Truly a magical book. Xanthe and her mother, Flora have moved to Marlborough to open a little shop of antiques and collectables. Flora and Xanthe's dad are getting divorced and Xanthe has broken up with her sorry, no good boyfriend. Xanthe has the gift of .psychometry.. She can hold things in her hand and they tell her about their history. Once they are at the shop, Xanthe feels something in the house, something she can't see. She and her mother go to an estate sale, where an item is calling her. It is a chatelaine, made of silver. She takes it into the garden to listen to it and realizes that there is a small shed hidden behind vines and brambles. The chatelaine is pulled to that place. She finds out that it is where two leylines meet and it is a place of power. When Xanthe goes in, she is transported back in time and sees a vision of a young girl. The ghost of a woman is in the building as well. She tells Xanthe that it is her daughter and she must go to the 1600 century and free her daughter who has been arrested for stealing part of the silver chatelaine from the lady of the house or she will cause problems and maybe hurt her mother. Xanthe is transported back and is taken into the household of the lady whose chatelaine was taken. Alice is already in jail. During this time, Xanthe says that she is a minstrel. She is hired to be a servant and to sing when need be. She meets Samuel, an architect who knows that she is not what she seems. She and Samuel have deep feelings for each other. Will they be able to free Alice before she is punished? What about the feelings between Samuel and Xanthe? I adored this book. There is so much more that I could write about, but I don't want to give anything away. I give it a 5+. I received this book from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for a honest review and no compensation otherwise.

I LOVE Paula Brackston. Her writing is so vivid and mysterious and wonderful, so I was excited to read her new book, The Little Shop of Found Things. I was not disappointed! We meet Xanthe and her mother Flora, who leave London to start a new life as owners of a small antique shop. Xanthe has a unique gift which pulls her to certain antiques and can sense the stories and emotions behind old things.

Soon, at a local auction, she comes across an chatelaine (not going to lie, I had to google that when I read it) and feels a strong connection to it immediately. Unbeknownst to Xanthe, there is a ghost who resides in her new home who has orchestrated the connection to the antique. Why? I'll let you discover that on your own. Anyway, Xanthe is taken back to the seventeeth century to uncover the origins of the chatelaine and comes across things (and people) who will change her life forever.

This was such a mysterious, delightfully magic book, with so much detail and intrigue that I could not put it down! I loved it! Enchanting to the very end! Definitely recommended!!

4 out of 5 stars for The Little Shop of Found Things by Paul Brackston.

Readers - don't you love finding a story that takes you away? Away from all the day to stresses and worries? A fantastical story that envelops your senses? Well, that is The Little Shop of Found Things in a nutshell. Paula Brackston's smooth, delicately intricate style goes down like a warm hot cocoa on a cold, snowy day.

As you can read from the back of the book Xanthe, with her special abilities and her mom, Flora relocate to Marlborough, open an antique shop, and purchase a chatelaine at an estate auction. The Mother of a wrongly executed servant communicates via the chatelaine. This ghost threatens to harm Flora if Xanthe refuses or fails to save her daughter. Xanthe travels back and forth, establishing friends with whom she relies heavily upon for protection and information. While desperately searching for hard evidence to prove the servant's innocence, she falls in love. The time-traveling Xanthe must choose between eras and the two most powerful loves on earth - that between mother and daughter, and that between soul-mates. Should she choose the latter, her Mother would surely perish. How would this one decision change all of their futures? Considering she was in love in a "time" where she hadn't even been born yet.

As with most series starters, this book lays the foundation for what will come next. And Paula Brackston does a good job. I just couldn't understand why some areas were rushed and felt needlessly thin. There's going to be a second novel and this one is only 320 pages, why hurry? I didn't feel the desperate tug on Xanthe's heart for the love she would leave in the 1600s. I could relate to the Mother tug - but I didn't have enough information to feel "desperately torn." I couldn't even see how he was so over-the-top, all in, in love.

The Little Shop of Found Things is a mystery, suspense/thriller, fantasy, sci-fi, romance...something. And it IS that extra something that sets this novel apart. I enjoyed reading this story. I cannot stop wondering what kind of antique will trigger another otherworldly adventure for Xanthe. (And hoping I don't have to wait very long to find out.)

Happy Reading,

RJ

The Little Shop of Found Things has history, romance,did I mention adventure, time travel with just enough paranormal to excite you. Paula you did not disappoint me with your new book. I’m excited for the next book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book. Little Shop of Found Things was totally what I thought it would be and I was so pleasantly surprised.  Part historical fiction and part paranormal fiction, this book is perfect for fans of Outlander.  Xanthe and her Mother are starting a new life in their newly acquired antique shop.  Xanthe has always had the ability to touch objects and have them "sing" their story to her.  When she touches an old chatelaine, she feels more connected to this object than anything else she has ever touched.  When she finds herself inextricably transported to 1605, she must find a way to get herself home and help someone from the past.  When she meets Samuel, an architect, she wonders if she will have the strength to leave. I loved the history in the book, the characters and the time travel in this book. I cannot wait to read the next one.

