The Thornless Rose

Elizabethan Time Travel Series, Book 1

By: Morgan O'Neill

Narrated by: Elizabeth Brook

What happened to Dr. Jonathan Brandon, a dashing RAF flight surgeon, who disappeared from London in 1945? Kidnapping? Murder? Or did Brandon merely vanish of his own free will, seeking another life?

American teacher Anne Howard is stunned by a different explanation - that her British grandmother's long-lost fiance was unwillingly wrenched back through time to Elizabethan England. Anne knows time travel is nonsense - until she is handed a fresh-cut thornless rose, a bloom extinct for over 400 years! And then, when the impossible happens, and Anne journeys back to 1560 London, she must somehow survive encounters with royal enemies, accusations of witchcraft, and the possibility of never returning home.

In the midst of the chaos, she meets Brandon. Drawn into the perilous web of Elizabethan court life, they must confront their growing feelings for each other, complicated by poignant familial ties, while struggling with the shared danger of knowing what the future holds.

©2017 Morgan O'Neill (P)2018 Tantor

Narration was amazing!

The story was interesting, but not quite gripping. My mind would tend to wonder so I'd have to roll it back and listen again. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind, but the narration would be worth a listen because she was great! The author did her historical research, which was impressive if you'd like to come away with some knowledge about the 16th century England.

Flawed Heroine and Actively Evil Antagonist

I very much enjoyed the premise of this story, as well as most of the characters. Tutor England is the historical time period of which i have the most knowledge, which makes the experience so much more engaging. I enjoyed the description

However Anne is a very difficult character. She feels cobbled together, one moment she is bold and brazen the next shes as meek as a mouse. My least favorite part about her is this sense of superiority she takes on in part three and four. She goes around thinking about how much better she and Jonathan are compared to people who have 400 years less knowledge and are doing their best with what they know. Instead of being understanding and kind and trying to enlighten others she jumps into saying things like "You can't be serious!" They don't know better so they are entirely serious.

My second problem with this story is the Antagonist, they have literally no redeeming qualities. They seem to be on a sociopathic level of maliciousness, which might not bother others, but to me it makes them so one dimensional. If they were a fanatic or someone who seemed like a sociopath from the outside but when you got to their pov, had some sort of justification for their behavior other than self interest and sadism then they would have more depth and be less nauseating to listen to. I found myself wanting to fast forward through any mention of them because their behaviour was so despicable and I had no way of understanding what would cause someone to exhibit such behavior.

loved the time travel concept

exciting love story mixed with time travel. I can't wait for book two of the series.

great read

loved it and the story reading was excellent and Love the history of it too

Wonderful

I enjoyed this book very much! Held my interest from the first page. I wanted to continue!