TIMEPIECE: A piece of work

A threat from the past could destroy the future.

Kaleb Ballard was never supposed to be able to see ripples--cracks in time. Are his powers expanding, or is something very wrong? Before he can find out, Jonathan Landers, the man who tried to murder his father, reappears. Why is he back, and what, or whom, does he want?

In the wake of Landers's return, the Hourglass organization is given an ultimatum by a mysterious man. Either they find Landers and the research he has stolen on people who might carry the time gene, or time will be altered--with devastating results for the people Kaleb loves most. Now Kaleb, Emerson, Michael, and the other Hourglass recruits have no choice but to use their extraordinary powers to find Landers. But where do they even start? And when? Even if they succeed, just finding him may not be enough ...

The follow-up to Hourglass, Timepiece blends the paranormal, science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres into a nonstop thrill ride where every second counts.

Myra, oh Myra. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… Okay, seriously, enough with the swoony crap! I can’t help it, though. The woman is awesome.

TIMEPIECE, the second installment to the Hourglass books, released just last month. I know, I’m a wee late in my reading. *sheepish grin* If you haven’t read HOURGLASS, you seriously need to. Here, let me help. Click HERE to snag yourself a copy and read up on the little spitfire known as Emerson Cole. You also need to understand Em to really appreciate some of TIMEPIECE.

See, Myra McEntire flipped the script on us and TIMEPIECE was written entirely from Kaleb Ballard’s POV. Yummmm….Kaleb…. Sorry, I was typing something wasn’t I? Back on track. Ahem… So yeah, Kaleb is so different to read from than Em. HOURGLASS was from her POV. We got a sense of Kaleb in HOURGLASS, but he shines in TIMEPIECE like the sweat on my brow from trying to eat a Fireball.

Some time has passed when we pick up TIMEPIECE. But it opens with a bang, I tell you. I thought I was seriously gonna have to stalk Miss Myra and sucker-punch her for such an opening! Alas, all came around and I cooled my heels.

Jack Landers is still on the loose, we meet a creepy Poe guy who has a freak time related ability our Team Hourglass can’t figure out, Teague may not be as bad as we think, or possibly just worse, Chronos is just a myth along with the Infinityglass…or are they?

TIMEPIECE hooked me in with Kaleb’s unique voice and snarky southern gentleman who remembers his manners…in most occasions. Many questions from HOURGLASS are answered, but many more take their place with TIMEPIECE. We learn more about Jack, along with a face-slap that I saw coming. (giggle) Kaleb and his dad play a little emotional ping-pong that broke my heart at times. Sometimes a big, tatted, pierced, screw-up (at least that's how he sees himself) like Kaleb needs a hug too! Geez!

Then we have Lily. Our little Tiger Lily. Oh, I just thought I loved Emerson. And I do, but Lily is my kind of GIRL! Feisty, smart, feisty, direct, feisty, doesn’t put up with anyone’s BS, feisty, and she has a heart of pure platinum! Did I mention she’s feisty? The banter between Lily and Kaleb KILLED me. Love it. I also have to admit there were numerous occasions where I screamed out “kiss her already!” Scared my dog when I did.

In fact, allow me to share a spoiler-free favorite line of mine: “I wanted to unzip my skin and pull her inside.” Ooooh nelly! Yum-mmy!

Emerson and Michael take a bit of a backseat in TIMEPIECE, sort of. They are there and the tension between Kaleb and Mike, when it comes to Em, is pretty awesome. Then the tension, AGAIN, between Kaleb and Mike, when it comes to Liam Ballard (Kaleb’s dad), was just wow. Kaleb has, shall we say, some daddy issues. More heartbreak here…

Anyway, I felt the overall feel of TIMEPIECE was sort of like a countdown. Even when the book was done, I still felt the tick-tick-tick of something in the corner. Sure, we learned some about Chronos, the Infinityglass, and how Team Hourglass needs to figure out/find both to secure the time continuum, but so much still hangs in the balance. What is Chronos, really? Can Lily find the Infinityglass? Will Jack find it first? Will Teague? What if Team Hourglass accidentally gets stuck in the new live-and-in-person rips that plague Ivy Springs? If Team Hourglass does find the Infinityglass, will they still have time to put everything right? Or will everyone’s timeline get screwed and our fave freak magnets end up on completely different timelines?

We will have to wait for INFINITYGLASS to know for sure…

Tantilizing Timeslip...Totally

One hour to rewrite the past . . . 

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

Full of atmosphere, mystery, and romance, Hourglass merges the very best of the paranormal and science-fiction genres in a seductive, remarkable young adult debut.

So I splurged and hit Books-a-Million the other day. Please do not rat on me to DH that I bought more books without prior authorization. I had to, it is morally imperative to my sanity to keep a healthy supply of reading material.

Anyway, among the books bought was a copy of Hourglass from Myra McEntire. I had been following her on Twitter and heard a lot of rather boastful reviews of the book. I have to admit I was intrigued. It certainly did not hurt that she was a fellow Tennessean.

From the very beginning I was drawn in. Hourglass starts off with a slap in the face of weirdness and keeps slapping. You don't really know what is going on other than Emerson sees dead people, but let's keep the Sixth Sense goofball references to a minimum.

Myra is a fantastic debut author. I have heard the rigamarole about the greatness of this novel and I was not disappointed. As I said the book had me from the beginning. By the time I reached mid-story I had fallen, quite willingly, for Michael and totally wanted Emerson as my BFF. Hourglass was absolutely hilarious with Emerson's wit and general semi-cynical outlook on life, which I am a huge fan of.

I am not familiar with time-slip/time-travel novels, but I didn't feel that anyone had to be in order to follow the plot. Miss Myra unravels this idea slowly through Emerson's discovery of what she can do and I never felt there was a data drop of crazy time travel philosophies that one would need a PhD to understand. Hourglass was perfectly balanced for amateur time related novel readers.

The main characters, Michael and Emerson, were fantastically written. Michael plays the part of the 'I want to do what is right' sort of drive and Emerson is clever, although a bit closed off after a less than favorable childhood, and just all around cool chick. I have to admit I was mentally fist bumping Emerson after she threw Michael over her shoulder pseudo-mini-ninja style. WOOT! But I digress...

Hourglass was a fast-paced read (finished in three days of obsessive cannot-put-it-down while making dinner bouts) and I was thoroughly entertained. The chemistry between Michael and Emerson was very pant worthy and I often giggled in true girly-girl fashion. The humor kept things sort of edgy when it could very well become oppressive with Emerson's tragic past. The concept may not be completely original, but I like the subtle twists Miss Myra plugs in. She just make me a Dr. Who fan after all...

The only thing remotely negative I can say about Hourglass is I felt sort of teased by Lily, Emerson's long-standing and patient best friend. We are given a super quick peek at some other twisting happening with Lily, but Miss Myra never indulges on this in Hourglass. It just makes me wonder what Miss Myra has in store for the next installment.

So do yourself a favor and pick up this read from Myra McEntire. She has a great voice and clever wit that translates well into her characters. Hourglass was fun, flirty, and a truly great read.

Did it rock my world? Yes, I give Hourglass an 8.5 on my Richter scale.