Across the Ages by Gabrielle Meyer ~ Book Review

In 1727 Caroline is living the life of a granddaughter of a huge plantation in South Carolina.  Her mother left her to be raised by her grandfather, who now, as is the custom of the day wants to choose whom she will marry.  But Caroline feels stifled by all the rules and she definitely doesn't want to marry her grandfather's choice.  Adding to that is the deep secret that Caroline holds.  She also has a life in 1927 as the daughter of a very famous preacher whose fame is becoming international.  She is confused by what is happening to her and in an attempt to find answers she comes across a letter hidden and written to her by her mother in which her mother also seems to be living a double life.  In a desperate attempt to find the truth and her mother, Caroline runs away from the plantation and disguises herself as a cabin boy to gain passage to the Bahamas where she thinks her mother is.  But when pirates take the ship Caroline finds herself sidetracked from her quest.  

In 1927, Caroline is busy trying to live the life of a famous preacher's daughter.  Though her brothers secretly have lives that would shame her parents Caroline is very much trying to be the dutiful daughter giving no one a chance to gossip.  But trying to hold her brothers' involvement in corruption during prohibition is becoming harder and Caroline is feeling the pressure.  As Caroline tries to find answers to her time crossing in this age, she asks her best friend from childhood who is now a police officer to help her but it will require telling him her biggest secret.  As she tries to find answers in the hidden corruption of the speakeasies of Minnesota, Caroline is faced with the choice of knowing the truth or possibly adding to her father's loss of reputation.  

Another very fun take on the time crossing series from this author.  The juxtaposition of a life of following the strict rules of a preacher's daughter and the life she finds herself in on a pirate ship is interesting as she tries to navigate the two.  Unlike the previous books in the series the main character doesn't understand she has a timeline where she must make a decision as to which life she wants to live in when she turns 21 and it adds to the element of urgency and intrigue as I kept hoping she would figure it out and not just end up in the timeline not of her choosing.  As usual the author really researches the time periods so well so I really got a sense of the Caribbean pirate life as well as the prohibition era.   This installment seemed to lean a little heavier into the romance end to me which was the least appealing part of the story for me but it stays clean and didn't take away from the adventure of the story.   In the end, it's a story of forgiveness and redemption and desiring God's plan for life and I always appreciate how the author weaves the two seemingly disconnected timelines together into a wonderful journey of a story.  

I rated this a 9.5/10