Review: Time Agents: Alternations

Jodi Bowersox, Time Agents: Alternations, (2025)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8962710890

Timeagents to the rescue in the Tudor court

Muriel O’Hanlan timetravels back to Henry VIII’s court, her pastries attracting the attention of the king, winning her a position as baker in his Privy Kitchen. She attracts less welcome attention from Henry, too. Anne Boleyn is not yet on the scene, but Muriel knows what happens in the future to the king’s women.

She also attracts the eye of one of his archers, Nicholas Kent.

And there’s the timetraveler’s conundrum. What might she do that would change history? And if she did, would it be a good thing? History gets twisted in big ways, and Muriel needs to set it right again. Oliver, a former love from a past/future life, comes to the rescue.

This novel portrays Tudor courtly life evocatively, and the Setting is well described. There are some interesting and witty factoids. Muriel remarks upon the paucity of names among the palace cooks, referring to ‘the third Stephen and the second Richard’. The king’s food has to be ‘assayed’ before it is served. I like how Muriel has to come up with a ‘badge’ and a ‘motto’ to delineate her 16^th C identity.

Muriel is a compelling protagonist, and the other characters are interesting, but I had some problems with the Voice and the historicity. Servants referring to the king familiarly as ‘Henry’, the king walking into the kitchens (as if he would have done that). I couldn’t tell whether she was flirting with Henry or avoiding his advances. Nicholas Kent comes in as a POV character, which is strange.

This is Book 3 in the series, and it assumes you’ve read Books 1 and 2 and already know the mechanics behind her timetravel and the backstory of her loves and escapades in past/future timelines. What happened between her and Oliver in Cripple Creek is never really explained.

When the Time Agents come ‘back’ to rescue Muriel and rescue the timeline from the alterations she has caused, the Plot gets interesting and exciting.