Ruling Destiny by Alyson Noel (Stolen Beauty book 2)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Stealing Infinity, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“The second I stepped through the doors of Gray Wolf Academy, my world disintegrated. Here, time is malleable. It can be manipulated, shifted. Changed. And for those of us who Trip—or travel through time—the possibilities are infinite and perilous.

Now my life is caught in the secrets of everyone around me. Arthur, the eccentric billionaire who rules this school. Killian, who could be the only honest person here…or the biggest liar. And Braxton, magnetic, gorgeous, and unfathomable. The only thing I trust about him is our electric connection.

Whether we’re Tripping through Renaissance Italy or thieving from a ball in Regency England, my life’s become a web of lies and strange truths. And beneath the surface is an elaborate puzzle, filled with cryptic symbols and priceless treasures scattered across history—all somehow connected to my strange ability to see through time.

But Arthur has a dangerously ambitious agenda. And if what my dad taught me is true, I’m not just a threat to everyone at Gray Wolf

…I’m a threat to time itself.” - taken from Goodreads.

I think I have a serious case of whiplash with that love triangle. Once again, I loved the history and art aspects sprinkled throughout. And as Natasha begins to discover her true reason for being at Gray Wolf Academy, she learns who she can really trust. I didn’t realize that there would be a third book until the dwindling pages, but readers will be waiting for the next book after that cliffhanger ending.

Visit  Alyson Noel’s website.

Throwback by Maurene Goo

“Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You know what’s harder? Being the daughter of one. Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla—and has never understood her bougie-nightmare, John Hughes high school expectations. After a huge fight between them, Sam is desperate to move forward—but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.

To her shock, Sam finds herself back in high school . . . in the ’90s . . . with a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now this Gen Z girl must try to fit into an analog world. She’s got the fashion down, but everything else is baffling. What is “microfiche”? What’s with the casual racism and misogyny? And why does it feel like Priscilla is someone she could actually be . . . friends with?

Sam's blast to the past has her finding the right romance in the wrong time while questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. Will Sam figure out what she needs to do to fix things for her mom so that she can go back to a time she understands?” - taken from Goodreads.

Samantha and her mother have a contentious relationship. Things between the two of them go from bad to worse when her grandmother has a heart attack. After a failed attempt by her mother to get Sam's mind off of her grandmother, words explode between them with Sam saying she hates her mother and her mother abandoning her at the mall. Securing a ride through an app called Throwback, Sam arrives at school. She is not prepared to arrive 30 years in the past when her mother was in high school. With no foreseeable way for her to return to the present, Sam must figure out a way to solve whatever problem of her mother’s in order to go back to her time. 

Have you ever wondered what your mother was like at your age? If so, this is the book for you.

See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon

 

“Barrett Bloom is hoping college will be a fresh start after a messy high school experience. But when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. She’s humiliated by the know-it-all in her physics class, she botches her interview for the college paper, and at a party that night, she accidentally sets a frat on fire. She panics and flees, and when she realizes her roommate locked her out of their dorm, she falls asleep in the common room.

The next morning, Barrett’s perplexed to find herself back in her dorm room bed, no longer smelling of ashes and crushed dreams. It’s September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics 101, she learns she’s not alone—he’s been trapped for months.

When her attempts to fix her timeline fail, she agrees to work with Miles to find a way out. Soon they’re exploring the mysterious underbelly of the university and going on wild, romantic adventures. As they start falling for each other, they face the universe’s biggest unanswered question yet: what happens to their relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?” - taken from Goodreads.

For Barrett Bloom, September 21st was to be the start of a new life after a disastrous high school life. Her college years at the University of Washington were going to be her time to shine. Unfortunately, her day starts off on the wrong foot when she wakes up to find her high school nemesis is her roommate and just goes downhill from there. Hoping that the next day will be  better, Barrett wakes up to find that it is September 21st again.

When Miles from her first class of the day, Physics 101, confronts her about being stuck in the time loop with him, Barrett discovers she’s not alone. The two decide to work together to find their way to September 22. Can Barrett and Miles find a way out of their Groundhog Day scenario? And how many days will it take? 

