Ticket to Tomorrow

I really enjoyed this book. Carol Cox did a great job capturing the Historic World's Fair. Couldn't put it down.

Ticket to Tomorrow had me hooked from the moment the "bad" man bumped into the heroine's absent-minded-professor/inventor friend and business partner. I also love the cover, which perfectly resembles a young woman from that era. (I have a weird habit of looking at old photographs in antique shops, so I can assure you it has a definite authentic look.) Plus, my grandmother looked a lot like the cover model when she was young. I'm not kidding. Back to the story...What a great mystery! Just enough intrigue to keep the reader turning the pages, and enough dramatic tension to make the reader wonder when the antagonist is going to strike. The diabolical plan is revealed in snippets, but is never drawn out enough to give it all away...until the climax, of course. That makes it a perfect mystery, in my book. I hate a predictable story. The romance was...delectable. I loved it! How incredibly romantic! I loved how the hero kept wanting to steal kisses from the heroine. And he looked like the long-haired hunk in fringed leather from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Remember him? Admit it. He was the REAL reason you watched the show. Seriously, though, he was the ultimate hero. The whole story was very well done. In my opinion Ticket To Tomorrow is the perfect example of a historical romantic mystery. I know that isn't a genre, but if it were, Carol Cox would be the leading author. She led me to a different time and place in history and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I wish I hadn't waited several months to read it.

Ticket to Tomorrow is a poignant love story, full of mysterious twists and colorful characters. Annie Trenton is a worthy heroine, trying to hold her life together after the tragic death of her husband, an inventor who was disowned and disinherited by his wealthy family. Annie's late husband's partner, Silas Crockett, is beyond eccentric and almost entirely helpless when it comes to practical issues. That's where Annie comes in. Accompanying Silas on his train trip to Chicago where they will exhibit their "horseless carriage," designed and built by Silas and Annie's husband just before he died, Annie must "baby-sit" Silas, even as she is unknowingly drawn into danger. In addition, the appearance of Nick Rutherford, Silas's handsome nephew, stirs up emotions in Annie she believed had died with her husband. Will romance triumph in the midst of tragedy and intrigue, or will Nick fail in his attempt to win Annie's heart--and protect her life?

Annie Trenton's husband, Will, was killed in an accident. Now, eighteen months later, she is attending the 1893 World's Fair with Silas Crockett, Will's partner. They plan to exhibit the Crockett-Trenton Horseless Carriage at the fair. Silas bumps into a man, knocking him down, and somehow their satchels are switched. The fair is large and crowded, and Annie is glad when Nick Rutherford, Silas' nephew meets them. They set up their display, but nothing goes right. Will's family reject Annie, someone searches her room, she constantly feels she is being watched and followed. And what is she going to do about Nick Rutherford, who is becoming more important to her than she likes. Ticket to Tomorrow is a fast paced story, full of romance, mystery, and international intrigue. I read it through without stopping.

A book I finish in less than a day is one I've enjoyed, and Ticket to Tomorrow is one of those books. Set during the 1893 World's Fair, it's a perfect blend of mystery, romance and history. Annie Trenton and Silas Crockett travel to the World's Fair to exhibit the Crockett-Trenton horseless carriage, invented by Silas and Annie's late husband Will. Their goal is to have enough interest generated by the carriage's exhibition to provide investors for mass production. But when absent-minded Silas collides with a man at the train station and each mistakenly pick up the wrong bag, what begins as a minor inconvenience ends up drawing Annie into an international plot to overthrow a government. If that wasn't enough trouble in Annie's life, she finds more from Will's estranged family. Annie had hoped this trip to Chicago would be an opportunity to meet and be reconciled with them. Instead his family, who had cut Will out of their lives when he chose to pursue his "silly" inventions rather than the family business, sees the financial potential for the horseless carriage and threatens Annie with a lawsuit if she doesn't sign over her shares in the carriage to them. During all her difficulties Annie finds herself turning to Silas' nephew, Nick Rutherford, for friendship. Nick, a rider in Wild Bill Cody's Wild West Show, is drawn to the beautiful widow. And Annie, who never thought she could find love again after Will's death, wonders if her growing feelings for Nick could really be a second chance for romance. Carol Cox does a wonderful job drawing her readers in. Her characters become friends, her descriptions of the fair make you sure you have been there, and the situations Annie finds herself in make it hard to stop turning the pages. Annie's faith and Nick's gradual realization of his need for God are woven seamlessly into the storyline. Part of a series...I greatly look forward to coming back to the fair! Armchair Interviews says: This is listed as part of a series, A Fair to Remember, worth watching for.