Sigh. This was a 2.5 star letdown. It is unfair because the premise seemed so promising. But the book dragged on and on, the MC was frankly unbearable, and the payoff of the last third of the book wasn't worth the painful build up. The book starts in the present day, which was the weakest part of the story. We then hit the high seas in early 1800s, which had some interesting moments but Sam throwing herself at the captain ruined the vibes. Returning to London we meet the most vile character of all time and have to endure scenes that really should come with multiple content warnings. It isn't until Sam escapes London to the countryside (we're at maybe 50-60% at this point?) that this book finally becomes enjoyable. Daisy is a delight, a treasure, and their flirting was real cute.

I'm sure some outlander fans will really enjoy the whole tormented journey in the past parts of this book, but I was not into them. And I never got over Sam refusing to adapt to the past and continuing to speak with modern jargon. Those two elements made it hard for me to recommend this one.

Thank you to Wattpad and netgalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Content Trigger Warnings - As this is a time travel book, there are some instances of assault and harassment. Any a-la-Outlander time travel historical romance comes out = it goes on the TBR. Time and Tide by JM Frey was a fun spin on the historical time travel plot - our lead fair lady is bi and romantic hijinks ensues.

Thanks, Wattpad Books, for the arc!

I was excited about this book, but the beginning had a lot of ups and downs for me. It definitely should have had trigger warnings! By halfway, I just became bored, and I had no desire to keep reading. I was at page 194 and would pick it up and put it down without any care to know what happened to the characters. I didn't even want to read the end! I think it was the unnerving beginning. I didn't connect with it; it wasn't the story I expected.

Trigger Warnings (up until where I read): physical abuse, plane crash, injury and injury detail, sexual assault, PTSD, misogyny

Sam, the FMC, travels back in time to give us a time traveling historical romance. It does give an excellent representation of managing life with trauma and PTSD. Traveling to that time period also shows how Sam has to adjust to women having even fewer rights, having to deal with men in that time, Not exactly the vacation she was wanting….

I love seeing bi representation in a book. I especially love the tie in of her meeting an author she adores in her future life. The writing by J.M. Frey is wonderfully done, and it was interesting watching how the changes to how things were written seemed to change as Sam moved through and adjusted to her life in the past. Dark themes are addressed, just like any woman would have faced back in the 1800’s. So, this isn’t a fluffy historical romance at all. You are going to face a lot.

Make sure you read the content warnings. Attempted r*pe is something that is definitely seen multiple times, along with abuse. I just feel that should be noted. I don’t think I realized how much was to be expected.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to review, and asking for my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc! I could not put this book down! I loved every single thing about this book and I truly enjoyed reading! The plot before reading had me hooked and after finishing I just wish there was more of Sam and Daisy I could read. I fell in love with them and their relationship and I can’t wait for the book to be out so I can buy a physical copy!

This one started off strong but quickly fell into predictablity. The premise: jilted Samantha's plane crashes and she time jumps to the 1800s (the science/magic is never explained). She must learn to survive as a self-proclaimed "chaotic bisexual" in a time when being a queer woman is unacceptable.
I really enjoyed the writing style, the descriptions were clever and engaging. Some of the characters motives felt contrived and forced, however. The evil Judge Lewis was a charactature of every slimy, sleezy Regency man. I could have done without the SA and abuse scenes.
Sam's romance with Daisy was sweet and the build up was well done. Ultimately, I predicted the ending about half way through. Still, a decent enough read and a good fit for Regency lovers.

I received this ARC from @netgalley and publisher @wattpadbooks. The opinions are my own.
Time and Tide was released on November 12, 2024.

I was kind of aware of what the final "twist" may be, throughout the whole book, but it was still worth the wait! I only wish we could've known what happened with Sam's family and how her disappearance was taken, but I know it wouldn't have fit in the book at all. Overall, highly recommend!

3.5 stars rounded up. This book started out strong and grabbed my attention right away. I lost interest a bit as it went on, but it was a mostly entertaining read. The villain was really villainous and might be triggering for some readers.

The romance was cute but quick. I didn't really feel the connection as much as I would've liked, but it was sweet. I felt like there was something missing from the time travel aspect of the story. I would've liked to see more of a conclusion there. That didn't really matter too much though because this was more a character-based story and it (mostly) worked in that sense.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

I thought this was good - I did find that, like a lot of the wattpad ARCs I've been reading, this could have benefitted from at least one more round of edits

I love a good time travel story, and this book gave me that in all forms. I had a hard time liking Samantha, one of the main characters, but she did grow on me as the book went along. The book begins in current times, with Sam and her girlfriend Dahlia breaking up moments before they were to board a plane for what Samantha thought was going to a sweet romantic trip. Dahlia gifts Sam the book The Welshman's Daughter which is a queer regency novel that was hugely popular as well as her gf's favorite book. Sam boards the plane, the plane explodes and in comes the time travel portion of the book. Sam is thrown into the ocean of Gilbralter directly into the year of 1805. The story that follows is a typical story of the time, where female surely cannot function without a male. Abuse, attempted rape, drowning ptsd and high levels of anxiety ensue. Sam finds herself entangled with Daisy, the author of The Welshman's Daughter. It's a challenge for Sam living in 1805 knowing how wildly popular Daisy's book is going to be. My most enjoyed aspect of the book was how Sam managed to function in a world she knew nothing about, coming from 2024 thrown into the 1800's would be full of challenges that we know nothing about.

