The Mists of Time

Da Vinci Time Travel #4

by Susan Squires

Diana Dearborn knows all about romance, at least in the books she writes. But passion eludes her in real life—until she’s offered the chance to travel back in time to Camelot. The world of King Arthur and Guinevere is nothing like she pictured, neither is the knight she encounters on her return to San Gawain, the hero of her current project. He’s complicated, mysterious, and sexier than anything her imagination could conjure. And he’s been waiting for her… Now, joined together in a desperate race, Diana and Gawain must prevent an ancient, evil force from wreaking mayhem in the all-too-real present. Diana must learn to trust Gawain—even while she encounters secrets about her own past. But even if their mission succeeds, does Diana’s destiny lie with this man from another time—and will their love alter history forever?

Genres: Time Travel, Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Fiction, Fantasy

339 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 31, 2010

About the author

Susan Squires is a NYT bestselling author known for breaking the rules of romance. Whatever her time period or subject, some element of the paranormal creeps in. She has won multiple contests for published novels and reviewer's choice awards. Publisher's Weekly named Body Electric one of the ten most influential mass market books and One with the Shadows a Best Book. Time for Eternity received a starred review.

Susan has a Masters in English literature from UCLA and once toiled as an executive for a Fortune 500 company. Now she lives at the beach with her husband, Harry, a writer of supernatural thrillers, and three Belgian Sheepdogs, who like to help her write by putting their chins on the keyboardddddddddddd.

Reviews

[☆.。.:*・°☆Love2Read♡HEAs☆.。.:*・°☆ {Anne} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated 4.5 Stars

[Lori Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was having trouble really getting into the book, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to finish it. I was so glad that wasn't the case. The book was more of a 3 1/2 rating for me but I rounded it up to a 4.
I really loved the idea for the book but my problem mostly was that it took me a while to start liking the two main characters.

I loved who Diana's father turned out to be. So that was interesting. I thought Gawain was an okay hero, just not as much as some other heroes I have been reading about lately. I really liked him more towards the ending of the book. And Diana was okay but she was really insecure about herself until basically the end of the book.

I did think they made a cute couple. And I did really like the last 40% of the book. I really love time travel type of books, so I think that's why I like the book more towards the end of it.

I was so excited that I was able to take place in the book tour for this book. It was a lot of fun.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally posted at http://www.smexybooks.com/2010/10/rev...

I actually gave this a 2.5 stars but goodreads doesn't allow for that.

Blurb: Diana Dearborn knows all about romance, at least in the books she writes. But passion eludes her in real life—until she’s offered the chance to travel back in time to Camelot. The world of King Arthur and Guinevere is nothing like she imagined, neither is the knight she encounters on her return to San Francisco: Gawain, the hero of her current project. He’s complicated, mysterious, and sexier than anything her imagination could conjure. And he’s been waiting for her...

Diana and Gawain must prevent an ancient, evil force from wreaking mayhem in the all-too-real present. But even if their mission succeeds, does Diana’s destiny lie with this man from another time—and will their love alter history forever?

The premise of the book is fabulous. Time travel back to the time of Camelot. I adore any stories revolving around time travel and Camelot. Can anyone say Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee In King Author’s Court? Loved it. The twist and turns that Ms. Squires gives the tale of Camelot and it’s inhabitants is fresh and intriguing. Evil rises in the past to threaten the future. The use of magic and strategy throughout the story gives a modern feel to an old tale. But it stagnates at times. The story reads fast at times and exceedingly slow at others. I found myself flipping back through pages thinking I had missed something.

Our heroine, Diane Dearborn, is a modern day romance writer who cannot seem to find love for herself. When she is offered a key to return in time she jumps at the chance. When she arrives, she lands in the middle of a battle. She grabs the first sword carrying warrior she sees, jumps back into the machine, and travels back to the 21st century. Only this is no ordinary warrior. He is a wizard who has come to the future to change it.