The Little Shop of Found Things, by Paula Brackston, is contemporary time-travel fiction with a touch of magic. It also mixes in a ghost story, along with 17th century history - and all of these things are what intrigued me about the book. As a fan of novels by Diana Gabaldon, Alice Hoffman, and Susanna Kearsley - I find the blending of history, time travel & magic to be tantalizing.

But something was missing for me in this novel. It took me nearly an entire month to finish, when it should have taken a week. Though this was partly due to life getting in the way, it was also that it didn’t “hook” me. I didn’t feel enough for the characters, even though Brackston has placed her two main characters - daughter Xanthe and mother, Flora - in the precarious situation of moving to a new town and setting up a new business. Both mother and daughter have hurdles to get over; Xanthe’s criminal past and Flora’s daily battle with arthritis. And both have broken hearts from men who’ve let them down. Despite these backstories, I found what was happening (and the stories of those long dead in present time) in the 17th century to be more exciting reading. The mysteries of Great Chalfield Manor are what ultimately kept me reading to the end - none of which I’ll spoil here.

Fans of contemporary fiction that spins a mystery mixed with time travel, magic and ghosts may want to take a look at The Little Shop of Found Things. It’s a good read that may just hit a stronger mark with another reader who finds a kindred spirit in its characters.

*I received an advance digital copy from NetGalley for review.

Tried reading this book but a having a hard time. The story line seems good but the actual book is very slow moving. Will not be finishing it.

The Little Shop of Found Things is a wonderful start to Paula Brackston's new series. I loved it and give it five stars.

"It could not be real, and yet it was."
When Xanthe was only a child, she realized she had a gift of looking at old things and feeling their history.
Little did she realize that an old silver chatelaine bought at an estate sale, would send her back to the 1600's to save a young servant named Alice from an unjust punishment.
Nor did she fathom after purchasing the old antique shop, of an unwelcome guest roaming there.
The ghost of Margaret Merton.
Margaret Merton was searching for someone to save her daughter Alice and was not going to rest until it was done!
Xanthe is called to this task.
I could feel the anxiety each and every time Xanthe plummeted back in time and I awaited what would happen next as I turned each page.
This was my first book by this author and definitely not my last! This story has it all!

Starting over, Xanthe and her mother Flora purchase an antique store in a small town, where Xanthe’s extra-sensory connections to antiques impel her into a time travel mystery to rescue a young woman in the 17th century to save her mother’s life. Details of time travel are cleverly meted out through Xanthe’s discoveries and conclusions, increasing tension by placing credible limitations on Xanthe’s experiences. Urged on (and threatened) by the ghost of the young woman’s mother, Xanthe makes difficult decisions with every move, resolving impossible conflicts with verve and panache, even sacrificing romance for her mother, which is as it should be. Repeated references to the injustice in her own history could have been more subtle. The ghost mother could have been developed a bit more. The damsel in distress was a lovely vision of mystery even after the reader meets her in person. That she was rescued by a woman is a brilliant move on the author’s part. Readers who love time travel and / or female antagonists who save the day will appreciate this story. I received this wonderful story from the publisher through #NetGalley.

The Little Shop of Found Things is a delightful time-travel novel!  I had not read Paula Brackston before so I didn't know that she usually writes stories about witches, sorcery and time travel.  I was just looking for a new book to request and the description for this one sounded a little different than my usual and a little quirky too and here I am reviewing it:)

At first I was skeptical that I would even finish it because ghosts don't really work for me (not really a spoiler - the ghost shows up very early on), but I'm glad I kept reading!  This story has a true dual timeline with a time-traveling main character which is a little reminiscent of The Outlander (but shorter and with less violence and sex).  There are mother-daughter relationships, 17th century life, potential love interests in different centuries, and the antique business to explore.  It appears this is meant to be the first in a series and I'm already looking forward to reading the next one!

What a delightful read. I truly enjoyed this book by Ms. Brackston. This was the first book I had read by her and I will certainly consider others. The story is well written, even though we have a time travel back to the 17th century and a mean ghost, it was all very entertaining and she even made it sound believable. The character development was good, I cared about Samuel, Xanthe, Flora, Liam, Harley and could even envision the favorite neighborhood bar, Feathers.
I read another time travel book this year and I really enjoyed it too. The research on the 17th century time period was done so well, I loved the descriptions of the buildings, the stonework, the period clothing, the streets with the horses and carriages, all the way down to the fabric fraying when it came into the 20th century, she did a wonderful job. How they handled a legal trial was very interesting too, I’m sure that’s how it was done. And the added little touch of romance and the singing minstrel characterization was perfect.
I highly recommend and I wish the best for the Little Shop of Found Things, I’m sure Flora and Xanthe will make great store owners.
I was given the opportunity to receive this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This one gets a high 5*****’s.

