Book ~ "Hannah's Moon" (2017) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ After struggling for years to have a child, Claire Rasmussen, 34, turns to adoption, only to find new obstacles on the path to motherhood. Then she gets an unlikely phone call and soon learns that a distant uncle possesses the secrets of time travel.

Within weeks, Claire, husband Ron, and brother David, find themselves on a train to Tennessee and 1945, where adoptable infants are plentiful and red tape is short. For a time, they find what they seek. Then a beautiful stranger enters their lives, the Navy calls, and a simple straightforward mission becomes a race for survival. 

Filled with suspense, romance, and heartbreak, "Hannah's Moon", the epic conclusion of the American Journey series, follows the lives of four spirited adults as they confront danger, choices, and change in the tense final months of World War II.

It's 2017 Tennessee and Claire and Ron have been trying for years to have a baby to no avail.  When they decide to adopt, they discover their wait could be be years.  Her uncle hears of their situation and contacts her with a suggestion ... he can send them back to 1945 Tennessee where it's easier to adopt and they can bring a baby back to 2017.  Claire and Ron agree and plan to spend a couple months there.  Claire brother, David, goes back with them to help them out.  Though they settle into the community and become friends with their neighbour, Margaret, things aren't as straightforward as they had hoped.  In 1945 Tennessee there was racism and World War II was still going on so men were being recruited.

I like time travel books.  I find it interesting to see how people adapt and react when they go back in time where there are no cell phones, no Internet, etc.  I've read many books by this author and time travel is his focus.  Though it is the fifth (and apparently the last) in the American Journey series, you don't have to read the others to know what's going on as it works well as a stand alone.  The author wrote about 1945 well and I got a good sense of what it was like living in that time period.  It is written in third person perspective in Claire, Ron, David and Margaret's voices (the chapters are labeled).

Book ~ "Class of '59" (2016) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ When Mary Beth McIntire settles into a vacation house on June 2, 2017, she anticipates a quiet morning with coffee. Then she hears a noise, peers out a window, and spots a man in 1950s attire standing in the backyard. She panics when the trespasser sees her and enters the house though a door to the basement. She questions her sanity when she cannot find him.

In the same house on March 21, 1959, Mark Ryan finds a letter. Written by the mansion’s original owner in 1900, the letter describes a basement chamber, mysterious crystals, and a formula for time travel. Driven by curiosity, Mark tests the formula twice. On his second trip to 2017, he encounters a beautiful stranger. He meets the woman in the window.

Within hours, Mary Beth and Mark share their secret with her sister and his brother and begin a journey that takes them from the present day to the age of sock hops, drive-ins, and jukeboxes.

It's 2017 and Mary Beth is recovering from the death of her fiancé, Jordan, almost a year ago.  She is on vacation with her family and staying in the house of her father's friend in California.  One morning she sees a man coming and going from the house.  When she goes to confront him, he has disappeared.

It's 1959 for Mark Ryan and he and his family have just moved into a house.  One day he discovers a tunnel that takes him to 2017.  He goes twice, the second time being confronted by Mary Beth.  She is quickly comfortable with him and believes him.

Mary Beth and Piper, her younger sister, are looking for an adventure so go back to 1959 with him for a couple weeks.  Piper becomes friends with Mark's younger brother, Ben.  As the two couples become closer, they have a difficult decision to make ... do Mary Beth and Piper stay in 1959, do Mark and Ben go to and stay in 2017, or do the two couples break up and stay in the own years?

This is the eighth book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I like time travel books when people go back in time where there are no cell phones, no Internet, etc.  Though it is the fourth in the American Journey series, you don't have to read the others since these characters aren't in the other books.  The author wrote about 1959 well and I got a good sense of what it was like living in that time period ... it was such a polite time.  It is written in third person perspective.

Book ~ "Indiana Belle" (2016) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ Providence, Rhode Island, 2017. When doctoral student Cameron Coelho, 28, opens a package from Indiana, he finds more than private papers that will help him with his dissertation. He finds a photograph of a beautiful society editor murdered in 1925 and clues to a century-old mystery. Within days, he meets Geoffrey Bell, the "time-travel professor," and begins an unlikely journey through the Roaring Twenties. 

