A Tale of Two Centuries (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, #2)

by Rachel Harris

Alessandra is bored of sixteenth-century life in Italy and longs to see her time-traveling cousin, Cat, in twenty-first century Beverly Hills, California. Everything is very different in the modern world including the boys.

Alessandra D'Angeli is tired of her sixteenth-century life in Italy and homesick for her time-traveling cousin, Cat, who visited her for a magical week and dazzled her with tales of the future, Alessandra is lost. Until the stars hear her plea. One mystical spell later, Alessandra appears on Cat's Beverly Hills doorstep five hundred years in the future. Surrounded by confusing gadgets, scary transportation, and scandalous clothing, Less meets the infuriating surfer Austin Michaels. Austin challenges everything she believes in... and introduces her to a world filled with possibility.

• ISBN10: 1682814424
• ISBN13: 9781682814420
• Publish Date: 7 February 2017 (first published 6 August 2013)
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Entangled Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 310
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

A Tale of Two Centuries is even more adorable than the first book! This time, it's Cat's sixteenth century cousin, Alessandra, who goes on an epic journey through time. It's been two years since Cat returned home, so Less is now 16 and ripe for marriage. Unfortunately, the man she is in love with and assumes returns her affections, marries another woman. In the midst of her heartbreak, Reyna appears to whisk her away to modern day Hollywood. Less appears on Cat's doorstep and learns it's only been two months in Cat's time, so her journey is still fresh. Now, it's time for Less to enroll in high school, try out for a play, and fall in love with the insufferable surfer in her American Government class.

I loved how different A Tale of Two Centuries felt from My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century. Alessandra has a very unique voice. She speaks extremely proper, so it felt like reading Historical Fiction, which I adored. But as time moves on, she adapts her language to fit into modern times. She goes from Miss Prim and Proper, who doesn't use contractions, show her elbows, or stand up for herself to Miss Independent! While the first book was more focused on a personal journey, this one is more about the romance. Less does do a lot of growing, but a lot of her time in the future revolves around her budding relationship with Austin. I liked them very much!

Just like the first book, A Tale of Two Centuries gets a bit cheesy at the end, but it's so cute! I loved watching Less change into the young woman she wished to be in her own time, but couldn't. I loved the romance, and how Austin is the one responsible for coaxing her out of her shell. And I adored Cat's background plot, which is another romance and her worrying about her mother's next scandal. Now, I must immediately move onto My Not So Super Sweet Life!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Kim Deister]

My Review: As much as I enjoyed the first book in this series, My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, I think I loved this one even more! This installment focused in Alessandra, Cat's "cousin" from 16th century Florence, Italy. Less dreams of a life of less restriction and more freedom, something that is hard to come by in her own era. Through a touch of gypsy magic, she skips forward to visit her cousin Cat and to find her own answers in the future. A future that contains a swoon-worthy boyfriend in the form of bad-boy Austin.

In reality, we have not one, but two, swoon-worthy Book Boyfriends in this book. Lucas, whom we met in the first novel, hopes to become Cat's modern-day Lorenzo and he is all that one could want in a romantic hero. And then there is Austin, the epitome of the bad boy, but one with a lot more depth than most would give him credit for. He has been hurt and it has damaged him. In a lot of ways, this novel isn't just the story of Alessandra, but Austin's and Cat's as well.

Less is thoroughly endearing and a lot more complex than we knew from the first book. She has spent her entire life behaving as she was expected to, with little thought to her own dreams. In her heart, she was a bit of a rebel in the 16th century and frustrated with that. Her journey was about letting go and being strong, recognizing her own dreams and wishes and accepting that it is okay to pursue them. That is a pretty universal journey, and one I related to as a reader. I think that is the underlying thing about this series that draws me in... the universal themes and struggles that we all experience in some form or another in our own lives. These characters are rather deep, something that I really love. Less' inner dialogue as she grows from the shy and prim Renaissance girl to the confident girl she becomes is often very wise.

I am not generally a "sweet romance" or "time travel" kind of girl, but these books are so engaging that is impossible for me not to love them. The romance is there, sure, but the story itself is so engaging and the humor is hilarious. One of my favorite book lines of all time came from the first book, and this one was no less hilarious. As for the time travelling, it is done so well. Placing a 16th century girl in contemporary Hollywood is a culture shock, to say the least, and the results are often hysterical! She sees the world through 16th century eyes and that new perspective is fabulous for the reader.

Some Quotastic Goodness

On encountering a taxi for the first time...

--Determined not to give way to feelings of desertion, I stare at the door and wait for the coachman to come around and help me in. When he merely settles deeper into his seat and a footman fails to appear, I realize he expects me to get in by myself (Loc. 401).

On trying to pay for a taxi...

--I am certain that I do not have any bucks on my person as even one such animal would hardly fit in the carriage with us, but perhaps fate has left me with something (Loc. 435).

