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Seventh Miss Hatfield #2
The Time of the Clockmaker
Romantic and action packed, The Seventh Miss Hatfield is a 300-page novel about a young girl with the ability to travel through time—and the secret she must protect. With an epic romance that cannot be stopped by the bounds of time, as well as deeper questions regarding immortality, The Seventh Miss Hatfield is the beginning of a series perfect for fans of love stories such as The Time Traveler's Wife as well as historical fiction with a fantastical twist like The Diviners by Libba Bray.
As a child, Cynthia was lured into the home of her mysterious neighbor, Miss Hatfield. There, Miss Hatfield tells her they are both part of a long line of immortal women able to travel through time. But this gift might be more of a curse, and it comes with a price. Cynthia is beginning to lose herself: she is becoming the next Miss Hatfield.
But before the process goes too far, Cynthia must travel back in time to turn-of-the-century New York and steal a painting. This picture might provide a clue to the whereabouts of the source of immortality, a clue that must remain hidden from the world.
Her assignment isn't as easy as it appears, especially when Cynthia meets an attractive yet sullen boy named Henley. As their friendship grows into something stronger, Cynthia is hesitant to leave. But how can she stay with the boy she cares for when she must return to her own time before the time travel has a fatal effect on her body? And would she rather stay and die in love or leave and live alone?
And who is the mysterious stranger who shadows her from place to place? A hunter for the secret of immortality—or someone who has already found it?
Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint focused on young adult short stories and novellas, with new releases the first Tuesday of each month.
As a child, Cynthia was lured into the home of her mysterious neighbor, Miss Hatfield. There, Miss Hatfield tells her they are both part of a long line of immortal women able to travel through time. But this gift might be more of a curse, and it comes with a price. Cynthia is beginning to lose herself: she is becoming the next Miss Hatfield.
But before the process goes too far, Cynthia must travel back in time to turn-of-the-century New York and steal a painting. This picture might provide a clue to the whereabouts of the source of immortality, a clue that must remain hidden from the world.
Her assignment isn't as easy as it appears, especially when Cynthia meets an attractive yet sullen boy named Henley. As their friendship grows into something stronger, Cynthia is hesitant to leave. But how can she stay with the boy she cares for when she must return to her own time before the time travel has a fatal effect on her body? And would she rather stay and die in love or leave and live alone?
And who is the mysterious stranger who shadows her from place to place? A hunter for the secret of immortality—or someone who has already found it?
Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint focused on young adult short stories and novellas, with new releases the first Tuesday of each month.
- GenresFantasy
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2015
2 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Anna Caltabiano
5 books31 followersAnna Caltabiano is a child of the transnational cyber punk era. She was born in British colonial Hong Kong and educated in Mandarin Chinese schools before moving to Palo Alto, California; the mecca of futurism. She lives down the street from Facebook in the town where its founders reside, along with the pioneers of Google and Apple.Caltabiano's high school classmates are themselves an eclectic mix; the lost offspring of ultra-wealthy Silicon Valley magnates, aspirational internet entrepreneurs and Stanford philosophy professors. Her writing reflects her concerns for her own generation as it seeks out salvation, meaning, and companionship in online communities, with pop culture as its shared language.
Having grown up in privileged suburban America, Caltabiano has always felt bewildered by the intense personal pain of which her teenage peers would complain. To her, such anguish seemed like a betrayal of their good fortune. What exactly was driving these economically advantaged kids, lucky enough to be able to devote themselves entirely to self-fulfillment, to sabotage their lives? Anna Caltabiano's recent literary focus has been applied to the increasingly common practice of self-mutilation, which she sees as symbolizing a more universal urge among youth toward self destruction. All That Is Red is her striking effort to explore the ways in which the pressures and the banalities of modern adolescence combine, leading towards dangerous outbursts, designed to stimulate a physical response where an emotional one seems insufficient. All That Is Red is Anna Caltabiano's portrayal of two young souls searching for the intangible piece that is missing from their lives. Their responses to the challenging predicaments in which they find themselves are typically, youthfully untempered, but no less vital in their contemporary relevance.
Having grown up in privileged suburban America, Caltabiano has always felt bewildered by the intense personal pain of which her teenage peers would complain. To her, such anguish seemed like a betrayal of their good fortune. What exactly was driving these economically advantaged kids, lucky enough to be able to devote themselves entirely to self-fulfillment, to sabotage their lives? Anna Caltabiano's recent literary focus has been applied to the increasingly common practice of self-mutilation, which she sees as symbolizing a more universal urge among youth toward self destruction. All That Is Red is her striking effort to explore the ways in which the pressures and the banalities of modern adolescence combine, leading towards dangerous outbursts, designed to stimulate a physical response where an emotional one seems insufficient. All That Is Red is Anna Caltabiano's portrayal of two young souls searching for the intangible piece that is missing from their lives. Their responses to the challenging predicaments in which they find themselves are typically, youthfully untempered, but no less vital in their contemporary relevance.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 26, 2016
This was another okay story, but it did struggle to hold my attention all the way through.
