break inRating: 3.75 stars
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Length: Short Story


The Break-In follows the events of the time travel romance, The Applicant. The basic premise of this story is something that is revealed in the first book, so this review will have spoilers for that story.

Ten years ago, when he was a young scientist, Forbes Pohle had a visit from the future in the form of his future lover, Oliver Lennox. Oliver told Forbes that ultimately the two of them get together, and that he was in fact sent back in time by future Forbes himself. Before he left, Oliver warned Forbes that they would meet again twice. The first time, they would be separated for years and Oliver would go through some dark times before the two ultimately meet again and begin their relationship. Oliver asked Forbes to do everything he could to ensure that Oliver stayed when they first meet, that Forbes show Oliver the love they can have and make sure the two remain together instead of separating.

So Forbes has been waiting, not so patiently, for Oliver to arrive back in his life. When he finally shows up after ten years, it is to break into Forbes’ lab with a gang of thieves and try to steal his robotics technology for Forbes’ rival. Now Forbes has to find a way to both stop the theft, and to convince this young, troubled man that there is a future for the two of them, if only he would take a chance on Forbes’ love.

I recently read and reviewed The Applicant and was totally delighted by the fun and sweet time travel romance. So I was excited to see that Ladnier had a follow up that focuses on a pivotal event between the two men that we learn about in the first book. While in the first story, Oliver is the one who knows all about the future for these men, this time Forbes is the one who must take the lead. He knows that he and Oliver are meant to be together, and he also knows that he must convince this young Oliver about time travel, their ultimate relationship, and most of all, to take a chance on Forbes. It is a great way to follow up the first story and I loved how things come full circle here.

This is a short story and I did wish for more time with Forbes and Oliver together. Like the first story, these guys jump into “sex during crisis” early on, but I wished for more time to see them actually connecting emotionally. A lot of the story felt like it was taken up with the events of the actual break in, watching the thieves bicker and deal with problems. If this had been a longer story, or if there was a follow up where we were going to see more about the bad guy mastermind, then this might have been more engaging. But as it was, I felt like it was taking away from our main characters in what was already a short story.

Still, I found this one to be a fun follow up to The Applicant. If you read that first story, you are definitely going to want to see what happens when the guys meet again. And if you are a fan of time travel stories, I can certainly recommend checking these out.

Note: Just for clarity, this book was actually published by Dreamspinner Press a few years ago. The Applicant was recently re-released by Dreamspinner (it was originally published by Torquere), so while this one follows second in the series, it was actually published by them first.

A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.

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