Christmas Eve Secret: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas

Publisher:  Broadback (September 16, 2019)
Category: Time Travel, Historical Fiction, Romance, Christmas
Tour Dates: October-November, 2019
ISBN: TBD
Available in Print and ebook, 440 pages

Description Christmas Eve Secret: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas

A mysterious man from the past steals the time travel lantern.

When Eve and Patrick find it, they destroy it.

Eve’s life is shattered.

She must return to the past, where secrets await.

In the third novel of THE CHRISTMAS EVE series, Eve and Patrick Gantly are living a normal life in 2019 New York, preparing to celebrate the Christmas season.  Patrick is taking courses in forensic psychology and Eve continues to work as a nurse practitioner.  To their delight, she is three months pregnant.

Despite their happiness, Eve is having premonitions that something dreadful is about to occur.  Concerned about the future and the safety of their child, she insists that they destroy the time travel lantern.  Patrick is more cautious.

One afternoon when Patrick is out, a sinister man breaks into the apartment and forces Eve to give him the lantern.  In many ways, Eve is relieved the lantern is gone.  She hopes they can now live a more normal life.

A day later, Patrick shadows a woman who has been staking out the Gantly’s brownstone apartment, and he confronts her.  To his and Eve’s utter shock, they learn that Lucy Rose is from 1924 and that she time-traveled with the man who took the lantern.  He returned to 1924, but she chose to stay behind.  She offers to sell the lantern back to Eve and Patrick, and they reluctantly agree, hoping to keep it out of unscrupulous hands.

Convinced that the lantern is a threat to their future happiness, Eve and Patrick decide to destroy it.

But the lantern has more power than they could have ever imagined.  Once the lantern is destroyed, Eve’s life is completely changed.  She must set off on an adventure, in a struggle that will return her to the past, where she will learn the secret of the lantern’s origin and delve into the farthest reaches of her heart.

Praise Christmas Eve Letter: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas

“If you are a fan of authors such as Nicholas Sparks and  Marybeth Whalen, or H.G. Wells or Jack Finney, you need to add this book to your shelves.
This is a romantic suspense novel with many dangerous and tense moments. As always, when one travels in time, the concern of consequences and potential changes to history and the future weigh heavily on both the traveler’s and readers’ minds.  Those worries added to the atmosphere but were also handled skillfully. I smiled at a certain twist of color. It is a perfect bookclub read.”-Laura’s Interests

“The Christmas Eve Letter is a beautiful, poignant story. It is well written and will have you turning the pages eagerly.
All of the characters are well thought out, and believably written, together with the well-constructed scenery, that has you feeling as if you yourself have just stepped into the past.
The story is unique and moving. It will hold you long after you turn the last page. A perfect Christmas tale of love and hope.”-Whispering Stories

“The Christmas Eve Letter is a wonderful time travel book and one of my favorite books of the year.”–The Book Return Blog

Praise Christmas Eve Daughter: Time Travel Novel by Elyse Douglas

“This book is the perfect vehicle for a movie, and I can only hope that there will be more in the series. This novel is truly as close to perfection as the reader could imagine! 5 Stars!”–My Devotional Thoughts Blog and Reviews

“I enjoyed the new characters, an update on characters from the first book, and the possibility for more books.  If you enjoy time travel-themed novels you will love these books!”–StoreyBook Reviews

“I am most impressed that this book did so well as a stand-alone novel. Kudos to the author! If you are looking for a good Christmas book with time travel, give this a go!”–Carole’s Bookshelves

The Christmas Eve Secret – A Time Travel Novel: (Book 3) The Christmas Eve Series by Elyse Douglas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

First of all, there are no bedroom scenes, and the profanity is minimal. In a book that is as well-written as this one is, I have no real complaints about anything. I have come to trust that a book by Elyse Douglas is one worth reading, and in this one, she does not disappoint. I have read a few time travel novels, and all of them were written as impeccably as this series is, I would be ecstatic.

If you have not read the other books in this series, you can still read this one. It has been some time since I read the other books in the series, but the author gave a quick, expert review as needed. And in my humble opinion, this is the best in the series!

For those who don’t typically enjoy time travel fiction, this may be an excellent place to begin. Elyse has a way of narrating a story in such a way that the characters come alive, and the story never lags. The romance is sweet, but never overdone. Also, the historical references are entertaining. Not everything is explained concerning the logistics of the time travel, but that is what makes this tale so enchanting! No need to get into all the scientific explanations. Merely enjoy a story that can whisk you away to a place where dreams can come true, no matter who you are!

View all my reviews

About Elyse Douglas

Elyse Douglas is the pen name for the married writing team Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington. Elyse grew up near the sea, roaming the beaches, reading and writing stories and poetry, receiving a master’s degree in English Literature.  She has enjoyed careers as an English teacher, an actress and a speech-language pathologist.