Visit Rachel Lynn Solomon’s website.

How to Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

 

“Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister’s murder trial.

And in the year since Claire’s death, Alice’s life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she’s moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she is being forced to face her sister’s killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior.

Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theater star. Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist and would rather stay at home to watch her favorite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other’s best friends.

Until Claire was taken away from her.

On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it is Halloween morning a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim.” - taken from Goodreads.

Alice is a horror film buff. She is the only witness to her older sister Claire's murder in a corn maze during a Halloween party. Several people doubt that Alice saw the real murderer. One year later, just as the murder trial is about to begin, Alice is knocked unconscious in the bathroom at the courthouse. Upon waking, Alice finds herself back in time to the night of the murder with the opportunity to save her sister and to discover if she saw the correct killer.

A terrific Halloween mystery for fans of horror movies. Be warned, there are some gory scenes.

Visit Danielle Valentine’s website.

Stealing Infinity by Alyson Noel (Stolen Beauty book 1)

 

“These days, I’ve been killing it when it comes to letting people down. Now I’ve been kicked out of high school, arrested, and accepted into a remote, off-the-grid school owned and operated by an inscrutable billionaire tech guru.

Gray Wolf Academy is looking for a certain kind of student. Ones that no one will miss. Like me.

Then there’s Braxton. The beautiful, oddly anachronistic guy who showed up right when the trouble started. And he’s a total enigma—which means that I definitely can’t trust him, even if there’s something about him that makes me want to.

They all tell me I have a gift. A very rare gift. And Gray Wolf Academy wants me to learn it. To use it. Because if what they say is true, I have all the time in the world.

And that makes me the most dangerous high school student you’ll never know… “ - taken from Goodreads.

This time-traveling mystery is perfect for fans of Truly Devious or The Inheritance Games. Natasha Clarke finds her world turned upside down when she skips school with her friend Elodie to go to a club. Not remembering what happened the night before, she finds herself arrested for stealing. When the cute boy she met at the club gets her charges dropped, Natasha finds herself with an impossible choice, join the Gray Wolf Academy or be nothing.

Soon, Natasha realizes that Gray Wolf hides many secrets and that there doesn't seem to be anyone there she can truly trust. As her past and present lives, collide will Natasha be able to unravel the mysteries of her new life before it's too late?

Book two, Ruling Destiny, is due out on February 7, 2023.

Visit Alyson Noel’s website.

Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw

“Be careful of the dark, dark wood…

Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.

Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.

But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.” - taken from Goodreads.com

I was afraid that after reading a book I thoroughly enjoyed that this book would be a disappointment but I was pleasantly surprised that the story of Nora Walker and Jackjaw Lake is sucked me in quickly. I loved the entire mystery that surrounds this story and couldn't wait to get to the end to see if my theories were correct. (Somewhere and others were a shocking reveal.) I loved how the story ended and cannot wait to read more from this author. 

Visit Shea Ernshaw’s website.

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

“Stop the Magician. Steal the book. Save the future.

In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Esta is a talented thief, and she’s been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta’s training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future.

But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.” - take from Goodreads.com

This book was not near the top of my TBR pile until I read a review that raved about this book. The Last Magician confused me at first with all of the time jumps between 1900 - 1902, 1926, and the present day. Esta is able to travel through time. Her latest assignment is to go back to 1901 to acquire a book and stop the last magician. This is where the vast majority of the story takes place. Esta is able to assimilate into Dolph Saunders “gang” of people with various affinities.

Each chapter has a title that links to what is about to happen in the story. Readers are kept on their toes as they attempt to figure out who Esta is supposed to stop and how she will get the book back to the present day. The twists and jaw-dropping revelations at the end will leave readers reeling. The ending is satisfying if not open-ended. At first a stand-alone novel, the author is currently working on a second book.

Visit Lisa Maxwell’s website.

