Time Travel with a Twist

Join me for some great book recommendations as I take you along on a perusal of what’s on my keeper shelves…

I read lots of books a year. Some for the bookclub I’m in, others to endorse or critique, and some just because I want to read them or a favorite author has a newbie out. But just because I eyeball lots of books doesn’t mean I keep them all. In fact, I keep hardly any. I’m of the mind that sharing is caring, especially when it comes to great titles. That being said, I do have my all-time favorites that I like to pull down and re-read every several years or so. For the next several weeks I’ll be sharing what those titles are because if you’re in a reading slump, these are real bonafide winners.

First off let’s start with Lisa Mangum’s Hourglass Door Trilogy. There are several reasons these books get a permanent home on my shelf. First off, the way this girl can twist a phrase is phenomenal. I’ve dogeared and highlighted my favorite sentences so that these bad boys are pretty beat up by now.

Secondly, talk about a swoon-worthy hero. Even though these technically belong in the young adult genre, readers of all ages will fall for this mysterious fella.

And lastly, the plot is super twisty turny, which I love in a story. Sometimes I had no idea how the conflicts would be solved, and that, my friends, is the mark of a great tale.

His past. Her future. Can love bring them together in time?

Abby’s senior year of high school is going according to plan: good friends, cute boyfriend, and college applications in the mail. But when Dante Alexander, foreign-exchange student from Italy, steps into her life, he turns it upside down. He’s mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she’s ever met before. Abby can’t deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Soon Abby finds herself drawn into a mystery whose roots reach into sixteenth-century Florence, and she uncovers a dangerous truth that threatens not only her future but the lives of those she loves.

His eyes. His touch. His kiss. Dante was unlike anyone Abby had ever met. Now he s gone, and Abby will do anything to get him back . . . The hourglass door has closed behind Dante, sending him back in time to hunt down Zo, Tony, and V. Abby knows that Dante, as a Master of Time, is the only one who can stop them from destroying time itself. She also knows that he will need her help. But almost immediately, things start to change, and Abby s worst fears are realized when Zo begins targeting her past specifically. As Abby s world fractures around her, she must face a terrible truth: either Dante didn’t make it through the door, or he is lost forever. So with Dante s blueprints in hand, she begins construction on a new door, a new time machine that will either save Dante or doom him. With each new change that ripples into her present, Abby s life continues to spiral out of control. Her relationships with Jason, Natalie, and even her family are threatened to the breaking point and beyond. Zo s power is greater than Abby ever imagined, but as she struggles to free Dante, she receives help from an unexpected and unlikely ally. The bank is eroding. The barriers are thinning. And time is running out.

The future is uncertain. The battle to control the past has begun. The final book in the riveting Hourglass Door trilogy begins when Abby steps through the black door, and she doesn't dare look back. Though it means leaving Dante wounded, bleeding, and possibly blind she knows it is the only way to save her family and stop Zo from manipulating the river of time and throwing the future into chaos. In the end, Abby must face a final confrontation that will take her to the very origins of the hourglass door.