Timepiece: An Hourglass Novel

Timepiece starts with a bang. New, bigger bad guys are immediately introduced and the stakes are promptly upped. We were introduced to the basic mechanics of this time-slippy world in Hourglass; this time we get into details. We find out more about most of the secondary characters. The action increases significantly. Bottom line: If you thought Hourglass was fun, Timepiece is going to blow your socks off. I've got to admit, I was a little tentative at first about the switch to Kaleb's point of view. I felt like I had developed a good relationship with Emerson in the first book, and I was comfortable viewing the world through her eyes. Plus, the Kaleb we meet in Hourglass, and at the beginning of Timepiece, is a crass, womanizing drunk. Charming, sure, but I spent a good portion of the first few chapters wanting to smack him upside the head. Luckily, while I can't say that I wound up agreeing with all of Kaleb's choices, I was able to understand him, sympathize with him, and really like him. Even when he was being a womanizing drunk. He was a great narrator, and it was really interesting viewing this crazy world through his eyes. It was also fun to see Emerson and Michael from someone else's point of view. In Hourglass, their relationship is all fluttery feelings and absurd chemistry and sparks of electricity. In Timepiece, we can see how that gets a little annoying to the people around them. We get to know the secondary characters better, especially Emerson's best friend Lily, which made me super happy. I was really hoping we'd find out more about her, since I really enjoyed her character in Hourglass. There's still a few characters I would like to know more about. Maybe the third book will use one of them as narrator? Jack Landers is a great villain. He's evil and scary and dark, but not cartoonish. He's given a solid back story, so that you understand him but still don't like him. He's smart and cunning and not given to extensive monologuing or pointless vendettas. You can really understand why he would be two steps ahead of our group of heroes, without making him ridiculous or them stupid. As far as the story in Timepiece, I was riveted from the first chapter through the last page. There is a ton of action in this book. The stakes are higher, the powers more developed, the craziness heightened. Like Hourglass, it had a few twists that I absolutely did not see coming, yet none of them felt contrived. There is a love story in Timepiece, but it is not a love triangle, thank goodness. I was scared, going in, that I was going to have to put up with Kaleb and Michael being all angsty and territorial about Emerson throughout the book (as Kaleb obviously has feelings for Emerson in Hourglass), but that fortunately did not happen. As it was, I really like the way the romantic angle was handled. It felt real. It wasn't all sparks and sighs and fluttery feelings, which is nice, because I don't think that's the way romance normally happens. Overall, Timepiece was a fun and exciting story. I really enjoyed the characters and was never quite sure what was going to happen next. The book ends with an obvious setup for a third book, but while I am itching to read more about the world of the Hourglass, I still felt completely satisfied at the conclusion.

I want to be fair in this review of Myra McEntire's sequel to Hourglass, Timepiece: It's been quite a few months since I read Hourglass and it took several pages of "refreshing" before I was back into the storyline. I think this was not helped by the fact that this entry was told from a different point of view; this time we are treated to seeing the story from Kaleb's eyes. Not that that is a bad thing at all; once I got my feet under me, I think I prefer Kaleb telling the story. At least he's highly entertaining and his flirtatious "relationship" with Lily was perfect (and more believable than the one with Emerson and Michael). Timepiece begins with another appearance by the time-traveling Jack, and ripples in time that are becoming stronger. Kaleb's father is back from the dead, but their relationship is strained. When Jack delivers an ultimatum (and Poe does something truly shocking), the Hourglass kids take off to Memphis to try to track down clues to a possibly real Infinityglass. Along the way, they run into Kaleb's father's former partners, Dr. Turner and Teague, and it's a race to see who can establish the authenticity of an item that would allow Jack to change history all on his own. I really enjoyed this novel at times, and at others, I felt the plot was rushed or just didn't flow. Specifically, any time Kaleb and Lily were front and center, I loved everything going on. Their voices are real and they just leap into life from the pages, even when it feels as though very little got resolved. It's when Michael and Emerson come into the story that I felt everything slowed and became wooden; there is a very unsatisfying resolution to those two toward the end that really feels out of place. Overall, this is a fun story that has a lot of twists and turns and definitely reminds me of a Doctor Who episode. As a Tennessean, I totally love all the accurate references to Memphis and Nashville, and I'm intrigued to see where all this ends up. If at times events seem to be a little conveniently tied up, it's excusable for the fun I'm having. Rounding up from 3.5 stars for the fun factor.

