Fate, gypsy magic and a fervent wish are enough to send a young Renaissance Italian girl spinning through time. She already knows this can be done, as her cousin from the future came to pay a visit in a previous tale. Now, learning that the young merchant she expected to wed has married someone wealthier, she needs to escape for a while. Where better than the twenty-first century?

A TALE OF TWO CENTURIES follows on from My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century which introduced Kat, a modern miss, and Alessandra from Florence. Told in present tense, the story takes us with Alessandra from her palazzo to Hollywood, with amusing touches like the handprints of the three Harry Potter stars, and a young woman who never shows her ankles, placed among women showing bare stomachs. Time travel magically allows her to speak English, though not necessarily understand it, and the first thing she needs to do is to find her cousin. Two months have passed for Kat since her own return, and she decides to pass Alessandra off as an exchange student and actress. Can the girls pull it off, and how long will they need to keep up the disguise?

Horseless carriages, clean water to drink, store-bought clothes, verbal contractions - there's such a lot to learn! Shakespeare is a novelty but the budding actress feels at home with his material. High school is a different matter, but at only sixteen, the girls have to attend... unchaperoned! I'm not that interested in school stories so I found other aspects more entertaining, and at times the plot did seem to owe something to a High School Musical script. There's plenty of other material however and every time Kat has to persuade her cousin she reminds her that during her own journey she was forced to wear a corset. Romance steps in when Alessandra starts to feel sparks with a disaffected good-looking boy, Austin, but she doesn't know where it will lead. She might want to stay here, but that would change history.

Reading this kind of adventure is a great way to learn about other places and time periods. The details of both Florence and Hollywood are well written and entertaining. If you'd love to sightsee in either location, A TALE OF TWO CENTURIES by Rachel Harris can be your guide in this fun young adult romance.