Timepiece: An Hourglass Novel

Timepiece starts with a bang. New, bigger bad guys are immediately introduced and the stakes are promptly upped. We were introduced to the basic mechanics of this time-slippy world in Hourglass; this time we get into details. We find out more about most of the secondary characters. The action increases significantly. Bottom line: If you thought Hourglass was fun, Timepiece is going to blow your socks off. I've got to admit, I was a little tentative at first about the switch to Kaleb's point of view. I felt like I had developed a good relationship with Emerson in the first book, and I was comfortable viewing the world through her eyes. Plus, the Kaleb we meet in Hourglass, and at the beginning of Timepiece, is a crass, womanizing drunk. Charming, sure, but I spent a good portion of the first few chapters wanting to smack him upside the head. Luckily, while I can't say that I wound up agreeing with all of Kaleb's choices, I was able to understand him, sympathize with him, and really like him. Even when he was being a womanizing drunk. He was a great narrator, and it was really interesting viewing this crazy world through his eyes. It was also fun to see Emerson and Michael from someone else's point of view. In Hourglass, their relationship is all fluttery feelings and absurd chemistry and sparks of electricity. In Timepiece, we can see how that gets a little annoying to the people around them. We get to know the secondary characters better, especially Emerson's best friend Lily, which made me super happy. I was really hoping we'd find out more about her, since I really enjoyed her character in Hourglass. There's still a few characters I would like to know more about. Maybe the third book will use one of them as narrator? Jack Landers is a great villain. He's evil and scary and dark, but not cartoonish. He's given a solid back story, so that you understand him but still don't like him. He's smart and cunning and not given to extensive monologuing or pointless vendettas. You can really understand why he would be two steps ahead of our group of heroes, without making him ridiculous or them stupid. As far as the story in Timepiece, I was riveted from the first chapter through the last page. There is a ton of action in this book. The stakes are higher, the powers more developed, the craziness heightened. Like Hourglass, it had a few twists that I absolutely did not see coming, yet none of them felt contrived. There is a love story in Timepiece, but it is not a love triangle, thank goodness. I was scared, going in, that I was going to have to put up with Kaleb and Michael being all angsty and territorial about Emerson throughout the book (as Kaleb obviously has feelings for Emerson in Hourglass), but that fortunately did not happen. As it was, I really like the way the romantic angle was handled. It felt real. It wasn't all sparks and sighs and fluttery feelings, which is nice, because I don't think that's the way romance normally happens. Overall, Timepiece was a fun and exciting story. I really enjoyed the characters and was never quite sure what was going to happen next. The book ends with an obvious setup for a third book, but while I am itching to read more about the world of the Hourglass, I still felt completely satisfied at the conclusion.

I want to be fair in this review of Myra McEntire's sequel to Hourglass, Timepiece: It's been quite a few months since I read Hourglass and it took several pages of "refreshing" before I was back into the storyline. I think this was not helped by the fact that this entry was told from a different point of view; this time we are treated to seeing the story from Kaleb's eyes. Not that that is a bad thing at all; once I got my feet under me, I think I prefer Kaleb telling the story. At least he's highly entertaining and his flirtatious "relationship" with Lily was perfect (and more believable than the one with Emerson and Michael). Timepiece begins with another appearance by the time-traveling Jack, and ripples in time that are becoming stronger. Kaleb's father is back from the dead, but their relationship is strained. When Jack delivers an ultimatum (and Poe does something truly shocking), the Hourglass kids take off to Memphis to try to track down clues to a possibly real Infinityglass. Along the way, they run into Kaleb's father's former partners, Dr. Turner and Teague, and it's a race to see who can establish the authenticity of an item that would allow Jack to change history all on his own. I really enjoyed this novel at times, and at others, I felt the plot was rushed or just didn't flow. Specifically, any time Kaleb and Lily were front and center, I loved everything going on. Their voices are real and they just leap into life from the pages, even when it feels as though very little got resolved. It's when Michael and Emerson come into the story that I felt everything slowed and became wooden; there is a very unsatisfying resolution to those two toward the end that really feels out of place. Overall, this is a fun story that has a lot of twists and turns and definitely reminds me of a Doctor Who episode. As a Tennessean, I totally love all the accurate references to Memphis and Nashville, and I'm intrigued to see where all this ends up. If at times events seem to be a little conveniently tied up, it's excusable for the fun I'm having. Rounding up from 3.5 stars for the fun factor.

