The Best Gift

by Wendy Markham

On Christmas morning, Clara intends to tell her husband Drew that she's pregnant with their first child. However, an earthquake strikes in nearby San Francisco. The next thing Clara knows she's waking up in bed--alone--and discovers she's three years in the future, in this follow-up to "If Only in My Dreams." Original.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451228448
• ISBN13: 9780451228444
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 389 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

The perfect holiday treat! 4.5 stars!

What a delightful surprise this little gem was! I couldn't imagine how the author was going to build this story but it didn't take long before I was hooked! This sequel to "If Only In My Dreams" follows Clara, a very appealing woman, as she continues her life with Drew, the love of her life and the reincarnation of the man she fell in love with in 1941 during her first ordeal of time travel. Clara's world is turned upside down Christmas morning after sharing the best news of all with her beloved husband. Midway through an earthquake, she suddenly wakes to find herself in their home, surrounded with moving boxes, very pregnant and......alone. Clara's anguish and confusion are tangible and believable, as is her fear as she tries to figure out when she is and where her husband and un-born child are--or are they even still alive? *****FOUR AND A HALF STARS! This is a poignant romance that will keep you up at night, as you must find out what happens to this loving family! Make a pot of tea, keep the tissues handy and curl up with this highly entertaining love story-with-a-twist...a perfect holiday treat! ***** Reviewed by Tracey Naylor for Huntress Reviews.

terrific thought provoking tale

On Christmas morning 2009 in the San Francisco Bay area, Clara thinks her life is finally perfect after her disastrous time in 1941 when she learned she has breast cancer and fell in love knowing her GI Jed Landy was going to die at Normandy; he pledged to always find her no matter what (see If Only in My Dreams). Now in 2009 she loves her husband Drew and is seven weeks pregnant. An earthquake hammers the Bay area. Clara keeps moving back and forth between 2009 and 2012. However what she observes in 2012 frightens her as she pregnant and alone except for boxes; Drew is nowhere and neither is the baby she was carrying in 2009. She begins flickering back and forth to Christmas 2012. She can't figure out what's going on with her future self. She's alone, hugely pregnant and the house is full of boxes. However, she keeps thinking back to 1941 and her eternal soul mate's pledge. This is a terrific thought provoking tale that deftly combines time travel and reincarnation with the underlying theme that true love is forever. The beleaguered Clara is confused as she struggles between 2012 and 2009 but finds solace with her thoughts of 1941. Complicated and nonlinear, Wendy Markham continues her strong saga of love for all time. Harriet Klausner