Review: Trick of Time by J.L. Merrow

Synopsis:
A lover from another time

When Ted Ennis steps out the doors of the Criterion Theatre for a cigarette and finds himself in Victorian London, he begins to doubt his sanity. At first he thinks it's all a film set, and is sure that the strikingly handsome young man leaning against a lamppost must be the leading man…

What starts as a sordid transaction with a beautiful rent boy quickly turns into something much deeper, drawing him back again and again as he gets to know Jem and craves meaningful encounters with him.

But Ted doesn't understand the exact conditions necessary for his trips through time—and for Jem, time may actually be running out. Now Ted has one last shot to get back to Jem and save their relationship, before it's too late…



This was a sweet, fluffy novel about Ted who had lost his family—and possibly his sanity—in a car accident. A year and a half later he has a new career and a life. He wanders outside for a smoke and steps into 1886. His second stumble is in insta-love with the nearest rent boy.

There was quite a lot of clichéd sex and very little relationship development, but I did understand why Ted wanted to save Jem, why he’d fancy himself in love again. I just didn’t believe Ted was in love. Yet. Maybe at the epilogue but we never got to see exactly how they got there.