Portobello Book Blog

I am not a huge fan of fantasy books, with the exception of Narnia, Harry Potter and Terry Pratchett. I much prefer my books to be based firmly in reality. But a couple of years ago I came across A Stitch in Time and really enjoyed it. So I was very pleased to see that Amanda James has written this sequel where we get to meet Sarah Yates and John Needler again. Sarah is a stitch, a time traveller who goes into the past to sew holes and save a life. For every life she saves, two more are saved. Stitches are supposed to save three people, which works out as nine lives altogether hence the phrase a stitch in time saves nine. John is a Needle – he finds stitches and send them on their missions. In the first book, Sarah and John fall in love, completely against the rules, and at the beginning of Cross Stitch we join them on their wedding day.

The wedding day isn’t as happy as you might hope though as Sarah is unexpectedly whisked back in time. Usually, a stitch knows about a mission in advance. In this book, a complication means that Sarah is taken back in time several times. She meets Veronica Ratchet a school teacher, who is a wonderful character and just as spiky and crotchety as her name suggests! She is also a stitch, although a reluctant one when we first meet her in Southampton in 1939. It is unusual for two stitches to be together and this causes problems – a cross stitch! I enjoyed getting to know more about Sarah and John’s families this time, especially John’s kind and wise dad Harry.

I really enjoyed Cross Stitch – it was entertaining, light hearted and funny. Sarah and John feel like real people, despite their time-travelling abilities and their love for each other shines through. There is a rocky patch in the middle of the story where I was a bit worried for them but I needn’t have worried. As with all ChocLit novels, this book left me with a happy smile on my face and a hope that Amanda James is planning a third in her time traveller series.

My thanks to publishers ChocLit for approving me to read a copy via NetGalley. Cross Stitch will be published in paperback on 7th November but is available as an e-book now. You can order a copy here: Cross Stitch

Book description

A stitch in time may save nine but a cross-stitch spells disaster. It should be the happiest day of her life. Despite past heartache, Sarah Yates is finally marrying her true love, John Needler. But Sarah and John can’t pretend they’re an ordinary couple. They’re time travellers and where time travel is involved, nothing runs smoothly. One minute Sarah is saying her vows and the next she is hurtled back in time to a country that is on the cusp of war, and into the company of the bad-tempered Veronica Ratchet.