Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready

Art historian Campbell Stratford is about to make a name for herself with her scandalously sexy tell-all “fictographies” of famous seventeenth-century artists, but she’s more iintimately familiar with her subjects than her eager readers can imagine. Thanks to a time portal she accidentally discovered, she has caused quite a stir in the Great Beyond. To save their reputations, the Guild protecting dead artists convinces playboy Peter Lely, portraitist to the king, to sabotage Cam’s latest project. A few hours posing on Sir Peter’s modeling chaise leads to a night of seductive passion—then Cam returns home and discovers his betrayal. But before she can turn her angry pen on her lover, Sir Peter makes a surprise visit to the future and transforms Cam’s twenty-first-century life into chaos of classic proportions. [via GoodReads]

I've never really read a time travel romance and I think Ms. Cready has opened my eyes to a whole new genre. I really like the way the time travel bit is done in this story. I think there was good development when it came to both the 17th century and the present time. I never found myself confused or disoriented as to what time frame I was in. I'm sure there was a lot of homework done by Ms. Cready to accomplish that with such vivid details.

I have to admit that it had a slow start for me but once Cam is swept away into the 17th century and Peter is in the picture... well, needless to say, it picked up rather quickly after that. There were some very funny moments scattered throughout that not only brought a smile to my face but more than once had me laughing out loud. From Cam's zany antics trying to text message and get enough bars to make a call on her iPhone to her use of names that were definitely not recognized in the 17th century (i.e. Antonio Banderas, Katie Holmes, etc.)

This was a fast-paced romance with plenty of drama, mystery and comedy all wrapped up within that uber cute cover (love the shoes). Not to mention there was that age-old struggle in choosing happiness over ambition. All in all, it was a fun, sexy romp that I found very entertaining.

As a side note, there's this fantastic scene where Cam plays Peter's muse that was utterly steamy and toe-curl worthy. le sigh. ;)

This book was provided for review by Simon & Schuster.