Review - Aching for Always by Gwen Cready

Join the fun in a sexy romp through time...

Aching for Always

TITLE:    Aching for Always

AUTHOR/EDITOR:    Gwen Cready

INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 440 pages

PUBLISHED:   Pocket Books, 2010

ISBN#:   978-1-4391-0728-7

HOW'D I GET IT:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  RITA Award–winning author Gwyn Cready continues the “sexy fun” (BookPage) of her charming time-travel adventures with a high-spirited tale of a modern-day mapmaker and the eighteenth-century English navy captain she can’t resist.

Ambitious and feisty Josephine “Joss” O’Malley has spent years fighting to keep her mother’s map-making company alive. Just when she finds herself considering taking a risky next step with bad-boy entrepreneur Rogan Reynolds— whose generosity has helped keep the business afloat—Joss meets dark and mysterious Hugh Hawksmoor. Hugh’s deft touch and old-world seduction stir Joss’s desires like a storm at sea, and she has no clue that he has sailed three hundred years into the future to avenge the death of his brother at the hands of her father. Or that she holds the key to a map that will help him undo the destructive changes her father wrought in the past. When Hugh lures Joss into a treacherous journey through time, there’s not a twenty-first-century trick that can save her. But when she applies her own instincts to a course she thought was set, she discovers that the high seas hold some scandalous surprises.

MY TAKE:   This book was a really fun read.  I completely enjoyed the heroine, Joss.  She was a very strong, caring character full of imagination.  She has a fierce love of and loyalty to her deceased mother and the failing map-making company that she left to Joss.  I liked her immediately which is something that isn't always true with many protagonists that I read about. 

Hugh is a yummy, "McDreamy" (Joss compares Hugh to Patrick Dempsey more than once) that Joss feels instantly attracted to and intensely curious about.  The sea captain who is from several centuries before her time, catches her attention and never loses it throughout the adventure, even though Joss is engaged to marry another man in the present day. 

Several other characters add to the well-rounded cast.  Joss's best friend, Diana is exactly the kind of gal pal we all need.  Her intended, Rogan, is not quite the philanthropist that he initally appears so I couldn't feel too much angst when she starts developing feelings for the determined Hugh. The mysterious Fiona who appears in the present day along with Hugh is one of those women that we all take an immediate dislike to. 

Having this story revolve around a set of ancient maps was a fun and adventurous way to take the characters through time and to different locations.  I have always been fascinated by maps and have a very small collection of old ones myself.

I couldn't help but compare the battle of the map making company with the GPS revolution to that of our book printers vs the e-book's rise in popularity.  It would be a shame to lose the true art of map making just as it would be to lose that of the binding and printing of books.

Be sure to get your copy of this steamy novel full of imagination and well-written characters.  It is a fun read, well worth your time!

   

MY RATING:    4/5

WHERE TO BUY IT:    Amazon, IndieBound, or The Book Depository

 

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.