A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest

Note: This story is written in the first person which works surprisingly well in this comical time travel romance! This story returns to King Arthur's Renaissance Faire in Upstate New York (present day), the starting point for Kat Martin's journey to Camelot in "A Connecticut Fashionista in King Author's Court". La Style magazine fashion photographer Chrissie Hayward is already irritated with the missing "Park Avenue Princess" when she receives a disturbing (and unbelievable) cell phone call from said coworker. Kat claims to be calling from the future with her medieval boyfriend Sir Lancelot, and Queen Guinevere (due to the famous misunderstanding which was apparently caused by Kat's need for secrecy) and needs help getting back home. Chrissie thinks she's being Punk'd especially when she finds Nimue (a time traveling gypsy from Avalon), at Kat's request, and is told she'd have to travel back in time to the point of King Richard's return to England and bring back a drop of blood from the Holy Grail to aid in Kat's return. The gypsy sends her with a message about love and an outlaw bent on revenge. Chrissie arrives in Sherwood Forest expecting to find Ashton Kutcher and instead who does she find? Could it be? Robin Hood in the flesh? It is indeed Robin of Loxley but he's far from the legendary version. Yes, he's incredibly handsome but all that business about stealing from the rich and giving to the poor hasn't crossed his mind and he thinks the idea of putting his neck on the line to defend the helpless is just plain crazy. Worse yet he thinks she's a boy! Fortunately for him Chrissie's fully prepared to pull Robin up by his bootstraps and mold him into the man of the hour. What she isn't prepared for is losing her heart to him. After all she's on a mission and can't afford to be selfish. Then of course there's the fact that her idol thinks she's his latest merry man. Poor Robin thinks he's gender confused until she finally reveals the truth. Although he is relieved that he's not gone crazy, a woman's betrayal had been responsible for his outlaw status, and another had broken his heart so he had formed a pact with his men that no women would be allowed into their camp. Can Chrissie trust a love that must be kept secret and what will happen when King Richard finally makes his appearance? As we all know Prince John is just a puppet for the evil Sheriff of Nottingham who is not at all pleased with all this new distribution of wealth. His accomplice however may surprise you. This story is a hoot especially when Chrissie is drawing on pop culture for their strategies or through some rather extraordinary magic Kat and Chrissie are dishing about their men and predicaments on their cell phones. And don't even ask about the ladies-in-waiting, it's just a little bit too much déjà vu for our erstwhile fashion photographer! For a rip roaring blast to the past I highly recommend A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest. Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch for

Chrissie receives a strange phone call from Kat stating she's stuck in the future. Kat insists that Chrissie must speak to the gypsy fortuneteller. However, the gypsy doesn't just zap Kat back to where she belongs, instead the gypsy sends Chrissie back in time. Chrissie makes the best of the situation. She's thrilled to come face to face with the notorious Robin Hood, until she realizes he isn't even remotely similar to the hero she's read about in books. However, Chrissie is determined to shape Robin into the man he was meant to be. Ms. Mancusi's Robin Hood tale at times had me laughing aloud with the hilarious banter between Robin and Chrissie. Her heroine is a strong take-charge woman who cleverly urges Robin and his Merry Men to be all they can be. The hero is strong and honorable, very likable and not afraid to consider Chrissie's suggestions. This is a delightful fast-paced chick-lit tale!

i've read lots of time travel romances and rarely read chick lit, but i must say, the blending of these 2 elements by the author is unique, fresh, and wonderful!! i won't summarize the story since the summaries are all here. Suffice it to say that i read the author's "fashionista" story (which was almost as good as this sequel) and the author blending the heroine going back in time in trouble with the fact that she can use the cel phone to communicate with her friend to discuss her man troubles (like in chicklit stories) is a nice supporting touch. And i was surprised how the author turned this classic robin hood tale on its head with the edited addition of maid marion. How does the author resolve Robin's love of Maid Marion and his love for the heroine? well when you read about maid marion you know why! and the author as everyone says puts robin hood at first in the not_so_heroic light when he first refuses to save a boy who would be punished bodily by the Sheriff for stealing food because his family's starving. And only the heroine stepping in to help moves Robin. But Robin improves when the heroine shows up and she encourages him to fight for the poor more and more and the poor look up to Robin and his merry men. And this sounds more realistic, esp. when Robin bans women from his merry band because of maid marion rejecting him once and another woman betraying them, so when he and Chrissie, the heroine, become intimate, he tells her sadly that he can't admit their relationship to the others because of his ban otherwise they'll turn to another leader, but this really turns off Chrissie as it would to any woman who wants her relationship acknowledged. And i like the fact the author didn't make the heroine perfect. she's not a stupid innocent virgin and she becomes furious and reacts physically (smashes their love nest) when she thinks robin is still in love with maid marion just like a real you or me would have reacted even though we find out later robin has let go of marion and his love has grown for Chrissie. and mancusi's books are SOOOO funny, always referring to teen angst, modern fashions/celebrities/situations with modern humor, so that we can understand exactly how we'd react in modern terms if we were in her shoes. in contrast to fashionista, hoboken's heroine is definitely a take charge type. You see this in the beginning when Robin thinks she's a man(because of how she's dressed) and challenges her to knock him off a log in water if she doesn't want to pay him his "tax". The heroine manages to use her gymnastics athleticism to knock him off and so he's surprised but liking her (as him). DEFINITELY GREAT READING MATERIAL worthy of an award.

