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The Flowers of Time

Lost in Time, Book 3

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The Flowers of Time

By: A. L. Lester
Narrated by: Zoe Brookes
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About this listen

Jones is determined to find out what caused the unexpected death of her father while they were exploring ancient ruins in the Himalayas. Along with a stack of books and coded journals, he's left her with the promise she'll travel back to England for the first time since childhood to try being the lady she's never been.

Edie and her brother are leaving soon on a journey to the Himalayas to document and collect plants for the new Kew Gardens when she befriends Miss Jones in London. She's never left England before and is delighted to learn the lady will be returning to the mountains she calls home at the same time they are planning their travels. When they meet again in Srinagar, Edie is surprised to find that, out here, the Miss Jones of the London salons is "just Jones" the explorer, clad in breeches and boots and unconcerned with the proprieties Edie has been brought up to respect.

The nonbinary explorer and the determined botanist make the long journey over the high mountain passes to Little Tibet, collecting flowers and exploring ruins on the way. Will Jones discover the root of the mysterious deaths of her parents? Will she confide in Edie and allow her to help in the quest? The trip is fraught with perils for both of them, not least those of the heart.

©2020 JMS Books LLC (P)2020 A. L. Lester England Romance Heartfelt Explorer

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I can't stress enough how wonderful this book is! A non-binary explorer in 18th century Himalayas and a quirky, adventurous female botanist who doesn't know what to make of the explorer initially, but is intrigued and drawn to them. They are both so interesting and well rounded and the feelings that slowly develop between them are so believable. I wish I knew of more books likte this one, it was truely unique in my experience.

There is some magic and horrible beasts in the book, a cautionary tale about the dangers of using magic for your own ends, though it's not used like that by the protagonists. They are both intelligent and brave, and they both got this inner strength that is very appealing. Jones is so relaxed and themselves in their identity and Edie is curious of the world, accepting of what she finds and of others. I love them as individuals, but I love them even more as the couple they very slowly become.

The narration is perfect! Zoe Brookes gives all the characters great voices, but I expecially love Jones' and Edie's voices. As a non-native English speaker I also appreciated her clear pronounciation, it made it easier for me to follow with all the strange-to-me place names.

Both story and narration is captivating

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Listener received this title free

Before he died from a sudden and mysterious illness in the Himalayas, her father asked Jones to try her hand for a while at being a proper lady in England. Though definitely not a lady, Jones kept her promise and suffered through the English good society of the 1780s until she got the opportunity to go back to exploring little known places and studying civilizations on the other side of the planet.

The only really good thing that came from her trip to Europe was meeting Henry and Edith Merton and their friend Bennett Carruthers. The brother and sister pair were about to travel to the Himalaya for botanical studies on behalf of the new Kew Gardens with Carruthers mapping ancient routes for the East India Company. When the trio meets with Jones in Srinagar, she’s not wearing dresses anymore but seems so comfortable in her breeches that they quickly get used to her true persona. Little do they know, however, that the explorer is trying to decipher her father’s journals and that what she’ll find will put them all in danger.

I’m not as happy as I’d like reviewing this. While I rather enjoyed the story, which got my heart rate to rush at times, I cannot get over the disappointing narration. I’ve become used to narrators performing the stories I listen to whereas this one is merely reading it, with all sorts of parasite noises.

Despite this book being part of the Lost in Time series, there’s no time travel in it and it can be read as a standalone. The paranormal and magical aspects blend well with the reality, the pace is appropriately slow and the romance, while light and very slow-burn (and fade to black) is sweet and plausible.

An interesting paranormal adventure in the 1780s

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Listener received this title free

I really enjoyed this story. The setting was described so well you could picture it and the narrator did a great job bringing all of the characters to life. It was really nice to have non binary representation too.

Excellent story.

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