Rebecca once again infiltrated a family pretending to be someone else in this book, only this time instead of searching for a painting she was searching for the clock that allowed her to time-travel. We did get a couple of interesting twists in that Rebecca’s mentor was murdered, and Henley came back as a ghost to help her, but I struggled to get through this one. The Henley thing also led to a bit of an odd love triangle too.
6 out of 10
Rebecca once again infiltrated a family pretending to be someone else in this book, only this time instead of searching for a painting she was searching for the clock that allowed her to time-travel. We did get a couple of interesting twists in that Rebecca’s mentor was murdered, and Henley came back as a ghost to help her, but I struggled to get through this one. The Henley thing also led to a bit of an odd love triangle too.
6 out of 10
July 24, 2022
Utter garbage.
I’m confused for a start that by searching for this book on Goodreads it brings up the same title and author but a different blurb and cover. Then reading some of the three star reviews I see that others are reviewing the other book and some are reviewing the book I read. It’s also just become apparent that this is some sort of series. There is no mention of that anywhere in the book.
There is a prologue which is repeated almost word for word in chapter one. Not sure why the author felt the need to repeat the story. The book is also full of spelling mistakes.
The gist is that an immortal time traveller named Rebecca sees the woman that made her immortal killed in the middle of a NY street parade, but with no one noticing. Rebecca then grabs the clock that allows the time travel, and bolts to another country. There she is attacked and goes back in time with the clock and the attacker, but has no idea who the attacker is.
On arrival in the 1500’s, the attacker and clock promptly disappear. Rebecca convinces a wealthy family that she is the daughter of a business associate (her dad) to the Lord of the house. The Lord is the one that gave her this story and doesn’t make any question. They give her a room, a servant, and order her an entire new wardrobe of clothes. Rebecca is taken to court (likely Henry VIII but they don’t explicitly say) and meets Richard who she immediately hates, so it’s immediately known they will fall in love.
Rebecca does a half arsed attempt to find the clock so she can go home, because staying too long gives her a stomach ache. She commissions a new clock from a clockmaker, charges it to the Lord (and no one questions this), and then gets on with not falling in love with Richard (which she fails at).
All the while of this pointless story where nothing happens, she has the voice of a man she loved from the 1800’s (Henley) following her around. But everyone can hear him so they can only talk while alone.
At one point this ‘attacker’ tries again to kill her, but it’s ok, she just gets up the next day and gets on with things, including being alone and vulnerable to another attack. Rebecca heads off alone in (I think) the castle to pick up the clock.
Later Rebecca suddenly falls in love with Richard, he announces he has consumption and promptly dies. Just as he passes, Richard sits up and is completely well again! Except that it’s Henley, the voice, now in Richard’s body! Rebecca is so happy because she loved Richard but was in love with Henley. Henley/Richard picks up the clock, turns the hands, and holding hands he and Rebecca time travel out. Everyone thinks Rebecca is a spirit sent from God or a witch that was there to take Richard to the next life, and then they just get on with things.
So the book ends, we have no idea who stole the original clock, who keeps attacking Rebecca, how Henley the Voice is able to follow her around, how she was able to time travel with Richard/Henley when he isn’t immortal, why the Lord didn’t write to her ‘father’ to acknowledge she was there safely, why everyone just accepted her without question, and what the point was of the silver fob watch the clockmaker gives her for free.
This is hands down the worst book I’ve ever read. It was completely pointless and didn’t tie up any loose ends.
I’m confused for a start that by searching for this book on Goodreads it brings up the same title and author but a different blurb and cover. Then reading some of the three star reviews I see that others are reviewing the other book and some are reviewing the book I read. It’s also just become apparent that this is some sort of series. There is no mention of that anywhere in the book.
There is a prologue which is repeated almost word for word in chapter one. Not sure why the author felt the need to repeat the story. The book is also full of spelling mistakes.
The gist is that an immortal time traveller named Rebecca sees the woman that made her immortal killed in the middle of a NY street parade, but with no one noticing. Rebecca then grabs the clock that allows the time travel, and bolts to another country. There she is attacked and goes back in time with the clock and the attacker, but has no idea who the attacker is.
