Soulmates across time. Two hearts, stronger together.In present day, Maxton is good at finding trouble and bad at everything else. In 1892, Trent Harrington, sheriff of Trinidad, Colorado, lives a respectable but lonely life, devoid of any closeness.Trying to escape a past that keeps chasing him, Maxton drives south to avoid getting arrested. When his car spins off the road, he is swept up in a … road, he is swept up in a desert whirlwind and finds himself in the year 1892. Lost and alone, unused to the laws of the wild west, Maxton gets arrested anyway.
Trent is tasked with escorting Maxton to Trinidad. The request isn’t unusual, but the miscreant is. Maxton draws Trent’s heart out of its shell with his flashing green eyes and lush head of hair. It isn’t right. It isn’t natural. It’s illegal. Yet Trent cannot resist the impetuous young man.
As the two men travel through the vast, empty desert to their destination, will they find in each other the love and companionship they never thought they’d have?
A male/male time travel romance, complete with the scent of desert roses, brilliantly colored sunsets, starlit nights, bitter campfire coffee, growing honesty and trust, and true love across time.
more
Another good book in this series.
Ride the Whirlwind is the fourth book in the Love Across Time series but it can be read as a standalone. Characters from books two and three appear but you shouldn’t feel lost if you haven’t read them. Having said that, I think you will be missing great books if you don’t read them.
The blurb is detailed and lets you know what the story is about so take a minute to read it. Ride the Whirlwind is a really meaty story and it took me some time to read it but it kept me engaged from start to finish.
Maxton is from the present time but a whirlwind catapults him back in time to 1892; the same year that his friends Laurie and Zach have disappeared to. He is arrested for engaging in unnatural acts with another man.
Sheriff Trent Harrington is tasked with picking up Maxton and returning him to Trinidad where Maxton’s friends are waiting for him. Trent has a difficult time with Maxton at first as he is difficult and belligerent but he is soothed by Trent and they are soon on their way to Trinidad.
Maxton sure was a tough nut to crack but once Trent got beneath all of that belligerence, his walls began to crumble. He was so happy to be reunited with his friends but so sad when Trent told him they could never be together again like they were out in the desert.
This story really touched on all of my emotions. It was funny and witty in places and other places had me nearly sobbing. These are the best kinds of books for me. I was happy to learn that there will be additional stories in this series.
A copy of this book was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
**spoiler alert** A troubled young man used to finding himself on the wrong side of the law travels back in time and falls in love with a sheriff. If that were the extent of this story, it would even be enough. But Maxton’s trip back in time means that he could be reunited with his best friend in the world, Laurie, who traveled back to 1891 previously himself and found his own happily-ever-after with John (see Honey from the Lion, Love Across Time #2). When Laurie left, Maxton lost the only person in his life who loved him unconditionally, and he wants him back so very much. Sheriff Trent Harrington is tasked with escorting Maxton to Trinidad, where Laurie lives; meeting Trent and getting a glimpse at the possibility of his own happily-ever-after is more than Maxton could ever have imagined, and perhaps more than he could even allow himself to hope for.
Ever the Queen of the Slow Burn, Jackie North allows her characters to spend some time together, getting to know each other gradually as she paints a picture of beautiful vistas in the unspoiled American West. You almost believe you can see the colors of the sunset as Trent and Maxton ride horses along the Rio Grande River. A narrative filled with evocative locations and period correct settings draws you further into the story, and Maxton’s anxiety grabs hold of your heart as you cannot help but wish him the strength to persevere. Never having truly believed that a love of his own was in the cards for him, Maxton can be his own worst enemy, and his awakening to all that a relationship with Trent could mean, beyond a roll in the hay, is compelling.
Jackie North’s Love Across Time series includes three stories set in the American West of 1891-2. Three friends – Laurie, Zack and Maxton – are each given his own story. HONEY FROM THE LION and WILD AS THE WEST TEXAS WIND are Laurie’s and Zack’s stories, and for the best experience should be read in order, prior to RIDE THE WHIRLWIND. All of them have my highest recommendation.
This is a wonderful story that spans across time. It takes Maxton from the present back to 1892. He finds himself being taken to the past in a whirlwind. Maxton is trying to find his friends that have also been taken to the past. Maxton meets Trent, the Sheriff of Trinidad, who is going to escort him back to Trinidad where his friends are waiting for him. They end up riding through the desert. On their journey Maxton finds himself meeting up again with the whirlwind and fighting to stay in the past. Trent revels some things about himself and Maxton helps him start to accept those things about himself.
