What people are saying about Tangled Memories

Tangled tale of romance, fantasy

Jan Scarbrough's Tangled Memories isn't just your typical romance novel. On the surface exists the love story, which satisfies readers despite being a bit formulaic. Kindergarten teacher Mary, once scorned by love, weds the brooding Alex in a marriage of convenience. Of course, the two ultimately find true love. However, Scarbrough pleasantly surprises readers with an unexpected plot twist full of fantasy, intrigue, and time travel. Scarbrough pulls readers from the present to the past and back again swiftly as Mary's newfound love with Alex connects her with a soul mate from her past life.

Although her flashbacks are a bit trite (the room spins and Mary is engulfed by darkness more than once), the novel's originality speaks volumes for Scarbrough's talents. Tangled Memories blends the best of contemporary romance with elements of the Gothic style, creating a piece that entertains and surprises all the way to the end.

Elly Gilbert
Kentucky Monthly
March 2002

Harriet Klausner review
Mary Adams was a widow for only a short time when she married Dr. Alexander Dominican so she could act as a mother to his child. His wife died recently as well from cancer but before her death they saved the child's life by doing a cesarean section. In return for marrying Alex, he would pay off the fifty thousand in debts her late husband left behind when he died.

Mary moves into Marchbrook Manor, a medieval house in the heart of Kentucky. Once she steps through the door, strange things begin happening to her. She has visions of a medieval woman and her husband, a great lord in England of 1327. In addition to her visions someone in the house is trying to drive Mary away by playing cruel and malicious tricks on her. When she tells Alex about the incidents he doesn't believe her, which hurts Mary a great deal because she has come to love him.

TANGLED MEMORIES is a wonderful gothic romance complete with a foreboding castle, a helpful housekeeper, strange visions, and an insane antagonist. Told in the first person from Mary's point of view, readers feel the same fears that the heroine experiences. Jan Scarbrough has written a modern day gothic that will delight fans of this growing sub genre.

What other authors say:

Jane Toombs:
"Not only gothic lovers will find this a marvelous and rewarding read - any reader who enjoys suspense mixed with romance won't be able to put this book down."

Patricia Kay:
"Lush, vivid writing. Tone, style and voice are all original and quite wonderful. The mood is nicely maintained, with just enough brooding suspense and Gothic overtones. Reminiscent of Mary Stewart."

Teresa Medeiros:
"Jan Scarbrough gives romantic suspense a fresh twist in her compelling first novel Tangled Memories. Her strong, provocative voice is one I look forward to reading more of in the future."