Robyn has become engaged to Prince Edward, but problems exist for the duo. His family believes she is beneath him and wants their relationship to end. Meanwhile, aristocratic men want her killed as a witch, jailed for betting on the wrong side, or seek sex with her. Though a kind nurturing soul to all she meets, the noble female spouses want her dead. With reality intruding on history classes and romantic images, Robyn feels happy about her life, but would not mind returning to fast food California.

This is an engaging time travel romance that is clearly for fans of the series. New readers will feel more displaced than Robyn did when she first appeared in 1461. Robyn is a pragmatic and delightful lead protagonist and the rest of the ensemble either provides insight into her or the chaotic era. Fans of R. Garcia Y Robertson will enjoy the latest entry, as it is a fun tale.

No one could ever guess Victoria harbors romantic fantasies of being rescued by a dashing knight in shining armor and on a white horse, and she would never admit it to anyone-especially not her boss, H. Walter or her critical but totally dependent and man-hungry aunt Crystal. Walter would no doubt rub it in and Crystal would only harp on her niece's lack of the looks and style that could attract the sort of man of which she daydreams. Thus, Victoria is intelligent and grounded enough to enjoy the fantasy for what it is-a dream that can never be realized.

But then again, being the efficient personal assistant of a medieval addict with his head in the clouds and hopes of renovating a recently purchased ancient English castle may have its perks after all.

H. Walter Harrington IV is a successful tycoon, who splurges almost as much money indulging his favorite pastime sponsoring an annual Medieval Fair, as he donates to charity. He's a stubborn man, used to getting his way and the only person who's ever said "no" to him is Victoria...that is until Walter asks her to cancel all his appointments for three weeks and accompany him on a trip to England.

Against her better judgment and every instinct that tells her Walter is wasting more time and money on the ruins that were once Castle Avondel, Victoria agrees to go.

It is a decision that she soon regrets, especially once she has the living daylights scared out of her when, through the magic of the Thistlewaite Travel Agency, its bizarre proprietor Tobias and Merlin's stone, she and Walter are whisked through time and space to 13th Century England.

Walter is on a mission to secure Aethelwyn's amulet, and thereby restore the ruined Avondel to its former glory. Simple and as a matter-of-fact as taking a trip to Disney World for H. Walter. More complicated and nerve-racking than juggling Walter and Crystal's business and social schedules put together for Victoria.

Capable and independent in her own place and time; Victoria is suddenly afraid and at a loss thrust in 1274. She's more importantly upset that Walter has taken her wishes for granted, usurped her belief in good old fashioned logic only to replace it with his talk of magic, time travel, wizards and finally meeting the lord and lady of Avondel.

Unfortunately, Walter and Victoria have landed at Avondel ten years after the siege of the castle has occurred. And when Walter is soon abducted by neighboring landowner, Sir Ranulf of Darkvale, the intrigue and danger really begins.

Alone in the Age of Chivalry where women are worshipped but nonetheless still considered property and the weaker sex, Victoria has to figure out how to rescue Walter. Armed with walking-around gold from Walter, a Swiss Army knife and a veritable 20th Century medicine cabinet in her purse sets off to do just this. Now if she could only be sure she had that Snickers packed at the bottom of her purse.

Enter Sir Perceval (aka Sir Gareth) a dingy drunken knight in dented rusty armor. Not exactly Victoria's dream come true, but she decides he'll do in a pinch.

Sworn to avenge the slaughter of his parents, the enslavement of his young sister, the destruction of his childhood home, and reclaim his birthright Sir Gareth of Avondel is on a mission of his own. He will stop at nothing to see it through-from entering a jousting match in disguise and an assumed identity right under the nose of his sworn enemy, or lying to the bold and strange woman who challenges his very intellect and titillates his desires.

Kay has a wonderful feeling of place and setting and writes with authority and a wry sense of humor clearly exhibited in her portrayals of Victoria's resourceful damsel not-so-in-distress and Gareth's chauvinist with a conscience and soft heart for his lady. Kay has created a hero and heroine with unmistakable chemistry, leading an engaging cast of sub-plot characters and the driving force behind a multi-leveled love story.

Despite the fact that I generally do not like books that take place in the Old West, The Desperado still managed to pull me in from the first page, and hold my attention until the end. I read the book in just two sittings, and I am not a fast reader.

I instantly liked the character Willow. She is the heroine of the story. The main female character in romances is always referred to as the heroine, even if she is weak and unheroic. Willow is a heroine in the truest sense of the word. She knows how to fend for herself, and can save the day without the aid of a male. I love stories where females can kick major butt, and this is one of them.

Another thing that made this book so good were the intricate details that the author included throughout the book about the characters and the settings. Some of these details are so small that you might not even notice them, but if you do notice them, you will find that the author gives them a very nice payoff by the end. I do not want to mention specifics, since it will give too much of the plot away, but it is little details such as these that makes the reader realize how much thought Ms. Rosemoor put in to this book before she wrote it.

I have read romance novels which seem like they were written in a few days, and have recycled their plots from other books. Not surprisingly, those books lack depth and originality. The Desperado is not like that. It works on more than one level, because of the intricate details, but also because of the depth of its characters. In most romance novels, the hero and the heroine are the only 3-dimensional characters, and the other characters in the book are stereotypes and/or flat. It also seems as if you are not supposed to care that much about the secondary characters, and should be focusing your attention on the plight of the hero and heroine. With this book, that is not so. I found myself caring about some of the secondary characters, and wanting to know more about them. For example, Willow's sister Tansy.

Tansy is the character who kick starts the plot. She runs away from home, and travels back in time to the Old West. She goes to the Old West since she is obsessed with a bounty hunter named Wolf Madrid who lived back then. Willow follows her to the past, since she is worried about the girl's welfare, and also because she wants to bring her back to the future. Tansy and Wolf are both well developed throughout the book, though not as much as Willow and the hero Ryder. By the end, I was itching to know more about Tansy and Wolf. They are interesting, original characters, who deserve a story of their own. So, if you are reading this Ms. Rosemoor, please write a sequel about them! I bet I'm not the only reader who is dying to know more about those characters.

Ms. Rosemoor also does an amazing job with describing her settings. She must have done a lot of research for this book. It almost seems as if she herself traveled back in time to New Mexico during the 1880's, and is telling the reader about what she saw there. Her vast knowledge of New Mexico's culture, in both the past and present, makes a plot which could never happen in real life seem believable.

The reason why I give this book 4 1/2 stars instead of 5 is because there were certain things about the Ryder-Willow relationship that I did not like, especially how it ended. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that I did not like Ryder, and thought he was unworthy of Willow's love. Ryder did not win me over like a romance hero is supposed to. The romance reader is supposed to admire the heroine, and is supposed to desire the hero, or at least understand why the heroine desires the hero. Ryder looks like a young Robert Redford (which makes him sound attractive, at least to me) and he tries his best to protect Willow from danger (even though in most cases she is fully capable of protecting herself), but besides that, I felt as if he didn't have much to offer her. We learn a lot about his past, and we get an idea of what kind of man he is, but besides that, his personality kind of falls flat. I felt as if Wolf Madrid was a far more interesting male character than Ryder was, which is why I will stress again, that Ms. Rosemoor should really write a book about him and Tansy!

Another reason why I would like to see a sequel, is because I became quite attached to the characters, and was sad to see the book end. I also have not found another romance book as good as this one. Out of the Timetwist books I have read so far, it is the best. I feel that if Ms. Rosemoor wrote a sequel, it could be just as good, or maybe even better! Especially since Wolf is a much more intriguing character than Ryder was, and would make a great hero.