Padme's Library: Monday's Memorial Moment: Shadows on the Border by AL Lester

Monday, March 11, 2019

Monday's Memorial Moment: Shadows on the Border by AL Lester

Title: Shadows on the Border

Author: AL Lester

Series: Lost in Time #2

Genre: M/M Romance, Historical, Time-Travel

Release Date: March 9, 2019

Publisher: JMS Books

Summary:
Newspaper reporter Lew Tyler and his lover, Detective Alec Carter, are working out the parameters of their new relationship. Meanwhile, time traveler Lew is trying to decide whether he wants to stay in the 1920s or find a way to get back to 2016, and Alec doesn’t know if he can bear the vulnerability of being in love with someone who uses such dangerous magic.

Fenn is a Hunter from the Outlands, come through the Border to search for the murderous Creature and its offspring at the behest of the Ternants, who maintain the balance between Fenn’s world and ours. Fenn strikes a bond with Sergeant Will Grant, Alec’s second in command, who is keen to learn more about his own magical abilities. As time goes on, Will grows keen to learn more about Fenn, as well.

Fenn has their own painful secret, and when they appear to have betrayed the team and goes missing in London, Will is devastated. He has to choose between following his heart or following his duty.

Moving through the contrasting rich and poor areas of post-First World War London from West End hotels to the London docklands, the men need to work together to capture the Creature ... and choose who – and what -- is important enough to hold on to and what they may need to give up to make that happen.

The Gate #.5
Original Review January 2018
As much as I enjoyed Lost in Time, I think I found this short story that introduces the reader to the world that brings Lew back to 1919 in Lost to be even better. I didn't like it better because it is shorter or because it has different characters, no I found it appealed to my historical side a bit more. As a 24/7 caregiver for my mother, I was also drawn to Matty's care of his brother upon returning from the war. Perhaps it is these elements that I found myself giving this short story a slightly higher rating than Lost. The Gate is a lovely look at post-war readjustment and the love Matty has for his brother as well as his attraction to Rob but its also a well written and clever introduction to the time-travel and magical elements that are further explored in Lost in Time.

RATING:

Lost in Time #1
Original Review January 2018
When Lew's friend, Mira, went missing he knew he had to find her at whatever the cost. Well that cost was waking up in 1919. Not only does Lew search for Mira but he also finds himself in the middle of a gruesome murder investigation. The attraction between Lew and the lead investigator, Detective Alec Carter, is something neither man asked for but exists all the same. As Lew learns to navigate through the past and Alec learns to readjust to civilian life after four years of blood, mud, and death in the trenches will they solve the mystery, find happiness, and discover a love that is illegal in the eyes of the law?

I want to start off by saying that most of you know I don't do spoilers but I even do less of them when it comes to mysteries and paranormals because even tiny little "throwaway" factors can be huge tip-offs. What I will say in regard to the plot is I found it to be ingenious. I always enjoy time-travel stories more where it happens more due to paranormal/magic than science, I think it just adds a special element that can actually heighten the mystery and even might border on horror.

As for the characters, they intrigued me and kept my interest from beginning to end. I loved Lew's dedication to finding Mira, personally I don't know that I would have been able to keep my focus if I woke up in 1919 nearly a hundred years in the past. As for Alec, despite having returned from four bloody years of war he is able to adjust somewhat "normally" back to civilian life. That's not to say either character doesn't have issues with their circumstances but it makes them that much more rounded and believable.

Finally, I should note that there are some grammatical errors that some might find off putting or have issue with, but for this reader I did not. Perhaps its because I tend to just mentally fix them as I read or perhaps I like to put my focus on the story and AL Lester's Lost in Time kept me intrigued from the first page to the last. I look forward to what this new author brings us next.

RATING:

Author Bio:
A. L. Lester likes to read. Her favorite books are post-apocalyptic dystopian romances full of suspense, but a cornflake packet will do there's nothing else available. The gender of the characters she likes to read (and write) is pretty irrelevant so long as they are strong, interesting people on a journey of some kind.

She has a chaotic family life and small children, and she has become the person in the village who looks after the random animals people find in the road. She is interested in permaculture gardening and anything to do with books, reading, technology and history. She lives in a small village in rural Somerset and is seriously allergic to both rabbits and Minecraft