A Tale of Two Centuries by Rachel Harris

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.

Reviewed by bookishzelda on

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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!!

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  • Started reading
  • 20 July, 2013: Finished reading
  • 20 July, 2013: Reviewed