Time After Time

Sue Hassler writes a fast-paced and witty book. I see so many books dubbed as humorous chick-lit and "bridget jones"-like. And so few of them actually do compare to the combination of unforced wit and pathos of Bridget Jones, quite frankly. This book is an exception. It stands up to Bridget Jones in humour. Ms Haasler has a light touch and manages to weave the flashbacks to the 80s and present day musings of Cass, or Catherine into a coherent and sweet story. Cass and Gideon were school sweethearts who broke up shortly before college. This is not revealed immediately, but you do know that Cass is heading to a class reunion in hopes of meeting up with Gideon so you make that assumption. I liked the characters and enjoyed the 80's references. I also enjoyed the surfing references. Surfing on the English coast? That alone, made this book fun and different.

In the London vicinity, Cass Thomson is struggling to come up with a fiscal plan that will save historic Coltsfoot Hall, a former family manor converted into a museum before realtors kill history again by turning the place into the latest sprawling development. If she fails not only will the former manor house be gone and she out of a job, she will need a place to live as she resides inside the museum. Already feeling stress, her anxiety goes off the scale when she receives the invitation to her high school's fifteenth anniversary reunion because it brings back memories of the early 1980s and poster bad boy, her boyfriend, Gideon Harker. Though she is seeing a soccer crazed sportswriter the thought of an adult version of Gideon makes her heart pound. Gideon is a hunk who happens to dabble with high finance (will wonders ever seize!). However, he has troubles as the law believes he has committed fraud and a detective plans to prove so even while Cass and Gideon renew their teen relationship.TIME AFTER TIME is an entertaining contemporary romance with loads of references and tidbits especially to the early 1980s (each chapter begins with a song title- felt like a decade top 100). The story line is amusing and nostalgic when Cass reflects Dickensian like back to the worst and best of times of her life and readers meet Gideon and a fine supporting cast of reunion attendees. The fraud subplot with its Clouseau -Girard hybrid detective seems unnecessary and takes away from a fun lighthearted second chance romance filled with tidbits from the first time around.Harriet Klausner

This is quite possibly one of the best books I have ever read. Haasler captures her characters perfectly, sending the reader down a memory lane of their own. Whether there is an inner punk rocker, artist, or just romantic, this book appeals to anyone with a fresh sense of romance and nostalgia.

i just couldn't put it down!i loved it so much its such a cute story.the most dramatic part was when she sees gideon after 15 years in his backyard.the ending is great too..they should make a movie out of this.i would read it again and recommend it to all my friends!

Cass Thomson (better known as Catherine) is all alone in the world, though single with a boyfriend, living in London, and the caretaker of an old, slightly dilapidated mansion/museum. Fifteen years previously there had been this magical person in her life by the name of Gideon Harker. He was heroic and gorgeous and intelligent and irreverent and, most importantly, someone who cared about her a great deal. But as most do, they grew up, moved on, branched out. Cass put her childhood dreams away. Then, out of the blue, an invite arrives for a fifteen-year school reunion in the northern England town of her youth. And all the loneliness that had lain just beneath the surface comes welling up. She knows she must see Gideon again - whether it is to re-ignite their love, to find a lost soulmate, or even to lay something to rest.I liked this book from the beginning. Ms. Haasler writes beautiful prose, and creates lovely, sympathetic characters. The minor characters were likeable and they helped move the story along very efficiently. Ms. Haasler's settings are quite vivid, and the teeter-totter emotional states that the heroine goes through are just what they should be for someone exploring her past both with courage and trepidation. Did I mention the music? It certainly sent me down memory lane - and the 80s weren't even my decade!I definitely recommend this book. I hope to read more of Sue Haasler's writings - as soon as I can find them here in the U.S.