Filled with history, romance, and intrigue, "Indiana Belle" follows a lonely soul on the adventure of a lifetime as he searches for love and answers in the age of Prohibition, flappers and jazz. 

It's February 2017 and Cameron Coelho is a doctoral student in history writing a dissertation on the social norms and cultural dynamics of Middle America in the Roaring Twenties.  He buys some private papers of Candice Bell, who was a reporter for an Indiana newspaper in the 1920s, which include personal letters, business correspondence, notes from interviews, pages torn from a diary and a picture.  He is provided with the opportunity to travel back to 1925 to meet Miss Bell.   He is forbidden to change events that happened which includes the murder of Miss Bell that summer.

This is the seventh book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I like time travel books when people go back in time.  Though it is part of the American Journey series, you don't have to read the others to know what's going on since the only constant is the person who is able to send people back in time.   The author wrote about 1925 well and I got a good sense of what it was like living in that time period ... you had to speakeasies for liquor, the KKK was strong, etc.  It is written in third person perspective with the focus shifting between Cameron and Candice.

Book ~ "September Sky" (2015) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ When unemployed San Francisco reporter Chuck Townsend, 45, and his college dropout son, Justin, take a trip to Mexico in 2016, each hopes to rebuild a relationship after years of estrangement. But their journey takes an unexpected turn when they meet a cruise-ship lecturer who has discovered the secret of time travel. 

Within days, Chuck and Justin find themselves in 1900, riding a train to Texas, intent on preventing a distant uncle from being hanged for a crime he did not commit. Their quick trip to Galveston, however, becomes long and complicated when they wrangle with business rivals and fall for two beautiful librarians on the eve of a hurricane that will destroy the city. 

Filled with humor, history, romance, and heartbreak, September Sky follows two directionless souls on the adventure of a lifetime as they try to make their peace with the past, find new purposes, and grapple with the knowledge of things to come.

Chuck is a reporter in California who has just been laid off from his job.  His son, Justin, has just quit college to find himself.  Chuck takes them on a cruise where they attend a lecture about time travel.  When they get home, they receive a call from Professor Bell, the lecturer, who provides them with an interesting opportunity.  Since they have some time and no ties, Chuck and Justin take him up on his offer and go back to 1900.

Chuck and Justin are given fake documents, $1,000 and train tickets to El Paso.  Bell would like them to a least visit Chicago and to record their observations in a journal.  Once they get to April 1900, Chuck has something he wants to take care of first.  His great uncle, Wyatt, in Galveston, TX, was wrongly hanged in 1900 for a murder he didn't commit and Chuck wants to make things right ... but he doesn't know when exactly the murder happened or to whom.

Pretending to be writing a book, he conducts research to see if he can anticipate and perhaps change future events for Wyatt.  Chuck and Justin both fall for librarians Charlotte and Emily, which complicate things as Bell had told them they can't bring anyone back.  Added to this, Chuck and Justin know that the 1900 Galveston hurricane will happen in September 1900, which will wipe out a large part of Galveston and cause many deaths, perhaps even their own and people they've come to know and care about.

This is the sixth book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I like time travel books when people go back in time and I liked how the author handled this one, mixing fiction with a real disaster (things got tense!).  I liked the writing style and found that it moved along at a good pace.   The author wrote about 1900 well and I got a good sense of what it was like living in that time period.  Women still didn't have the right to vote and for the most part, it was a chaste society.  It is written in third person perspective with the focus shifting between Chuck and Justin.

I liked the characters and found them believable.  Family ties are strong throughout the book with Chuck watching Justin become more mature, Emily's loyalty to her younger sister, Charlotte's love for her deceased husband but ready to move on with her life, and Wyatt and Rose's out-of-the-ordinary love.

As with the other books I've read by this author, I would recommend this one.

I received a copy of this ebook at no charge from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Book ~ "The Fire" (2013) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ When Kevin Johnson, 22, goes to Wallace, Idaho, days after his college graduation, he expects to find rest and relaxation as his family prepares his deceased grandfather's house for sale. Then he discovers a hidden diary and a time portal that can take him to 1910, the year of Halley's comet and the largest wildfire in U.S. history. 

Within hours, Kevin finds himself in the era of horse-drawn wagons, straw hats and ankle-length dresses. Returning to the same time and place, he decides to travel again and again and make the portal his gateway to summer fun. 

