carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

This was a wonderful story! I have to admit that I was probably first drawn to this book by its lovely cover. Isn't it gorgeous? I also loved the idea of a book set in a little shop but once I knew that the story had an element of time-travel, I knew that I had to read this book. I was completely captivated by this book and couldn't wait to see how everything would work out.

Xanthe and her mother, Flora, are starting over. They have bought an antique shop that they will be opening to the public as soon as possible. Xanthe is particularly suited for this kind of work because she has a very handy special ability. Xanthe is called to certain objects and intuitively knows the history of the items that speak to her. Xanthe sees a chatelaine at an auction and that purchase will end up taking her on quite the adventure.

The chatelaine is tied to a young girl from the seventeenth century. The girl's mother is a ghost in Xanthe's present day and she insists that Xanthe go back in time to make things right for her Alice. I had a great time watching Xanthe trying to navigate the past and solve the mystery of what really happened with Alice. While in the past, she is able to help Samual with a project he is working on and he helps her work to save Alice.

I believe that this was the first time that I have had the chance to listen to Marisa Calin's narration and I thought she did a fantastic job with this book. There is a lot of emotion in this story and I thought that she really brought it out through her narration. The voices that she used were very distinct and I thought that the dialogue in the story flowed nicely. This was a book that I found myself wanting to listen to for hours at a time.

I would highly recommend this book to others. The ending was a little bittersweet but since it is the first book in a series, I have a feeling that there will be more developments in future novels. I had a fantastic time with this book and cannot wait to get my hands on future books in the series.

I received a digital review copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library via Overdrive.

Initial Thoughts
Such a wonderful time travel novel! There is some romance but it isn't all romance. I really liked the fact that the main goal was to solve a problem. I loved the characters and liked the fact that their motivations made sense. I thought that the ending was a little bittersweet but works to get me excited about the next book in the series. I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrator did a great job with the story.