'Out of Time' by Monique MARTIN

From the BLURB:

New York in the 1920's is the world of Prohibition, speakeasies and an underground run by the underworld. Vampires and mobsters vie for power in the seedy underbelly of Manhattan.

A mysterious accident sends Professor Simon Cross and his assistant, Elizabeth West back in time to face demons real and imagined.

Simon Cross has spent his life searching for vampires and now that he’s found one, it just might take from him the only woman he’s ever loved. Simon’s life has been a ritual of research into the occult and stoic solitude. He prefers it that way. Until he meets Elizabeth West.

A gambler’s daughter, Elizabeth knows a bluff when she sees one. Behind Simon’s icy glares and nearly impenetrable armor beats the heart of a man in desperate need of love.

Trials of murder, intrigue and danger push Simon and Elizabeth to the edge of sanity.

‘Out of Time’ is a time-travel paranormal romance from Monique Martin.

I bought this e-book for two reasons. It only cost me 99¢ on Amazon, and Stella from Ex Libris wrote a smashing review (awesome on both counts!).

Elizabeth West is teacher’s assistant to Professor Simon Cross. Simon teaches classes on the Occult, and for as long as he’s been teaching about werewolves and vampires he’s been hunting for proof of the paranormal.

One day a package arrives for Simon. Inside of which is all the most precious artefacts belonging to Simon’s grandfather, another Occult explorer. Among them is a Scarab ring, and a mysterious pocket watch. On the night of the eclipse Elizabeth drops off some graded papers at Simon’s house, and the two study his grandfather’s prized possessions, with disastrous results . . . suddenly in a whirlwind Elizabeth and Simon wake up to New York in the 1920’s.

Elizabeth and Simon deduce that they can’t get back to the present until the next eclipse, in a month’s time. They make do and get jobs at a local speakeasy – Elizabeth as a waitress with moxie, and Simon as her piano-playing ‘husband’.

But 1920’s New York is a different and dangerous place - prohibition is stifling the city, and mob’s rule. The head-honcho of the big apple is King Kashian – a cool and calculating mobster without a soul . . . literally. For it takes Simon a trip into the past to find what he’s been searching for all his academic life – a vampire.

‘Out of Time’ is a wonderful and eclectic paranormal romance. There’s a little bit of everything to whet your fantastical appetite – time-travel, vampires and spooky premonitions. It’s an absolute feast of fantasy!

Elizabeth and Simon have a very sweet and slow romance. When the book opens and the time-travel begins, Elizabeth and Simon refer to each other as “Miss West” and “Professor Cross” – he’s almost 20 years older than her, and he’s her boss. But these two have both fantasized and lusted after one another in private. Being thrown into 1920’s New York and unsure if they’ll ever get back to their own time brings these two together. I will warn that there isn’t heavy ‘smut’, but there is sexual tension and affection that grows into more.

‘Out of Time’ features one of the best bad guys I've ever read, King Kashian. He’s a mobster vampire with a (small) soul. I loved him because he’s full of gray areas – yes, he’s ‘evil’ but Elizabeth provokes a sort of tenderness and territoriality in him that’s almost sweet. Reading Kashian made me (absurdly) want to read more mobster paranormal romances (a tall order, I'm sure). Honestly, Martin has done such a good job with Kashian – a mobster vampire with a crush, fantastic!

“Don’t be naive. Do you really think all he wants is the pleasure of your company? At worst, he’s a vampire and you won’t live the night. Or he’s a gangster, hardly better. At best, he’s a man whose interest in you goes far beyond dinner conversation, I can assure you. How can you possibly expect me to roll on my back while this creature, this man, goes after my wife!” His expression faltered and he turned away.

I really liked ‘Out of Time’. It’s definitely an eclectic paranormal romance, a bubbling hot-pot of fantasy genres and sub-plots to please and intrigue.

5/5