I was surprised at how much I liked this book. It's a romance, and I rarely read romances. It's also, however, a time-travel book, and I found the main characters quite pleasant to read about. The story also kept my interest well enough that I read the book straight through in one sitting. In 1999, Abigail Reed is the glamorous editor of a glamorous woman's magazine in the big city. She's engaged, but her wedding has been unexpectedly postponed at the last moment, which is just as well, since she's having second thoughts. Having already arranged for a month off from work for a honeymoon she now won't be taking, she decides, upon impulse, to drive deep into the country to visit her childhood home, in a small town that's now almost a ghost town. It was a gold-mining town, and it failed when the mines failed. A rainstorm drives her to shelter from the rain in an abandoned mine. Once in the mine, she slips, and falls, and hits her head, and awakens in 1858.

In 1858, Matthias Gilchrist is a carpenter and bookbinder. He too was engaged to be married, but his intended's father found a wealthier match for his daughter, and brushed aside the engagement, which had not yet been cried in church. In desperation, Matthias sets out for the goldfields, to try to make his fortune, and make it fast enough to change her father's mind. He digs a mine, and digs it deeply and well, earning the nickname "Mad Matt" for his unrelenting labor. And then, one day, he finds a strange woman in his mine....

There are other likable characters in both times. Henry, Matthias' partner, is a temperance advocate who, when not working their claim, makes and sells lemonade to the other miners. Zachary, Abbie's cousin, is a resourceful and witty landscape painter who controls his Type 1 diabetes very well. Even Jemima, Matthias' former fiancee, despite being such a dutiful daughter, turns out to be spunky and resilient in the end.

Four stars, not five, because on LibraryThing I only give five stars to books I have read and reread. But I did like the book. I received a free copy from the author, who did not even ask me to review the book; I just liked it enough to want to do so. ( )