HaBO: Heroine Travels Through Time While on a Work Assignment

Help A Bitch Out

This HaBO comes from Brittany, who wants to find this time travel romance:

It starts off with the protagonist, who I’m pretty sure was in the field of archeology or anthropology…maybe architecture, being somewhat unhappy/apathetic about her life at that point. Her parents wanted her to marry this guy, and she was either unsure or didn’t want to.

She goes on some sort of overseas work trip/field trip with colleagues.

Something happens plot-wise, and suddenly the protagonist wakes up… in a cave i think? Out in the wilderness essentially.

She ends up getting captured by men on horseback and taken to a war camp (no buildings, just tents), and put in an enclosure with other captive women. One of the women is in charge and cruel to the others, in charge of training and punishments and whatnot

If I remember correctly, all the captured women are there to be ahem “companions” for his soldiers in order to keep all the men in line. The older women in charge is cruel and abusive. Occasionally the men go through some process to decide who picks first and then they all choose a lucky lady 🙄 And since the protagonist becomes a favorite, possibly a concubine of sorts, of the leader and therefore becomes off-limits and spared from the bed partner merry-go-round, some of the other women become jealous

The warlord/army leader was fighting against some other dude with an army. I think the male lead’s father had died or something and the antagonist was trying to keep him from taking over? Idk, details are fuzzy on that part. Rather than the time travel being accidentally and a butterfly effect type of situation, I think the female protagonist was specifically meant to be there to play a specific role in the Triumph/defeat of the army, and is recorded in history? There was some sort of mysticism involved with it all

I also remember (spoiler) whatever magic took her back in time and brings her back ends up bringing her love interest to the future also. Like she’s there at dinner with her colleagues and suddenly he walks up (dressed in modern clothes I think?)

It’s frustrating because all my searches just bring up the typical historical romance settings: England, Scotland, Ireland, sometimes France. And the culture and setup of the army in this book just didn’t give off that kind of feel, I don’t think. Unless the time jump was REALLY far back. I don’t recall any references to historical figures that I’m familiar with, or modern weaponry like guns or cannons. No mentions of Lords or lairds or other titles like that that I can remember. And the story is landlocked, doesn’t take place at sea.

Sound familiar to anyone?