***ARC provided by Egmont USA for review*** *Spoilers from Hourglass* "The present. Right now. The exact spot where the hourglass filters the sand from the future to the past. That's where we have to live. Before all the sand runs out, or before somebody shakes it all up again." When Emerson went back in time (a second time) to save Michael's life, they were warned that there would be consequences. Now the rips are getting stronger and instead of one or two people appearing from the past, entire scenes from the past are appearing confusing Emerson and her friends and making hard to distinguish the past from the present. Although Hourglass was mostly about Emerson and Michael, they always seemed a little bit blah for me. Instead I was instantly won over by Kaleb and he became my favorite character from the book. You can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I started reading Timepiece and discovered that the story is now being told from Kaleb's POV. If I would have known, I would have read this book months ago! It's no secret that I love reading from male character's POV's and Timepiece was no exception. Kaleb is such a complex yet simple character. He's struggling with his guilt over his mother's coma, his father's death (and return) and the complicated relationship he has with him, his friendship and jealousy over Michael and his attraction to Emerson. To make matters worse, Kaleb is an empath which means that not only does he have to struggle with his own emotions; he also has to deal with the emotions of those around him. Yet, despite all of that, all Kaleb wants is to be able to protect the people he cares about. When they are issued an ultimatum to find Jack Landers or else their timelines could be altered, they seek the help of Emerson's best friend Lily who has "powers" like the rest of them. Kaleb and Lily keep butting heads but the more time they spend together, their attraction grows stronger. When I first found out that Timepiece was Kaleb's story, I was a little worried about the outcome. What would happen between Emerson and Michael? And Emerson and Kaleb? Luckily, I had nothing to worry about because Myra McEntire gives us a completely unexpected but oh-so-good story that was even better than the first book! This series is one of the most unique storylines I have ever read with some of the most amazing book covers EVER! Maybe that's why I didn't know Timepiece would be told by Kaleb, I was too distracted by that creepy yet stunningly beautiful cover. Kale was such a great character, he was funny, sweet sarcastic and just a little bit tortured. Lily was tough, sassy and was the perfect girl for Kaleb because she wasn't afraid to put him in his place when he was being a jerk. The chemistry between them was great when there were fighting and when they...weren't. Timepiece is a high-stakes and action packed story full of mystery, suspense and a good mix of romance and plenty of humor. The ending doesn't have a huge cliffhanger but it does give a hint as to where the story might go next. Not only am I excited to find out what the next book, Infinityglass will be about but I am also very curious as to who will narrate it. Will it go back to Emerson's POV, stay with Kaleb? Or maybe it will go to someone new like Michael or Lily? I also can't wait to see what beautiful cover the next book will have! If you were a fan of Hourglass, then Timepice is a must-read! To all you Michael fans: don't worry because he still comes out a lot in this book but be ready to make a little extra room in your heart for Kaleb. P.S. Anyone else had the urge to watch Back to the Future after reading this book? 4.5 out of 5 sparkly stars! Some of my favorite non-spoiler quotes from Timepiece: -"The space time continuum is compromised." "Thanks." My muscles tensed, too. "I'll alert Doctor Who." -I cupped her face in my hands, knowing she wasn't mine to touch, but unable to stop. -"Hot Tamales. Atomic Fireballs. Sizzling Cinnamon Jelly Bellys. Red Hots. I'm surprised you have any taste buds left. Or teeth." "Do I make the obvious hot-stuff joke here, or refrain?" "Refrain." -"What kind of a man would I be, exactly?" "A temptation." She threw her cup at the trash can, sinking and impressive three pointer. "Like the snake in the Garden of Eden?" "No. More like the apple." "The apple?" I asked. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure Eve never considered taking a bite out of the snake." -"You're also as big as a house, tattooed, and pierced. And wearing a black leather jacket." "Oh yeah." I'm a bad ass. A bad ass who bakes when he's depressed. -"Have you ever heard of horology?" Nate giggled. "I'm sorry. It sounds dirty. I'm not going to say anything else today. Swear." *** Check out my YA book blog to read my reviews and author interviews: Nereyda @Mostly YA Book Obsessed

