As a driven banking executive in New York, Julia Brodie had little patience for delays and anything in the way of her determined plans for her career. Even taking a few days to attend her favourite cousin's wedding in Scotland made her anxious to get home. Home, but what was there but an empty apartment and no family now her father had died.

Stalled and bored in the heavy traffic on the A9 on her way to Glasgow to catch her flight, Julia itched for something to do. Thinking about the little pouch given to her by her cousin, Catriona, after her wedding with strict instructions NOT to open until she reached home, Julia reached for it and pulled out a beautiful antique amethyst necklace. Putting it on, it quickly warmed and glowed on her skin. Without warning, she was flung from her car and transported back in time and space. Stunned and surprised, she had been transported to a castle in the Scottish lowlands where she meet a man dressed as a chaplain. Julia instantly suspected he was not who he was and verbally sparred with him until she realized in shock that Talon McClure was truthful when he said it was 1688.

Begging him to send her home, she soon realized that she would have to help him with his quest if she was to get back. Intrigued by her bonny spirit, her mismatched eyes, and her blonde beauty, Talon soon found himself opening up to her and telling her about his youth and meting Hegarty and his ring of magic that provided what was needed, not always what was asked.

Independent to the core, Julia consistently resists all of Talon's overtures as he attempts to bring her into loving embraces. Yet, the longer she spends with him and realizes that he is a good man inside, the less certain she feels about leaving. But, can the magic they have between them overcome the bloody and dreaded evil that has hounded her family for centuries?

To help distinguish things for her readers, Pamela Palmer, under the pseudonym of Pamela Montgomerie, has written a new series of Jewels in Time novels which are more lighthearted and set in historical times. AMETHYST DESTINY is the Dsecond in this series and is a very entertaining time travel romance - both as a stand alone or part of the series. Talon and Julia are well crafted characters with realistic flaws and you feel for both of them as they slowly reveal their hurt and troubled pasts to each other. The language and bantering is fun as they flip between contemporary and historical phrasing and their adventures and encounters with others leaves you hungering to read the tale without stopping. In all the incredible events, how they will get ingredients for a Mexican dinner is still beyond my ken.

Thank goodness, another book will be forthcoming in this series as I am hungering to find out more about Hegarty and how all the secondary characters got connected by the jewels. A veritable magical treat to enjoy!