I started this book majorly embarrassed. How had I, an Austen obsessed English teacher turned librarian never heard of Margaret Goodenough, queer authoress extraordinaire? 

10 minutes into a deep dive later, I found an author interview where J.M. Frey informs us as readers that MG is NOT real. Which made me feel a lot better. BUT, our real author’s ability to write about MG while comparing her to other famous writers from the time period, like Jane Austen, truly gives the reader the impression that MG is real and adds a LOT to the story.

That immediate ability to convince me to research something when starting a novel: looking up another author, a song I’ve never heard, a historical figure I’m unfamiliar with, is always a green flag for me that I’m going to enjoy a book. 

The main characters are in their mid twenties and there are some spicy scenes, so while not appropriate for my high school shelves, I will definitely recommend this to my friends at the public library for their collections and to all my other friends who love Bridgerton, but also kissing other women.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Book Group for the ARC of Time and Tide!

A mixed bag of feelings on this one, resulting in a 3 out of 5. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

When it comes to the time travel trope, you generally expect that at some point the characters will mask, temper, and adapt their modern outlook on the world to better fit in to the historical era they find themselves in. Sam absolutely, 100% NEVER. DOES. THIS.

While I did finish the book, waiting for Sam to emotionally grow up or have any kind of character development was pulling teeth. While I can appreciate a loud and proud bisexual woman, she expects those around her to just accept her eccentrics carte Blanche, even though the other folks are decades to centuries from knowing or understanding her perspective.

I just... Could not get myself to like Sam and there are a lot of instances of SA like behavior that just felt unnecessary.

This book was a DNF for me--I will echo what some other reviewers have said that the style of the writing along with time travel made it a bit complicated to follow.

I'm not sure what I think about this book. On the one hand, its a chaotic time travel story, but on the other it needs heavy trigger warnings and deals with very sensitive subject matter in a crass way.

This is unfortunately a DNF. The premise sounds really, really great but ultimately it reads incredibly juvenile. There was a specific line about the main character "pulling up the sheet for decency" that gave me serious ick.

I'm always intrigued by the notion of time travel in a book and how characters adapt to being in a new situation. Samantha Franklin doesn't really do well with this but she ends up figuring it out. She comes across as a very flawed character, and there were many times I found her heard to relate to. Being bisexual, it would have been really hard to try to live your truth during the Georgian era, especially as someone who iwas living very openly as a queer person. As she gets to know the Goodenough family, she sort of starts to appreciate it more. J.M. Frey writes a story that is both a coming-of-age and romance novel. I enjoyed seeing Daisy and Sam's relationship grow and honestly I wasn't sure how they would figure out their HEA. I thought though that the book felt a big too long. It wasn't meandering but there were certain parts that stayed for too long, and then the ending felt a bit rushed (though very gratifying).

Steam: 🔥
Heart flutters: ❤️❤️

DNF at 10%

I really wanted to love this since it's sapphic, but the prose style definitely isn't for me. This is a time travel and so far has only been from the modern character's POV, which as someone who prefers historical romance to contemporary, this didn't work for me. I also didn't understand how the time travel part worked. Not for me, but hopefully for someone out there!

While the premise seemed promising, the opening pages failed to hook me. The protagonist seemed like an insensitive jerk, with no “save the cat” moment to suggest any redeeming qualities, and their introduction was immediately followed by a very long and dry info dump of exposition. I DNF at 3% since it’s clear this book isn't my cup of tea.

I’ll refrain from reviewing on Goodreads & Amazon since I DNF so early in the story, and it’s possible the character and writing improves later on.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

Sam is bi, queer, and proud of it. So she's a little blindsided when her closeted girlfriend breaks up with her just as she's about to get on a plane for their dream European vacation. She doesn't have long to dwell on that because the plane crashes and she's the sole survivor. Except she didn't just land in the middle of the Atlantic, she landed in 1805 and she needs to quickly figure out how to navigate life in early 19th century England.

I'm giving this one a tentative 3.5 stars because I had a hard time figuring out how I feel about it and I'm still deciding almost a day later. I like Sam and think Frey did a great job with the queer representation and the deep thoughts issues the story touches on. However, it drags in places when there really isn't any reason for it to do so. There is always something happening, even when it's just Sam talking about how time drags, so I can't figure out why it feels like it shouldn't be taking so long to get from one point to another.
It's a time travel story with a very well-done queer love plot that has a very clear villain and some excellent exploration of the topic of coming out and living an authentic life when it isn't even safe to do so. The characters are interesting and Sam finds herself in one captivating situation after another. There are things that are a little hard to believe people of the era would be so calm about, but I'm giving artistic license because they make sense for the story.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and W by Wattpad Books for the read!