Synopsis
Melody Tarleton is driving home for Christmas when a man—clad in Revolutionary War–era costume—appears out of nowhere, right in the path of her car. Shaken, she takes the injured stranger in, listening with concern to Jake Mallory's fantastic claim that he's a Patriot soldier executed by British authorities.
Bringing Jake to her parents' house, Melody concocts a story to explain the handsome holiday guest with the courtly manners and strange clothes. Mark, her close friend who wishes he were more, is skeptical, but her family is fascinated. So is Melody. Jake is passionate, charming and utterly unlike anyone she's ever met. Can he really be who he claims? And can a man from the distant past be the future she truly longs for?
Library Journal
Whisked from the gallows in a bizarre flurry of rose petals just as he is being hanged as a traitor to the Crown during the American Revolution, Jake Mallory is stunned to find himself in the 21st century, being taken in by the woman who accidentally hit him with her car on an icy road and whose family lives in "his" house. Of course, artist Melody Tarleton thinks he's an actor who's lost his memory, but as the evidence mounts, she begins to wonder. VERDICT A creative blend of humor, witchcraft, science, and history, this delightfully offbeat yet sometimes unexpected story whips up its own brand of holiday magic, assuring that two happy couples will make it "home in [their] time for Christmas." Graham (Unhallowed Ground) lives in southern Florida.