Sparks of Light by Janet B. Taylor (Into the Dim book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Into the Dim, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“For the first time in her life, Hope Walton has friends . . . and a (maybe) boyfriend. She’s a Viator, a member of a long line of time-traveling ancestors. When the Viators learn of a plan to steal a dangerous device from the inventor Nikola Tesla, only a race into the past can save the natural timeline from utter destruction. Navigating the glitterati of The Gilded Age in 1895 New York City, Hope and her crew will discover that high society can be as deadly as it is beautiful.” - taken from Goodreads.com

I read the first book in this series 18 months ago and I’ll admit, it took me awhile to get back into Hope’s world. I remembered the gist of the story but there were some details I didn’t recall until they were mentioned in the book and sometimes I still was a bit lost. I love the historical time-traveling plot but wasn’t sure what aspects of 1895 the author would touch on. Let’s just say that I was literally on the edge of my seat for about 100 pages for Hope’s escape from a situation she was forced into. The ending is a bit heartbreaking but I cannot wait to see what time period the Viators are thrust into for what seems to be a thrilling conclusion to this story.

Publication date and title of book three are unknown at this time.

Visit Janet B. Taylor’s website.

Invictus by Ryan Gaudin

“Time flies when you're plundering history.

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far's birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he's ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past.

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with knowledge that will bring Far's very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.” - taken from Goodreads.com

This book completely blew me away! I loved the Wolf By Wolf duology and this book was just as good. The reader thinks that they know where the story is going, only for Ms. Graudin to throw a well-placed loop and plotline change to drive the story even further. I loved the interaction between our main characters, the jumps through time and the mystery they are trying to solve. Readers will be quickly turning the pages to see how Invictus ends.

Visit Ryan Graudin’s website.

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig (The Girl From Everywhere book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, The Girl From Everywhere, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

Please visit the Recaptains blog if you need a refresher on the first book.

“Some things should not be stolen.”

“Nix has escaped her past, but when the person she loves most is at risk, even the daughter of a time traveler may not be able to outrun her fate—no matter where she goes.

Nix has spent her whole life journeying to places both real and imagined aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. And now it’s finally time for her to take the helm. Her father has given up his obsession to save her mother—and possibly erase Nix’s existence—and Nix’s future lies bright before her. Until she learns that she is destined to lose the one she loves. But her relationship with Kash—best friend, thief, charmer extraordinaire—is only just beginning. How can she bear to lose him? How can she bear to become as adrift and alone as her father?

Desperate to change her fate, Nix takes her crew to a mythical utopia to meet another Navigator who promises to teach her how to manipulate time. But everything in this utopia is constantly changing, and nothing is what it seems—not even her relationship with Kash. Nix must grapple with whether anyone can escape her destiny, her history, her choices. Heidi Heilig weaves fantasy, history, and romance together to tackle questions of free will, fate, and what it means to love another person. But at the center of this adventure are the extraordinary, multifaceted, and multicultural characters that leap off the page, and an intricate, recognizable world that has no bounds.” - taken From Goodreads.com

I know I was in a reading slump when I picked this book up. It took me way longer than usual to finish. I liked the story and reading from Kashmir’s point of view. The last 100 pages had me gripped but I did feel like the ending was rushed. The mix of real life characters from history and legend was great but I was left with a few questions at the end.

Visit Heidi Heilig’s website.

Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken (Passenger book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in this duology, Passenger, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

Please visit Book Series Recap if you need a refresher on Passenger.

“I’ve been orphaned by my time. The timeline has changed. My future is gone.”

“All Etta Spencer wanted was to make her violin debut when she was thrust into a treacherous world where the struggle for power could alter history. After losing the one thing that would have allowed her to protect the Timeline, and the one person worth fighting for, Etta awakens alone in an unknown place and time, exposed to the threat of the two groups who would rather see her dead than succeed. When help arrives, it comes from the last person Etta ever expected—Julian Ironwood, the Grand Master’s heir who has long been presumed dead, and whose dangerous alliance with a man from Etta’s past could put them both at risk.

.

