Unclaimed Legacy

Ever since Mother's Day my husband and I have been searching Ancestry.com to try and figure out just how far our own family tree goes back in time. Rumor has it from my husbands side of the family that his distant relative may have been William Clark from the famed Lewis and Clark expedition and that is just where I found myself today after reading Deborah Heal's latest novel, Unclaimed Legacy.

In this sequel to Time and Again: Charotte from Miles Station, we revisit Merri and Abby who have come across quite an unusual computer program that has been installed on Merri's computer called Beautiful Home. With it, they can log into the program in old homes and take a virtual trip back into time and view what life was like for the people who lived in that particular home. Now that they haven't been able to get it to work in the Miles Station home any longer, they think the program has malfunctioned or gotten a virus.

They consult with John Roberts, a young man that helped them out in the first book and whom Abby has a bit of an attraction for to help them fix their computer. He brings along a friend who tells them there is no such program called Beautiful Home and offers to de-bug their computer anyway. Since they can't get the computer program to work anymore they set out to work with a neighborhood boy by the name of Michael who has speech problems and is being bullied at school. When they meet his mother, who is deaf, they make the connection that Michael's speech problem can be fixed by working with a speech therapist by the name of Lucy.

Since Lucy is so busy, she asks Abby and Merri to house sit for her and take care of her young dog named Dr. Bob. While there she reminds them of some older ladies named Beulah and Eulah Edwards, twins who live next door and who are a bit intrusive, harmless and eccentric. She advised them, not to eat anything they cook, since most of the time it's not edible and to help them out whenever they can. It's not until they stay over night that the computer program for Beautiful Home once more is working but this time it's there current residence that has a bit of history to reveal on its own.

This is where to story gets interesting and the reader is taken on a fictional time travel of sorts where the author, Deborah Heal has taken pieces of real life history and woven them into the story to create a fantastic story geared to keep the reader entertained and on the edge of their seat through the whole book. I've been delighted to be given a sneak peek into this sequel due out this year for young adults and have to say I adored every single bit of this. It has just the perfect blend of history and action packed suspense to keep young adults glued to the pages as they work with the characters Abby, Merri and John to uncover a crime from history and a mystery of a secret intruder who stakes out the Shake Rag Corner Stage Coach Inn in the late night hours searching for something.

I received an Unclaimed Legacy compliments of Deborah Heal for my honest opinion and being both a lover of historical fiction and young adult books, I think she has mastered a home run here. This one easily rates a 5 out of 5 stars for me and one I anxiously await our coming school year to have my 13-year-old daughter pick up as both a part of literature and history. I think that's what makes this book so incredible is its ability to translate a love of reading with a fascination for history and I hope it will work it's way to the top of the best seller lists for young adults.

For more information on this unique and wonderful series of books by Deborah Heal, please click on the links below:

Unclaimed Legacy by Deborah Heal

You can visit Deborah's website by clicking here or you can follow her on Facebook by clicking here.