I had high hopes for this book because so many GR folks loved it. I should have read the reviews a little more closely before getting it. Let me say up front, this is one of those occasions of a mismatched reader, not a bad book. The research is excellent and the writing fluid, but I'm not much of a romance fan and I like a little action in my stories. This book was too slow and dreamy for me. Nothing much seemed to happen for pages and pages and pages. It's a time slip novel with parallel modern and historical threads. The historical thread did have some small elements of tension, but I found the heroine mild; rarely taking action for her own or other's sake and, when she did, her decisions annoyed me. Everything came much too easily to the modern protagonist: romance, friendship, even writing (she only had to "remember" her ancestor's story and write it down!) All the "good" characters are so very, very good. No one had any faults. Two brothers who have a (very) mild sibling rivalry over the modern protagonist, shake hands and part friends. I grew up with brothers brawling (literally) and my husband (in spite of an older brother) considers himself an only child. Where there's testosterone and a female there are sparks, physical and/or emotional. I'm not saying that brothers can't get along, that neighbors can't be good, that writing can't be easy. I'm saying it makes for boring reading. Conflict and tension are the heart of character development and plot. There just wasn't enough to make this a compelling story for me. I almost stopped reading, but several people encouraged me to finish. I'm glad I did, because the ending to the historical thread almost redeemed the book...not quite because the modern thread was still boring. Therefore the third star pushing it from the "it's ok" to the "I liked it" rating, but would probably have given it 2.5 if allowed.