Forever, Ashley

The theme of Copeland's ( Sweet Hannah Rose ) time-travel romance is offensive: a woman who doesn't know a good man when she sees one needs to be ``taught a lesson.'' So say celestials Daniel and Gerrbria when Ashley Wheeler breaks off her fourth engagement, deciding that surgeon Joel Harrison's schedule would make her a grass widow. After slipping and cracking her head on pavement, Ashley--a Boston museum guide who dislikes the past--lands in a 1775 meeting of American patriots. Assuming she is a British spy, they assign Aaron Kenneman--who not so coincidentally is a physician--to guard her. As Ashley temporarily escapes Aaron, meets Rachel Revere, tags along on Paul Revere's famous ride, and, of course, falls in love with Aaron, she tries to make sense of events by filtering them through her tour-guide spiel, a device with comic potential that Copeland lacks the panache to fulfill. And what does Ashley learn in her brush with revolution? The value of remaining docile. She realizes how selfish she's been and, when she wakes up in Joel's arms, resolves that ``Never, ever again would she complain about his job.'' (July)