Meanwhile, Nicholas and Sophia are racing through time in order to locate Etta and the missing astrolabe with Ironwood travelers hot on their trail. They cross paths with a mercenary-for-hire, a cheeky girl named Li Min who quickly develops a flirtation with Sophia. But as the three of them attempt to evade their pursuers, Nicholas soon realizes that one of his companions may have ulterior motives.

As Etta and Nicholas fight to make their way back to one another, from Imperial Russia to the Vatican catacombs, time is rapidly shifting and changing into something unrecognizable… and might just run out on both of them. “ - taken from Goodreads.com

In this stunning conclusion to Passenger, Etta and Nicholas find themselves separated by time with no clear way to get back to one another. Etta’s world is turned upside when she meets someone unknown from her past who causes her to see her life in a different light. She also finds help from someone she never expected. Nicholas and Sophia struggle to work together for their own purposes. When Nicholas makes a deal for information from a powerful person, the price he has to pay is catastrophic.

Can Etta and Nicholas find their way back to one another? Who from Etta’s past comes to help her?  What price is Nicholas asked to pay? Will the Linden astrolab be found and can Cyrus Ironwood be stopped before the timeline is destroyed? What happens to all of our favorite travelers?

Visit Alexandra Bracken’s website.

Into the Dim by Helen B. Taylor (Into the Dim book 1)

Known mostly as “that homeschooled girl” in her small town, Hope Walton has crippling phobias and an eidetic memory that doesn’t exactly endear her to her adoptive father’s very blond, very southern family. When her mom is killed in a natural disaster thousands of miles from home, the sixteen-year-old recedes even further from her insular life. But after being shipped overseas to an aunt she’s never met, Hope learns there’s more to her mother’s “death” than she ever dreamed.

At her aunt’s manor, high in the Scottish Highlands, Hope begins to unravel the shocking truth about her family. Her mom was more than a brilliant academic but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. And she is alive, though currently trapped in the twelfth century during the age of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Now, in a last-ditch effort to save her mom, the sheltered teen must join the Viators, a team of time-jumping Indiana Joneses, who have only seventy-two hours to stage a rescue.

Passing through the Dim, Hope enters a brutal medieval world of political intrigue, danger, and violence. A place where any serious interference could alter the very course of history. And when she meets a boy who's face is impossibly familiar, she must decide between her mission and her heart - both of which could leave Hope trapped in the past forever..” - taken from the front flap

I literally devoured this book. Time travel seems to be the current rage in YA literature and this was the third such book I’ve read this year. What I really liked about this beginning of a new series is that the characters travel back to only one point in time. There, they are thrust into the court scene during the time in which Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are crowned the King and Queen of England. Several historical figures play major roles in this book. This book does leave several plot lines unresolved and readers will be eagerly anticipating the next book.

Who is Hope Walton? Why did her mother keep her aunt from her? Can Hope go back in time and rescue her mother? How does she know this mysterious boy?

Visit Janet B. Taylor’s website.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

“She is myth. She is history. She is gone.”

Slate is a Navigator who time travels aboard the Temptation. Originally from modern day New York, he is on a quest to return to Honolulu, 1868. His sixteen-year-old daughter, Nix, travels with him but he has yet to teach her how to Navigate. He is depressed over his continued failure to return to Lin, Nix’s mother, and save her life. He originally navigated to Hawaii on an old map by Augustus Mitchell, 1866. There, Slate met Lin at an opium den where she worked. Lin was able to break Slate’s addiction to the drug but since her death, he has relapsed. Lin died from an infection that would be easily cured with modern day antibiotics on the day Nix was born. Slate had Navigated to a map of Hong Kong, 1850 in order to earn the money to marry Lin. He had no idea that she was pregnant. Slate traveled back to Honolulu on a map he had for 1869. Upon arrival, Slate found Nix instead and learned that Lin had died. Now, he is on a mission to locate a map of Honolulu, 1868 in order to go back and save Lin. If he is successful, no one knows if Nix will continue to exist. The only thing that is known for sure is that every time they Navigate, the past is changed.

