Smada's Book Smack : Blog Tour: West (History Interrupted #1) by Lizzy Ford

Author: Lizzy Ford

Narrator: Lillian Yves

Length: 7 hours and 50 minutes

Series: History Interrupted, Book 1

Publisher: Lizzy Ford Books LLC

Released: Jul. 31, 2017

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

If you could change history, would you?
College graduate Josephine "Josie" Jackson answers "yes" to the question on a survey while visiting the Old West tourist town of Tombstone. The next morning, she wakes up in Indian Territory in the 1840s, where she's given a mission to complete before she can return to her time: to reset history, and prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands over the next century, by convincing the man responsible for kindling the war between settlers and natives to stay home on the day he's supposed to start the war.
But someone is hunting down time travelers and killing them. Three other women have been sent back to the same time period with Josie's mission. When she stumbles upon what happened to them, she realizes the chances of her getting out of the past alive are not good.
To survive, she'll have to trust the person who's there to stop her from changing history, someone who has every reason to distrust her and only one reason to help her - to save her from the mysterious man who sent her back in time to start with.

My Review:

3.5 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Another-World, Historical, Mystery, Romance, Supernatural, Suspense--

Josie is on holiday with her aunt and uncle when a stranger approaches her and asks her to complete a survey about history and the possibility of time travel. She feels a connection to the stranger so she agrees to his questions in the name of science and ends up having a few drinks with him before the night is over. When Carter tells her she has the chance to save history and she theoretically agrees, she has no idea that she would wake up 200 years in the past with no idea what is going on. Can Josie survive the old west and change history?

I have read and enjoyed a TON of Lizzy Ford books but never came across this one before. When I was presented with the opportunity to listen to West, which is the first in a time travel series, I was super excited. The story was equal parts science fiction (with lots of Doctor Who references), murder mystery and real life living in the old west (which I know I could not survive- I do so very much enjoy my modern conveniences). I liked how the plot was twisty keeping me guessing right up to the last chapter. Disclaimer- this story does not have a happily ever after, but instead it ends on a cliff-hanger that will make you desperate to pick up the next book in the series. Lizzy’s books are usually categorized as romance, but there was only one sexual scene that took place and it was not graphic nor the focus of the story. I would not call this a romance, more a sci-fi mystery that had a potential romance in it. There was some cool tech like empathic brain chips (minus the side effects) and the whole time keepers organization was awesome and made me think something like that may be possible.

The book is told from Josie’s point of view so you learn what is going on right along with her, experiencing her confusion and apprehension. I was not a super huge fan of Josie at the beginning of the story because she seemed so naïve! She trusted a complete stranger to get totally smashed with him, and then he sends her into another time and yet she still trusts him. The faith she puts in Carter was mind boggling, even after he lies and misleads her time after time- I learned that Carter is not trust worthy but apparently Josie did not (yet Taylor she kept doubting when she had no reason to!). She grew a lot as a character and overcame some terrifying obstacles and made tough choices. I rooted for her by the book’s end, and wanted to console her for the things that she had to do. Taylor was my favorite character, I just wanted to hug him for his bashfulness yet he was always the voice of reason and strength. Another character that was really cool was Fighting Badger, who was basically a serial killer who killed people to have friends since he could commune with spirits. I know I should have been appalled, but he was engaging and unique, creepy yet protective of “Talks with Spirits”- I never would have guessed that I would root for a murderer.

I was not in love with how the story was narrated. The narrator would take pauses in odd places, such as the middle of a sentence for no apparent reason and it made the flow of the story really choppy. Also, dialogue was confusing because I did not know who was speaking; the voices were very similar for the different characters so I could not 100% identify what was going on. The overall sound quality was good and the enunciation was great though.

I really enjoyed the idea and the execution of the book and I can’t wait to jump into the next world Josie discovers. The story had so many loose ends and surprises that were not fully resolved (and may I mention so freaking shocking!) that I need East (book 2) now. I am not sure I would listen to the audio book of East but there is no doubt that I will read it (hopefully soon!). Great world building and an excellent start to a crazy time travel adventure.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Lizzy Ford. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

I breathe stories. I dream them. If it were possible, I'd eat them, too. (I'm pretty sure they'd taste like cotton candy.) I can't escape them - they're everywhere! Which is why I write! I was born to bring the crazy worlds and people in my mind to life, and I love sharing them with as many people as I can. I'm also the bestselling, award winning, internationally acclaimed author of over sixty titles and counting. I write speculative fiction in multiple subgenres of romance and fantasy, contemporary fiction, books for both teens and adults, and just about anything else I feel like writing. If I can imagine it, I can write it! I live in the desert of southern Arizona with a pack of spoiled dogs and Tubbs, the Godfather cat who rules them all.

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Lillian Yves grew up in Oklahoma, went to school in NYC and now lives in Southern California. She considers herself from the East, West and somewhere in the middle. She is a graduate of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC for Musical Theater. She adores acting and performing so much that she teaches an after school program for the local school system. She got her start working in audio books when she narrated her own novel, Yonder- A Southern Haunting and shortly after the release of Yonder she was contacted by Warren Adler (The War of the Roses) to narrate two novels for him and after entering the world of narration, she has never looked back. She performs on most weekends and does play readings through out the Los Angeles area. Her main hobbies include her husband and her cats. She loves to hear from listeners.