Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Not My Life: Time Shifters Book #5 is a romantic time travel fantasy for young adults written by Bob Kat. Scott, Austin, Kelly and Zoey were looking forward to being back in the present day after their last adventure in the twentieth century. They were stunned to find that, while Scott’s app had transported them back to the right location, it had left them in what they would later discover was 1977. Fort Myers Beach was a very different place then, filled with cottages and open space. While they tried to figure out what they would do next, the four decided to get some food at The Cottage Beach Bar, a local landmark that Zoey’s mother had told her about from her high school days. Since the restaurant had sold out all the newspapers for the day, they rescued a customer’s used one out of the trash to determine where in time they had ended up. After a sudden gust of wind scattered the sheets of newspaper, Austin noticed an article about his homeless friend, Dan, an older man who made necklaces from seashells and used a metal detector on the beach at night. According to the reporter, Dan had been a doctor with a wife and child. He claimed to have been sleeping in the study when his wife and child were brutally murdered. After the quartet returned to the present day, they decided to see if they could get the evidence Dan needed to help the authorities find the actual killer and give him back his life.

Bob Kat’s romantic time travel fantasy for young adults, Not My Life: Time Shifters Book #5, finds the time traveling teens once again trying to help others through Scott’s ingenious app. While this is the fifth book in the series, Kat gives ample background throughout the story to enable this book to be enjoyed on its own. I loved the historical aspects covered in Not My Life, and found myself Googling Thomas Edison’s legendary Spirit Radio, which was reputed to broadcast the voices of the departed. Kat’s time travelers, while still teens, seem cognizant of the ethical issues surrounding their activities in the past, and their debates on those issues are thought-provoking. I especially enjoyed the investigative aspect of this book and seeing how four very different people worked so well together as a team with a common purpose. I’m planning on reading the first four volumes in this series and hope that there’s future adventures in the making. Not My Life: Time Shifters Book #5 is most highly recommended.