Nix has dreams of her own. Having never really belonged to a particular time or place, she has stolen a map from Slate and hidden it. She is preparing to set off on her own once she learns how to Navigate. Her destination? A map of Carthage during Roman rule in 165 A.D. She knows that if she strikes out on her own that she will never see her father’s crew, including Kashmir, again. Nix is tired of Slate’s moods and constantly worrying about her future. Slate’s current plan is to Navigate the Temptation to New York 2016 and purchase a map of Hawaii, dated 1868 from Christie’s auction. With money in hand from the sale of a gold pocket watch that Kashmir lifted during their last map Navigation, Slate is successful in his bid to purchase the map. The map is delivered later that day to the Temptation. In his cabin, Slate shows it to Nix and her worries are compounded after looking at it. It looks authentic. Nix’s heart is touched when her father says that he cannot wait for her to finally meet her mother. In the moment, Slate tells her that Navigating isn’t just about the maps but also believing that it will work. Slate knows that it is also fate that Lin will be there waiting on him. Nix now knows that her father is delusional.     

The Temptation sets out the following morning. Slate is Navigating and Nix soon realizes that the map is actually working. Once the ship arrives at the new map, Nix is surprised to find that she is still around. Slate is ecstatic until he looks at the landscape about a half mile at shore and his disappointment is evident. He shakes off Nix’s attempts to talk to him and leaves. Nix scans the landscape herself and notices that the flags are flying at half staff at Iolani Palace. The Palace wasn’t been built in 1868. Thinking back, Nix didn’t immediately realize that the palace shouldn’t have been on the map. She was too focused on the date. Kashmir, a member of her father’s crew, asks her if the map or the captain is the one broken. Nix isn’t sure but she hopes that the mapmaker, A. Sutfin, might be able to answer that question.

Will Slate be able to Navigate back to Honolulu 1868 and save the love of his life? Would Nix cease to exist if he is able? How does Navigation work? Does anyone suspect Nix’s plans of heading out on her own? Why didn’t A. Sutfin’s map work? Can Nix locate Sutfin? What happens when Nix goes to Honolulu learns more about her mother? Who will she meet?

Visit Heidi Heilig’s website.

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken (Passenger book 1)

passage, n.

i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.

ii. A journey by water; a voyage.

iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

New York City - Present Day

Etta Spencer is ready to debut as a concert soloist with the New York Philharmonic is in a month. Almost eighteen, her debut was delayed until she overcame her stage fright but her instructor Alice has continued putting it off. They have planned a soft opening at a private fundraising event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where her mother Rose works. She has devoted her life to playing the violin, including breaking up with her boyfriend to have more time to practice. Etta is literally friendless. Before she can take the stage, Etta overhears Rose and Alice arguing. Alice wants to once again delay Etta’s debut while Rose doesn’t. Bursting in, Etta stands up for herself and decides that she is tired of waiting and will play that night. Backstage, Etta doesn’t have time to warm up with the museum’s Stradivarius. Heading out onto the stage, she begins to play. As Etta plays, she hears a background noise that starts off as a murmur but instantly explodes into screams. She begins to falter her notes and wonders why no one is stopping her or seems to hear the horrible feedback. Etta didn’t realized that she has stopped until the woman in charge, Gail, comes out onto stage to ask if she is okay. She mumbles something about feedback but Gail remarks that there was none. She helps her off the stage and offers to get her some water. Another performer that night, Sophia, steps out of the green room and takes Etta from Gail. Etta tells Sophia that she is fine but Sophia disagrees. She says that she hears the noise too. Knowing now that she isn’t suffering from a recurrence of stage fright, Etta allows Sophia to drag her through the museum towards the sound. Even through the feedback, the two stop when they hear the deafening gunshot. Etta sees the blood before she notices the the crumpled body with a shock of white hair. Etta screams as she makes her way to Alice. Barely alive, Etta presses against the wound. Three men in tuxedos make there way towards them as Etta shouts for someone to call 911. She feels a slight touch on her hand and looks down at Alice. Alice’s eyes are shut as she says “...the old...familiar places...run…” She takes one last shallow breath before becoming still. Etta begins screaming as arms come around her, dragging her to her feet. Sophia is yelling in her ear that they have to go. They enter a brightly lit stairwell that Etta has to shield her eyes from. Here, the feedback/humming seems to be moving with the shimmering air at the stairwell landing. Sophia shoves Etta through the opening with a “sorry about this”. Etta realizes what is happening before she disappears from the museum. Etta awakes later but she is unsure exactly how much time has passed. She finds herself in what seems to be a wooden bunk bed with the smell of fish in the air. Coming to, she sees that her dress has been changed and a girl is sitting in the corner. It is Sophia from the museum. She is adamant that the two of them need to stay where they are. She panics, finds the door latch and opens it, only to be meet with by a thick cloud of smoke. Etta tries to feel her way forward when her foot catches on something and she falls. It is a man and she begins to apologize. Etta then sees the blood, gathers up her skirts and makes her way towards the source of light above her.