Diane keeps dreaming of a nameless man who tells her to, ”Remember-trust me.” When Diane meets Gawain and realizes it’s her dream man she instantly thinks stalker. As they interact more she disabuses the notion he is from the past and thinks he’s insane. The same past that she just came from. I did not understand that. Gawain is/was a knight of Camelot and has waited forever for Diane to remember him. He was sent forward in time to find her but missed her by 12 years. Soon it becomes apparent that Diane has a connection to Camelot and Gawain dating back to her childhood. As these two connect emotionally and physically we are swept along into a complex and dark tale of betrayal and revenge that spans time.

Diane and Gawain were hard for me connect to. The emotional immaturity of these two gives off a juvenile vibe. There is so much angst and insecurity between these two it’s as if the author had to make sure we understood these characters were two extremely vulnerable tortured individuals. The scenes between them are at times romantic and sexy; yet other times I felt I was watching to two socially inept teenagers. They do not develop well for me within the story.

The main storyline matures and speeds up towards the end when the focus is more on the plot then the romance. Ms.Squires incorporates Diane's mysterious past into the arc and fleshes out the background story in a believable manner. The secondary characters are personable and add depth and spirit to the story.

While certain parts of this story were enjoyable; over all it just didn’t work for me. It has a rushed, incomplete feel to it.

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

For as long as she can remember, the heroine has felt like an outsider. She thinks herself plain and her strange powers make her hide herself from everyone around her. One day she receives a book from a total stranger. Obsesses with Camelot and the myth of Arthur, she reads about a time machine. She finds said time machine and goes back to Camelot only to find it in ruins. There she saves the life of a warrior and brings him back to modern times. Unsure what to do with him exactly, she begins to see strange things about him. Also she's being stalked by a gorgeous man who says he's been sent to protect her.

When he tells her that he's been sent forward in time by his father Merlin to save her from the man she's rescued, the heroine thinks he's nuts. But in his ever changing coloured eyes, she see honesty and honor and she believes him. The heroine and hero succeed in bringing the enemy to the brink of death before realizing that he's the heroine's father and can't be killed until the heroine is conceived else she die herself. So, they travel back to try to right the many wrongs the time travel has brought onto the world.

I really liked this book. The hero isn't your typical righteous Gawain of legend. Although he is honorable and will protect the heroine at all costs he also lies by omission. He also craves her as a woman as she craves for him as a man but they spend most of the book hiding their own feelings for one another. The heroine has very low self esteem and the hero doesn't want to take advantage of her. I did feel as if the story dragged a little in the middle as they sort of stumble awkwardly into a sexual affair but I certainly picked up for the finale. This was such a different time travel romance than any I have read before. First off, it's typically the man that comes forward in time who becomes the hero but not in this case. He's actually the villain. And the hero is really the stalker the heroine sort of feared in the beginning.

I thought the hero was great because he had more to him that just a knight in shining armor-although he certainly played the part marvelously. And I liked the heroine because she was kind and smart and self conscious which allowed the hero to inform her just how pretty she truly was to him.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE MISTS OF TIME by Susan Squires is a time travel romance set in modern day San Francisco and goes back to the days of Camelot.A Davinci Time Travel novel. It is well written with details, depth, adventure, page turner and fast paced. It has adventure,magic, Merlin, romance, intrigue,knights, mystery, time travel, secrets, betrayal, danger,a race to prevent an ancient evil force from wreaking havocand mayham on the presen, .the unexpected and passion. The heroine, Diana is beautiful, a romance writer, doesn't remember her past, complicated, sexy and will travel back in time to Camelot and King Arthur and Guinevere's court.The hero, Gawain, is a knight of old,is Diana's protector, takes him twelve years to find her, and finds her intriguing. Together they must try to save the present by going back to the past,and not meet their past shelves. Diana must face her past, where she will meet her mother and learn of her true birth and who her father really his. They will together face danger, adventure, passion and learn true love. This is a wonderful story of Camelot refreshed, betrayal, trust, magic,facing the past and the future.I would recommend this book if you enjoy time travel, Camelot, magic, Merlin, knights of old. and a love that spans the ages of time you will enjoy this one. This book was received for review and details can be found at St. Martin's Press and My Book Addiction and More.