I loved the first book in this series, Hourglass, so much and I was really glad that I had ordered both books at the same time. I was dying to know what was going to happen next and it only took me a few days to pick up this one after finishing Hourglass. Something I said in my review of Hourglass was that I wanted to see more of Kaleb and Lily. Well, that's exactly what I got in this book. Not having read the synopsis for this one, I didn't realise that the story was actually going to be told from Kaleb's point of view. I thought that this was going to be a straight sequel and it is kind of but not from Emerson's point of view. As much as I loved Emerson, switching up narrators was something different and it made the book even more interesting. Kaleb was such an interesting character in Hourglass and I desperately wanted to know more about him. Kaleb is such a messed up character with so much going on around him and in this book, we get to learn all about how he copes, what he feels and much more. I really enjoyed getting to learn about Kaleb's background and to realise that he isn't just a womanising guy like he is portrayed in Hourglass. There is so much more to Kaleb than first meets the eye which is partly what made him such a good character. Then there is Lily, Emerson's best friend. She popped up now and again in Hourglass and I really liked her then. Much like Kaleb, as Lily is the main female character of this book, we get to learn a lot more about her. Lily is a really strong female character who knows exactly who she is and what she wants and this is partly what made me like her so much. She was fiery and feisty and wasn't afraid to speak up when she had an opinion. She was also a great opposing character as she was so different to Kaleb. Quite like Emerson and Michael's relationship in Hourglass, Kaleb and Lily take things slowly before anything happens. The tension between the two characters was electric and I couldn't wait for things to finally happen between them. Not only was the chemistry good but they did extremely well as friends. Due to certain abilities, the pair were able to trust each other after some time and really get to know one another without anything else getting in the way. Timepiece's plot begins exactly where Hourglass finishes, with Jack on the run and everything going a bit crazy. Although this is a separate book in the way that it is told, it is a traditional sequel plot wise. The story was very exciting with many characters travelling all over the place to find the answers that they need. The world of the Hourglass and the abilities written about are explored and explained in great detail. Some past abilities are revisited while the abilities of other characters definitely are put into the forefront of the story. While not totally concentrating on time travel, this is still a large theme of the book and one that I enjoyed thoroughly. Timepiece is a fantastic sequel and I love the world and characters that Myra McEntire has created.

Since her parents's death Emerson has been seeing things others can't. Apparitions from old days are crossing her way and she can't make them go away. Her brother Thomas is set on finding a cure, but nothing has helped so far. Until he calls the Hourglass organisation on the plan, and with it super smart and hot agent Michael. Thank you, Thomas! His task is to help Emerson find a way to get rid of her ghosts from the past. And of course all scruples aside he's there to provide us with a swoon-worthy romance. What a lucky providence that he's staying in the same housing complex as Emerson and her brother. Offers room for a lot of flustering encounters and much time for their feelings of attraction to grow into something stronger and more sustainable. Only the love story would have been enough to name HOURGLASS an awesome read. A conspiracy, mysterious organisations, insane antagonists, explosions, very short windows of time to act and turn the ending into a happy one and time travelling - loved the time travelling components in HOURGLASS just as much as in recent favourites such as TEMPEST by Julie Cross- complete HOURGLASS to a well-balanced and absolutely gripping read. In TIMEPIECE the hunt for antagonist Landers continues. Now from the perspective of Michael's best friend Kaleb. It took some getting used to Kaleb's narration. He's a character with so much sorrow and anger sitting on his heart that the emotional level of this sequel was stepped up a few notches. The story's main focus was on Kaleb and Lily's love story (yes, he gets a shot with Emerson's best friend) than the part where they actually work on saving the world. Completely fine with me. Lily and him are like fire and ice, so absoring in their elements. Theirs is a stormy and fierce love, with space for gentleness and understanding. Reaching PERFECT CHEMISTRY intensity of romance goodness, their attraction is smoldering. 4,5/5 ****/* HOURGLASS series - An action-packed time travel extraverganza with flair and three infectious love stories. One minute you are totally relaxed and laid-back, that jazzy feeling of old days bewitching you, the next you are on the run from your past and your future. Trust me, you want to have all three books in your reach when you turn the first page of HOURGLASS.