On arrival in the 1500’s, the attacker and clock promptly disappear. Rebecca convinces a wealthy family that she is the daughter of a business associate (her dad) to the Lord of the house. The Lord is the one that gave her this story and doesn’t make any question. They give her a room, a servant, and order her an entire new wardrobe of clothes. Rebecca is taken to court (likely Henry VIII but they don’t explicitly say) and meets Richard who she immediately hates, so it’s immediately known they will fall in love.
Rebecca does a half arsed attempt to find the clock so she can go home, because staying too long gives her a stomach ache. She commissions a new clock from a clockmaker, charges it to the Lord (and no one questions this), and then gets on with not falling in love with Richard (which she fails at).
All the while of this pointless story where nothing happens, she has the voice of a man she loved from the 1800’s (Henley) following her around. But everyone can hear him so they can only talk while alone.
At one point this ‘attacker’ tries again to kill her, but it’s ok, she just gets up the next day and gets on with things, including being alone and vulnerable to another attack. Rebecca heads off alone in (I think) the castle to pick up the clock.
Later Rebecca suddenly falls in love with Richard, he announces he has consumption and promptly dies. Just as he passes, Richard sits up and is completely well again! Except that it’s Henley, the voice, now in Richard’s body! Rebecca is so happy because she loved Richard but was in love with Henley. Henley/Richard picks up the clock, turns the hands, and holding hands he and Rebecca time travel out. Everyone thinks Rebecca is a spirit sent from God or a witch that was there to take Richard to the next life, and then they just get on with things.
So the book ends, we have no idea who stole the original clock, who keeps attacking Rebecca, how Henley the Voice is able to follow her around, how she was able to time travel with Richard/Henley when he isn’t immortal, why the Lord didn’t write to her ‘father’ to acknowledge she was there safely, why everyone just accepted her without question, and what the point was of the silver fob watch the clockmaker gives her for free.
This is hands down the worst book I’ve ever read. It was completely pointless and didn’t tie up any loose ends.
May 21, 2025
I didn’t enjoy this book - and I really thought I would from the blurb, which promises navigating the Tudor Court and Henry VIII - and I love historical fiction so thought this would be a hit.
Firstly, this is the second book in a series but this is not mentioned until the end of the book, when they try and get you to read/buy the next one. I wonder if the plot holes and inconsistencies would have made more sense if I had read the first book, but this one certainly doesn’t work as a stand-alone book.
The blurb promises a daring and exciting journey through the court, kings and love. Our main character, Rebecca, has one sole interaction with Henry VIII, with just 3 mentions over the entire book - so why was he mentioned? Love, well, she spends the majority of the book avoiding a bloke who pretty much dies immediately after they finally get together, and she has a weird abusive relationship with a ghost, who then takes the dead one’s body.
There are other bizarre plot points, like being given a watch she didn’t ask for, no one questioning who she is or who is trying to murder her, and that clock she is hunting down the entire time and the premise of the book? She just has to ask for it to be made….again, this might have worked as part of a trilogy or larger story….but you need to mention it being part of a trilogy for that to work.
Overall, really disappointing do cannot recommend.
Firstly, this is the second book in a series but this is not mentioned until the end of the book, when they try and get you to read/buy the next one. I wonder if the plot holes and inconsistencies would have made more sense if I had read the first book, but this one certainly doesn’t work as a stand-alone book.
The blurb promises a daring and exciting journey through the court, kings and love. Our main character, Rebecca, has one sole interaction with Henry VIII, with just 3 mentions over the entire book - so why was he mentioned? Love, well, she spends the majority of the book avoiding a bloke who pretty much dies immediately after they finally get together, and she has a weird abusive relationship with a ghost, who then takes the dead one’s body.
There are other bizarre plot points, like being given a watch she didn’t ask for, no one questioning who she is or who is trying to murder her, and that clock she is hunting down the entire time and the premise of the book? She just has to ask for it to be made….again, this might have worked as part of a trilogy or larger story….but you need to mention it being part of a trilogy for that to work.
Overall, really disappointing do cannot recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2022
It's actually not that bad
December 26, 2015
Having really enjoyed book 1, I was eager to find out what happened next to Rebecca. Her predecessor's death was a shock to me and her, (since it's in the summary it's not a spoiler), especially the way it happened. I was interested in the finer details of Tudor England, the people that Rebecca met were from a wide range of backgrounds, some taking quite a liking to her, others not so much. The costumes and objects are talked about in a fair amount of detail – enough I could picture it in my mind but not so much I was bored.
