The Keeper's Calling by Kelly Nelson

Goodreads (description):

Chase Harper's to-do list for senior year never included "fall in love" and "fight for your life," but things rarely go as planned. Tarnished gold and resembling a pocket watch, the counter he finds in a cave during the summer of 2011 will forever change the course of his life, leading him to the beautiful Ellie Williams and unlocking a power beyond his wildest imagination. In 1863, Ellie Williams completes school in Boston and returns to the Utah Territory only to discover that her grandfather and his counter, a treasured family heirloom, are missing. When Ellie is abducted and told she must produce the counter or die, an unexpected rescuer comes to her aid.
My Review:

I normally don't listen to audio books, because I'm always afraid of what the narrator will sound like. For some books, I've heard that the narrator can ruin the book, but the guy who narrated Keeper's Calling was actually pretty great.

This book is about Chase Harper, a senior in high school, and one of the sweetest male protagonist I've read about in a while--which I'll get to in a minute.

Chase and his family were enjoying the last bit of summer camping in Zion's National Park in Utah, when he decides to go off and explore on his own. In a dark cave, Chase finds a golden pocket watch, and messes with a few strange buttons on the inside. Suddenly, Chase sees three people dressed like they were from the late 1800's. His reaction was perfect. He thought that he was on the scene of a western movie set. It is only when he sees that the two men were going to hurt their captive--Ellie Williams--that he begins to realize there's something beyond any explanation he could think of going on.

It is then that he discovers the gold pocket watch he now carries actually a time traveling device.

Can I just say how much I love time travel stories?

With Ellie by his side, Chase begins to learn how to use the counter. A whole new world--or should I say times?--was opened up to him. He was faced with many problems. How to keep Ellie safe from the Sniffers, how to control where and when he landed when using the counter, the Erie Canal, and what exactly his purpose was as guardian of his counter.

Although I thoroughly enjoy the time-travel aspect of the story, I was grateful that Chase maintained contact with his family. With most time-travel stories I've read or watched, it seems the minute the character goes into the past or future, they leave behind their family until their journey is over. Chase however used his current time-line as an anchor, always coming back when the small tasks he accomplished were over. It made him more relate-able, because had I been in his place, I would have gone back if I could too.

Now to explain why I think Chase is one of the sweetest male protagonists I've ever read about. I won't spoil the story, but the romance in this book was so cute--and it was realistic, in the fact that he didn't suddenly fall head over heels. The attraction was there in the beginning, obviously, but it took time for Chase to discover his feelings for Ellie. And it was just so cute! He treated her like a princess and did anything he could to keep her safe. Oh, it was super sweet. I loved it!

Overall, this was a clean and fun story about the beginning of a boy's journey through time. And, I'm excited for the next books! In this one we only get a small taste of the bigger picture, and I'm very intrigued to see what exactly that picture will be.

I give this a 5 out of 5!