Some C level books are run-of-the-mill and mediocre, while others suffer from some detail the reviewer simply couldn’t tolerate. The Raven’s Lady has neither problem. Instead, it should be classified under could-have-been-excellent – which is the most frustrating category of all.

Herbalist Eibhlin (or Eileen with 20th century spelling) travels to Ireland to revisit the site where her parents first met. While there she finds herself reaching back into time, meeting Brandubh, the half-Italian nephew of King Brian, who unintentionally manages to strand her in the 11th century. Fortunately, she has learned Irish from her mother and tries to make the best of things while trying to return to her own time. Brandubh falls for her, but grits his teeth while he allows her time to choose him. There are difficulties with the family of Brandubh’s ex-fiancé, and the Viking hordes that threaten to overrun the united Ireland.

Eibhlin is afraid to commit to Brandubh, mostly because the brevity of her stay, but also because she has self-esteem issues. She grows more assured over time, nurtured by Brandubh’s patience and the family’s support. Brandubh is a wonderful man, if a bit stubborn. And gorgeous, but aren’t all heroes? These two tend to avoid having that serious conversation which would solve everything, but never do the I-hate-you-I-love-you routine.

While the characters are captivating, they are struggling against a story with a very uneven stride. As a whole, the story is very quickly paced, to the point of being sketchy. Much action takes place in a very limited number of pages. The same goes for emotional turning points. Examples include Eibhlin’s entrapment and the sudden change of heart that Moira, Brandhubh’s ex sister-in-law, goes through. At first I chalked this up to reading The Raven’s Lady on the computer (it is an e-book), so I printed out some 25 pages as a fair comparison. The medium cannot be the cause, as the pace remained the same when read in the more traditional manner. The overall feel is that of a penultimate draft that would need a final polish or two to be really good.

There is a circuitous logic to The Raven’s Lady that makes it something more than an ordinary time travel. The reader is kept in the dark about the final outcome of the battle of Clontarf for a long time, which gives the tantalizing hints of alternative history. Romance readers who cross genre lines will enjoy this.

The final 50 pages saved the book for me. After an intriguing beginning, I felt my enjoyment slowly wilting, as was the grade. Towards the end the intensity began to match the pacing and the book really grabbed my interest. The Raven’s Lady has bounced around every grade from C- to B- and back again, so the final score reflects the overall niceness of the read, while acknowledging its problems. It might be more appreciated by readers already acquainted with the Ahern family, who want to read the author’s Bloodlines.