There’s a lovely connection between Maxton and Trent. And you can’t help but love them and want to see them happy together. Time brought these two beautiful souls together. Can Trent overcame his struggle with his sexual identity to love and be loved by another man? Can Maxton give Trent the support he needs while remembering things are different in this time then where he’s from?
One of my favorite parts is Maxton’s reaction to the long underwear that he’s expected to wear but can’t because it’t too itchy.
I got to the end of the book and wanted it to continue. I love their story. I highly recommend this book.
Maxton has had a tough life. His best friend Laurie has made it so much better until he disappeared. Now, Maxton is taken to 1892, to look for his friend. It’s a time traveling novel with interesting characters, specially due to their circumstances as gay men in a time where it is a crime to be one. Sheriff Trent gets a lesson in life, after meeting Maxton and his foul mouth. I enjoyed that Maxton stayed true to himself, finding a family in a time way way before his.
I loved this latest story in this series. Maxton is a very different person to his friends Laurie and Zach, yet despite his brash exterior, he is extremely likeable underneath. His back story explains a lot of why he is the way he is. He and Trent, who has his own demons, fit together well and provide the strength the other needs. Maxton comes across as tragically broken, and unable to move past his defense mechanisms. I loved Trent immediately. It’s obvious he really cares about people, and I felt for him trying to ignore his nature, yet so desperately lonely.
The details in the setting in this story—like the others in the series—is fabulous, and gives an authenticity to the situation in which Maxton finds himself. I liked that the time travel was handled a little differently this time, with the whirlwind being a very real threat.
I also loved the references to events in other stories in the series, and I was very happy to see those characters again. I enjoyed seeing them more settled in their relationships, and the dynamics in the friendship between Maxton, Laurie, and Zach. John is fabulous in this story, especially in the way he talks to Maxton, is upfront and straightforward, yet firm, and very protective of Laurie. It reminded me of why I loved him so much in Honey from the Lion.
And of course I was delighted to see Tam again, and still stealing the scenes she’s in.
The ending made me very happy, although I do hope we haven’t seen the last of these guys. I’d love to ‘drop in’ on them again at some point just to see how they’re getting on.
I’d recommend this story to readers who enjoy time travel stories with a realistic historical setting, fish out of water scenarios, and wonderfully complex characters. 5 out of 5 stars.
Soft and sweet, this had so much healing, love, exploration, and tenderness that I think it’s my favorite of the series. We got a chance to check in with John and Laurie, Layton and Zach, and to watch Trent realize the balance he can find between love and duty. And watching Maxton deal with his less-than-awesome upbringing and embrace the soft, loving version of himself he previously only felt free to be with Laurie was fantastic. There’s not much more beyond this that I could hope for these men.
Maxton’s story was a long time coming. We knew him to be the surly, sarcastic, prickly roommate to Laurie except there were so many other parts of him we hadn’t known about until now. The reasons for his attitude are heartbreaking and while I kind of feel like I wanted more explanation and detail, what we were given was enough to grasp the depth of his hurt and damage. And in his softer moments I fell in love with him. I don’t know that I’d call him fully healed from his past trauma and reformed of his salty behavior, but he promised it best when he promised Laurie he’d try. He made so many strides to showing his best self and believing that he would no longer be punished for it that I couldn’t help but feel for him and see that he’d be just fine in the end.
For Maxton’s partner we could have had someone “alpha” who could be the strong hand Maxton needed to call him out on his behavior, we could have had someone just as abused and hurt as he was so they could find comfort in and empathy for one another, or we could have had Trent. Trent was the strong, silent, infinitely kind man who needed the brightness Max buried deep and could give Max the patience he needed to figure himself out. It was the perfect pairing and while both men really did need one another, they served more as a catalyst for their individual self-reflection and turnaround that was essential to them finding their future happiness.
If we had gotten a little bit of an epilogue or some closure to Trent’s family situation I would have really liked that, but since this story was more focused on the relationship between Trent and Maxton, I didn’t think it diminished the overall story by being omitted. What stuck for me was all the small things that made my heart tighten and swell: the rocking chair, the little yellow house, the tender touches, the sweet confessions, the softness, the love…and really, it’s always all about the love.
