Two different blogger reviews: 

Thank you Just4mybooks:

“...The time slip back to the 17th Century gave way to some gorgeous descriptions of Italy at that time, and Clementina’s confusion and comparisons to her own life were endearing and often funny. The relationship between Tina and Antonio Stradivari developed nicely, despite their different life experience, and had she stayed it would no doubt have led to a romance. I almost wanted her to stay there, the atmosphere of those times was so vividly brought to life. At the same time, I was keen for her to return home to tell her brother all about the trip. Having lost his sight, Tina brought colour to his world. Little did she know that her father and brother, Andrea, were having an adventure of their own.

This story lends itself well to a series as more challenges await. A teacher – Mr Verdegris – gives Clementina a pendant to be used whenever she feels she is in trouble, it will summon the teacher to her immediately while she is in the other time dimension. There she is tasked with finding and bringing back a genuine Stradivarius violin. Prior to Clementina’s quest, her school friend Ruby had been tasked to find the Dead Sea Scrolls, and another girl, Saffron, is destined for the next mission. But who is the intended recipient of these items? Well, running alongside Tina’s story, a professor waits in the Arctic to hear of her success or failure. This subplot delves into the topic of climate change, but as to the full reason behind the girls’ time travel, that was never really clear to me – maybe that becomes more obvious in the next book.

The magical elements of the story, the pendant, the time travel, and the backstory of Ruby’s prior challenge, made for interesting reading, and the author did a good job in depicting an authentic image of 17th Century Rome. Not the story I expected, but enjoyable for the time travel aspect and the location.”

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An interesting, different perspective from blogger Ellesea loves reading blog:
“Clementina (Tina) McBride is sceptical about going on a school trip to Rome. She doesn't want to leave her sick brother behind but is pursued by her Italian mother to accept the chance to visit the country of her birth. Strangely, before going on her adventure she's given an amulet by her teacher Mr Verdigris to wear at all time especially during the trip… what does this mean?

Captivating, I adored Clementina's time in 17th-century Rome. The author's paints a vivid picture of the Italian city at the time as I learned about young Antonio Stradivari. As someone familiar with the city, I appreciate the depth of detail Ms Mancini put into the narrative and finished this novel more knowledgeable than before.

My favourite aspect of this time-slip novel is when the story's based in Rome, simply because the plot's self-contained. The tentative relationship between Antonio and Tina, their innocent first love attraction highlights how differently such meetings were conducted in times gone by. Therefore, seeing 21st-century Tina through Antonio's 17th-century eyes is delightful..
Overall..a fascinating original novel, laced with rich historical detail and 21^st century issues”.

***arc generously received courtesy of Darkstroke/Crooked Cat Books via Rachel's Random Resources***

8 December 2019

I started this blog 11 years ago. We were living in a tiny medieval village in Tarn et Garonne, SW France, so I wrote about our experiences as English expats in a foreign country. Then Brexit happened which, along with other things, forced us to return to the UK. Things changed, so I faithfully recorded, week by week, how I felt about the news around me. Two days ago my birthday encapsulated the good and bad of the very social media I relied upon to write this blog. On the mantlepiece: 2 cards. On FB, hundreds of greetings, gifs and videos from lovely, kind people I’ll never meet. But, social media also has a dark side, particularly in the run-up to Thursday’s election. It gives a voice to all the illiterate, ignorant trolls in the world who waste no time in spouting venom to all who voice literate, informed opinions counter to their own. Lately I’ve been victim to some particularly vile accusations, one which even mentioned a terrorist organisation. Social media fanned the flames. So, after 11 years and hundreds of thousands of global blogpost reads, I’ve decided to stand down. A big thank you to all my regular, loyal readers. I appreciate you all.