Xanthe Westlake was 8 years old when she discovered that she could feel the vibrations of a past life through antique objects. A fluttering singing rhythm that allowed her to see the previous owners past story through the object she was close too. It didn’t happen all the time, but as her mother raised her around antiques, she gradually grew more tuned to the specific objects that would sing their stories to her, whether it was an old teapot, a vintage wedding dress or pieces of jewellery from centuries ago.

The past year hasn’t been kind to Xanthe and her mother Flora, Xanthe being accused of a crime she didn’t commit and Flora’s difficult divorce with Xanthe’s father left them both with a desire to start fresh away from the city. They purchased an antique shop in a quiet Wiltshire village and began hunting for antiques to add to their little shop.
It was at an antique market where Xanthe began hearing the song of a particular piece, a chatelaine, unlike anything she has heard before. The feeling of anxiety, fear, urgency and sadness with a powerful vibration that she couldn’t escape from that she knew she had to have.
She came to realise that the chatelaine would only send her visions of the past when she was close to the mysterious hidden building in their back garden, only they weren’t just visions. Xanthe found herself being transported back to the seventeenth century to the origin of the chatelaine. Her life became even more complicated when a ghost starts appearing in a malicious nature demanding that Xanthe needs to travel back in time to rescue her daughter who has been accused of thief and sentenced to death. The ghost ensures that she doesn’t let her down by threatening Flora’s life. With no choice but to do as she is told, Xanthe travels back to 1605 to rescue the innocent girl.

‘She struggled to take in the enormity of what was happening. She had traveled into a place other than where she had started. The ghost of Margaret Merton had meant her to go there, had been determined she would. Xanthe knew as soon as she had entered the blind house she had been powerless to stop herself falling back through the centuries’

My Thoughts

This was the first book I had picked up by Paula Brackston and I can assure you that it won’t be the last. Her writing had me hooked from page one right up until the ending which had me craving more! It was a perfect mixed blend of Mr Darcy meets Time Travelers Wife. Who wouldn’t want more of that!
The story had a nice pace with fantastic settings which felt like you were in the scene itself, whether it was walking down the comforting cobbled streets of Marlborough in the present day market place or taking a horse and carriage through the beautiful countryside to the busy city of Salisbury with it’s timber houses, unsanitary open sewers and muddy roads in 1605.

‘The room itself did look wonderful. There were flowers everywhere, from pink and white posies on the tables, to swags of ivy and tiny white flowers over the fireplace, to Clara’s requested rose bower above where she sat. Pale green silk had been unfurled on the walls, covering the dark tapestries, giving the illusion of grass or perhaps leaves, so that the whole place felt like a flower-filled garden in summer, rather than an imposing stone house in October. It smelled a great deal sweeter than the kitchens too, with herbs strewn over the floor, releasing their uplighting scents as they were crushed under foot.’

The contrast in the two different time frames was great. Something that made the story different from other time travel books I’ve read was that Xanthe had more control over when she would travel. She had time to prepare what she could in order to go back to the seventeenth century to rescue Alice. Obviously she wouldn’t get it perfect and it was strange that her unusual looks went unnoticed for the most part, even with her excuse as a traveling minstrel, but she made it work.
The details in each time frame was clever and well thought from the historical settings with the lack of modern amenities that Xanthe is used too, as well as the spoken language and expectations of the levels in society, to the contrasting slang and carefree lifestyles in the present day. The author managed this distinction well by making the present characters unique in their own way, Gerri as a bright and eccentric single mum who collects antique china for her cafe and never had a hair out of place, to Harley the burly Scottish barman with keen interest in the history of Marlborough and it’s hidden treasures.

Most of the characters were really well written, even with the small build up to each one. You felt you knew who could be trusted and who couldn’t. Xanthe knew the importance of the chatelaine and pursued to risk everything to travel back in time to save Alice and her mother from the malicious ghost of Margaret Merton. She was scared, helpless, exhausted and in a new world with no one to help her with her secret mission. Not to mention she had to keep up appearances as a girl from the future with the different expectations of a woman in the seventeenth century. Xanthe remained strong for her mother, even if she did unintentionally try and pass the responsibility of Alice’s rescue onto the Applebys at one point. I wasn’t sure what to think when she began using Liam to help her find answers. I could see why she did it, but it didn’t sit right for me with her feelings for the dashingly handsome Samuel in the picture.

