Must Love Breeches by Amanda Quaries

The Basics:
Must Love Breeches by Amanda Quaries
Season Publishing
Book One in the Must Love series
Time Travel Romance
Published September 3, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

Why I picked up this book:

I haven't read time travel romance in a while and with Outlander being televised, it seemed timely to pick one up!


Blurb:

HOW FAR WOULD YOU TRAVEL FOR LOVE?

A mysterious artifact zaps Isabelle Rochon to pre-Victorian England, but before she understands the card case’s significance a thief steals it. Now she must find the artifact, navigate the pitfalls of a stiffly polite London, keep her time-traveling origins a secret, and resist her growing attraction to Lord Montagu, the Vicious Viscount so hot, he curls her toes.

To Lord Montagu nothing makes more sense than keeping his distance from the strange but lovely Colonial. However, when his scheme for revenge reaches a stalemate, he convinces Isabelle to masquerade as his fiancée. What he did not bargain on is being drawn to her intellectually as well as physically.

Lord Montagu’s now constant presence overthrows her equilibrium and her common sense. Isabelle thought all she wanted was to return home, but as passion flares between them, she must decide when her true home—as well as her heart—lies.

My thoughts:

Must Love Breeches took a cute idea that could have been really awkward and managed to make it a lot of fun.

Time travel romance is a tricky genre, I think, because it's important to balance out the time traveler's culture shock with a believable romance. Must Love Breeches takes a woman who is employed at a museum - so she already has an investment and interest in history - and gives her a first-hand experience. 

I loved the historical detail. There bits and bobs throughout the book to emphasize how different London was in 1834. I appreciated that Isabelle expresses her discomfort - the heat, the smells, the clothes, the differences in hygiene and medicine - as well as her frustration with the very different gender roles of the period. 

The romance was engaging - I wanted Isabelle and Montagu to figure it out and make it work. I found the characters, particularly Ava and Montagu, to be charming.

I found it difficult to wrap my head around the Viscious Viscount reputation. I think this could have been played up more - in terms of the impact of that reputation. Everyone was concerned it would deter Isabelle from marrying Phineas, but I felt like we needed a bit more in terms of that reputation actually coming into play.

I liked that Isabelle was aware of the dangers of messing with the timeline, even though she often got caught up in the moment and forgot about this. 

Bottom line:

Must Love Breeches is an enjoyable time-travel adventure. I think if you read it in the spirit of fun rather than trying to think too carefully about the implications of time travel, it's an excellent book to curl up with in the evenings.

4 stars
For fans of time travel, romance, historical romance