Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest

Author: Julie Cross

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication Date: 1.17.2012

Pages: 352

Genre: Paranormal, Time-Travel, Romance

Series: Yes (Tempest #1)

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: A-

Summary (from Goodreads):

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

Review:

I had a feeling I would love this book as soon as I read the synopsis. My only initial hesitation about it was because it was a male POV telling the tale. Let’s face it: Most girls want to read books about, well, girls. It can be difficult to get into the mind of a guy, and most of us would rather avoid thinking like a guy (you know it’s true!).

I can thankfully say that I was completely wrong about this book, and I adored Jackson by the end of chapter one.

I’m a romance junkie—I live for that magical connection between two characters that just sends sparks flying off the pages, and that is exactly what I got with Jackson and Holly. Julie Cross made me fall in love with these two almost right away. The way she writes them, and their love story, was nothing short of delicious. I loved every second of it.

I was a bit off-put by the fact that nothing Jackson did in the past would change the future. While that was later explained, I still felt somewhat disgruntled by it. Maybe I’ve watched The Butterfly Effect too many times, but I thought that somehow cheapened the story. I wanted Jackson to be able to fix the past so everything would turn out pretty in the present/future.

Cross couldn’t have asked for a better debut; she gave me action, romance, drama, and mystery in one fantastic package. Her writing is breathtaking and I’m sure she’ll be around for a long time to come. I highly recommend you get your own copy ASAP!

Buy: Amazon