GOODREADS has not yet posted the Audio version from MacMillan Audio, so I will enter this here, since I do have a hardbound copy as well. Goodreads used to provide an option to add other versions, but it's either gone, or they've accidentally hid it in some upgraded version of their site.

PRINT: 2021; St. Martin's (Griffin) Press; ISBN 9781250260697; 308 pages.

Digital: Yes

***Audio: COPYRIGHT: 11/23/2021; ISBN 9781250818874; PUBLISHER: MacMillan Audio; DURATION: 10:48:38; PARTS: 10; Unabridged; FILE SIZE: 309491 KB

Feature Film or tv: No. At least, not yet.

SERIES: Found Things. Book 4

Major characters:
Xanthe Westlake – primary character—young lady with special gifts
Flora Westlake — Xanthe’s mother—Antique Shop’s primary owner
Lydia Flyte – mysterious woman with spinning powers
Harley – The owner of the Three Feather’s pub
Liam – Love interest - A guitar playing automotive enthusiast
Elizabeth Hawksmith – A witch Xanthe encounters in the 19th century
William J. Morris – Former proprietor of The Shop of Found Things
Erasmus Balmoral- Former sweetheart of Lydia Flyte

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
How I picked it: It’s the next book in the series.

What it’s about: Xanthe goes looking for Liam, bringing Harley with her. She learns more about her role as a Spinner, about Lydia’s past, about Time Steppers, and about other Spinners. I enjoy the cast of characters, as always, and how they are evolving.

What I thought: I am enjoying the expansion of Xanthe's assistants and the plot.

AUTHOR:
Paula Brackston. According to Wikipedia, “Paula Brackston (aka P. J. Brackston, P. J. Davy, and Mabli Roberts) is the New York Times bestselling[1][2] author of The Witch's Daughter and other historical fantasy novels. She also writes the fantasy crime Brothers Grimm Mystery series under the pseudonym P. J. Brackston.[3][4]”

NARRATOR:
Marisa Calin. According to Wikipedia, “Marisa Calin is an American-born English actress, writer and producer.”

GENRE:
Fiction; Fantasy; England; Historical Fiction; time-travel; magic; witches/witchcraft

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary; 1820’s; 1878

SUBJECTS:
Antiques; Time Travel; Occult; Romance

DEDICATION:
“FOR CATHY – A GIFTED PHOTOGRAPHER, A TALENTED ICE SKATER, AN EXCELLENT TEACHER, AND A LOVELY FRIEND X.”

EXCERPT (From Chapter 3):
“When Xanthe arrived home it was to find the house empty save for Pie. While the dog was pleased to see her and greeted her effusively, she was no substitute for Flora. Xanthe badly needed to share her wonderful finds with her mother, as she did after any treasure hunt, but more than that, she needed to talk about the three things that were special to her. It was only seven thirty. With a sinking heart she realized her mother would be out celebrating with her friends after bell-ringing practice and might not be home for some time. Breaking her own rule about avoiding discussing Spinner business over the phone, she called Harley.
“Can you talk?” she asked.
“Give us a minute, hen,” he said.
She could hear the lively chatter of the pub in the background grow fainter as he found a quieter spot.
“OK, I’m in the backyard. Annie’s busy serving in the bar. Have you heard from Liam?”
“Not quite. I’ve found something that might take me to him, though.”
“You have? That’s bloody fantastic! What is it?”
“I’m not entirely certain.”
“You mean … you’ve found something that’s singing to you, but you don’t know what it is? Correct me if I’m wrong, lassie, but are you not the expert in all things antique?”
“Harley … I’ve found three things. Three things that are singing to me, each one as strong as the other!”
There was a brief, stunned pause, followed by a low whistle, before Harley said quickly, “You’re not thinking of going in that wee building of yours with all three, now, are you?” “No That’s the problem. I don’t know which of them to use. I did have the briefest vision of Liam.…” “Could you see where he was?”
“No, I just saw his face for a fraction of a second. And I couldn’t be certain which object sparked the vision. This has never happened before. And I haven’t come across anything like this in the Spinners book.… Maybe I should just take them out and stand close to the blind house, see if I get any more flashes of anything.”
“I’m coming over. Promise me you’ll not set foot in the garden before I get there?”
“OK. I promise.” She clicked off the phone and looked at the three objects now sitting unwrapped on the old desk in the shop. Pie sniffed them, decided they were of no interest, and jumped up onto the cushion of the captain’s chair for a nap.
Harley arrived at the shop door ten minutes later, a little breathless and clutching a net of limes. “I told Annie we were running short and I’d pop out to the supermarket and get some,” he explained, holding them up and following her inside. He spied the collection of finds on the desk. “Ah, so these are the magical objects, then?””

RATING:
5 stars. A wonderful continuation of the series.

