Chance of a Lifetime by Jude Deveraux and Tara Sheets

Chance of a Lifetime by Jude Devereaux and Tara Sheets

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778309932

Trade paperback, $17.99, 336 pages

I'm not a big reader of time travel novels (although one of my favorite books of 2019 is Lisa Grunwald's Time After Time) but something about Jude Deveraux and Tara Sheets' novel Chance of A Lifetime called out to me.

Agon and Samael are two angels who work for the Department of Destiny. They summon the soul of Liam O'Connor, an impoverished petty thief from Ireland in 1844 who fell in love with Cora, the daughter of wealthy landowner. Cora was engaged to marry Finn Walsh, and their child was destined to help the world.

But Liam disrupted those plans when Cora fell in love with him and broke off her engagement to Finn. Because of that, "Cora's soul has never found peace, and in each new life she has been given, she has been afraid to fall in love in" with Finn and fulfill her destiny to help the world. (I hope this is not responsible for all of the problems we are having in 2020.)

The angels send Liam to Providence Falls, North Carolina in the present day where Cora is a police investigator. Finn Walsh is there too, a "reserved and somewhat stuffy" defense attorney who has a crush on Cora. But Cora is not interested in Finn.

Cora's father calls her to tell her that he has found a roommate to replace the woman moving out of Cora's apartment. His name is Liam, and he is the newest member of the police department, where he will be Cora's new partner.

If Liam wants his soul to enter heaven, he has to convince Cora to fall in love in Finn and fulfill their destiny. The only problem is, now that Liam sees Cora in the flesh again, he realizes he still has feelings for her. What if she feels the same way?

Liam has to learn all about life in the 21st century- cars, cell phones, computers, etc.- and now he is on the other side of the law, which is amusing. People he knew in 1844 Ireland are also here in Providence Falls- his fellow petty thieves, and the wealthy married woman he had an affair with is now a wealthy married woman who wants to have an affair with Liam. 

Chance of A Lifetime is the first novel in the new Providence Falls series, so the reader is introduced to the small city and all its residents. It's an enjoyable read, a cross between TV's The Good Place and Diana Galbadon's Outlander novels. Can Liam sacrifice his happiness to achieve his mission? You'll have to stay tuned, because there is no answer to that question in this novel. That may be my biggest criticism of this charming novel, it ends rather abruptly with a lot of unresolved issues. I'll happy return to Providence Falls to find out what happens next.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Women's Fiction & Romance Fall Reads Blog Tour.