Fate through time!
How lucky or unlucky can you get? Travel back through time, all the way to 1892. Put in prison for being caught having sex outside a saloon, with a man, and pickpocketing a wallet, and in a place and time where being gay is punishable by hanging.
Maxton has been in and out of foster care and juvie so many times, he has developed a fierce attitude in order to survive. Meeting and befriending Laurie has been a slice of heaven because Laurie accepts him for who he is, surly with a foul mouth most of the time. But despite all these, Laurie never judged him, and accepts him wholly.
Sheriff Trent Harrington is as straitlaced as they come. He is a fair sheriff, he follows the law. But he cannot reveal his secret for fear of being hurt, ridiculed or hang. He’s had these feelings since he was young but he knows that it is considered immoral and illegal by everyone, so he has to keep it hidden.
Will Trent find the courage to be who he really is? Will Maxton be able to accept that he is lovable and that not everyone wants to hurt him. Can these two very lovely sometimes frustrating gentleman find what they were looking for, all this time, in each other?
This is my first time travel series (I have read the two previous books too) and I love it so much! Ms. Jackie North’s amazing story-telling will make you fall in love with her characters, and how she incorporated the events and customs during that time in every aspect of the tale is simply amazing! I am in awe of the research that must have gone into writing an epic like this. Congratulations Ms. Jackie North!
Ride the Whirlwind is a historical M/M romance that features a journey that will lead two men to a whole new world to find their soulmate.
Maxton and Trent are really intriguing characters, I loved reading about their story. This story is full of emotion, drama and romance and time travel which is a very interesting concept I have never read before. I love that we get to read about previous couples from Jackie’s other books in this series. This one was about Maxton and Trent and how both men just want someone to love and to be loved in return.
Absolutely wonderful reading experience.
I received an advanced reader’s copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review and recommendation.
I was blown away by this book! The characters are wonderful and the story is beautiful! Well written. I started and didn’t stop. If I could rate it higher I would. Highly recommend!!
When Maxton is swept back in time to 1892 by a whirlwind it was just what he needed to happen, running from his life in search of a new one, so why is it so difficult to stay and why does the whirlwind keep trying to draw him back? While Sheriff Trent was out on business in another town he receives a telegram from Laurie asking him pick up Maxton and escort him to his hotel in Trinidad. Together they begin a journey in discovery, for Maxton it is to come to the realization that not all people are out to hurt him and he’s worthy of love and for Trent that you have to be true to yourself and possibly together they can build a life full of enough love to last a lifetime.
Thanks to circumstances or to his own bad choices,Maxton has a knack for getting himself into trouble with the law. And it’s gotten particularly worse since Laurie and Zach have gone missing.
You’d think that finding himself a hundred years back in time would change his luck with the law enforcement. Nope,it didn’t! The good thing is that he ends up in the hands of sherif Trent Harrington…and these two men together are all kinds of amazing.
Because for stern and broody Trent,Maxton is temptation personified. The close quarters in the desert is the ideal opportunity for them to know each other,with their good and their bad sides. Also the perfect chance to fight,to make peace,to turn their back to their attraction before they admit that their connection is too strong to brake.
Ride The Whirlwind is breathtaking and stunning. Maybe because Maxton is so broken behind his bravado. Or maybe because of Trent’s inner struggle with what he deeply wants. Most definitely because Jackie North has written them beautifully,fitting their haggard souls together to make them shine anew,and has also depicted a colorful, awe-inspiring background for their romace.
Another five stars reading experience by this author and I can’t wait for what she’s going to write next.
5 story
4 due to editing issues
Although this is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone book. The details needed are provided along the way, so the reader won’t be lost by the back story. The characters are well developed throughout the story, the world building is creative, and the writing style is smoothly done.
Maxton is in a lot of trouble in the present day. As the person who has received not only one, but two letters from the missing Laurie, and now his “friend” Zach has gone missing as well, he’s a person of interest to the FBI. That’s not including the trouble with the gang he had been working for since he lost his job and the apartment he had shared with Laurie. But as he speeds away from his troubles, a white whirlwind comes and whisks him back in time to 1892, to the exact date of Laurie’s last letter. After following his old ways, he finds himself in a jail cell, beaten by the local lawmen for being a catamite and thief.
