My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, #1)

by Rachel Harris

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family's trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits ...right into Renaissance Firenze. Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore. Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

Reviewed by Ashley on

4 of 5 stars

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Nose Graze — Book reviews & blogging tips

This book was SO much fun! I started reading it at like 10pm and read straight until 2am! I did not want to put this baby down.

I think one of the things that made My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century so much fun for me was the fact that I'm getting married in Florence. It was just fun to read a romance (though the romance wasn't actually the focus) that takes place in Italy! I'm not normally one for historical books unless they're: ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek/Rome. This was pretty close, and I ended up adoring all the historical elements. It really felt like Rachel Harris did her research (not that I know much about sixteenth century Italy, but it all sounded legit!).

I loved all the comparisons to modern day. It was interesting to see how vastly Cat and Alessandra's worlds differed.

For some reason I expected the romance to be the focus of the story, but it wasn't. And I think that's mostly a good thing, because I ended up really loving how the story unfolded. It was more about dealing with some family problems, with some romance on the side. I think the one thing that disappointed me was how the romance didn't quite feel resolved at the end. I think I expected something else to happen, but Cat was just abruptly cut off from Lorenzo and went home.. and that was that. I didn't feel fully satisfied with the romance side of things.

But I loved all the characters and how they all felt different and unique. Alessandra was definitely one of my favourites, which is why I'm now super pumped to read A Tale of Two Centuries!.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 27 March, 2014: Finished reading
  • 27 March, 2014: Reviewed