Douglas has worked as a graphic designer, a corporate manager and an equities trader.  He attended the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and played the piano professionally for many years.

Website: www.elysedouglas.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/douglaselyse
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elyse.authorsdouglas

Research for Time Travel Novels

Elyse Douglas

With the publication of The Christmas Eve Secret, (Book 3 of The Christmas Eve Letter series), the writing team known as Elyse Douglas has published seven time travel novels, five taking place during the twentieth century, and two taking place in the 1880s. Doing research for these latter novels led us down paths we could have never anticipated. For instance, did you know that in the Victorian Period,

When someone died the family would often have a photograph taken of the body.

Gothic novels were at their peak.

A lady would not wear a skirt that showed her ankles.

Bathing was unpopular.

Makeup was considered tacky.

Our first time travel novel, The Christmas Town, takes place in 1943. We did not initially think it would require a great deal of research, since Doug is a World War II history buff and knows a lot about WWII airplanes, battles, generals, and uniforms. But then, as the novel unfolded, other details had to be discovered. We knew what women looked like in the 40s, but we didn’t always know necessary details, such as, what exactly would a hair salon look like? Would there be a hairdryer? What kind? Finding the answers led us to old magazines and newspapers, books, and hours of internet searches. We learned that in the 1940s

(1) The average salary was $1,299.

2) The life expectancy of men was around 60 years, women about 68 years.

3) The T-shirt was first introduced in 1942.

4) The first computer was built in 1945.

5) The minimum wage was $0.43 an hour.

The Christmas Eve Letter (Book 1) was our next time travel novel. The main character travels back to 1885. What an interesting period of history for contemporary women to read about! Besides not being able to own property, open a bank account without a man, or vote, women were also very limited in their choice of profession. As writers, we had to find a place where our character could work with dignity as she struggled to save the life of a distant relative and figure out a way to get back to 2016. We also had to do a lot of research on New York City, the buildings, the transit system, the historical figures, the restaurants, the food, as well as the layers and layers of clothing women were required to wear: the corsets and undergarments, the bustles and hats. Did all the hats have feathers? How long would it take to have a dress made in that time?

After our trip back to 1885, we set our next time travel novel in 1916, during World War I. The Lost Mata Hari Ring was based on the historical figure of Mata Hari, the famous dancer who was executed in October 1917 by the French government for being a spy. Trace, the heroine of this novel, returns to 1916 and confronts Mata Hari. Once again, Doug’s knowledge of World War I airplanes helped him write the character of Edward Kenyon Bishop, a British flying ace, Trace’s leading man. But we also read biographies, personal letters and many articles on Mata Hari. We were further assisted by Hans Groeneweg of the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands.

The second book in the The Christmas Eve series: The Christmas Eve Daughter, had Eve and Patrick return to 1914. This time we discovered “Letters in Santa’s Box,” children’s letters published in the local newspapers. They were sweet and poignant and said much about that time and the people.

Time travel then took us back to the tumultuous year of 1968. Time Sensitive is about a woman who returns to 1968 in an attempt to prevent her younger self from making the same mistakes she had made her first time in 1968. Of course we read many accounts of the assassination of Robert Kennedy and the other dramatic events that occurred in the summer of 1968. We also learned about the newly popular TV dinners. Ever eat one? We have… Humm…

Hollywood in 1948 was the subject of our next round of research for Time Change. Because we are old movie buffs and familiar with many of the actors and actresses at that time, this period, too, seemed less daunting than others. Once again, though, we searched books, magazines and the internet and learned that Time Magazine’s Man of the Year was Harry S. Truman, and the first Cheetos product was Crunchy Cheetos, invented in 1948 in San Antonio, Texas.

For The Christmas Eve Secret, I researched toothbrushes in 1884. At a dental appointment recently, I discussed the facts I had learned with my dentist. He was upset that his profession contributes so much plastic to the heap of plastic now floating in the oceans and buried in our landfills. I proudly mentioned that toothbrushes in 1884 were made of animal bristles and wooden handles, and I suggested we go back to those. His answer: “Those materials hold more bacteria than plastic.”

When writing a novel, you never know what details will fix the characters in a realistic setting. Was the dress made of silk, velvet or polyester? Was the hair loose and free, or pulled back into a bun? Was the dress a mini, or did it brush the ground, barely covering the tops of pointed boots? Did the characters eat mutton, oysters or beef? Did anyone ever eat salad in the 19^th century?

And would wooden toothbrushes with Siberian boar bristles really be that bad?

We’ll leave you with the title of a popular song from the late 1880s: I Wish He Would Make Up His Mind.

Well, some things never change.

Elyse Douglas

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This giveaway is for the winner’s choice of one print or ebook copy of the book. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is available worldwide. There will be 3 winners. This giveaway ends November 29, 2019, midnight pacific time.

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