Tracy Hill, the heroine of Kathleen Kane's This Time for Keeps, has the worst luck. In 1998, she is prematurely killed by a bowling-ball accident while on a date. Through the centuries, she has been killed eight times; each was a freak accident involving the man she loved. Tired of this endless pattern, she makes a deal with the Resettlement Committee in an attempt to ensure a better outcome in her next life. Tracy bargains for wealth and health, but there's no chance for love. She also asks to keep the memories of her past lives: "If you can't guarantee that I won't fall in love, the least you can do is to let me remember why I shouldn't," she implores. The Committee sends Tracy into the body of a woman living on a Montana ranch in 1875. When she meets the blue-eyed foreman, Seth Murdoch, she is happy to find that she isn't attracted to the rugged cowboy type--at least at first. Sparks develop between them, causing Tracy to have some very unsettling dreams regarding the man she has loved throughout time. Try as they might, Tracy and Seth are unable to deny the desire they have for each other. The two must decide if they dare take a chance on love. For both it is a big gamble, but the outcome is worth the ride. It is fun to watch Tracy, a modern Los Angeles woman, struggle with 1800s Montana, and Seth's reaction to the modern Tracy is just as entertaining. Kane has delivered a novel with enough twists to keep the angels enthralled, if they're watching.


From Publishers Weekly
For Tracy Hill, it happens every time: every previous life has been cut short?usually in some ignominious way (most recently by a freak bowling accident) and usually "because she was traipsing around after some man." Fed up, Tracy bargains with the heavenly Resettlement Committee for a long life spared from love's complications. The committee has other plans. In a quantum leap, Tracy awakens as ranch owner Nora Wilding in 1875 Montana, and author Kane's (A Pocketful of Paradise) inventive romantic conflict spirals through vividly captured and revealing centuries-old (previous life) memories. Begrudging the backward time warp, Nora/Tracy flippantly addresses her foreman Seth Murdoch as Clint, Roy or Kemosabe until she realizes she must entice this honorable hunk or die a virgin?again. From there on it's a lively plot of all-out seduction with Kane's witty dialogue and fine portrayal of the head-strong, hot-to-trot heroine and the equally stubborn cowboy. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
After dying disastrously eight timesAin eight previous livesATracy Hill decides that enough is enough. So when the Resettlement Committee decides that her most recent death was premature and that she needs to go back, she makes her demandsAyouth, good health, money, and, most definitely, no falling in love. But she neglects to specify a time, and when the 1990s woman ends up on an 1875 Montana ranch with a handsome cowboy in her employ, she is stunned, confused, and furious. Kane has fashioned a fiery, likable heroine who is occasionally too outspokenly modern and nothing at all like the woman whose place she has taken, a rugged hero who proves to be her predestined love, and a fast-paced plot that will eventually set things to rightsAall with a gently humorous touch. Kane (Still Close to Heaven, St. Martin's, 1997) lives in Westminster, Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Nobody can capture the essence of Americana heart and soul quite as well as Kathleen Kane."-- Affaire de Coeur

"Kathleen Kane infuses her novels with the wonderful sense of warmth and sweetness that makes you feel toasty right down to your toes."-- Romantic Times

"Ms. Kane creates all her characters with care and surrounds them with action, great dialogue and strong feelings of love."-- Rendezvous



Book Description
Love was the death of her.

Tracy Hill has lived eight lives-- all of them disastrous-- beginning in 1320 when her own knight in shining armor charged over her with his horse in the dark. Since then, it has been one freak accident after another. Now after the indignity of dying in a bowling ball accident while on a date with a cute new lawyer in her firm, Tracy Hill has had enough.

However, Heaven's "Resettlement Committee" has other plans. For her ninth life, she is promised health, wealth, and absolutely no chance at love, this time around. But they leave out one tiny, little detail: she's being sent to live in Montana, on a cattle ranch in 1875. At least they got the No More Love part right. Seth Murdoch is dangerously attractive-- if you like the rugged cowboy type. Thankfully, Tracy doesn't.

It's soon clear, though, that this thoroughly modern woman and this nineteenth-century cowboy share more than growing desire, spitfire backtalk, and nights of sleepless longing. They share a star-crossed eternity. And maybe-- just maybe-- this time around, love... and Tracy, are here to stay.



About the Author
Kathleen Kane is a native Californian whose Irish heritage long ago convinced her of life on the "Other Side." Everything from Faeries to Banshees and mournful Ghosts have fueled her imagination. Happily, at St. Martin's she is able to indulge her love of both history and the world just beyond the veil. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children, and a large, clumsy Golden Retriever. You can write to Kathleen c/o St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Tracy Hill has lived eight lives--all of them disastrous--beginning in 1320 when her own knight in shining armor charged over her with his horse in the dark. Since then, it has been one freak accident after another. Now, after the indignity of dying in a bowling ball accident while on a date with a cute new lawyer in her firm, Tracy Hill has had enough. However, Heaven's "Resettlement Committee" has other plans.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

For Tracy Hill, it happens every time: every previous life has been cut shortusually in some ignominious way (most recently by a freak bowling accident) and usually "because she was traipsing around after some man." Fed up, Tracy bargains with the heavenly Resettlement Committee for a long life spared from love's complications. The committee has other plans. In a quantum leap, Tracy awakens as ranch owner Nora Wilding in 1875 Montana, and author Kane's (A Pocketful of Paradise) inventive romantic conflict spirals through vividly captured and revealing centuries-old (previous life) memories. Begrudging the backward time warp, Nora/Tracy flippantly addresses her foreman Seth Murdoch as Clint, Roy or Kemosabe until she realizes she must entice this honorable hunk or die a virginagain. From there on it's a lively plot of all-out seduction with Kane's witty dialogue and fine portrayal of the head-strong, hot-to-trot heroine and the equally stubborn cowboy. (Apr.)

Library Journal