Tracy Fobes, Portrait of a Bride

Portrait of a Bride

Tracy Fobes

Love Spell, Jan 2005, $6.99

ISBN: 0505525771

The pandemic plague devastated the world, especially women; few females remain available and the competition for them can be fierce. Most men choose a seemingly easier route to finding a wife. They transport someone from the past through the work of artists like the painter Conlean.

In 2005 Philadelphia, research geneticist Jordan studies fertility. However, her work abruptly ends when Conlean's portrait of her pulls her into his time period. She rejects the notion of becoming a fixture on her host's keeper shelf as a consort to Conlean's sire would be, but also finds herself attracted to the artist who brought her through time. Still, she wants to go back home as being a prized, pampered possession grows tedious and not allowed any risk or work is too difficult on her active mind. Although she feels she belongs in 2005, she also finds Conlean's arms feel better than anyone or thing she ever felt before.

PORTRAIT OF A BRIDE is an intriguing, time travel, science-fiction romance that paints an interesting future of a world in which the scarcity of females has led the gender to become a valuable commodity. The storyline contains a triangle of sorts, but what makes the tale work is the displaced Jordan. She feels hyperactive in this realm that reminds her more of the Dark Ages than her time or how she envisioned the distant future. Science fiction romance readers will appreciate this fine tale that hopefully will have More Tracy Fobes' stories occur in this "devastated" realm.

Harriet Klausner