Fast-paced, deliciously romantic, and full of Irish mythology, clever banter, and stubborn characters. It was more than I could have imagined in a historical romance. For a large portion of the conversation, I laughed aloud, and by the end, I was holding my chest tight. A wonderful romance with amusing repartee. The chemistry between Rua and Finn was flawless! Their interactions were fascinating to read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Rua's journey and became engrossed in the narrative.

I liked this quite a bit - definitely the perfect blend between historical fiction and fantasy. The romance between the two main characters were absolutely adorable as well.

**Review of *The Gods Time Forgot* by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez**

Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez's *The Gods Time Forgot* is a mesmerizing blend of romance and fantasy set against the backdrop of 1870s Manhattan. The story centers on Rua, a young woman with no memories who is mistakenly identified as the missing Emma Harrington. This intriguing premise immediately draws readers in, setting the stage for a tale filled with mystery, magic, and societal intrigue.

Gonzalez crafts a rich, atmospheric world that beautifully captures the grit and glamour of New York during this vibrant period. Rua’s journey to uncover her identity while navigating the complexities of high society is both compelling and relatable. Her determination to discover the truth about her past and her connection to the enigmatic Finn, the Lord of Donore, adds layers of tension and romance to the narrative.

Finn is a captivating character, embodying the charm and social acumen required to navigate the elite circles of Manhattan. His growing fascination with Rua—and the sense that their connection transcends this life—creates a magnetic dynamic that keeps readers eagerly turning the pages. The chemistry between Rua and Finn is palpable, infused with both longing and an air of mystery.

As Rua’s memories begin to surface, the plot takes a thrilling turn into the realm of dark magic and ancient secrets. Gonzalez masterfully intertwines elements of fantasy with the historical setting, creating a fantastical atmosphere that is both enchanting and unsettling. The revelations about Rua’s past are surprising and beautifully crafted, providing a satisfying depth to the story.

Overall, *The Gods Time Forgot* is a captivating read that expertly combines romance, mystery, and fantasy. Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez has created a spellbinding tale that will leave readers enchanted and eager for more. This novel is a must-read for fans of romantasy and anyone looking for a richly woven story filled with magic, intrigue, and unforgettable characters. You won’t want to miss it!

I was graced by NetGalley to get a digital advanced copy of The Gods Time Forgot. After the first chapter I paused to preorder a physical copy. I knew it would be a top tier read.

The Gods Time Forgot is easily top 5 of my 2024 reads. This books so seamlessly ties together fantasy and historical fiction. I don’t know much about Irish mythology so I was constantly googling myths to try and spoil the story for myself. I COULDN’T DO IT!

The characters are so enthralling. The story is gripping and new. I’ve never read anything like it. Rau is bold and daring to Finn’s gentle soul. It’s just *chef’s kiss*.

My only complaint is that this is Kelsey Sheridan Gonzalez’s debut novel. I can’t read more of her works 😭 (yet).

Ps I highly recommend listening to Hozier while reading. It’s just a vibe.

This is one of those books where you just need to read it to understand how good it is. I just can't explain it to you because it's so crazy and fun. This book is not your typical romance, it's mysterious and makes you question every step the book is taking you. The romance is so cute and enjoyable not toxic at all.

i’m so sad to say this one was a hot hard to get into! i was beyond excited from the premise and have been following the authors journey on bookstagram but unfortunately i got about 30% through and do not feel connected to the story/characters and am dnf-ing for now. this is potentially one i would come back to and try again!

Let me set the scene for you:
it’s 1870 New York, and a woman emerges from the woods covered in dirt and blood and in someone else’s body, with no memory of her past, or who she is. To make matters worse she keeps feeling this pull toward a certain Irish Lord, but doesn’t know why. The Lord of Donore (aka Finn), also feels this pull but has no memory as to why they are feeling this way. As things begin to unravel around them, they soon discover why their love is so forbidden.