Master Samuel Appleby. A product of Mr Darcy with his dark smouldering looks, his antisocial behaviour with a lovely dash of loyalty and intelligence which he used to his advantage when it suited him. Even though Xanthe appeared as nothing more than a kitchen maid in the Lovewell manor, to Samuel, she was his saviour to help him complete his work.
Their connection in the 1600’s is so sweet and pure that you’ll begin to wonder how Xanthe will ever be able to leave him behind. I wont spoil it for you though! You’ll have to find out for yourself!

‘She turned to go, but as she did so Samuel put his hand on her arm. It was a fleeting gesture, a reaction to the thought of such a valuable resource leaving him, no doubt. Still the contact was startling, his touch firm, and the look he gave her suggested it surprised him, too.’

Needless to say that I was surprised by how much I adored this story. I will definitely be hunting for more from Paula Brackston.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of The Little Shop of Found Things in exchange for an honest review.

Rich in historical detail of both the customs of the time and in its descriptions of English villages, The Little Shop of Found Things combines mystery, romance, dangerous situations, and time travel. Flora and Xanthe are a mother and daughter who’ve just opened an antique shop. While touching a 17th century chatelaine, Xanthe finds herself transported to the past with a mandate (from a ghost) to rectify a wrong that occurred in the 17th Century. Flora’s life is suddenly imperiled should Xanthe not succeed in her mission, adding tension to the plot. Her undertaking leads Xanthe to meet two very different potential love interests: Samuel and Liam. I am assuming Xanthe’s relationship with these two men will provide the foundation for future books in this series.

While at times a bit over-the-top in her usage of metaphors, Paula Brackston has come up with an unconventional and fascinating premise for a time-travel series: psychometry. I look forward to reading more of Xanthe’s adventures in future books in this series.

Magic and romance spin a timely tale between current day and 1605 in this beautiful tale. I love the setting and characters, the charm, the magic, the transference of time! The author writes the scenery so well you actually picture yourself there, either in the country or bystander in the rooms with these amazing people. I cannot wait to find out what happens in the next book!!! Highly recommend!!!

4 stars--I really liked it.

It's been a long time since I read a time-travel book, I realized as I was reading this one. And I really enjoy them! Despite some minor anachronisms, I found myself engrossed in Xanthe's story--both in the present and the past. There was a bittersweet romance, some lovely characters (especially Flora), and overall a cozy feel to this book.

I was pleased to see this is the start of a series. I'll definitely pick up the next book.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

Enjoyed this adventure! I love books that take you back in time and this one was fun with a ghost, a witch, time travel, a love interest (or two?) and a matter of life and death. Although the witchcraft in this book was decidedly understated, Xanthe definitely had a gift. Objects "sang" to her and she was driven to solve what they were trying to tell her. This adventure pushed her to go back in time to attempt to prevent the hanging of a young girl accused of stealing.

Warm characters and lots of atmosphere kept the story interesting. The time changes from present to past were well done and I liked the use of the ley-lines across the area to perform the time travel. Most of this story was in the past but I would have liked to have read more about the present and the new antique shop and especially what happens with Xanthe and Liam.

Thanks to Paula Brackston and St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

This book was surprising on so many levels. I’ve never had the pleasure of reading another title by Paula Brackston, but was impressed by her ability to evoke past and present so vividly, while weaving the paranormal into a work of historical fiction without it detracting from the authenticity of the tale. The book is a testament to the transcendent power of love - both romantic and familial - and passion: for your profession, for your conviction, and for the necessity of righting wrongs. A very enjoyable read!

What a pleasant read! Xanthe has clairsentience, the uncanny ability to feel emotions left behind in objects by past owners and events. She and her mother, who suffers from crippling bouts of arthritis but pushes on with a smile, are opening an antiques and collectibles shop in the quaint village of Marlborough. Xanthe is strongly drawn to a chatelaine, a fancy piece of belt jewelry worn for both decorative and useful purposes, which they find at an estate sale. Thus begins Xanthe’s adventures between the present and the 17th century with colorful characters in both frames of time.
Paula Brackston does a beautiful job of making Xanthe normal, not perfect, someone we can more easily relate to. Her mother Flora is a strong, loving woman who you immediately like. The townsfolk and shop owners of Marlborough are diverse and interesting. Then Xanthe meets the people of her 17th-century world, who are characteristically true to that era of history. I’m really excited that this will be a series. The groundwork Paula has established in this book ensures future interesting adventures. And even though I don’t normally become interested in the future of those who fall in love in books, I’m anxiously awaiting what transpires between Xanthe and Samuel.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for making it available.)

Thankyou to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Paula Brackston for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Little Shop Of Found Things.
I found the book to be extremely well written. The central characters were well developed and engaging. I loved every aspect of this novel. I just couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Hopefully, Xanthe will go on more adventures,
Highly recommend this book. Such a beautifully written and engrossing story.