Trent is the sheriff of Trinidad and has been tasked with collecting a prisoner in Dilia to bring back home and deliver to the intriguing Laurie of the Adeline Hotel. When he arrives, he is angered by the way the brash young man has been treated, but chooses to take him and go before more trouble can brew. He seeks medical treatment for Maxton’s arm, and then heeds the doctor’s advice to leave town. They take the stagecoach to Villanueva, where they get a room, food, medicine, and new clothes for this strangely dressed young man.
While Trent is out, Maxton needs some fresh air. He ends up on the edge of town where he once again feels off center and fearful. The white whirlwind comes for him, and he is brought back to the future. He doesn’t want to be there, and when he spots the white glow, he chases it hoping to get back to the past. Meanwhile, Trent has been looking for the ill-mannered Maxton, trying to figure out how to explain that he has lost him. When he finds Maxton, he is disheveled and ready to be back.
When they arrive at the stagecoach to journey to Trinidad, they find that the coach will not be running for a few days, much to both of their relief. Trent buys horses and supplies, and they set off across the desert toward home. It is obvious from Maxton’s behavior that he has been mistreated in the past, and most likely believes that Trent is also going to be that type of person as well. Trent decides that the best way to change his mind is through acts of kindness and patience.
However, when Maxton disappears again, Trent doesn’t know what to think. But, he resolves to stay the night in hopes that the rough around the edges Maxton comes to his senses and returns. When he does show up, it’s with wild tales that make Trent question his state of mind. But when Maxton makes a request beyond reason, Trent is confused and extremely reluctant to acquiesce. But the fear of the harm Maxton might do to himself allows Trent to do something he doesn’t understand. But, in the aftermath, he holds Maxton and tells him he will keep him safe.
When the whirlwind comes for Maxton yet again, Trent is shown the truth of Maxton’s fear up close and personal. They have shared more about each other and now he needs to understand exactly what is happening. Together they talk and share a brief moment of intimacy with each other. However, Maxton reverts to his “I don’t give a ‘care'” attitude when Trent says it will be the only time.
When they reach the town, the two men go their separate ways. Maxton tries to be what Laurie needs him to be to make things work for the men living at the hotel, but he has a hard time changing his ways. He sneaks over to Trent’s house, and is invited in for a bit of intimacy, but is rebuffed in the morning. He returns to the hotel where he is reminded that the men at the hotel cannot have controversy in their lives, so he can’t be sneaking out at night.
From that point forward, Maxton does his best to keep himself busy in hopes of avoiding his broken heart. Meanwhile, Trent is confused and faced with the same hurt, only his is self-inflicted. With a little intervention from the stoic John, Trent finds himself facing the edge of a metaphorical cliff; does he die a little each day, or take the leap and see if he can fly. In the end, Trent makes up his mind, and though he is terrified, he knows that his dreams are about to come true if he will only let them. When he holds Maxton in his arms, he knows that the sky is blue, and he has made it out of this “closet” Maxton has explained to him. Both men are ready for the happily ever after they have been yearning for their whole lives.
Just a side note: while there are a couple of very sweet romantic interludes, this book is not filled with sexy times, nor would what is included be rated on a “heat” scale. It is sweet, loving, innocent, and yes, intimate, but in no way erotica. If that is what you are looking for, this is not the book for you. But, IMO, having read both, the content of this book was perfect for the story.
Happy reading!
* I received an ARC of this book and I am leaving my honest review. *
Ride the Whirlwind by Jackie North is part of the Love Across Time series. This is a historical mm romance that features time travel, soulmates, bigoted secondary characters, and a journey that will lead these two men to a whole new life.
Maxton and Trent are intriguing characters that have a connection that goes beyond time.i loved reading about their evolving relationship as the story progressed. Their story has emotion, drama, romance… it takes the reader on as much of a journey as the characters go on. It’s also fantastic that we get to see the couples from the previous books in the series. Absolutely wonderful reading experience.
This was such a sweet and beautiful slide into love. An opposites-attract, slow-burn romance that was exquisite and angsty, but full of so much heart. Just two men fighting nature and their natures, to reconcile who they are against who they think they should be.
I loved the appearances of characters from previous books, but ultimately Maxton and Trent held my heart from beginning to end. Two people you’d never think would be suited, but who were so well-matched.
Jackie’s writing is as beautiful as always. Such a lovely read and highly recommended.