Zebra Splendor, $4.99, ISBN 0-8217-6620-1
Paranormal Romance, 2000

Jackie Clarke’s problem started when she accidentally died her hair a brilliant shade of red. Then her boyfriend shanghais her in a remote cabin after running off with her car, money, and credit card. And that is before the snowstorm hits her while she is walking back to somewhere with decent modern plumbing. When she emerges from the deserted old-style salon from where she has taken shelter from the storm, she realizes that she has been thrown back to 1891.

Then, she gets mistaken as Lolita Belle, salon hussy and warbler extraordinaire, on the account of her hair color. I really can’t blame her when she sets the salon of her new “employer” on fire, even if she swears that she did it unintentionally.

The last straw is when she is kidnapped by Cole Morrison, handsome hunk of shantytown who is paid by a man who runs the rival salon to kidnap her. He has to feed his kid and take her to a good town with a decent school, after all, and gold mining ain’t what it used to be. Since he has express orders to keep “Lolita” under his sight always, he has her confined in his cabin.

$100 they will get it on before the next full moon.

Either way, A Moment in Time, despite its fun premise, is rather boring. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the plot or the characters. In fact, I will go as far as to say that this book can be a really great one in the hands of another reader. I mean, there are the usual tropes in here. Woman mistaken for harlot because of her jeans and tight tops, gruff western hunk with heart of gold, the problems with the lack of modern plumbing… I’ve read these things too many times in too many time travels. The novelty’s gone. Maybe if these two actually do something interesting, like staging a showdown, or heck, joining an outlaw gang, I would have a much better time. Instead, I’m just flat out bored by the whole air of sameness permeating this novel and my attention just keep wandering off.