This highly entertaining romp is the sequel to Mancusi's equally amusing novel, "A Connecticut fashionista at King Arthur's Court." Ever since Mark Twain wrote the brilliant comedy "A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court" other writers and Hollywood have mined a rich seam of humour from copying the idea of someone from the writer's own time sent back to Camelot. Some of these have been very good. One of my favourite comic songs is "Busy Doing nothing" which comes from the first film version of Mark Twain's book. Others have been less inspiring. (For instance the film "Black Knight" starts well but gets increasingly tiresome.) Marianne Mancusi's two books are definately amongst the more amusing of the genre. Both books starts in upstate New York in the early 21st century at a mock medieval event called "King Arthur's Fayre". The editor of top women's magazine "La Style" has sent an assoicate fashion editor and a photographer to the Fayre to research an article about how medieval fashions are influencing the latest styles. They are a mismatched pair. The heroine of the first book, Katherine (Kat) Jones, is the associate fashion editor, a Park Avenue Princess straight out of "Sex and the City" complete with the $400 Manolo Blahnik shoes and killer Armani couture which she insists on wearing despite the fact that "King Arthur's Fayre" is being held in a muddy field. The heroine and first person narrator of this book is the photographer, Christine (Chrissie) Hayward, who is of course the Hoboken hippie of the title. Unlike Kat she is enjoying King Arthur's Fayre - or would have been if Kat would stop bitching. Kat manages to annoy a gypsy fortune teller who threatens to cast a spell on her. Nobody else takes this seriously, but a few minutes later Kat is watching a simulated joust when the lance breaks, and a fragment flies towards her and strikes Kat on the forehead, knocking her out. She recovers in Camelot ... Chrissie wasn't looking in Kat's direction at that moment, and this book opens with her searching for the absent partner she assumes has skived off. Then her mobile rings ... Spoiler alert: it's Kat on the phone, having found a way to speak from another time, and if you read this second book as far as the call, it gives away the surprise ending of the first book. If you are minded to try these books, I strongly recommend that you read "A Connecticut Fashionista" first and then tackle "A Hoboken Hipster" if you like it. What one can say without spoiling either book is that Kat needs help to get home: she asks Chrissie to go back to the gypsy (who is actually a sorceress from Arthur's time in disguise) to ask for assistance. At first Chrissie thinks Kat is playing a ludicrous joke or has gone off her rocker, but she goes to find the gypsy. Next thing she knows, Chrissie is sent back to the time of King Richard the Lion-hearted to find an item necessary for Kat's return. Unfortunately she arrives while King Richard is still

Chrissie Hayward attends a renaissance Fair when she receives an urgent call from her boss at La Style magazine, associate fashion editor Kat Jones (see A CONNECTICUT FASHIONISTA IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT). All Chrissie has to do is go back to the twelfth century to persuade the real Richard the Lionhearted to give her some blood from the Holy Grail. The job would be easy, but Chrissie is concerned that she does not have her traveling shoes. Chrissie travels back to medieval times where she meets a pathetic Robin of Locksley and his not so merry men. They hide brood and rationalize whey they cannot confront the nasty Sheriff of Nottingham. Whereas Chrissy expected a Flynn (sorry generational gap by fearless reviewer), make that a Costner she instead finds a loser in tights. Acting like a chick lit drill sergeant, Chrissie begins to shape up Robin and his merry men so they live up to the legend of robbing the rich to give to the poor though she has to demonstrate how it is done. This is a fun chick lit time travel romantic thriller starring a displaced twenty-first century heroine who demands that the legendary Hood live up to his reputation as she is appalled at his defeatist attitude. The lighthearted amusing story line takes poetic license with the Robin Hood myth as expected with a Starbucks female who sees bucks amidst the stars. Readers will laugh at the antics of a modern day female bullying Robin into becoming the prince of thieves. Harriet Klausner