1st December 2019

December. Dark days. Terrorism on London Bridge, the very spot I visited a few weeks ago. And still the General Election rumbles on, both main parties offering trillions of cash to the gullible public. Re Mirvis’s fears, the Labour leader promises to root out antisemitism, despite being totally blind to his own subliminal racism, using anti-Zionism as his own form of ‘acceptable’ antisemitism. By his own rules, he should kick himself out along with most of his Cabinet. He also plans to force on all employers the return of flying pickets, interfering in disputes that do not directly concern them. Like the ‘70s, the whole nation would be on strike. Yet again no gas, no electricity, no burials, no rubbish collections. Another winter of discontent then if Labour win. Running a country requires great intellect. Do you really want a leader who only managed EE at A level and left his Trade Union studies in his first year because he couldn’t cope? I don’t care about personalities. I will vote for the most educated candidate, someone best able to cope with all the global troubles ahead.

24th November 2019

Don’t know much about comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, but something he said yesterday struck a chord.  In general, I’ve been very grateful for social media, giving me access to free marketing and literary connections. However, since Brexit raised its ugly head, dividing the nation like nothing before, social platforms have given voice to increasingly rancorous and upsetting comments, even from within families. FB and twitter are awash with the illiterati, spouting venom at those on the other side of the fence. But it was Cohen who suggested that FB would run paid political ads even if outright lies, though denied by FB. Cohen said that, if social media had existed in the ‘30s, Hitler could have published antisemitic FB ads, no doubt drawing global applause. My worry today is that all these platforms push ignorant, racist opinions to an audience of millions, giving voice to growing extremism from the right and the left. Never have I felt so fearful.

17th November 2019

On Friday, Sky News broadcast a special programme about Extinction Rebellion, a group strangely reminiscent of yesterday’s Green Peace warriors. Meanwhile, the UK and mainland Europe’s been awash with rising floodwaters, especially severe in Yorkshire, the Avon and Venice. Elsewhere, Australia’s suffered horrendous bushfires. The big question: can man do anything about it or is it, as many scientists believe, part of a natural, planetary realignment that man can do nothing about? Writing as Isabella Mancini, I’ve set out - as part of a hopefully-engaging novel - one old professor’s take on it all. In his hut, deep in the Arctic, he ponders an outrageous plan involving the whole world. Does he succeed? Although the novel’s full release date isn’t ‘til 5 January, the paperback is available right now. Just click on the cover image above. Hope you enjoy it. One way to avoid the vexatious political shenanigans all around us at the moment!

10th November 2019

Yesterday was 91119. Yesterday was also the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, a seminal point in the persecution of one, innocent, group of people. What triggered it? In 1938, although there had been much discrimination in Germany against  the Jewish community, e.g. attacks on synagogues, the boycott of Jewish shops and the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Kristallnacht is generally viewed as the start of the Holocaust. Fast forward to today. Attacks yet again on synagogues, media defamations, antisemitic graffiti etc.  So, what can we do to stop the path to yet another Kristallnacht? Study the backgrounds of all election candidates before they gain power. Have they befriended terrorists or human rights abusers in the past? Don’t give power to a budding Hitler, whether from the right or left wing. Look back at history. Don’t sleepwalk into yet another abuse against innocents.

3rd November 2019

A General Election. This one is different. One of the PM contenders poses a huge threat to one group of British citizens, innocent people who now fear for their future. Some facts. 2006 Corbyn (JC) campaigned to release 2 convicted terrorists who set off a bomb. 2009 JC warmly called Hezbollah, a terrorist group who bombed and killed 85, his “friends”; also hosted the group in parliament, who had published a cartoon of Anne Frank in bed with Hitler. JC at first denied knowing them until a photo later showed them together. JC campaigned in support of suicide bombers, suggesting the murders were “understandable”. 2010 JC hosted an event comparing Israel to Nazis - deemed antisemitic by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. 2011 JC wrote a gushing forward for an antisemitic book that claims capitalism is controlled by “men of a peculiar race who have many centuries of financial experience” and blames “the house of Rothschild” for European wars! JC uses Israel as today’s ‘more acceptable’ form of antisemitism. But make no mistake: JC is rabidly, subliminally antisemitic.
Whatever political wing you espouse in this democracy, never before has the UK allowed such a person to stand as a potential PM. The Labour party should be forced to choose another leader IMMEDIATELY.