The Best Gift

When an earthquake strikes San Francisco and she awakens three years in the future--alone--Clara wonders what happened to her husband, Drew, and to the child she was expecting.

The sequel to Markham’s If Only in My Dreams (2006) finds Clara McCallum happily married to Drew Becker, the reincarnation of Jed Landry, the soldier she fell in love with when she time-traveled back to 1941 just a few short years ago. Christmas morning of 2009 is a happy time for Clara—she has exciting news for Drew: she’s pregnant. But as soon as Clara makes the big announcement, an earthquake rocks their California house and she finds herself transported into the future. In 2012, she wakes up alone, eight months pregnant, and surrounded by boxes—with no sign of Drew or their child in sight. Clara bounces back and forth between 2009 and 2012 as she tries to figure out what the future holds. Though this novel is somewhat lighter on story than its predecessor, readers who enjoyed Markham’s first novel and its clever premise will also have fun this time around. --Kristine Huntley