Book Review: The Hourglass Door

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Give me one moment in time
Whem I’m racing with destiny
Then in that one moment in time
I will feel, I will feel eternity

If Whitney Houston hadn’t already sung those words, Lisa Mangum could have used them to describe her novel The Hourglass Door.

Abby Edmunds has everything going for her. She’s got good friends, a hot boyfriend, and a position as assistant director of the school’s play. But everything is a little too status quo for her tastes. Then foreign-exchange student Dante Alexander walks out of a snowstorm and into her life. Abby’s immediately attracted to the sizzling hot Italian, even though his background is sketchy and rumors abound.

When the band Zero Hour performs at Abby’s favorite weekend haunt – which just happens to be owned and operated by Dante’s care giver – strange things began to happen to her closest friends. Then a confrontation between the band’s lead singer, Zo, and Dante turns violent. As Abby nurses Dante’s wounds, she begins to learn the truth about his past and his connection to the members of Zero Hour. They have a lot more history than Abby would have guessed.

This novel wraps time travel into a pretty little package and tops it off with the love-story bow. Characters physical descriptions are touch verbose at times (i.e. three similes to describe one guy’s eyes), but if readers are into that mushy Bella-Edward stuff then The Hourglass Door is a perfect fit. At one point Abby describes herself as an old soul and that may (or may not) explain why her voice is a little granny sounding for YA. But that’s nitpicking. Honestly the novel is beautifully written, incorporates some classic literary references, and doesn’t have any blood suckers or boys-turned-dog. In a genre full of repeats, Mangum adds a dash of life to paranormal romance.

(BTW, Lisa Mangum is really nice too. I met her at a book signing at B&N)


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