Outshine (House of Oak #5)

TIME TRAVEL/HISTORICAL:  “Time is not a river. It is a vast cosmic sea, where each life exists as rippling circles on its surface.” Daniel Ashton, Lord Whitmoor, desperately needs someone to provide a solution to his catastrophic conundrum. Computers won’t be developed for another two hundred years so he needs to find a mathematician to undo the mistakes he made. These mistakes threaten time itself and have caused a rift in the dimensions. Daniel is truly desperate so he publishes a theorem copied from Foster Lovejoy in hopes of getting a response. Fossi Lovejoy is an oddity. She is brilliant but undervalued, and exists in her pastor father's home where in secret she works on mathematical equations. One day, she overhears her sisters talking about how she is a burden to them. She feels destined to be the unwanted spinster until Lord Daniel Whitmoor discovers her. He gives her hope and an opportunity to use her mathematical genius.

Brilliant! "Outshine" is a well-crafted, richly imaginative historical romance with a female protagonist you can’t help but love and admire. Fossi never dwells on what she could have had, but makes the best of what she has. There are many memorable characters here and the settings in old England and the mystery of time travel elevate this story of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness from excellent to unforgettable. The dialogue is crisp and fresh, and the mathematical language and jokes were also a pleasure to read. 

L. Kane