Timepiece: An Hourglass Novel I bought Hourlass for the Kindle back at the end of May when it was only $1.99--super bargain!!! I don't know what took me so long to read it! (shame on me) I started it at the beginning of June and had to put it aside to read and review some books for the blog. I picked it back up again last week and had it finished within 3 days. I put in a request for Timepiece through the library, but I knew there was no way I could wait THAT long to read it, since I was 80th on the list. So I bought Timepiece for the Kindle and I am so very glad that I did!!! I finished Timepiece in 3 days!!! I absolutely loved this book!! I also love it when I have a book that I can read using the Kindle app on my phone--I have a really hard time putting my phone down when I come across a book like this one. At first I was a little confused because I didn't read the summary so I was anticipating Em's "voice" again. It seemed a little out of place to say that she was drunk...and dressed as a pirate. Er?! There were a few other times when I was reading that I forgot this story was from Kaleb's point of view, and I had to backtrack a page or two so that I could figure out what I had missed. I really enjoyed Hourglass and Timepiece! The characters are fun, quirky, hilarious, and I would love to hang out with them...what great friends this group would make, huh!? Emerson (love the name) and Michael's relationship grew in this one and I was happy to see that. It was also great to learn more about Emerson's past, and about Kaleb's past, too. I felt bad for Kaleb for a while because I knew how he "thought" he felt about Emerson...but I'm happy that he was able to find some one that fit his personality best. I don't want to get into too much because you have to read these books, but I will say that there are twists and turns, jaw-dropping moments, some romance, lots of humor, some violence, loads of suspense, and well, you just need to run out and pick this book up to find out all the other good things in store for you...or buy it for your Kindle and read it right away (like I did)!!! I can't wait for the next one!!!!!

After the events of previous weeks, Kaleb Ballard is spiraling out of control. Suffering from confusion and resentment, he has turned to the bottle to help him drown out the chaos he feels. Little does he know he is about to get a wake-up call in the form of time slips he can now see, the return of Jack Landers, and the introduction of spit fire and Emerson's best friend, Lily, into his life. As Kaleb deals with his feelings of resentment and burgeoning feelings for Lily, things are getting crazy in Ivy Springs. Can Kaleb, Lily, Emerson, and Michael pull it together in time to avoid the ultimate disaster? Oh, my! I thought I enjoyed Emerson as a main character, but Kaleb's point-of-view was something else! Here is a character that puts new meaning to the phrase, "more than meets the eye." Kaleb brought a fresh new voice to the table that added an entirely new dimension to the story. I also enjoyed getting to know Lily more as a character. Her interactions with Kaleb, Emerson, even her grandmother made for some great reading. She's such a fiery character that it's hard to overlook her. I wasn't sure how Myra McEntire was going to top the events that took place in Hourglass, but I should have known she would pull something truly mind-boggling and amazing out of her hat. Both settings (Ivy Springs and Memphis) are made all the more captivating through the time slips that become more and more present throughout the story. The pacing is done very well and suffers few to no snags. Even though there is a lot of information to take in, it is handled in such a way that it isn't overwhelming and is fairly easy to keep up with. Overall, Timepiece is a no-holds-barred, riveting, and all-around fun novel. Timepiece has managed something I didn't think would be possible. You see, I enjoyed it even more than I enjoyed Hourglass, and that's saying something, as I rated Hourglass as a 5. All I can say that if this trend continues, Infinityglass is going to be absolutely phenomenal. The change in narration and the higher stakes all made for a fantastic read that left me reeling and wanting more, all at the same time. This series is one you definitely don't want to miss. Obligatory legal statement: This digital review copy was provided to me free of charge by the publisher via Netgalley. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review. This review originally appeared on my blog, Starting the Next Chapter, on June 12, 2012.

