Fated Memories

Joan Carney, author of Fated Memories sent me a print copy of her book for review.

Fated Memories is a time-travel adventure with a healthy dose of mystery and romance added for good measure.

Our hero, Kitty, is an interesting character; a socially insecure woman who has the ability to kick-ass and take names if push comes to shove. And of course, push seems to come to shove throughout the story. Kitty, teamed with Mags her cousin, and Mags new friend Simon, complete our time-travelling trio.

With many issues and questions swirling about our trio, they find themselves unexpectedly shunted to the year 1861. They become involved in The Civil War while trying to understand what has happened to them. Some of the romantic interests are identified early on but others take longer to develop (I felt bad for John Gruber).

There are a lot of twists and turns keeping the story interesting and the reader involved. I'm not big on trying to predict what's coming when I read, but when I did think I knew what was coming I was usually wrong. Fated Memories does a good job portraying the everyday life of the soldiers of the time. Many books and stories tend to romanticize the topic. Joan Carney dispels any notion of romanticism quickly, instead painting a gritty picture of a life of deprivation and discomfort.

Past-life memories play a major role in Fated Memories. That's all I am going to say about that.  As is the case with other books in the genre that I find most enjoyable, Fated Memories does not concern itself with the physics of time travel. The characters aren't overly concerned with altering history, they are just trying to stay alive.

There is violence (c'mon, it's set in the Civil War), sex (both consensual and non), humor, fear, tragedy, compassion, love, tenderness and spiritual renewal. What there isn't; political opinion, moralizing, racial comment, or social agenda. Fated Memories is set in the Civil War, but is not a "Civil War book" if that makes sense.

Aside from the high quality of the story, Fated Memories is a book whose author has taken the time to produce a quality physical copy of the book. There are very few mistakes, yes a couple, but very few, This is of great importance to dedicated readers; we get in a rhythm when reading (at least I do) and too many glaring errors break that rhythm. So, hats off to authors like Joan Carney whose work shows attention to that detail.

I found Fated Memories by Joan Carney to be wonderfully entertaining read. I really enjoy reading a book that focus on telling a good story, not trying to sell a social agenda. We get enough of that garbage with social media. Books are for fun, for me, Fated Memories was fun. Enjoy!

Mike