I love the fun title and cover! Chrissie Hayward is a
photographer wandering around a Renaissance Faire looking
for her co-worker from New York's La Style magazine. That
annoying fashionista Kat hasn't stopped complaining and now
she's vanished. It's enough to drive anyone to MOJITOS WITH
MERRY MEN.
This is just the kind of place where a gypsy lady can read
palms without being thought unusual, and a strange message
sends Chrissie to one such; she's told by the old lady that
she's in pain, having been betrayed by a man. That happens
to be true, but Chrissie hadn't told anyone. Not entirely
buying the idea that something mystical is occurring,
Chrissie nevertheless somehow goes back in time and across
the ocean to medieval Britain.
Discarding her dress, Chrissie is now in leggings and long
shirt. She naturally gets mistaken for a lad, long red hair
and all. Sherwood Forest is large and not hospitable, and
the natives don't seem friendly. But is the guy with the
staff and bad attitude really Robin of Locksley? And just
how is Chrissie supposed to follow the gypsy's instructions
by getting a drop of sanctified blood from Richard the
Lionheart to bring Kat back from time travelling? Well,
she'll give it her best shot.
The extremely frequent pop culture references seem fine at
first but quickly came to annoy me. Some readers won't mind
having every new character described in terms of Game of
Thrones or America's Most Wanted. It kept throwing me out
of synch especially as I don't watch most of the shows.
I've now read a few timeslip stories sparking off at
Renaissance Faires, by various authors, and for me the best
one was when a female swordfight re-enactor went back in
time. By comparison, Chrissie is a tourist, marvelling and
not blending. Folks keep grumbling about Prince John's tax
men, though they would have been well aware that the taxes
went to pay for Richard's Crusades. Claiming to have been
raised in a monastery, Chrissie talks the outlaws into
helping others. When she has cell phone conversations with
the missing Kat, we just have to take the tale as comedy.
There really is no other way to describe it. Except
romance. Definitely.
MOJITOS WITH MERRY MEN is one of a time slip and culture
clash series called Timeless Love
by Marianne Mancusi,
who has been a television producer. If this tickles your
fancy, you will find the books addictive.
Chrissie Hayward, NYC fashion photographer and thoroughly
modern gal, has never been one to swoon over fairytales. So
when a mysterious gypsy tells Chrissie that she is a "gentle
soul who would tame an outlaw's thirst for revenge," she's
not totally convinced the woman isn't a couple of beans
short of a frapuccino. But when Chrissie finds herself
suddenly transported back in time to rescue her crazy
coworker Kat, she's ready to believe anything is possible!
If only she'd known she was going to meet her "true love," a
hottie in Sherwood Forest, Chrissie would have worn better
shoes!
But it turns out Robin of Locksley, aka the real Robin Hood,
isn't exactly a Prince Charming. That bit about robbing the
rich to feed the poor? He evidently hasn't gotten the memo
yet. In fact, he's less a folk hero and more a brooding bad
boy. Not to mention his not-so-merry men who are under the
impression that Chrissie is actually a boy. I mean, sure,
she's not exactly stacked, but still! Nonetheless, Robin is
loyal, brave, and handsome as sin. If Chrissie could just
get him with the program, she knows she could right his
wagon and get these boyz'n the wood to be heroes of the
realm instead of twerps in tights. But if she's not careful,
Chrissie may find this prince of thieves stealing her heart...
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