Actual rating 3.5 stars At first I felt duped – this wasn’t the continued story from Emmeron’s POV. I’d fallen in love with her in ‘Hourglass,’ and was really looking forward to more. Instead what I got was the story being picked up right where the last book ended, but with Kaleb’s narrative. It is an easy read though. I was able to fly through this, and thank goodness, because it took the first half of the novel to get over my disappointment and get into Kaleb’s head. We still get the goodness of Em and Michael, but from a different perspective. I have grown to like Kaleb, and was rooting for him by the end of the novel. A tattooed and pierced bad boy with a marshmallow heart. Lily was a breath of fresh air as far as a love interest and heroines go. She wasn’t the reactionary teen we see a lot of in YA. She was level headed and sarcastic in a dark way, not in the exaggerated obvious pun sort of way. She really stole my heart and I was cheering for her and Kaleb from early on. It’s not oversaturated on the love and heavy petting either. McEntire really builds her relationships and characters in a realistic and organic way; which is impressive given the landscape being warped from rips and alternate versions of time and space which kept changing. Em and Michael, Lily and Kaleb were fixed points amongst the chaos. I’ve deducted a few marks for the slow pacing at the beginning, and the lack of story. There could have been more action or conflict packed into ‘Timepiece’ – it was easy and pleasant to read, but did not live up to the likes of ‘Hourglass.’ Although the writing isn’t fancy, it does allow you to speed through the book; but the way McEntire weaves a story is masterful. So many threads to keep track of… brilliant imagination come to life on the written page. Really makes me want to grab everything she’s ever written to add it to my library. A thoroughly entertaining read, not as dark as ‘Hourglass,’ more of the timey-wimey things and a couple of plot twists I did not see coming, but leading us towards what should be a very interesting conclusion in ‘Infinityglass.’ (Which I must read asap!)

I have a bad case of book amnesia. I'm failing to remember more than small vague moments from Hourglass. Because of that, I didn't enjoy some parts in Timepiece very much, like the concepts and a few of the characters. The time-traveling and powers included in this series weren't memorable to me. I went into this book and realized I couldn't remember much about who traveled in time, why they did it, and what the bad guy had done. Even now, after reading this book, these things don't stand out. (I'm not a big fan of time travel books.) Also, the side characters didn't seem as well developed as they could've been. They didn't stand apart from eachother. Even Em and Michael felt a bit flat and dull. However when it came to Kaleb and Lily . . . oh man, I loved them! I liked his POV (every word was his--100 percent first person, male perspective) and his empathy towards others and struggles with his family. He was a likeable guy and I was so happy whenever things worked out for him. The romance was a nice one. It started with a slap in the face (literally) and grew and developed into a very sweet attraction and relationship. Lily was an awesome character and she and Kaleb fit so well together. Overall, the romance and the two characters--Kaleb and Lily--were what I liked most of entire novel. I also liked many of the exciting event that occurred. The concepts and side characters, as well as an odd-feeling ending that I didn't mention before, dampened my enjoyment, though, because I didn't find them to be very interesting. I do want to read Infinityglass sometime. According to my five star rating of Hourglass on Goodreads and some of my vague memories of it, I loved the first book. I'm hoping that this book is just one of those disappointing sequels and I will love the rest of the series. ~Real rating: 3.5 stars

This was a great sequel to Hourglass, but I have to say, I was totally thrown off by the fact that it was told in Kaleb's POV. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I felt like I was missing things when looking through his eyes. For example, we spent all of Hourglass waiting for Em and Michael to get together, but we don't even really get to see it now, all we see are Kaleb's thoughts about them tinged with jealousy. I felt like that was how it was through most of the book. We couldn't get a clear image of what was really going on because everything was seen through Kaleb's depressed viewpoint. This lessened toward the end of the book, but I still felt like he didn't necessarily see things clearly. On the other hand, I liked getting a better understanding of his power and of what it feels like being in a constant sea of emotion. My understanding of Kaleb has gone way up after this book. This book progressed quickly. I never felt like there was a lag in the action or like I was forcing myself to keep reading in the hopes of getting back to the excitement. This book was well-paced on the action was well dispersed throughout the entire story instead of everything just blowing up at the end of the book - which seems to be how way too many are written. I will admit that the time-thing is still kind of confusing. Trying to wrap my mind around all of the different time-lines and the space-time continuum problems would give me a serious headache if I spent too long trying to figure everything out. I think that while reading this series, it is important to take the time events and their timeline at face-value for what it says and not try to read to far into it or you won't be able to follow the story. Overall, I liked this book and am eagerly awaiting Infinityglass. As an aside, I am interested to see whose POV that book will be told from and would love to see it told from multiple. 4.5 stars

