The Night Orchid

by Patricia Simpson

FROM DIFFERENT WORLDS

Marissa Quinn is as untamed as the wild mustangs that roam free across her Montana cattle ranch. She lives for her land, but when her sister Leslie writes from Seattle to say that she is in danger, Marissa leaves her open-range paradise to help her.

Once in Seattle, Marissa encounters a doctor conducting ancient Druid time travel rituals using nectar extracted from the rare night orchid. Leslie appears to be a victim of the doctor's ill-gotten powers, as is Alek--a glorious pre-Roman warrior--who is trapped in the modern world. Soon Marissa and Alex discover that though two millennia separate their lives, nothing can sever the bond forged between their hearts.
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When her sister is the victim of an evil doctor using orchid nectar to conduct time-travel rituals, Marissa Quinn tries to help--and falls passionately in love with Alek, a pre-Roman warrior trapped in the modern world. Original.

Genres: Time Travel, Romance

416 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 1994

About the author

Patricia Simpson grew up in the wilderness of Western Montana, where it meant a 3-1/2 hour drive just to buy shoes. When she was young, the iPod hadn't yet been invented, and there were no radio stations in the area, so on the many long drives for shoes, Patricia amused herself by reading novels or creating her own stories in her head. She was encouraged to write by her sister, who always asked to be read what she had written so far that day, her Egyptian-born English teacher in junior high, and then again by a creative writing professor at the University of Washington. Instead of seeking a writing degree, Patricia chose to pursue a BA in Art and has worked as a graphic artist/web developer at the University of Washington since 1982. Patricia still enjoys painting almost as much as she loves to write.

Ms Simpson has won numerous awards for her fiction, including Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, Career Achievement Award, and has been a finalist in the RITA awards and for Best Indie Paranormal of the Year.

Her Scottish husband encourages her to accompany him on his frequent business trips around the world, and whenever possible Patricia goes with him to scope out spooky historical places to use as the settings of her books.

Reviews

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marissa's strong Texan Father always longed for a son to take over the families ranch. Instead,
he got 2 daughters. So Marissa has always put forth a strong effort into filling that role for
her Pa. Her sister is not really meant for the ranch life and resides in Seattle for her
schooling. When her sister sends message that she's in trouble, Marissa leaves the farm and
heads to the big city. There she encounters hers sisters boss who is obviously hiding something.
During dinner one night, a great beast of a man bursts through the door and threatens the Doctors
life before kidnapping Marissa and disappearing into the night.

Alek is in a strange place with strange people. He remembers being surrounded by his people
as they prepare to fight off the Roman invasion, then he was here, in a place with metal
horses and deadly weapons a man can't fight. He needs the feisty woman he names She-Devil
to help him make sense of this strange world.

Marissa's sister and her boss have been experimenting with a powerful flower with the ability
to transport people back and forth in time. That is how a Gaul warrior from 285 B.C finds himself
in Seattle in 1994. Marissa needs to find a way to send him back, for the good of his people
but she has come to love the frustrating man during their time together and now the idea of losing
him is heartbreaking.

I will give this book a little bit of praise. I appreciated what the author was trying to do.
I enjoyed the way that we as the reader, weren't spoon fed the information but rather learned it
as the story played out. It was written in a way so reader learned what was happening with
the experiments and the Night Orchid slowly - bit by bit. A typical novel would have just
shoved this information down our throats.

Unfortunately, that's the best I can offer to this book. Otherwise I found both the characters
lacking and the over all plot extremely boring. Marissa was a hard, no nonsense cowgirl
who spoke in an over the top Texan accent which I hated. Luckily, she seems to lose that accent
midway through the book. Alek was a typical hulk of a warrior lost in a time not his own, although
he was a virgin who's only experience with sex comes from watching the women of his people get
raped. Which makes him very afraid to hurt Marissa.

They both speak English and it's briefly explained away 'Something that happens during the time
transfer'. I guess I must give her props for trying to explain by a Gaul would speak and understand
a language not yet spoken. However, that example of lazy rational can basically sum up the whole of this story.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! This book is now available on ebook! Overall, the book has an interesting premise and I enjoyed it very much. I remember being frustrated by the Hero and his inflexibility and unwillingness to butt out of the heroine's life, given that he is pretty much ruining it... There was a lot of tension and frustration in that respect. And then of course the Hero and his fears were highly unusual (virgin hero if I recall!) Still, the romance and the love are there and there is at least one other secondary romance involved here...

The ending was a bit frustrating though He goes back to the heroine's ranch in Montana and ignores her for a month, spending time with another woman and making her think that he's cheating on her. Well, it turns out that he was learning to read and write so he could be worthy of her love in this time period and then they get their HEA...but he never really acknowledges how much she was hurting during that month.

[Patricia Simpson]

If you prefer to listen to an audiobook, you can get it here: https://www.audible.com/pd/B00IO4U66C...