrigue and mysticism. Can Todd be the true white knight she needs? Or will magic and the winds of time tear them apart?

I’m enjoying this series so much that the minute I finished Silent Vows I started the third book in the series, Redeeming Vows. Time travel romance is loads of fun when the author doesn’t get too fixated on the method, and Ms. Bybee didn’t.

There was something appropriate (and wickedly fun) about part of the premise in this book. In the first book in the series, Binding Vows (reviewed here), Tara and Duncan meet because Duncan and his brother Fin have regularly been visiting the 21st century to relieve Druid virgins of their pesky virginity.

Now that the evil witch Grainna has returned to the 16th century the macCoinneach family has a problem. The oldest daughter, Myra, is still a virgin (much more common in the 16th century) and is now a target for the witch’s spell. The solution is to send her to the 21st century to get her out of harm’s way.

It’s understood that if she has to, as a last resort she can get herself de-virginated. Only as a last resort, of course.

Myra was supposed to find Tara’s sister Lizzy, along with Lizzy’s son Simon, and reassure them that Tara was alive, well and happy. Also go on one ginormous 21st century shopping trip and bring back oodles of stuff that Tara wanted. Like aspirin and antibiotics. Also coffee.

Instead, Myra got picked up by the cops in the middle of let’s call it Disneyland. And discovered that even with Tara’s crash course in 21st century everything, she really wasn’t prepared for life in Tara’s California.

The cop who picked her up at Disneyland knew she was lying about very nearly everything, but he still couldn’t get her out of his head. Especially after he rescued her from nearly being raped because she had no clue that she shouldn’t be out and about in Los Angeles at midnight.

Officer Todd Blakely took her home. To his home. Because she had nowhere else to go. And because she was beautiful and he wanted to rescue her, even though he knew he couldn’t believe anything she said.

Until Lizzy came to talk to the woman who had information about her sister, and everything got crazier. And more sane at the same time.

Myra called him Sir Blakely. When she went back home, she didn’t need to worry about being a target for the evil witch anymore. Too bad for Todd that he didn’t really believe everything she said until he saw her travel back in time, taking his heart with her.

Escape Rating A-: I’m so glad these are all available now, I’d hate to be stuck in the middle wondering how the rest of this series goes!

Myra does give Todd a lot to believe, and while he doesn’t believe her story, he is pretty accepting of her in general. It’s kind of astonishing that he doesn’t send her for a psych evaluation!

Todd’s and Myra’s story does drag on just a bit once the venue switches to the 16th century. We know how they are going to end up, and by that point, I wanted the focus to shift to Lizzy and Fin.

This series is just plain fun, and I can’t wait to see how it ends!