The area I had an issue with is what Rebecca did, or rather didn't do. There were points where I felt she wasn't doing all she could to get the answers she needed. Yes, I understand she had to take things slowly to avoid raising suspicion, but when presented with obstacles it didn't seem as if she had taken on board her previous experiences, it felt as if she was needlessly hesitant, and wasn't trying hard enough.
Despite being annoyed with Rebecca for part of the book, there were a few laughs especially when she kept being cornered by certain characters who are rather entertaining. When we finally got to the showdown with the clock, it was pretty awesome in how it panned out. I think both this and knowing what Rebecca had been like in book 1 saved this installment of her life from having a lower grade.
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review on my blog Nayu's Reading Corner http://nayusreadingcorner.blogspot.co...
The area I had an issue with is what Rebecca did, or rather didn't do. There were points where I felt she wasn't doing all she could to get the answers she needed. Yes, I understand she had to take things slowly to avoid raising suspicion, but when presented with obstacles it didn't seem as if she had taken on board her previous experiences, it felt as if she was needlessly hesitant, and wasn't trying hard enough.
Despite being annoyed with Rebecca for part of the book, there were a few laughs especially when she kept being cornered by certain characters who are rather entertaining. When we finally got to the showdown with the clock, it was pretty awesome in how it panned out. I think both this and knowing what Rebecca had been like in book 1 saved this installment of her life from having a lower grade.
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review on my blog Nayu's Reading Corner http://nayusreadingcorner.blogspot.co...
December 9, 2015
What a good ending! Nothing like a cliff hanger ending to keep you hooked for the next book.
This is the second book to 'The 7th Miss Hatfield' and I wouldn't recommend it read as a stand-alone book.
This time set in the 1500s, the saga of Rebecca Hatfield continues.
I'm not a huge fan of the 1500s as a setting. Previously reading The Other Boleyn Girl I think helped me picture the scene better, as Caltabiano doesn't waste pages on over describing the eras in her books (which I like).
We're introduced to more fun characters whom Rebecca meets and has to somehow secretly immerse herself with, without getting herself burnt at the stake ;o)
Starting with a turmultuous beginning, the book levels out with another love encounter of sorts. Then a cliff hanger ending...one you know is going to happen, but a tasty big morsel thrown in to tantalise you for the third book.
I give it five stars because it was one of those books that has you immersed into another world. Also because it tells an intriguing story without the need to be pretentious and over worded.
A story where you can relate/understand all the characters, and you can picture them so clearly without being directly described.
Again, for the authors age, I think it is a darn good effort and she should be proud of such a great beginning to her career.
This is the second book to 'The 7th Miss Hatfield' and I wouldn't recommend it read as a stand-alone book.
This time set in the 1500s, the saga of Rebecca Hatfield continues.
I'm not a huge fan of the 1500s as a setting. Previously reading The Other Boleyn Girl I think helped me picture the scene better, as Caltabiano doesn't waste pages on over describing the eras in her books (which I like).
We're introduced to more fun characters whom Rebecca meets and has to somehow secretly immerse herself with, without getting herself burnt at the stake ;o)
Starting with a turmultuous beginning, the book levels out with another love encounter of sorts. Then a cliff hanger ending...one you know is going to happen, but a tasty big morsel thrown in to tantalise you for the third book.
I give it five stars because it was one of those books that has you immersed into another world. Also because it tells an intriguing story without the need to be pretentious and over worded.
A story where you can relate/understand all the characters, and you can picture them so clearly without being directly described.
Again, for the authors age, I think it is a darn good effort and she should be proud of such a great beginning to her career.
November 28, 2015
What can one say about this book? Appallingly written, with one disturbingly abusive character, and a few others which made very little impression in thought and deed. The ending was ridiculous- in fact, the events leading up to the ending were ridiculous. It felt cut off, too short, and far too saccharine to ever be considered a proper ending. If only half stars were an option for the rating system...if only...
November 6, 2017
I grabbed a copy while on vacation in Manchester, UK this year. While I enjoyed the premise of the story, I struggled with the poor editing in the copy I purchased. Multiple continuity errors, and logistical/plotting issues were so jarring I did not want to finish the book. The author should consider a different editor for further publications, this copy was so bad I refuse to read any other books in the series.
November 15, 2015
This book was well written, had a great plot, engaging from the start....The ending however was ridiculous and came to no valid conclusion. Even if there is an intended sequel it was thoroughly disappointing.
September 29, 2015
I really enjoyed this book
November 21, 2016
Easy read. Lacked depth to the story. Ending was ridiculous.
March 12, 2019
Couldnt get into it
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews