That's What I'm Talking About

My Rating: 3 stars: Liked it, but I had some issues - recommend (B)

Our story opens in the present, with “The Traveler” aka Gabriel engaged in a battle with long-time enemy, Lucian. In these few short moments, we learn that Gabriel recently discovered his true love, Taylor, and that Lucian is ripping her away from Gabriel by sending her back in time... to the days of the Salem Witch Trials, when a young Gabriel first meets Taylor aka Faythe.

Taylor wakes in a society where nothing is familiar, however her amnesia could be what’s making her talk weird and not recall from where she hailed. The only person who seems familiar to her is the sexy Latin warlock who saved her from a demon attack. As Taylor/Faythe struggles to find out the truth, she becomes the target of the denizens, who are, literally, on a witch hunt.

Confused? I was. The first few chapters of Faythe Reclaimed were difficult for me to follow. The reader is tossed into the action, which shifts and changes abruptly, and I had to glean what was happening. On top of that, the story is told in first person point-of-view (POV), from multiple characters. Although the character POV only changed with the start of a new chapter, and the character whose POV it was, was listed at the beginning of the chapter, it was difficult for my mind to make the shifts from one POV to another. And the final piece was that we were reading a POV from two different Gabriels... the present day man and the man from the past.

After adjusting to the shifting POVs and getting settled into 1600’s Salem, Massachusetts, the story was more enjoyable. Taylor/Faythe's relationship with young Gabriel was wonderful. I enjoyed their brief "getting to know you" phase. Their chemistry was smoking - and their sex scenes hot. I liked that Gabriel allowed Taylor in - but only after she forced the issue. He was a little too stubborn there for a while.

The mystery of who was responsible for plaguing the innocent citizens with evil creatures and dark magic was entertaining. Having read previous accounts of this period (The Crucible by Arthur Miller, for example), I enjoyed the different twists that Ms. Sanchez used in her version. I was guessing “whodunit” until the end.

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed the story, the changing first person POVs was distracting. Not only did I have to readjust my bearings each time, but I also had to deal with a new set of internal idiosyncrasies. Taylor/Faythe's vernacular was very modern and full of slang, which was annoying at times. Gabriel was constantly slipping in Spanish words, plus his self-doubt and verbal flagellation bogged me down. I felt like I spent too much time dealing with what was in the different character’s heads rather than focusing on the plot.

With that said, I did enjoy the overall story, and I was able to settle down in the book when I could read from the same POV for more than one chapter - the best POV for me being that of Taylor/Faythe. I enjoyed the twist and play of history. The author drew from history, using historical figures to create a new story. The last quarter or so of the book moved quickly, and I got wrapped up in the action. The final conclusion was a tad too easy, but still, a good ending. 

Although Faythe Reclaimed is the third book in the Hanaford Park series, one does not need to have read the earlier books. The main characters did appear in the second book, but it has no impact on this story.