When Lightning Strikes

Romance author Alaina Costanza is propelled backward in time to the Wild West by a lightning bolt and comes face to face, not with the hero of her work in progress, but with its villain, Killian. Sexier than she'd imagined him to be, Killian is in the midst of holding up a bank in a town Alaina knows only too well, for she created it. Certain that she's dreaming, Alaina soon realizes she's trapped in a world of her own making-with a man who refuses to keep to the script she's written for him. Unfortunately, Hannah takes this promising premise and, after a hilarious first few pages, goes nowhere with it. Alaina's tough-talking, wise-cracking jibes quickly wear thin, especially since they're centered around 20th-century references that miss their mark with Killian. The author misses a golden opportunity to make the most of her setting and plotline by ignoring the history going on around her characters. Surprisingly, Alaina, author and history buff, never once comments on 19th-century life or costumes, which would have intrigued historical romance fans much more than the uninspired love story offered instead. (Nov.)