Book Review: MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY by Rachel Harris

Tomorrow, A TALE OF TWO CENTURIES by Rachel Harris will be released, and I'm so excited about it!! - But I realized that I never actually posted my review to the first book in the series, MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY. And I should do that first, right?

Cat Crawford has spent her life trying to stay out of the spotlight created by her tabloid-fodder mother. The last thing she wants is an extravagant, televised, Sweet Sixteen gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So when her curiosity on a family vacation to Florence, Italy lands her in the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, she's happy to escape reality for a while. Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But life in Renaissance Italy is a bit too constricting for a modern girl. And when the much-older Niccolo sets his sights on her, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted and totally creepy suitor. 

I absolutely ADORED this book! I'm always a bit of a sucker for time travel, and I loved the way Cat came to know herself more fully as she got to know her ancestors personally. I totally fell in love with Lorenzo right from the start. I picked up this book after a particularly stressful week, because I needed something fun to read while my daughter was in an early-morning planning meeting for her youth group. I figured I'd read while waiting for her, and then I'd go home and go back to bed. But I was so engrossed in the story that I couldn't put it down. I didn't even want to stop reading long enough for the ten-minute drive back home when my daughter's meeting was over! I tossed my plans to nap out the window and kept right on reading, and by the time I was finished an hour or two later, I felt great! Better than a nap, this book was like taking a mini-vacation. 

The only part I didn't like about this book was waiting months to read the sequel, A TALE OF TWO CENTURIES. But you're in luck! You don't have to wait, because book two comes out tomorrow!!! (Happy dance) - See? I knew there was a reason I postponed this review. I was just thinking of you guys. ;)