[jackie frye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diana Dearborn was a romance author with low self esteem and she has a stalker. She could not remember her childhood before the age of 13, her adopted parents were dead, and her new book was not going well. A stranger gave her an old leather bound book by Da Vinci with instructions for using a time machine he invented in the back of the book. The time machine was located below the museum in which she worked. Diana decided to use the machine to visit Camelot. The machine worked and she found herself on a hill talking with Merlin when an injured man ran up and asked for help. The man was Mordred and Diana brought him back to the 21st century. The man Diana thought was a stalker was not a stalker; he was Garwin (as in Sir Garwin and the Green Night Garwin) and his only desire was to protect her. Diana discovered the man she had brought forward was truly terrible person and with the help of Garwin sent him back to the 5th century. Since he did not die in the battle with King Arthur the course of history was changed. Diana and Garwin returned to the 5th century to eliminate Mordred and “fix” history.

This was a fun book and made me wonder if the death or live of one person really could change the course of history.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book because I usually love Susan Squires writing but this one just wasn't doing it for me. I didn't feel the love (or even the attraction) between Gawain and Diana. It had more of a "Merlin thought they should be together so they were" feel to it. I felt Diana and even Gawain were way to angsty and insecure. Diana I could almost understand as she was such a loner which is kind of interesting since she was apparently a successful romance writer. How is that possible if she'd never known love or romance? Gawain is a major hottie with years of sex under his belt so why exactly would he be angsty? It just didn't track for me.

I won't be continuing the series. Though I usually love Merlin/Camelot stories, this one just doesn't feel right.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to love this book, but I just couldn't. I didn't find either Gawain or Diana particularly appealing. Their insecurities became more and more irritiating as the story went on. I realize that their self doubts was one of thep oints of the story, but that didn't make it any less irritating. Also,the reason for the two of them being sent to the future didn't seem to make a lot of sense.

[Shagufta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice genre involving time travel. Overall, a nice and easy read.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/10
Alright… who let this book get published? There were so many errors, the one that got me the most was that they kept changing the spelling of a character’s name differently. It got so bad, they just changed the character’s name completely. Uhhhh, there was some messed up stuff in this book. Not fun. I don’t care if SA is historically accurate for Arthurian times, this was just MESSED UP. I just wanted fun Arthurian legend romance, but NOPE I got FREAKING TIME TRAVEL (granted I should have done more research on the book, I can’t stand time travel) whatever it’s fine, Susan failed me with this one but WHATEVER

[Lisa Dow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I've never read this author before but this was a really good book I liked all the The characters I like the plot I liked everything about this book I'm looking forward to the next book I'm hoping it's just as good

[Sommer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book and love the elements of the time travel

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read a short story by Squires and loved it, and bought two books on the strength of that story.

I disliked this book so much I stopped reading it in the middle.

Why? Well, there's certain things I hate in a novel (especially a romance novel), and this book had it all.

Main character is a romance writer. This seems like a blatant self-insertion. Female character has no friends. Male character has no friends. The no-friends thing bugs me on two levels. First of all, if someone truly has no friends it's hard to believe they could build a romantic relationship. Secondly, it's a cop-out by the writer so s/he doesn't have to create any more characters. It's lazy writing. Diana's superpower is that she knows what people are going to say before they say it. (This is why she can't have any friends.) However, we learn this is her superpower because she's continually surprised when she DOESN'T know what a character is going to say. The reader needs to be SHOWN how this impacts her life - just saying "She knows what people are going to say next, and that makes her weird, so she has no friends" isn't enough. Medraut's name is spelled both Medraut and Medraught in the beginning of the novel - it's like no one ever did the "search and replace" when they changed the spelling at the last minute. It's not that people are calling him by different names, like when they call him Mordred later - this is just a case where the spelling switches back and forth. (This is the fault of the copy editor and not the writer - but it's darn annoying.) The bad guy is just eeeeeeeeevil, a cardboard cutout evil, without any real character depth. Because of this, he's not particularly scary. Boy, if I had to hear Diana's inner voice talking about how boring and ugly she was one more time, I was going to throw the book across the room. A little self-doubt is OK, but the level to which the character had it was unreadable. I just didn't like the hero. His character didn't gel for me. It just didn't seem consistent. And where the heck did he get his money if he spent so much time in jail? Perhaps this was explained later, but I never got to that part. Too much of the author trying to show off how well she knew the city by tediously specifying each street the character uses to get from point A to point B, but no description of the character of any neighborhood. It felt like I was reading Google Maps.

