Review: Geared to the Present, Jones Whitman Time Traveler Series

Steampunk lovers who enjoy time travel, this is a tale to read.  @BlakelyBennett #bookreview

Geared to the Present, Jones Whitman Time Traveler Series by Dana Bennett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


New to me author Mr. Bennett beautifully incorporates the past and the present together.  Jones Whitman is a man who does not fit society's norms.  He is trying by dutifully becoming engaged to a reputable woman.  Unfortunately for him, his fiancée, Emily, is the obsession of another man.

The character development in this story is well done.  One grows to admire and like Jones humour and perseverance.  He knows his mind and he doesn't care what others think.  There are different facets to Jones which makes him lovable to readers, especially how he responds to new concepts in the future.  How Jones found Roark and then treats him is pretty amazing.  It is used as a nice contrast from the priest.  The priest or is he a father?  All I can remember about this man is that he's crazy and doesn't belong in the Catholic church.  The villain in this story is over the top obsessive and it doesn't even make sense in some ways.  It makes sense that a man could want Emily.  What is odd is that the priest can't even have Emily due to his vocation.  It's just an odd plot device which bugged me.

The weaving back and forth between the past and present felt so natural.  Mr. Bennett does a great job of staying in the time period with clothing, lingo and buildings.  The descriptions in this book are so vivid, I felt as if I had fallen into this world and traveled right by Jones' side.  The romantic interest Jones develops in 2012 is a nice if a predictable twist.  I liked how the events between 1800s and 2000s are tied together.  Mr. Bennett nicely side steps having to explain and deal with time paradoxes by going forward rather than backwards. 

For those who like steampunk, this story does a great job of incorporating Victorian steam fashioned machines and current steampunk fetish.  The comparison between Jones' reality of inventing new technology and today's love of all things steampunk helps to show how out of depth Jones is in the 2000.  For a person who is on the cutting edge of creating new machines to find out the future relegates it to a failed engineering feat, it could be demoralizing.  It's nice to see how Jones goes with the flow instead of coming apart at the seams.

This sweet romance is recommended to readers who enjoy steampunk, time traveling and sexy Irish sidekicks.

* Review copy provided via Reading Alley in exchange for an honest review.




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