The Atlantic 1776

Nicholas Carter is working aboard the Challenger when the crew overtakes a British merchant vessel for the privateers, Lowe & Lowe Shipping. Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, he and Captain Hall are secretly working for the Ironwood family. They have been hired to track and capture the two women who are on board the British ship. The women are to be brought to New York City by September 21st. Nicholas is leery of working for the family again for fear that they are just out for revenge. The Ironwoods owe Nicholas a debt from something that they had stolen from him and he plans to collect. This job is a quicker way of making the needed money for his own ship. Captain Hall has tried to persuade Messieurs Lowe to allow him to become a captain of one of their ships but Nicholas knows that the color of his skin is holding him back. Nicholas informs Captain Hall that the women are down in the cargo hold. They are still trying to secure the ship when a woman other than Sophia, who Nicholas knew would be on the ship, comes up from below. Nicholas is taken aback by her appearance. In the melee, the ship’s mast breaks and everyone must scatter. Nicholas sees the woman fall overboard. Running to the side, he watches her sink. He dives in and is able to cut her free from her dress and the netting she is tangled up in. Surfacing, Nicholas sees that she isn’t breathing. On deck, the surgeon’s mate looks after her. He is concerned that the mate is too inexperienced to help her. Captain Hall tries to calm him down. Soon, she is breathing again. The girl turns out to be Etta Spencer.

Etta takes a look at her surroundings, she slowly figures out that she isn’t in New York or present day. The older of the two men in front of her reassures her not to be afraid. Looking at the younger one, she realizes that he is the one who pulled her out of the water. Etta asks them if they are pirates. Captain Hall tells her that they are scoundrels, legal pirates, and explains that her ship has been captured by them and will be taken back to the United States. They introduce themselves as Captain Nathaniel Hall and Nicholas Carter. Before she can fully reply, they hear Sophia calling for Henrietta. She corrects her by introducing herself as Etta Spencer. Sophia comes running to them. Confused by what’s going on, with one look at Sophia, Etta knows not to say anything. Captain Hall asks for Sophia’s name and she says, “Sophia Iron---erm, Spencer” and Etta is her sister. Nicholas gives her a wry smile and remarks that he sees the resemblance. Etta catches Sophia’s face when she notices Nicholas for the first time. Captain Hall asks the surgeon’s mate for the name of the ship they just captured. The Ardent, he replies. Sophia asks where Captain Millbrook is. The surgeon’s mate states that he was killed and Hall remarks that it seems Nicholas’ job just became easier. Looking at Etta, Nicholas asks if they would like to be escorted back to their cabin and Sophia immediately answers yes. Down below, Nicholas tells them where they can and cannot go. It doesn’t take long before Nicholas and Sophia are trading barbs. Soon, Etta realizes Sophia and Nicholas know one another. She asks if he playing servant today and he retorts by stating that she knew her ship would be intercepted. Etta is floored. Sophia says that grandfather must be getting senile if he was trusting him. Nichols fired back that he must be desperate to be using her. He is charged with taking her to New York. To avoid questions, their acquaintance shouldn't be known by the other men on the ship. Sophia asks what the others would think if they knew the truth. Nicholas lashes out and tells Miss Ironwood that she can trash him all that she wants but she will live to regret it if she threatens his livelihood. Etta takes note of the exchange.

