My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

Disclaimer: I bought this book to read to give it an honest opinion!

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

Author: Rachel Harris
Pages:304
Published: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Overview
On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother-to-be 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?


My Review
Cat is off to Italy with her father and stepmother for a sweet sixteen party. Cat seems to be not so happy that her stepmother is throwing this party but at the same time she is glad she's going to Italy. She loves the arts and Italy is the place to see it all. She somehow manages to get some time to herself away from her father and stepmother by going on a tour. She then ends up being curious of a gypsy tent and then somehow is transformed back in time!

Her reaction was not scared but was pretty stroked about being back in time. It was neat that Cat could actually understand the language and speak it. Although her adjusting to the customs of 16th century was interesting to see. The other characters from the 16th century seemed to think the way Cat talked was just how it was in London. There was not so much shock geared towards Cat. Cat did have an adventure and she learned some lessons as well.

She meets Alessandra from the 16th century who becomes her friend and manages to tell her that she is really from the future. I loved how Alessandra was pretty accommodating to her along with being fascinated of the future. She is a good character. Somehow she ends up being more important than you think.

Of course romance! Lorenzo oozed with being a perfect guy for Cat. He was also an artist. He came off to be as a swoon worthy guy even with his awkward moments. I was glad to see how Lorenzo and Cat reacted to each other. Does Cat get Lorenzo?

Something triggers Cat to realize she must get back to her time. Will she be able to? Will the gypsy lady show up again? What will happen? Overall the story is a great, whimsical and fun read. If you like time traveling and quick reads, this book is great! The ending I must say is not what I expected and I can't wait for more!



Cover Rating: A
Story Rating: B


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Author Signing!

Around 4 pm yesterday I was checking out twitter and I spied a tweet from Libba Bray saying that she and the author Maggie Stiefvater were going to talk about their books at a bookstore in Glenview, IL called The BookMarket!

Here is the tweet:

"@mstiefvater & I will be shaking things up tonight at Barbara's Bookstore in Glenview, IL, 7PM. That's TONIGHT, peeps! #Diviners #ravenboys"

So I texted my husband to tell him that there was an author signing yesterday. He said I should go. I looked it up to see how far it was exactly. It estimated about 50 minutes. Well I knew where Glenview was considering I had been in that area years ago when I had two friends living out there. I thought to myself 'Well I could get there but not on exact time considering when my husband gets home and got to feed the kids.' At first I wasn't sure but then I changed my mind and gave it a go. Hubby comes home, dinner is served and then my kids want my attention as usual.

I got in the car and grabbed the gps with me, just in case. It was dark, raining on and off in various areas. Once I got to the one road I knew of, I was totally fine. Although the gps was trying to take me a different way. I don't know which way was faster - I'm assuming they were both the same.

Found the store as the picture is shot from up above! The store itself was great. Nice selection of books everywhere for everyone! I liked that store. The event started at 7 pm and I arrived at around 730ish or so..Both authors were chatting and reading about their books as I kind of waited a bit until they got done to go inside to get Libba Bray's The Diviners signed! There was about 10-15 people there. This was my first time going to an author event! Very cool.

Both authors took their time signing and answering questions along with chatter. You can see the photo up above. It was great to see that. I like how authors take their time to get to know their readers and what kind of readers to they have! I believe that the readers ranged from teens to adults buying both books. I just ended up purchasing Libba Bray's book because it was very interesting. I have read her "Great and Terrible Beauty" series which I loved.

It was my turn to get my book signed. I told her name and then mentioned that it does have an H at the end. People always ask how do I spell my first name with or without an H. We chatted and she was great! I asked her how long it takes her to write and she replied. It was great to get that insight on how long the process takes authors to complete their novels! Thank you Libba!

I also got to snag some buttons and a necklace related to Libba Bray's new book! It was pretty neat. (See photo up above)

I had fun and will be on the look out for future book signings to go to! Both author's website links are below, follow them!

Libba Bray Website

Twitter name: @libbabray

Maggie Stiefvater Website

Twitter name: @mstiefvater