Description:

Abby s senior year of high school is textbook perfect: She has a handsome and attentive boyfriend, good friends, good grades, and plans to attend college next year. But when she meets Dante Alexander, a foreign-exchange student from Italy, her life suddenly takes a different turn. He s mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she s ever met before. Abby can t deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Time behaves differently when they are together traveling too fast or too slow or sometimes seeming to stop altogether. When the band Zero Hour performs at the local hangout, Abby realizes that there s something dangerous about the lead singer, Zo, and his band mates, Tony and V. Oddly, the three of them are also from Italy and have a strange relationship to Dante. They also hold a bizarre influence over their audience when performing. And Abby s best friend, Valerie, is caught in their snare. Dante tells Abby the truth of his past: he once worked for Leonardo Da Vinci, helping to design and build a time machine. When Dante was falsely implicated as a traitor to his country, he was sent through the machine more than five hundred years into the future as punishment. As the past and the present collide, Abby learns that she holds a special power over the flow of time itself. She and Dante must stop Zo from opening the time machine s door and endangering everyone s future. More than one life is at stake and Abby s choice could change everything.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—Abby's whole life has been planned: she is dating the "boy next door," whom she met shortly before she turned four, her parents are organizing the same bowling birthday party they've thrown for her for 14 years, and she and her best friend plan to be college roommates. Then Dante, a tall, dark, and handsome Italian foreign-exchange student, arrives at her high school, and everything gets turned upside down. Suddenly, she is having passionate feelings for him that she never had for her boyfriend, and she is willing to entertain possibilities that she never before considered. The closer she gets to Dante, the more her life spins out of control. Dante has secrets: He always wears leather gloves that cover his wrists, he disappears for days, and time literally stops when Abby is with him. The more she finds out about Dante, the more danger she is in. This novel has an exciting premise and moves along at a brisk pace. Unfortunately, the supporting characters are all caricatures of high school students, Abby and Dante have very little real chemistry, and the dialogue is stilted and frequently either clichéd or superfluous.—Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO
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Review

A Time Travel Thrill Ride!!!!, April 23, 2009
By Teri

I was sent an ARC of this blockbuster of a book two months ago to review and it totally blew me away!!! This is the first of a trilogy, of which I am excited about. This series is going to be HUGE!!! Abby Beatrice Edmunds is starting her senior year of high school, is wanting no limits in her already set life, with a boyfriend who's always got things planned. In walks Dante Alexander, a foreign exchange student from Italy, to turn her life upside down. He disappears for days, strange things happen when he's around. Abby finds herself drawn to Dante and the mystery that seems to go back to sixteenth century Florence that could be dangerous for her and her loved ones. If you love time travel stories, this is a very must read!!!! Don't be left out when this spellbinding novel comes out on 13 May!!!

This is a great book!, May 11, 2009
By Will

Ok, so . . . I'm a guy. And guys aren't supposed to LIKE, let alone READ this kind of fiction book. Well, I haven't read TWILIGHT, but I did see the movie. However, I DID read THE HOURGLASS DOOR by Lisa Mangum. This is really a wonderfully creative story, and you really feel like to get to know and relate to the characters. Abby and Dante feel like real people, and I really cared about them and their growing relationship. I'm WAY out of high school age, but reading this story took me back to the emotions and experiences of that time. Lisa Mangum is a brilliant new writer, and I'm sharing this book . . . and her future books . . . with three of my daughters who love to read, and who love romantic fiction. I cannot tell you how MUCH I loved this book. Bravo, Lisa! I can't wait to read the next one!

--April 23, 2009
By Teri