Now I am one of the people that have been frothing at the mouth for this book for years as Kelsie talked about and promoted it on her tiktok. The concept just sounded so incredibly cool and unique I couldn’t wait to read it. And, honestly, it lived up to my expectations. I could not put it down!! I loved the addition of Irish mythology in an adult romantic fantasy novel, it was so different from what I have read before, and combined with the time period, made for a truly captivating setting.

The Gods Time Forgot is a fantastic addition to the romantic fantasy genre! Rua is a very complex character, and seeing her thrust into this unfamiliar society where she clearly isn’t meant to be, was very engaging. And Finn? He put me through a rollercoaster of emotions and yet I still love him!

I would honestly read multiple books in this universe, and I’m excited to see where the author goes from here! Her writing immediately drew me into this world, and honestly made my historical romance and fantasy loving heart so so happy.

thank you so much for the arc!

i got a bit into this and am having a hard time connecting & wanting to pick this one up at the moment. dnfing for now, will hopefully come back to it! 🤍

I cannot believe a tree was harmed in the making of this book.

2 stars, only reason I made it this far was because I just had to know what became of this goddamn story.

I was promised Irish mythology and forgotten gods, but the first 3/4 of the book was just basically the new york gilded age version of bridgerton. the most fascinating premise with the most disappointing, pathetic execution.

thank you to Alcove Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review

A good fantasy read, with Irish Mythologie and compelling heroine and character.
Mesmerizing writing and great character development.

It starts with a girl crawling out of the ground and trying to remember who she is. It was a great way to immediately immerse you in the story.

Everybody calls her Emma, but she knows that isn't right, she just doesn't know why, or how she knows this.

It's a enemies to lover story, wrapped in Irish mythology with a main character that isn't afraid to stand her ground. I gave me an Outlander vibe without it being a cheap copie; it still felt original. At least to me.

I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read it!

You had me at mythology and historical romantasy!
It was a fun read and the banter between Finn and Rua was fantastic! In my opinion the well written characters are what really carried this story. However the ending felt very abrupt and I was a bit lost in the plot
3,5*

𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Alcove Press for the ARC of The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez.

Unfortunately, I struggled with this story. I think I expected more of a H.G. Parry-esque magical historical fiction, where the magic is already baked in to the setting of the story - and while the magic may not be known to everyone in the world building, it is known enough that it can be explained and placed within the plot. The Gods Time Forgot is more of a historical fiction romance, which all of a sudden has a large influx of Irish mythology thrust upon the characters well after the book is over 50% through. That, paired with a lot of emotional/action discrepancies taken by Emma/Rua made me feel unsettled because I had no idea where the story was moving until all of a sudden it felt like Emma/Rua's character really jumped the shark and the story switched tone/plot/etc. It was like two stories in one book, but not in a way that felt like it had any transition or reason. If Sheridan Gonzalez ever writes historical fiction romances, she has the talent and skill-set to do so. In this endeavor, I think things got a bit over complicated with the addition of any form of magic.

To expand a bit, the first 53% of the book could easily be a historical fiction romance set in New York during the time of anti-Irish sentiment and the growing of the upper class that are funding the rise of the city's skyscrapers. Emma Harrington's new-moneyed-family are social climbers and looked down-upon, and Emma/Rua is relentlessly bullied by genteel society. Cue the Lord of Donore, who knows Emma is not who he needs in order to keep climbing the social ladder of respectability, but he is unable to resist her. A complicated romantic entanglement ensues.

This story is then muddied by Emma/Rua having emerged from a hellmouth at the family estate, grievously harmed a man with spring water with mythical properties, and Emma/Rua having complete memory loss as to who she is. Being threatened by her mother with being placed in an insane asylum, we see Emma/Rua be both abiding and scared, but also her personality seems to flip on a dime around the Lord of Donore to flirty and confident, before then turning angry and volatile when she feels slighted by anyone. On the one hand, it makes sense that she feels many things because she has no clue who she is, but she also doesn't really seem to be trying to figure out who she is or how to protect herself from being committed - a death sentence in this era - it just seems like she's flighty. Around 53% her character is engaged in an action that to me was entirely out of nowhere, and from that point forward I had a really hard time taking the story any sort of seriously. It went from 5 mph to 120 mph and it was just too much for me.