The adventure takes a more serious turn, however, when the luckless-in-love science major falls for pretty English teacher, Sarah Thompson, and integrates himself in a community headed for tragedy. 

Filled with humor, romance, and heartbreak, "The Fire", the sequel to "The Journey", follows a conflicted soul through a life-changing journey as he makes his mark on a world he was never meant to see.

It's June 2013 and Kevin has just graduated from university.  He and his family head to Wallace, ID, to clean up his late grandfather's house to sell it.  When his parents and sister go away for a couple days, Kevin finds a diary, old coins and diamonds in a secret hiding place under the floor.  Kevin reads the diary and realizes that his ancestor, Asa, who had owned the house, was a time traveler and the portal is in the backyard.  On a lark, Kevin checks it out and discovers he has sent himself back to July 1910.  Though he spends a couple hours in 1910, when he heads back to 2013, he discovers that he has only been gone a couple seconds.

Intrigued he decides to go back to 1910 and stay longer and packs for the trip taking the coins he has found, a suit from that time period, etc.  Going back in time, he can determine which year he wants to go back to but not when within the year.  This time he arrives earlier in the year.  He finds a place to live, gets a job, makes friends and meets and falls in love.

Obviously he knows about things that will happen in the future ... the world wars, Haley's Comet, the sinking of the Titanic, but most importantly, the fire that will destroy the town later that summer.  His dilemma is whether to use this knowledge to save the town and its people (who are now his friends) or let nature take its course and let it happen.

This is the fifth book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I like reading time travel books when people go back in time ... in this book, Kevin was able to go back and forth to 1910 when he wanted.  Regardless of how much time he spent in 1910 (days, weeks, etc.), when he went back to 2013, he had only been gone a few seconds.

It is written in third person perspective with most of the focus on Kevin.  Unlike the other books by this author that I've read and enjoyed, I found this one could have been a bit tighter ... it seemed a bit long in places and I just wanted to get on with the story.

Kevin adapted to 1910 well but it was funny when he slipped up and used language from the 21st century (like "dude").  He was quite attracted to two women he met and had to remind himself that 1910 was a more "proper" time than 2013.  It was a different time to be a woman ... we still didn't have the right to vote and once we got married, we had to give up our jobs to become wives and mothers.

I wasn't crazy about the ending ... from the time to fire started to when the book ended.  I like having happy endings and was glad that this book had one but I had a hard time buying it.

I received a copy of this ebook at no charge from the author in exchange for my honest review. 

Book ~ "The Journey" (2012) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ Seattle, 2010. When her entrepreneur husband dies in an accident, Michelle Preston Richardson, 48, finds herself childless and directionless. She yearns for the simpler days of her youth, before she followed her high school sweetheart down a road that led to limitless riches but little fulfillment, and jumps at a chance to reconnect with her past at a class reunion. But when Michelle returns to Unionville, Oregon, and joins three classmates on a spur-of-the-moment tour of an abandoned mansion, she gets more than she asked for. She enters a mysterious room and is thrown back to 1979. 

Distraught and destitute, Michelle finds a job as a secretary at Unionville High, where she guides her spirited younger self, Shelly Preston, and childhood friends through their tumultuous senior year. Along the way, she meets widowed teacher, Robert Land, and finds the love and happiness she had always sought. But that happiness is threatened when history intervenes and Michelle must act quickly to save those she loves from deadly fates. 

Filled with humor and heartbreak, "The Journey" gives new meaning to friendship, courage, and commitment as it follows an unfulfilled soul through her second shot at life.

The book opens with Michelle standing at her husband's grave lamenting the rich and extravagant life she'd had with Scott with all she had missed out on by being his wife ... a Yale education, a writing career and children.  When she attends her 30th high school reunion, she and her friends tour an old abandoned house whose last inhabitants had mysterious disappeared.  Entering what turns out to be a wrong room, Michelle discovers that she is in 1979 when she exits it.  With no ID or money, she uses her aunt's birth certificate and lands a job at the high school as a secretary, which puts her in contact with all the students.  She falls in love with Robert, a teacher, and embraces her new life.

It's 1979 and Shelly is in her last year of high school.  She's been dating the school jock, Scott, for a while.  She loves him but finds that he's immature and dominating at times.  She gets accepted into Yale but unless she can find the funds to pay for it, she's going to have to settle for a more local university.  Scott doesn't want her to go away because he's afraid he'll lose her.