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
12/3/2022 to 12/9/2022 ( )

The Lost Things series shares the unique experience with time travel for Xanthe Westlake. She moved from London with her mother Flora to Marlborough following the divorce from her father, Philip. As they attempt to start their new life and renovate the old antique shop left in disarray after the death of Mr. Morris, a ghost from the past hones in on Xanthe for help. Margaret Merton, a spirit from the past, senses Xanthe's unique sensitivity to "hear singing" when she held certain items from the past. Through the years it has served well discovering the history and unresolved issues left with the items. This time Xanthe buys a silver chatelaine, made in Bristol, at an auction which desperately made it known it needed her help. Little does she realize that the chatelaine is connected to the ghost, Margaret Merton, who haunts and threatens her to help her save her daughter, Alice. Of course, the problem is that Alice lives in 17th century Marlborough accused of a crime to which is she due to be hanged.

They each tell stories following the challenging adventures Xanthe endures to hopefully save people and solve mysteries. Trying to maintain discretion to avoid stressing her ailing mother, Flora, Xanthe develops a friendship with Liam Adams, a local mechanic who agrees to check on her mother when she has to "visit a friend". Her dedication to her mother, Flora, who ails with often disabling arthritis, is admirable but she soon finds herself "lost" between the past and present trying to solve a mystery for a spirit who presents a danger to her mother should she fail. In the process, Xanthe meets and confuses many people as she seeks help and information which leaves many with unresolved feelings and unanswered questions.

Xanthe's time travel eventually leads her to discovering there's a deeper purpose for her special abilities when she meets Mistress Flyte on one of her missions. She also encounters another time traveler who becomes her nemesis by trying to derail her missions. She initially shares her secret with Harley who runs The Feathers pub with his wife Annie. Soon her travels become more dangerous so she needs to inform her mother in case something should happen to her. Although each story focuses on a specific mission, I would not recommend reading these as standalone. This addition to the series introduces a character from the author's The Witches' Daughter series, Elizabeth Hawksmith. Her travels begin to involve other people and she learns more about the history of the Spinners and the moral responsibilities. ( )

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Paula Brackston for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

Xanthe has an ability to time travel based on old objects she finds that “sing” to her. When an object speaks to her, she can go back in time and there is usually someone in trouble that she has to help, a wrong to right. Now Xanthe has more confidence in her abilities and is learning that there is a whole group of Spinners, people who can travel back in time. But there are always unscrupulous people who want to take advantage of this gift to ensure their success. People who want to use Xanthe. Can Xanthe find Liam and dismantle this group or will she be forced to do their bidding in order to get him back.

Finally, the conclusion to this series. I would recommend for this series it is better if you read each book in order, especially this one. The last book ends on a cliffhanger where Liam is taken in the past and Xanthe must complete her mission before they will give him back. Xanthe has decided to take on the Visionary Society. This book contains the usual danger, intrigue, while affording us a look into the past. Throughout the series Xanthe has gained confidence and seems to be taking on the danger herself, rather than have things happen to her. You have the usual group of characters that accompany her on her mission that always lend flavour to the story.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the series and I enjoyed it. There are always lots of elements in these stories including family, friendship, personal growth, love, with the added elements of danger, action, suspense and of course, history. I’m glad I stuck it out and read the whole series. ( )

After the cliff-hanger of the last book (The Garden of Promises and Lies), I was eager to jump into this book...even though I had to wait a year. I was a little lost initially, but soon the past pieces came back to me.

In City of Time and Magic, we start off with Xanthe trying to find an object to sing to her so she can find Liam, who was taken at the end of the previous book by Lydia Flyte, and is being held in an unknown location and time. With Harley, she travels back to the mid-to-late-1800s, where she meets and befriends a fellow spinner, a mysterious woman named Elizabeth, and their son -- all who help her on her journey in finding Liam. However, she soon learns that things aren't what they appear, and Xanthe learns of the Visionary Society -- an elite club where several Spinners abuse their gift of time travel to bring riches to their clients -- who must be stopped. With her friends with her, she will need to figure out how to stop them.

I did really enjoy this book. The cast of characters was interesting, albeit tame, and I really liked the fact that Harley was able to travel back with Xanthe this time! I never read The Witch's Daughter (though it's been on my TBR for a while), so the cross-over wasn't as highly-anticipated as it would otherwise have been, but I really enjoyed Elizabeth's character as well (and would've liked to know more about her background...guess it's time to finally read The Witch's Daughter...). The pacing did feel a little off at times. Close to the end of the book, I was convinced it would leave on a cliff-hanger like the previous book in the series, but thankfully everything was resolved, albeit a little too quickly, making the ending feel rushed. However, although there was a resolution to the climax, City of Time and Magic did end on an open note, leaving room for the author to revisit and expand the series in the future.

3.5, rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. ( )

When I opened this book I was smiling at an old friend knowing that I was going to enjoy the next installment in Paula Brackston’s “Found Things” series. She makes time travel so interesting and the interwoven mystery is artful and clever. Her characters have more depth and the surrounding colorful descriptions get better and better.

In this episode Xanthe has multiple missions but first she has to figure out why she has been betrayed, lied to, hurt and terrorized. She has some heavy lifting ahead of her, but she is not without the help of close friends as well as the addition of several new and very interesting characters. The explanations of time travel are so believable that they are just that - believable.

The definition of the story and the nod to morality is beautifully summed up: “What matters is how we proceed from the point of awakening. What we do with the challenges set us. How we behave toward others while we follow our destiny.”

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book that sends the reader a “protective wave of goodwill and sincerity.” ( )