Alone with Sophia, Etta demands some answers. Sophia in turn warns her to be careful what she does and says. Trading off questions, Sophia tells her that she has the ability to travel through time, just like her family and a few others. Etta’s world begins to unravel as she finds out that her mother is quite infamous over her disappearance. She also doesn't know about Sophia's grandfather, Cyrus Ironwood. She furthers explains the schematics of traveling. At the end, Sophia tells Etta that until they arrive in New York, she doesn't need to draw any attention to herself. Etta isn't ready for Sophia to tell her what she will or will not do.

Why did Etta’s mother keep her in the dark about their ability to travel? What does Cyrus Ironwood want to find Etta’s mother? What was Alice's role? Who is the Ironwood family? How do Sophia and Nicholas know one another? Why was Nichols tasked with bringing the two girls to New York? How is Nicholas connected to the Ironwoods? Can Etta find a way back to present day? What happens when Etta ignores Sophia's directive to stay “hidden” until they reach New York?

Book two in the Passenger series, Wayfarer, is due out in 2017.

Visit Alexandra Bracken’s website.

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

"What would you change?"

Em and Finn are in adjoining prison cells. Em spends her days staring at the floor drain inside her cell. There is something about it that pulls her attention to it. Stealing a plastic spoon for her food tray, she sharpens the handle for use as a screwdriver. When she is finally able to remove the drain cover, she reaches in to find a plastic freezer bag. Inside of it is a single sheet of notebook paper. It is covered almost entirely in her own handwriting. Every sentence but the last has a single line drawn through it. Em has never laid eyes on the paper before in her life. There is a name written at the top and the last unmarked line makes her physically ill. It simply reads, "You have to kill him."

When the prison guard, Kessler, comes back to the cells, Em quickly hides the paper and throws the broken spoon down the drain. Kessler demands the return of the missing spoon, but Em steadfastly refuses. When he asks the unseen person beside him what to do, Em realizes that the doctor is with him. Giving her one last chance, Em is prepared for her punishment. What she isn't prepared for is Finn being punished for her actions. Afterwards, Em feels guilty but Finn reassures her. They begin to discuss the note she found in the drain and what they must do stop the doctor. Em finds herself having trouble remembering what Finn looks like. Wondering how they can escape their prison, Em is almost relieved from her boredom when the doctor and his puppet master, the director, show up at her cell. They restrain and torture her to give up the location of the documents they are looking for. Through the pain, Em never wavers.

The next day, Conner, the guard newly assigned to them unlocks Em's cell door. He tells her a secret from her childhood and says that he is going to get her and Finn out. Their reunion is tender but fleeting because they need to leave. They need to reach Cassandra before they can be stopped. They survive a close encounter with the doctor and know they must hurry. When they reach the control room and Cassandra, the subatomic collider that will send them back four years in time, they disguise their arrival date in the past by three days. That way they can outsmart the doctor and kill him before Cassandra can be built. Conner helps Em and Finn get to where they need to be to carry out their plan to kill the doctor. Finn volunteers to do it but Em says she is a better shot. Finn was just trying to save her some of the pain of killing someone close to her. He tells her to quit thinking about him but about her. Em wants Marina to have a happy life. Finn finally tells her that he loves her. She raises her gun to pull the trigger damage is done.

Shaken but in the past, Em and Finn find themselves in an abandoned government warehouse that is the future home of the collider. Weakened by their trip, they eventually get themselves into standing positions. Laughing at their situation, Em does hear the click of a gun. Turning around, they come face to face with a soldier, Conner. Em pulls out the photo the future Conner gave them to prove their story. Em explains to him that they have traveled back in time to destroy Cassandra, a partial collider built by the government, so that it won't destroy the world in the future. In the future, the country is at war with China, Marines are on most street corners, the government monitors everything you do and terrorists are bombing cities along the East coast. Reading her notes from the past one last time, she and Conner place the sheet of notebook paper in the drain of her future prison cell. If killing the doctor doesn't work, nothing will. Maybe the next Em walking around out can succeed if she fails. As Conner replaces the drain cover, Em hopes the other version of her will never be in that cell.