Also, I'm not actually sure if the Harrington family has ties to Ireland, but I think more detail early on about the spring/hell mouth and the thoughts of Irish magic in upstate New York would have better helped set the tone that there are elements of magic/magical realism at play, and that this isn't some sort of amnesiac dream of Emma/Rua. With all the anti-Irish sentiment of the time, it seems a bit odd that a non-Irish woman/family is so front-and-center, even if Emma was maybe led that way by someone else or at her boarding school. It instead seems like introducing the mythology so late that, again, it's just a historical fiction romance where the main female character might be a devil worshiper, which would definitely be problematic in this time era, but it isn't equivalent to the world actually containing magic // there still needs to be a stronger link to Ireland in general.

I did enjoy that this was meant to be a standalone, unlike so many other books in the genre today, and it's possible that feeling like it must be contained led to the story struggling with more of a transition to make what feels like two stories become one.

October 2024:
Publishing date: April 2025
Publishing: Alcove Press

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I do love a mythology story. And this story made me research more of Irish mythology and goddesses. And I always think that when you read a book, getting interested enough to research extra things for more context is always great. It really shows that this book wrapped me in. I enjoyed that the female main character was strong and outspoken. I liked that she went against conventions of the time, the story was set in the late 1800s. And being an outspoken strong woman was not something that was expected or was valued. I enjoyed that aspect of Rua. I think that the way that the catty women in her age group in New York City acted was really well written. And I think that how slights and perceptions in the 1800s could cause a person to fall from grace was really well done. You could feel the anxiety within any of these situations and at any event. And I know that not knowing what to do or how to act and thinking that anything that you do could be wrong could really weigh on a person. So that was written really well. I enjoyed the main character. I thought that she was a spunky and feisty woman who I enjoyed getting to know for almost 300 pages.

Now why I gave it three stars is this. I wanted more. Within the last maybe 20 pages. So much happened that left so much more to be expected. But the book just ended. I thought that they, spoiler, had to get to the waters by a certain time or else they were both be killed and then all of a sudden they didn't. I thought that something was going to happen with the two but all that it was, spoiler, memories were remembered. Up until then I was really enjoying the story and then I realized that we did not have very much longer until the end was happening. And I just feel that as a reader we deserved more. I just don't understand that ending. It left too much unknown or for us to just wonder about. Maybe the author will write an epilogue to the story that would be 6 months in the future. Just to give us a little bit of closure. I just don't feel that the book ended with any closure at all. But it was an easy read and one that I learned from.

3.5/5

This is an Irish mythology inspired historical fantasy/fiction story that takes place during the Gilded Age (1870 in New York, to be exact).

When you wake up with no memories but a wealthy family thinks you're their missing daughter and you decide to just go along with it...

This was an entertaining read, but wasn't as magical and fantastical and whimsical as I want from something that is based off of mythology or folklore and considered fantasy. I really do wish this gave me more.

The banter was fun (of course it was, who doesn't love to read fun banter in books), especially because this is a historical book. But the pacing was a bit weird at times. The beginning is slow, introducing you to what's going on. And then the ending just happens to suddenly, it was a bit strange.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

3.5✨
⏱️ Irish mythology
⏱️ Swoon worthy romance
⏱️ Lots of banter
⏱️ 1870s era
⏱️ Manipulation and schemes
⏱️ Slow burn
⏱️ Amnesia/Confusion
⏱️ Historical romance/fantasy

This book made me go through a roller coaster of emotions. Isn’t it amazing how words on pages can do that?

This is set in 1870 ; where women weren’t allowed to have opinions or display any ounce of intelligence. It was definitely frustrating at times… and quite angering. I don’t remember the last time I was this angry. So I know the author did a magnificent job.

