The Sapphire Brooch

The Celtic Brooch, Book 3

By: Katherine Lowry Logan

Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt

Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

A Union soldier risks everything to save the life of Abraham Lincoln, while a Confederate surgeon races through time to preserve Lincoln's legacy.

Reenactor Dr. Charlotte Mallory has spent years perfecting the portrayal of her ancestor, Civil War Confederate surgeon Major Carlton Mallory. In the middle of the 150th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek, she is hurled back in time and lands in the middle of the battle itself, and from there is catapulted into dangers that threaten her life and shatter her heart.

Charlotte is captured by Union soldiers during the battle and hauled before General Sheridan. The General only sees a Confederate surgeon who can solve a challenging problem for him, so he threatens Charlotte with the destruction of her 200-year-old ancestral home unless "he" agrees to rescue a Union spy from a Confederate hospital. To save her home and possibly her own life, she reluctantly agrees. After a harrowing journey to Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, she finds her target, a handsome, green-eyed spy with a Minie ball in his gut and is now at death's door. Without a thought for long-term consequences, she returns with him to the future, where she has the technology to save his life.

While recovering from his gunshot wound in Charlotte's ancestral home, the spy, Major Michael Abraham "Braham" McCabe learns the man he works for, President Lincoln, was assassinated. Now Braham is determined to return to his century to prevent the assassination. When Charlotte refuses to help him, because it will change the future, he finds another way to get back to his own time.

©2014 Katherine Lowry Logan (P)2015 Katherine Lowry Logan

What If You Could Change History?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes and no. This book was longer than it needs to be. The pacing is rather slow, and some bits are repetitive--although many of those were summarizing events from the first book in the trilogy. If you're coming to this with no knowledge of Volume 1, then of course you wouldn't have my reaction. I love the concept here, but the author could have used a good editor to tighten up the story. The last "act" (focused on the heroine's brother) feels kind of tacked on, like this is two books stitched together rather than a cohesive whole.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I think Katherine Lowry Logan and I have been communicating through our dreams. When I was in eighth grade, I wrote a novella about a time traveller going back to try and stop Lincoln's assassination. I've also been to the Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek reenactment. I've been to the Willard Hotel...the eerie coincidences go on! So it felt like this novel was written just for me. The story is full of awesome ideas, and it was fun to see them play out.
However, I was underwhelmed by our modern heroine's reasons for wanting to let the Lincoln assassination happen. Her thinking is: If Lincoln had never been assassinated, he would be forgotten today. I'm a student of Civil War era/ Lincoln history, and I don't think that's true. He might not be QUITE so famous, but he did plenty worth remembering--and even if there weren't a Lincoln Monument, that's hardly a good reason to let a good man die. In fact, that good man might have done a great deal more for this country had he lived, such as designing a better Reconstruction. This possibility is never discussed. The old "butterfly effect" caution against altering past events would have worked for me, but "he wouldn't be immortal" struck me as a weak argument.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Teri Schnaubelt?

Yep! I remember I wasn't convinced by her Scottish accent in Volume 1 of this trilogy. This time around, I thought it was fine. Either I was wrong before, or Teri has improved her Scottish accent. I think it's the latter, so "Bravo, Teri!" Overall, she's easy to listen to.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Absolutely. Since not all the events would fit into a 2-hour movie, hopefully it would consist of the "best bits."

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

Potential

This story had a lot of potential!! In my opinion, the author did not make a connection between the lovers.. I don't even know at what point either character fell in love.. They both loved something or someone more,, for him it was President Lincoln, for her it was her brother or her career.. Close to the end of the trial, I could almost feel a spark and then , he moves on to a mistress and a significant other and she has a poster size picture of him, she kisses before she goes to bed.. I liked all of the characters, all the ingredients were there for a great story .. No spark !!

Hang In There

I almost gave up on this book at time and the first really reads more like a history book than a romance novel but it ends up being a very good book.

One HUGE adventure...

This is a great book! This is book 2: the Sapphire Brooch. It is a story about time travel with politics, danger, loads of adventure, romance and history. A mystery box arrived one day and inside it was a brooch with some words inscribed. The brooch has the power to transfer the owner thru time. Back to the civil war days. What an adventure this brooch takes us on!

The author, Katherine Lowry Logan writes a fantastic book so full of details of the Civil War Days. The details are fantastic. On this adventure, we meet president Lincoln too. The narrator, Teri Schnaubelt delivers us a fantastic read full of multiple voices and accents. I really like Bram's voice and accent most. He is such a kind caring man. This book gave me the ability to close my eyes as I listened and I could imagine details as they were happening. The hard times they had back then. Lack of medicines and knowledge. This story touched me to the core! Listening about the fires as the town burns! It made my eyes tear up!

More than anything, I loved how long the book is! The author has given us so much more than our money's worth. What a fantastic job!

The Sapphire brooch

Which scene was your favorite?

This was a fully satisfying novel The intrigue, rescues, dangers and trial had me on the edge of my seat. Braham was tortured and Charlotte was overly stubborn. I thought for certain we weren't going to get a HEA.I hope there is another book in this series

I loved the book, but I didn’t like Charlotte!!

I couldn’t stand Charlotte she is annoying. Besides that the story is great. Bran was too good a character for Charlotte. Jack was awesome.

Excellent author but. . .

I have really enjoyed the Celtic Brooch books so far. Ms Logan can paint detailed pictures in my mind with her words. BUT in my opinion, her stories decline when she throws in the explicit descriptions of sexual encounters. The strong, addictive love the characters have is felt without them. I look forward to listening to her other books & am so thankful I can skip through the scenes i deem unnecessary to the plot.

I thoroughly enjoy listening to Ms Schnaubelt. Her ability to deliver each character’s essence with her inflections & accents is uncanny. I will follow her readings no matter the author.

Thank you both for taking me away.

Could have turned out better

I was disappointed in the decision made by the heroine. Can't say more without ruining the ending. In my opinion, she only thought of her wants.

Romance, History, and Drama

Where does The Sapphire Brooch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would rank this book in the top ten percent of the books I have listened to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is Colin. I like the way he calms the major and most of the time has the right answers.

Which character – as performed by Teri Schnaubelt – was your favorite?

Teri Schnaubelt performs all the characters well but I loved how she did Gordon in this book. Shows how nasty he is right from the get go. She is an excellent narrator.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I cried when the baby is born.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

Not accurate historically or present day

What did you love best about The Sapphire Brooch?

The adventure, the characters, the performance, the entertainment value.

Would you recommend The Sapphire Brooch to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes

What about Teri Schnaubelt’s performance did you like?

Great accents

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

If you are a Civil War buff, or just mildly educated about the Civil War, you will find some errors. She portrays the South in a pretty bad light and makes the North look like angels in the treatment of prisoners. Some of the Virginia geography is a bit off. Author also has a UVA hospital set in Richmond (it would be an MCV hospital).

excellent book!

loved it! cant wait for the next couple of books. Beginning to end the book had me.

Unputdownable...

Katherine created well-drawn, realistic characters; weaving a tantalising tale of believable time travel. Hard to predict was was going to happen next, making it difficult to stop listening. Cleverly written, and good narrating have made it a favourite in my collection.