Michelle becomes friends and a mentor to Shelly and her friends.  Michelle knows how Shelly and her friends' lives are going to turn out (since Shelly's life will become hers) so her dilemma is to let nature take its course or gently steer Shelly in the direction that Michelle wished she'd gone.

I like reading time travel books when people go back in time ... it's interesting to see how they react without cell phones, laptops, the Internet, etc.  This is the fourth book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style and thought he captured 1979-80 really well.  Like Shelly, I graduated from high school in June 1980 and remember rugby shirts, gaucho pants, feathered hair and large plastic combs in the back of our super wide-legged jeans!  Cringe :)

One of the rules of time travel is that you don't connect with yourself because you may change the course of events (the butterfly effect).  In this case, though, Michelle wasn't happy with how her life had turned out and knew she had the ability to be able to change things, not just for Shelly but for Shelly's friends, etc.  For example, April, Shelly's best friend, died in their senior year ... would Michelle stop this from happening?

Michelle had the opportunity for a "do-over" in two ways.  She had the chance to make different choices for herself rather than what Scott had wanted in their life together.  Plus she had the ability to redirect Shelly's life into what young Michelle had dreamed of rather than the one that Michelle ended up with with Scott.

The one thing I found a bit odd was Michelle's relationship with Shelly's parents.  After the initial shock of seeing her father again in 1979, she didn't seem to have much interest or feeling for them.  For 48-year-old Michelle, they'd been dead for a while so I would have thought she'd be more grateful to have the opportunity to have them back in her life (even though she'd had a tense relationship with her mom when she was younger).

The ending was interesting ... I was wondering how the author was going to do it.  Would Michelle guide Shelly to change the course of her life and if she did, would Michelle suddenly disappear because Michelle's life as she knew it never actually happened?  Trippy, eh?  Would the portal open up again (as in the author's other books) and Michelle gets transported back to 2010?  Or was it possible for Michelle and Shelly to co-exist even though they were the same person?  Trippy too!  You'll have to read this book to find out!

I received a copy of this ebook at no charge from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Book ~ "The Mirror" (2014) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ In September 11, 2020, Ginny and Katie Smith celebrate their nineteenth birthday at a country fair near Seattle. Ignoring the warnings of a fortune-teller, they enter a house of mirrors and exit in May 1964. Armed with the knowledge they need to return to their time, they try to make the most of what they believe will be a four-month vacation. 

But their sixties adventure becomes complicated when they meet a revered great-grandmother and fall in love with local boys. In "The Mirror", the continuation of "The Mine" and "The Show", the sisters find happiness and heartbreak as they confront unexpected challenges and gut-wrenching choices in the age of civil rights, the Beatles, and Vietnam.

It's September 2020 and twins Ginny and Katie are celebrating their 19th birthday at a country fair.  Before they leave, they go to a fortune teller who tells them that they are going to take a long mysterious journey with only one chance to return.  Ginny and Katie laugh it off and do one last thing before they head home ... they go into the house of mirrors.

Suddenly it's May 1964.  Knowing the fair will be back in town in a few months and it will be their only chance to get back to their time, they make a life for themselves as they wait for September to come.  They get jobs, make friends, meet family members and fall in love.

I like reading time travel books and this is the third I've read by this author.  As with the other two, I enjoyed it.  I like the writing style and found that it moved along at a good pace.

Ginny and Katie are the children of Joel and Grace who had met when Joel time traveled back to 1941 in The Mine (Grace also time traveled to 1918 in The Show).  Though it's the latest in a series, it also works as a stand alone since there is plenty of information provided to give the background of what had happened in the previous books.

The year 2020 isn't different from today and Ginny and Katie aren't any different from young women today,  used to having their freedom and being able to speak their minds.  They discover that 1964, while a fun time with the beehives, cute outfits and the Beatles, is on the brink of the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement.  They experience racial tensions first hand when they become friends with James, a co-worker who is black.  While their friendship is accepted by some, it's frowned upon by many.

I would recommend this book.

I received a copy of this ebook at no charge from the author in exchange for my honest review.  