Rua wakes up in Emma’s body, 2 days after Emma’s disappearance. Since Emma was already considered *problematic* ; Rua’s weird temperament didn’t really ring bells for a while. Rua was an absolutely fabulous FMC. She rapidly grew on me.

The strong suit of this book is definitely the romance. The banter was chiefs kiss 💋. It was definitely swoon worthy.

There’s 2 points that could be worked on. The pacing and the ending. The ending is so abrupt! It just made me feel like when my partner is telling me a story and I feel there’s more to his story but he just stops there. I highly wish there was an epilogue.

***Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to review this ARC!***

I am so torn on my opinion of “The Gods Time Forgot”.

On one hand I love the setting and out main character Rua. The premise of the story is intriguing and the first half of the book is amazing. Trying to piece together Rua’s story with her keeps you engaged.

The second half of the story really lacks compared to the first. The story stagnates and repeats the same couple of beats with some twists thrown in. I think it loses it’s focus and then scrambles to tie up everything at the end.

The romance suffers the same as the plot – very interesting at the beginning and then loses focus.

Narration is dual POV between our two main characters which was enjoyable but sometimes jarring as there was no indication of a change outside of a line break or new chapter.

Rated 3 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

this uses the Irish mythology element perfectly to tell this story and I was enjoying the overall concept going on with this. It had that romance fantasy element that I was looking for and enjoyed how the enemy to lover element worked overall. The characters had that feel that I was looking for and was glad I got to go on this journey with them. Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez wrote this well and was everything that I wanted and enjoyed the feel of this. I hope there is more in this world and characters, Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez has a great style and can't wait for more.

When Rua awakens in the woods she has no memory of who she is or how she got there. But everyone insists she is the missing Emma Harrington, and she is forced to play along or be sent to an insane asylum. Through her wealthy parents connections Rua finds herself meeting the Lord of Donore, Finn, who she is irresistibly drawn to. Now both are experiencing memories of other lives not their own, while fighting the pull they feel towards one another. But there are deeper plots at work, both mortal and magical in nature. Together Finn and Rua must survive and find a way to be together.

I am unfamiliar with Irish mythology so this was a new one for me, and of course it is told during a time period when anything other than Christianity was considered devil worship. It was interesting to learn the myth of the Morrigan and Cu Chulainn. Of course I have no background knowledge to say whether the story was altered for the purpose of the book or not. Either way, the magic was cool (the sisters are shapeshifters with superhuman strength) and Cu Chulainn transforms into a beast as well.

The banter and flirting between Rua and Finn was incredible. You could really feel them fight their desire for one another while they slowly fell in love again (and I do mean slow burn!). The flashbacks give you just enough tidbits to keep you moving along until they regain their memories.

My only issue with the story was the pacing. While it takes 90% of the book for the climax to build it is resolved extremely quickly (and honestly rather easily). I would have liked to see it play out a little more and maybe some happily ever after when they reunited.

I would definitely reccomend to my friends and followers looking for something different to read.

Rua wakes up in the middle of the woods with no sense of who she is or any memory to speak of, being called Emma. As Emma Harrington, she is supposed to be a lady of high society, returning to 1870s New York for the start of the social season with her new money parents. Her father is breaking ground on a new hotel at Central Park south with his two business partners, the lord of donore and the head of the Fitzgerald family, the former of whom she meets in a chance encounter and instantly forms a connection to. Navigating society with a brash nature she must fend off her societal peers’ speculations while also dealing with visions of a past she doesn’t remember that further entangled her with the young lord.

I could not put this down but was left at the end with a slight bit of disappointment. I wish that the lords background was discussed at least in his POV chapters a bit more, and wish there was an epilogue at least discussing where they went at the end for closure. I also think that Mara’s character had been fleshed out a tad more to set up the final bit, and am so confused about the lack of in book publicity around all the scandal. Overall, it was really good, I just didn’t like the ending.