The Way To Yesterday
Grade : B+

Get out a couple of boxes of hankies before you open The Way To Yesterday. By the time you finish the book, you will have finished at least one box, and will need another. This is a very sweet, very satisfying tear-jerker and one of the better series romances I have read this year.

Mary Faith O'Rourke (the back blurb calls her Mary Ellen, a better name in my opinion ), is alive, but her heart, soul and reason for existence died six years ago when her husband Daniel and daughter Hope were killed in a fiery crash right before her eyes. To add to her despair, the last words she had with her husband were angry ones.

One day, Mary finds herself in an old, dusty antique store, where she finds a pretty ring with a clear blue stone. Engraved inside the ring is the phrase I promise you forever. When Mary puts on the ring, she feels an odd sensation, and then she is back in the past, on the day that she and Daniel quarreled and she lost him and Hope.

We find out more about Mary. Her mother died of cancer and since she had no family, she was raised in foster homes. She and Daniel had loved each other deeply and when she became pregnant, they married. Daniel's mother does not like Mary, thinks she deliberately became pregnant to trap him, and constantly makes cruel remarks. But Mary does not want to say anything since Daniel loves his parents.

Well, Mary does get a chance to change things. She stops her husband before he can leave. The crash does take place right in front of them, but Daniel is not in it. Mary and her mother-in-law finally talk and their relationship takes a turn for the better. Mary's life is almost perfect. Then, she's back in the antique store.

But Mary has changed the past, and in the blink of an eye, the ring takes her to the present day where her life would be now that Daniel and Hope are alive. But why is she there and most important of all, can she stay there?

I am a total pushover for second chance stories. Sharon Sala wrote one of my all time favorites in 1994, Annie and the Outlaw and The Way To Yesterday shows she has not lost her touch. As I read it, my eyes filled with tears that were spilling over in profusion toward the end. The whole book is a tribute to overwhelming power of love, and it would be a cynical person indeed who could remain untouched by it.

I've done my share of complaining about the virgin/sheik/cowboy/secret baby rut that characterizes series romance in 2002, but this book and a few others certainly give me hope. While I'm afraid that my list of good series romances for 2002 will be a short one, I know that The Way To Yesterday will be on it.

Reviewed by Ellen Micheletti
Grade : B+
Book Type: Series Romance

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : September 19, 2002

Publication Date: 2002/09

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