I loved the first book in this series, Hourglass, so much and I was really glad that I had ordered both books at the same time. I was dying to know what was going to happen next and it only took me a few days to pick up this one after finishing Hourglass. Something I said in my review of Hourglass was that I wanted to see more of Kaleb and Lily. Well, that's exactly what I got in this book. Not having read the synopsis for this one, I didn't realise that the story was actually going to be told from Kaleb's point of view. I thought that this was going to be a straight sequel and it is kind of but not from Emerson's point of view. As much as I loved Emerson, switching up narrators was something different and it made the book even more interesting. Kaleb was such an interesting character in Hourglass and I desperately wanted to know more about him. Kaleb is such a messed up character with so much going on around him and in this book, we get to learn all about how he copes, what he feels and much more. I really enjoyed getting to learn about Kaleb's background and to realise that he isn't just a womanising guy like he is portrayed in Hourglass. There is so much more to Kaleb than first meets the eye which is partly what made him such a good character. Then there is Lily, Emerson's best friend. She popped up now and again in Hourglass and I really liked her then. Much like Kaleb, as Lily is the main female character of this book, we get to learn a lot more about her. Lily is a really strong female character who knows exactly who she is and what she wants and this is partly what made me like her so much. She was fiery and feisty and wasn't afraid to speak up when she had an opinion. She was also a great opposing character as she was so different to Kaleb. Quite like Emerson and Michael's relationship in Hourglass, Kaleb and Lily take things slowly before anything happens. The tension between the two characters was electric and I couldn't wait for things to finally happen between them. Not only was the chemistry good but they did extremely well as friends. Due to certain abilities, the pair were able to trust each other after some time and really get to know one another without anything else getting in the way. Timepiece's plot begins exactly where Hourglass finishes, with Jack on the run and everything going a bit crazy. Although this is a separate book in the way that it is told, it is a traditional sequel plot wise. The story was very exciting with many characters travelling all over the place to find the answers that they need. The world of the Hourglass and the abilities written about are explored and explained in great detail. Some past abilities are revisited while the abilities of other characters definitely are put into the forefront of the story. While not totally concentrating on time travel, this is still a large theme of the book and one that I enjoyed thoroughly. Timepiece is a fantastic sequel and I love the world and characters that Myra McEntire has created.

Since her parents's death Emerson has been seeing things others can't. Apparitions from old days are crossing her way and she can't make them go away. Her brother Thomas is set on finding a cure, but nothing has helped so far. Until he calls the Hourglass organisation on the plan, and with it super smart and hot agent Michael. Thank you, Thomas! His task is to help Emerson find a way to get rid of her ghosts from the past. And of course all scruples aside he's there to provide us with a swoon-worthy romance. What a lucky providence that he's staying in the same housing complex as Emerson and her brother. Offers room for a lot of flustering encounters and much time for their feelings of attraction to grow into something stronger and more sustainable. Only the love story would have been enough to name HOURGLASS an awesome read. A conspiracy, mysterious organisations, insane antagonists, explosions, very short windows of time to act and turn the ending into a happy one and time travelling - loved the time travelling components in HOURGLASS just as much as in recent favourites such as TEMPEST by Julie Cross- complete HOURGLASS to a well-balanced and absolutely gripping read. In TIMEPIECE the hunt for antagonist Landers continues. Now from the perspective of Michael's best friend Kaleb. It took some getting used to Kaleb's narration. He's a character with so much sorrow and anger sitting on his heart that the emotional level of this sequel was stepped up a few notches. The story's main focus was on Kaleb and Lily's love story (yes, he gets a shot with Emerson's best friend) than the part where they actually work on saving the world. Completely fine with me. Lily and him are like fire and ice, so absoring in their elements. Theirs is a stormy and fierce love, with space for gentleness and understanding. Reaching PERFECT CHEMISTRY intensity of romance goodness, their attraction is smoldering. 4,5/5 ****/* HOURGLASS series - An action-packed time travel extraverganza with flair and three infectious love stories. One minute you are totally relaxed and laid-back, that jazzy feeling of old days bewitching you, the next you are on the run from your past and your future. Trust me, you want to have all three books in your reach when you turn the first page of HOURGLASS.