Book Review: Time After Time

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone

Publication Date: October 8, 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Series: Time Between Us # 2

Calling Anna and Bennett’s romance long distance is an understatement: she’s from 1995 Chicago and he’s a time traveler from 2012 San Francisco. The two of them never should have met, but they did. They fell in love, even though they knew they shouldn't. And they found a way to stay together, against all odds.

It’s not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna in hers. They each are confident that they’ll find a way to make things work...until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen (and certainly never expected to). Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn't want?

Told from Bennett’s point of view, Time After Time will satisfy readers looking for a fresh, exciting, and beautifully-written love story, both those who are eager to find out what’s next for Time Between Us's Anna and Bennett and those discovering their story for the first time.

Wherever you are in this world, that’s where I want to be.

And just like that first night, she kissed me back, pulling me into her, like she still wants me here and still trusts me with her heart, even though she probably knows by now that she shouldn’t.

Her whole face is lit up so bright, I swear we could turn off all the lights in the bookstore and still see each other perfectly.

This time last year I had just finished Time Between Us and didn’t think I could wait a whole year before getting my hands on Time After Time. I greatly missed Anna and Bennett and was very anxious to see where their relationship was headed, especially because they live seventeen years apart. This story picks up right where the last one left off, and I was anxious to see the next steps for the time traveling couple. I went back to the first book and re-read the ending, just to refresh my memory, and then I was ready to get started on the next part of their journey!

This book contains more of Bennett’s perspective, and readers will spend more time with him in 2012 San Francisco. I do love Anna’s perspective better, but this put things into a more clear vision for me and helps build some background into Bennett’s past, as well as his family and their past. We get more inside Bennett’s head and realize just what lengths he will go to for Anna. We see how much he sacrifices just to travel back to 1995 Chicago, and the side effect that the time traveling is starting to have on him. I would love to see this book cast as a movie just to see who would get to portray Bennett.

On the other hand, as we were digging deeper inside Bennett’s mind we got to see more of Anna’s despair and desperation. Anna was really the one that was put in between a rock and a hard place because she never knows when Bennett is leaving and when he might return again. Even though they always try to plan the next time they will see each other, Anna always has to wonder if he will be able to return again. Anna tries to make sure that her life goes on as normal, but it becomes harder and harder with Bennett not around.

If you loved the first book in this series, then you cannot miss out on the next installment!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Disney-Hyperion in exchange for my honest review***