I am sure this worked for plenty of other people, but all of the above stuck in my craw.

[Kimmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book. I love a good SiFi book, but add
history, magic and romance. And you have not just a good
book, but a phenomenal book. This book is so well written,
and knowledgeable. It is set around our time and Camelot’s
time. And what would happen if you messed with what was
destined to happen.

This book is about Sir Gawain and Diana. Diana is disabled
as a child and grows up in our time with a lovely foster family.
But have to warn ya, this book starts on a sad note. So be
prepared. And when you find out what happened to leave
her all alone at 13 years old, it will be a shock. But when you
find out whom Diana and Gawain are that may be a shock
too. Diana ends up going back in time using a machine that
was built by Davinci (yes the one and the same). But when
she save a man in the past, one she has no clue as to who
he is. She may have done something that could bring an
end to the world as we know it. now it is up to Diana and
Gawain to set things right. And for them to both see that
they need one another and may even love each other.

Now before I ruin this for you I will leave off here. I hope you
enjoy this book as much as I did. If you do like this book,
please consider leaving a review. The Authors really like it
when you do; they value your opinions too.

[Rachel Graft · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel Susan Squires is a great author. This is the last of The Companion Series & also The Davince Time Travel Series. It does leave the ending open if Diana & Gawain want to pass the Book on to the next Time Traveler - maybe someone's child.

The story has a twist that catches off guard. Diana & Gawain have a connection that Diana was unaware of but Gawain remembers. it is a time of magic in any area. Read the last of the series & at the end - the story feels complete.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read any of the other books from this author, however this book was really good. I thought this story was quite interesting I had not really read a story quite like this before it had romance, it had time travel in fights with swords just a little of everything. I this that the main character was just missing something that is the reason for 4 stars. I can't put my finger on it just didn't go for her story 100%. Having said that the story was well written and had twist and turns.

[R.K. Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so in love with everything about this novel, I love the world that Susan Squires has created for us.

This one is emotional and action packed. It will tug at your heart strings and bring you hope and you will root for the characters til the very end.

These characters each have their own personalities and depth to them. None of them felt one-dimensional or forced, they all shined through as individuals.

A Wonderful Paranormal Romance that I can't get enough of.

[C. Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Squires has a great ability for description. She really makes the reader understand the ins and outs of her characters by giving such in depth descriptions.

I enjoyed the chemistry between the characters and the great addition of WIT. I found myself laughing out loud many times through this read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. There is plenty going on and its a very quick yet satisfying read.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jumped into this series in the middle--which I usually hate doing!--but found this book and was intrigued as it involves the legend of Camelot/King Arthur and time travel, which are 2 of my absolute favorite things to read about.

It was a fun book. An inventive take on time travel and what ifs.

I will definitely be on the look out for the others in the Da Vinci Time Travel series.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, although I liked it there was too much smut!

[Barbara Monajem · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely time travel -- moving, romantic, and full of delightful complexities. :)

[Michelle the Romance Witch · Rating 3 out of 5]

wow what a weird but interesting story...
more to come later

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gawain, oh you poor troubled man. Who needs magic when you have those muscles?

[Leslie Jonsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like her vampire books better....

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

can't wait to read the others in the series

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed this time travel series. I want to read some of her other books now!

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

It just...so predictable. So...so predictable. One Romance novel cliché after another.