Book ~ "The Show" (2013) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ Seattle, 1941. Grace Vandenberg, 21, is having a bad day. Minutes after Pearl Harbor is attacked, she learns that her boyfriend is a time traveler from 2000 who has abandoned her for a future he insists they cannot share. Determined to save their love, she follows him into the new century. 

But just when happiness is within her grasp, she accidentally enters a second time portal and exits in 1918. Distraught and heartbroken, Grace starts a new life in the age of Woodrow Wilson, silent movies, and the Spanish flu. She meets her parents as young, single adults and befriends a handsome, wounded Army captain just back from the war. In The Show, the sequel to The Mine, Grace finds love and friendship in the ashes of tragedy as she endures the trial of her life.

Grace had followed Joel through a mine which was actually a time travel portal that took her from 1941 to 2000.  She finds him and they start a happy life together ... they get married and have a family.  Through an unfortunate and unexpected accident in 2002, she enters another portal and is transported back to 1918.  She tracks down her great uncle and he takes her in.  Eventually she loses hope that she will be able to return to 2002 and starts a new life in 1919 Seattle.

I love time travel books and this book was entertaining ... watching Grace adjust to 2000 (with cell phones, computers, Internet, etc.) and adjust again to 1918 (prohibition, the end of World War I, etc.).

I had just finished The Mine so it was still fresh in my mind.  Though this book is a sequel and picks up the last couple chapters of The Mine, it can also function as a stand alone as there is lots of information so you know what had happened in The Mine if you hadn't read it.

I liked the writing style, though I didn't find it as amusing as The Mine, which was focused on Joel (he has a more fun and sarcastic personality than Grace).  The story was interesting as we get to meet Grace's relatives as they were in 1918 ... her now deceased parents as they were just meeting each other (how weird would that be?!), her beloved Aunt Edith, and her great Uncle Alastair, his wife Margaret and their daughter.  The author captures the time period well.

I liked the characters.  I found it a bit unbelievable, though, that as much as she loves Joel and misses her children, she begins to have feelings for Captain Walker and considers having a life with him within four months of meeting him.

I would recommend this book and look forward to reading others by this author.

I received a copy of this ebook at no charge from the author in exchange for my honest review. 

Book ~ "The Mine" (2013) John A. Heldt

From Goodreads ~ In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. 

With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE is a love story that follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

It's 2000 and college seniors, Joel and Adam, are on an adventure in Montana.  Because of a traffic jam, they have some time to kill and Joel wants to check out a nearby abandoned mine.  Adam has no interest so Joel enters it alone.  He comes across an amazing wall but frightened by a snake, he hits his head running out of the mine and becomes unconscious.  When he wakes up 30 minutes later and leaves the mine, he is initially mad because Adam had taken off in his car ... but he eventually realizes that he is in 1941!

Not knowing what else to do, he heads home to Seattle.  There he meets Tom and becomes friends with his friends, including his eventual grandmother, Ginny, and her friend, Grace.  Joel and Grace fall in love and life is good for Joel.  But armed with the knowledge of the future, Joel knows WWII is coming how it will change everyone's lives.

Six months later when Joel realizes he has a chance to get back to 2000, he has a decision to make ... go back to his life in 2000 and let his new friends get on with the lives they should have had or stay with Grace and his friends, changing the course of their lives, and perhaps having to enlist and go into the war.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it.  I love time travel books and I liked how the author handled this one.

I liked the writing style.  It was flowed well and kept me wanting to read more.  It's a crazy farfetched story but I was buying it.  I think the author wrote about 1941 well and I got a good sense of what it was like living in that time period.

I liked the characters.  Joel was a nice guy and a loyal friend both in 2000 and 1941 and I think he would be a fun guy to hang out with.  Tom, Ginny, Grace and Katie sound like great friends to have.  I liked the relationship between Joel and Grace and enjoyed their interactions (it's 1941 so it was fairly innocent).

The ending could have gone a few ways, right?  Did Joel really go back in time?  Or was it all an hallucination because he hit his head on the way out of the mine?  If he did go back in time, did he end up staying or going home to 2000?  It ended exactly the way I thought it would/should.  You're going to have to read this book to find out what happened!

This is the first in a series and I'd recommend it ... I look forward to reading the others!

I received a copy of this ebook at no charge from the author in exchange for my honest review.