An Hour Unspent

De: Roseanna M. White

Narrado por: Liz Pearce

Once London's top thief, Barclay Pearce has turned his back on his life of crime and now uses his skills for a nation at war. But not until he rescues a clockmaker's daughter from a mugging does he begin to wonder what his future might hold.

Evelina Manning has constantly fought for independence, but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiance to end the engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clockwork repair with her father, she can't help being interested.

But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is as simple as it seems. As 1915 England plunges ever deeper into war, the work of an ingenious clockmaker may give England an unbeatable military edge - and Germany realizes it as well. Evelina's father soon finds his whole family in danger - and it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape.

©2018 Roseanna M. White (P)2018 Recorded Books

Hours Listening, Well Spent

Absolutely LOVED it! Roseanna White has created an adventure filled masterpiece! Mystery, intrigue, war and a wonderful family. One of my favorite paragraphs; "But family isn't blood-you know that. It should be, but it isn't, not always. Family is choice. Love."
These words touch my heart in ways I cannot express. There is a message of faith, new faith for Barclay, learning to trust in something other than the street smarts he learned as a means to survive. I loved seeing this and the example he sets for the family.
Barclay meets, Evelina Manning saving her from a mugging. No spoilers from me. You must listen to or read their story yourself. I've done both.(Read the paperback and listened to the Audible version.)
The narrator is, once again, fantastic! I'm so glad the same person was used for the series.
I highly recommend this book!

Excellent!

Roseanna White never disappoints. Wonderful characters and lively dialogue. I can’t wait to start another one!

Well written and well researched, but…

I thought this but was really well written and well researched, but I just didn’t love the heroine in this one. I felt like the first 2 books in this series were really well done and I was excited to hear Barclays story, I just didn’t connect with the heroine.

Pros:
Roseanne White does a great job character building and pulling a reader into a story. She opens up facets of history that I’m not as familiar with. The way she writes about the setting gets me wanting to visit and learn more. Barclay is likeable and the side characters have distinct enough personalities that you don’t forget about them. (In fact, I’d love to read more stories about the siblings in this story.)
Cons:
It could just be me, but I didn’t love Evalina. While I’m all for flawed characters, I just didn’t feel like her prejudice against Barclay having been a thief warranted her intense reaction. Like, he TOLD her right at the beginning that he’d grown up a thief and that he’d just stolen gas for the admiralty. I understand that she assumed he’d been a thief as a child and that their needed to be a conflict, but this felt forced. And then the 180 she does at the end just didn’t feel natural. She was SO stubborn. Like, “A woman is MORE than capable of doing what a man does” but also “I’m going to run back toward enemy lines even though I’m risking my life and the lives of everyone who JUST risked their lives trying to save my dad after I threw a royal tantrum about making sure you took me along.” It felt like she was SUPPOSED to be tough, but she her stubbornness and toughness never actually seemed to help. I dunno, maybe I just missed something.

Anyway, no hate, just my humble opinion. The book is definitely worth reading for the sake of the story (which IS well written) and to see what happens to Barclay. Plus all of Roseanna Whites books seem to have interconnected characters, so it’s nice to know who’s who.

PS The narrator does a great job.

A Masterpiece

I absolutely loved this series. The characters, themes, mystery, and history were absolutely delightful. A story to get lost in that leaves you uplifted.

Excellent, Entertain and Enlightening

Do you know when Daylight Saving Time started? Have you heard the first two books in the series? Do you know how important a good narrator is to an author? The writing is excellent, the characters such fun and this war time Europe plot does give knowledge—historical and spiritual .

God gives beauty for ashes!

Great finish to a beloved series!
I've really enjoyed the "street rats" angle in these stories, and of course I loved this grand finale, how God restored the years the locusts had eaten, and gave them beauty for ashes!
I treasure Roseanna M. White's writing and even more so with a great narrator like Liz Pearce (I wonder if she has a brother named Barclay? 😉)
More great history, as well. This story made me look up the history of the Zeppelins and Rolex, plus a little on Big Ben the clock.
I will miss this patchwork family! 🥰

Barclay Pearce is my new book boyfriend

An Hour Unspent is an excellent work of historical romance for the inspirational market. It has everything I love about a great story and characters in the genre. With its early WWI timeline, plenty of intrigue and interesting things happen to Barclay Pearce on the homefront as he works as a procurator for the admiralty — a nice label for a former thief now turned honest. The heroine of the story, Evelina Manning, has an unlikely encounter with Barclay that turns into a friendship with lots of sparks.

I very much enjoyed seeing the larger cast of characters around these two, especially Barclay’s immediate family, interact and be meaningful to the story. I appreciate the deeper themes White has included, like those of loyalty, family, and sacrifice, that weave naturally through the story. Seeing Barclay find a measure of romantic love and being cared for (instead of being the caregiver) is good for the heart, as is seeing Evelina come into her own with her familial relationships and asserting her strength and capability with Barclay — who faithfully supports her.

The narrative as told by Liz Pearce in audiobook form is particularly enjoyable, especially as the accents of the characters transition through classes from a posh society tones to a fun cockney one. I recommend the other stories in this series, and the follow up connected Codebreakers series, for a full story world experience and many beloved characters.

Thank you to the publisher for the ebook copy. I purchased an audio copy. This is my honest review.

Enjoyable,

Cant put it down kind of story. I wanted to listen to it all in one go. Very good story line about a tough subject. Well written. Excellent narration

Excellence!

I really enjoyed this 3 book series! The characters in all three books are delightful and it is exciting to see how God touches each of their lives in each of their stories. I love how she introduces a character and expands on their stories in each of the three books. I also know that we see these characters in some of her other books also taking place during wartime London in WW1. Bravo!!

A Perfect Ending to the Series

What a wonderful ending to the story of this family! Pit what about Lucy’s story, or Eleanor’s, or Georgie’s? More stories are needed!