Four Years Earlier

Marina Marchetti has been in love with her neighbor, James Shaw, for practically forever. James Is an eighteen year old genius working on his PhD at John Hopkins and Marina feels as if James will never reciprocate her feelings. When he rescues her from her disastrous winter formal dance, the air between them becomes electrically charged before they part for the night. They have spent the past three weeks apart with only one text message between them. Marina goes over to see James as soon as he and his older brother, Congressman Nate Shaw, arrive home. Marina asks James if he missed her why he didn’t call. He says there is something he needs to tell her. Just then the doorbell rings and James' other best friend arrives. Marina hasn't liked this boy since he first arrived at her school a year ago and wormed his way into James' life. She knew immediately that Finn Abbott would be a problem. She decides to leave when Nate does so that Finn isn't privy to their conversation. Later that night after she has gone to sleep, James calls her to invite her to a DNC fundraising dinner. She is thrilled to go to a black tie event with him. He also tells her that Finn will be going as well. Disappoint, she voices her concern over him. James reassures her that Finn likes her and he treats James as a normal person. He asks her to give Finn a chance. Marina reluctantly agrees. He asks her what she wanted to tell him earlier. They both agree to talk later when she isn't so sleepy.

The next night, Marina and James meet Finn at the DNC dinner. Marina and Finn are bickering verbally one another when James hushes them. Nate is about to speak. In the middle of Nate's speak, something explodes. Marina sees Nate fall to the floor and wonders why no one is helping him. Then she sees the blood on his chest and realizes that she is screaming. James rushes to his brother's side while Finn flees from the ballroom. Marina runs after James. Marina and Finn stay by James' side throughout the night awaiting word on Nate. The news is not good. Nate has a 50/50 chance of surviving and James has withdrawn into himself, seemingly to revisit when his parents were killed. He blows up over Marina's hovering and leaves her and Finn behind in the waiting room. He steps outside of the hospital.

Conner helps Em and Finn get to where they need to be to carry out their plan to kill the doctor. Finn volunteers to do it but Em says she is a better shot. Finn was just trying to save her some of the pain of killing someone close to her. He tells her to quit thinking about him but about her. Em wants Marina to have a happy life. Finn finally tells her that he loves her. She raises the gun when the figure she is waiting for steps out of the hospital. Thinking of Marina, Em pulls the trigger at James Shaw, only she misses.

Disappointed over how the night isn't going as she imagined and James pushing her away, Marina cannot help but watch him as he goes outside of the hospital. Finn is angrily shuffling a deck of cards. Seeing him pace outside the hospital, Marina screams when she realizes that someone has shot at James. Seeing two people fleeing from the scene, Marina is dumbfounded when they pause under a streetlight and she gets a look at who shot at James. The hospital goes into lockdown once James is brought inside. Pushing herself to James' side, he tells her that someone shot at the hospital. Marina turns to Finn and says that she did see someone shoot at James. She notices blood on James' head and the nurses whisk him away while a police officer wants to know what she saw. Marina has no idea how she can tell them what she really saw from that window.

With Em's missed shot, the future is now changed. It is a race against time, but in the present and the future. How did Em and Finn end up in the situation they are in? Can Em and Finn stop Cassandra from being built? Who is the doctor that they are trying to stop? How do Em and Finn from the future fit into Marina and James' story from four years earlier? What happens when the future meets the present and Em and Marina meet face to face?

An incredible time travel story where the characters' stories cross and become interwoven in their race to rectify the wrongs of the future. All Our Yesterdays is the first part of a duology. Book two is due out in 2014.

Visit Cristin Terrill’s website.