On discovering indoor plumbing...

--Truly, out of all the modern inventions I have encountered thus far and wish I could bring back with me, the glass box shower is my favorite— even better than the marvelous toilet (Loc. 669).

On public displays of affection...

--Several couples openly engage in scandalous embraces, and exposed skin is everywhere (Loc. 694).

On discovering the "bikini"...

--I cautiously take down a pink bikini and hold it against me. Fear and an intense loathing for the man who created this form of clothing churn in my stomach (Loc. 1782).

A little bit of swoon...

My first kiss is not the slow, sweet build-up I witnessed between Cat and Lorenzo. This is aggressive. This is passionate (Loc. 2444).

Some wisdom...

--I am not without fear, but courage is taking action despite the fear. Knowing what you want, what you are meant to do, and proceeding despite any knots in your stomach or rocks stuck in your throat. It is walking boldly into the unknown with your chin held high… even if it quivers (Loc. 3725.

--True happiness is something we create ourselves with our own choices: whom we want to be with, whom we let into our worlds, and how we choose to spend what little time we are given in this world (Loc. 3916).

My Recommendation: This is a fabulous read! The deep moments will pull you in and the humor will keep you there!

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Book reviews & blogging tips

The first thing I loved about A Tale of Two Centuries was how different it felt from My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century. Alessandra's voice felt SO different from Cat's (which is a great thing, because they're from two different centuries! :P ). That really made her character feel real and genuine. I love how proper she spoke, it made her sound so cute, LOL!

But beyond that, I love how A Tale of Two Centuries had a bigger focus on the romance. That was something I yearned for more of in the first book, and my hopes were fulfilled in this book! I love how Austin and Alessandra started out as complete opposites, but at the end they kind of met at a middle ground. It was so interesting! I think my one criticism is that Austin often acted older than 16. Some of his lines and seductiveness made him feel more like 18 or 19. I LIKED that seductive, cocky behaviour, but it didn't feel quite in line with a 16 year old.

I think the one thing I was disappointed with was how there were big periods of time where Alessandra didn't confide in Cat. I always saw them as such close best friends, so to see Alessandra hiding things from Cat (mainly her crush on Austin) made me sad!

But best of all, A Tale of Two Centuries ended brilliantly. There was a while when I was genuinely completely unsure how it would end.. and I loved being unsure! I certainly hoped that Alessandra would be able to stay in the 21st century, but I wasn't sure if that would really happen, especially since she'd never see her family again! But I'm so glad it turned out that way because I would have been kind of mad if yet another romance was destroyed by the time traveling. I'm still mad that nothing really happened with Cat and Lorenzo since they got stuck in different centuries. :P

Overall, A Tale of Two Centuries was fun, different, but still had the same charm as the first book. You're guaranteed to love it if you enjoyed the first one!

[bookishzelda]

Okay so I loved the first book in the series, so I was super excited to read book two. There is always that concern the second book won’t be as good as one or three since it’s the middle child.. Definitely no concern here, I think I might love this book even more, which is difficult to do.

I felt like it would be hard to take Alessandra and plop her into modern times, even more so than it was to take Cat and put her in the past. With Cat Rachel was able to keep her voice modern; with Alessandra she had to think like a sixteenth century girl. She absolutely pulls it off.

I love the characters that Rachel creates in her books. They have so much depth and you can see them change and grow. Less starts of a little more timid and tries to fit into the society that she was born into. It’s not easy being a girl in the sixteenth century. She has this flame that burns inside her though of passion and yearning for something more. She wants change but she is also hesitant to grasp it. I loved seeing how she molded into the Less she is supposed to be.

I love Austin, oh my goodness do I love that boy. He is such delectable character. I loved how he kind of had a little hate for Alessandra in the beginning. I really enjoyed the banter between the two of them. It’s easy to spew things at someone you can’t stand but not so easy when you get butterflies in your stomach every time you speak to them. Austin has this way of challenging Less that makes him even more swoon worthy. Who doesn’t love the cute brooding guy that actually has a soft heart underneath it? I could probably go on and on about my love for the dashing Austin.

We see a good amount of Cat in the book as well. I’m always leery of including a character from a previous book when I’m no longer in their head. I’m curious about what has happened to them ya but I just get weird about it. I found myself reabsorbed into Cat’s life again. This book is very much based around Less but I’m happy to say that I loved continuing to read about Cat too. It was the perfect mix.

Rachel has a true strength in creating rich characters and I’m not just talking about the swoonable guys. Although I do love you boys...Austin, Luke and Lorenzo. There is also a great plot with this series. I love the idea of time traveling with the help of gypsy magic. Reyna may be the same in both books, but the experiences of the girls is unique to them. The series is a great read that makes you smile and swoon. I’m not sure how much more I can gush about it but I could probably go on all day. So pick it up!!