Summoned in Time (The MacCarthy Sisters #3)
by Barbara Longley
Blurb:
Meredith MacCarthy has plans for her future, and they don’t include volunteering as a tour guide at a
Before leaving
Ireland for America, Daniel Cavanaugh vowed to his mother he’d return with a
fortune. Having lost his father, sister, and their family farm during The Great
Famine of 1845, he is determined to help his family begin anew. Just when he’s
on the cusp of fulfilling his promise, his life is brutally taken, and he’s
haunted the mining town of Garretsville ever since. Until the beautiful ghost
whisperer arrived, all he wanted was to be free of his earthly bonds. Now he
yearns for a second chance at life—a life with Meredith beside him. She stirs
long-forgotten desires … and bitter regret for what can never be.
When one of the
fae offers Meredith the means to travel through time to prevent his murder,
Daniel persuades her to take the risk. Will his plan to cheat death succeed, or
will he put the life of the woman he loves in peril?
Themes: Paranormal, Fae (Magick),
historical
Rating: 4 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
The
long planned ending to the MacCarthy Sisters trilogy has come and Meredith has
earned her HEA with her man and having lived her adventure in time and Magick. I
am a huge fan of Barbara Longley and have read several of her series, and can
tell you I originally had doubts about this series, but as time went on I found
myself biting at the bit more and more for each release in the series. The
MacCarthy sisters all share the dubious family honor of a few drops of Fae
blood that allows them to see and interact with the spirit world in some way,
which has led them on some crazy adventures to find love. Meredith’s story takes her on an even more
crazy and almost unbelievable story through time in order to save the man who
has earned her admiration and love in his ghostly form. The story is one that not only stretches the
imagination but makes us rethinks are understanding of the linear nature of
time again and again. I loved every
second of this series, but this final story was wonderful all on its own merit
and I was thrilled to have gotten the chance to read it, despite the
bittersweet sadness of the series being over.
Meredith
is not dealing well with all the changes in her life in recent years as both her
sisters have found love and a new home across the ocean in Ireland and begun
their families, while she is stuck in a rut.
When she comes across an ad asking for volunteers to operate a ghost
town in the "old west" , while she feels a unique magical pull to it, she is
determined to resist, despite her family and seemingly fate pushing her to
it. Ultimately unable to fight her
destiny, Meredith arrives in the town only to find herself facing the most
human and magnetic ghost she has ever met.
Daniel has been stuck in the town of Garrettsville since his murder
almost 200 years earlier, but when Meredith arrives his landscape is instantly
changed. Seeing and interacting with her
everyday makes him truly feel alive again, and when he begins to get to know
her his emotions and that connection only deepens. With only a minor hope, Meredith travels back
in time to try to prevent Daniel’s murder and discover if they have a chance at
being together in a more physical way.
However, everything doesn’t always go according to plan and Daniel and
Meredith will have to decide if their lives can be happy and fulfilled with
just one another or if they will have to separate in order for them both to
reach their goals and destinies.
Wow,
Meredith is a woman that never gives up on her goals no matter if it has the possibility to rip out her heart, and I love that amount of determination.
She is intelligent, quick on her feet, and at the same time sweet to everyone
around her. There were moments of
vulnerability as she worked through the pain and bitterness she was feeling
over her sisters moving on and leaving her behind, but they just made her a
more rounded and loveable woman. When
push came to shove she truly was willing to give up everything she knew and
loved in her life in order to save the man she’d fallen in love with and build
a life with him against all odds. Daniel is the type of guy we all wish we
could find in this day and age, truly a gentleman in every sense of the word,
and sweet as honey to boot. Even as a
ghost you could see that he was coming to care deeply for Meredith and was
willing to sacrifice for her safety and happiness, and of course he could see
how important and special she was as more than just a tool for him to return to
the world or move on to the afterlife. I
loved seeing him dealing with the craziness of learning the truth of his and Meredith’s life and watching him work through the puzzles he faced again and
again. Thankfully he only had one of two
moments of being a typical jerky male, and he was very quick to offer an apology
to make up for it. He is the perfect
mate for Meredith and balances her deep pragmatism and earthiness with his
optimism and tendency to dream his way through every situation.
Summoned
in Time is the kind of story that will leave readers
wondering how many laws of physics, history, and magic were broken all in the
name of love and loving every moment of it.
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this story as a I devoured it and I was
dying right up to the end to learn how Ms. Longley would give Meredith her full
HEA, because I knew she would have to find a way to give her the best of both
worlds. Meredith is the perfect mix of vulnerability
and strength, smarts and common sense, and sweetness and sass; she shows the
man she loves that she will go to any length and take on any task in order to
get her HEA, even going up against the laws of time to do so. Daniel is the type of man/ghost that shows us
that you can have a deep and emotional connection develop between two people
despite lacking physical touch, but once that touch is achieved the connection
is truly unbreakable. He is smart enough to know that he is just
what Meredith needs to be happy in life, but that he will have to give her the
choice and chance to come to the conclusion herself. The passion between Daniel and Meredith,
especially once she travels back and they allow themselves to admit to that
heat, is incalculable and I love watching them come to terms with and share in
that passion. Despite the sadness of watching another great series end, Longley
managed to wrap the MacCarthy sisters series up nice and tight with her last
chapter, bringing everything into a beautiful and full circle and rearranging
the reader’s entire understanding of the flow and structure of time. I especially loved that aspect and hope we
see something similar in any future series that Ms. Longley ventures into. Thanks for another amazing experience and for
the chance to get to know these amazing sisters!
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review.
No compensation was provided.
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