Book picks similar to
The Best Gift by Wendy Markham


time-travel
romance
christmas
fiction

Lost Highlander


Cassidy Cayman - 2013
    Too much to deal with. So, when her runaway best friend calls with a mysterious and urgent request to join her in Scotland, she is secretly more than happy to drop everything and oblige.She's faced with an ancient curse, an adorably hunky villager, and a super hot (but possibly murderous), Highland warrior from the 18th century - and realizes that getting burned at the stake is a really bad way to get out of writing her thesis.

Blood From a Stone


Cynthia Lucas - 2011
     Awakening only once every fifty years for one month's time, and after searching to no avail for the cure that will break the seemingly unbreakable spell, he's grown content to spend his short time as a man enjoying all the marvels and hedonistic pleasures the modern world has to offer; first in his native Europe, and then in America where he'd settled to sit out the long decades atop an old church. The year is 2011 and upon Awakening, Samson soon meets Willow Dalton...a smart, pretty nurse who works in the children's ward of a local hospital. As love warms his heart, and he discovers a mysterious side-effect of his condition; one that may hold the key to his freedom and may also cause him to lose her forever, he is now in a race against time...determined to stay at her side, and daring to hope that after five centuries he will finally find a way to break the curse before next full moon rises and he's turned from man to stone once more.

Make My Wish Come True


Fiona Harper - 2013
    When Gemma shirks responsibility once too many and announces she’s off to the Caribbean (again!); Juliet finally snaps. Gemma offers her sister the perfect solution - to swap Christmases: she’ll stay home and cook the turkey (how hard can it be?) and Juliet can fly off into the sun and have a restorative break.In the midst of all the chaos, there’s Will, Juliet’s dishy neighbour who’s far too nice to float Gemma’s boat and may secretly harbour feelings for her sister; and Marco, the suave Italian in the villa next door, who has his own ideas about the best way to help Juliet unwind. Will the sisters abandon caution and make this a Christmasswap to remember?

Building Celebration House (The Celebration House Trilogy Book 1)


Annette Drake - 2017
    Little did she know she would become a patient herself. After recovering from her own heart surgery, she learns she has a special talent: the ability to see and talk with the dead. Now, with her new heart failing her, she leaves the bustle of Seattle behind and returns to Lexington, Missouri, the small town where she spent her childhood. Here, she sets out to restore an abandoned antebellum mansion and open it as a venue for celebrations. Carrie’s work is cut out for her. The 150-year-old Greek revival house is in need of serious repair. Her sister, Melanie, tries to bully Carrie into returning to Seattle, predicting “her little project” is doomed to fail. Finally, Carrie’s health gives out on her, requiring emergency surgery. But she will not give up. Carrie’s unique gift allows her to build relationships with the mansion’s ghostly occupants, especially Maj. Tom Gentry, the handsome Civil War soldier who died 100 years before Carrie was born. Will Carrie finish restoring the celebration house or will it finish her? And how can she plan a future with a man who has only a past?

Fallen Angels


Judith Post - 2012
    Instead, he’d wrestled Caleb to the ground and held him there until the rebellion was over. He’d saved his friend from the pit, but he couldn’t save him from himself. Caleb still denounced everything Enoch held dear, and he was cast to Earth in punishment. Without the Light, Caleb wastes away, until he discovers a new life force—human blood. Worse yet, each mortal he drains is infected with his immortality, creating a race of vampires. Enoch is responsible for Caleb’s mess, so Enoch’s sent to Earth to clean it up. He walks the night, hunting and destroying vampires, trying to protect mortals. And he’ll be stuck among mortals until Caleb repents and returns Home….which doesn’t seem likely. But when Caleb’s hordes come to town as Enoch is trying to hunt down a vicious serial killer, Enoch finds himself trapped in an eternal battle with his former friend as he tries to protect the people of Three Rivers from threats both human and not.

Sundays at Tiffany's


James Patterson - 2008
    Her mother, the powerful head of a Broadway theater company, has no time for her. She does have one friend-a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael-but only she can see him. Years later, Jane is in her thirties and just as alone as ever. Then she meets Michael again-as handsome, smart and perfect as she remembers him to be. But not even Michael knows the reason they've really been reunited.SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S is a love story with an irresistible twist, a novel about the child inside all of us-and the boundary-crossing power of love.

Hemlock


N.J. Layouni - 2014
    Until then, Martha must attempt to fit into medieval society, avoid the Evil Earl and his minions, and learn how to trust her heart again.

Landline


Rainbow Rowell - 2014
    She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.Maybe that was always beside the point.Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn't expect him to pack up the kids and go home without her.When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts...Is that what she’s supposed to do?Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

In Dreams


J. Sterling - 2011
    Convinced he must exist, Taylor is relentless... until she finds out exactly WHO the mysterious stranger really is.The realization rocks the girls to their core and sends them down a path of unimaginable heartbreak as they learn to navigate their new reality.Follow Katherine & Taylor's journey through love, friendship and tragedy in the first book of this emotionally captivating Young Adult series.Suitable for ages 12+

The Brands Who Came For Christmas


Maggie Shayne - 2000
     When he learns the truth, Caleb rushes back to Big Falls, determined to make it right despite what the scandal will do to his high profile career–the family legacy he had never truly wanted. All he wants is Maya, and their child. But can a girl whose father abandoned and betrayed her, ever truly believe in the goodness of a man who left town the morning after their one night stand? How can he convince her that he hasn’t stopped thinking about her since then, much less, do so with the whole world watching? He has to prove himself to a woman he’s not even sure he’s worthy of. But he has no idea how. The Oklahoma All-Girl Brands is a six-book, small town, contemporary romance series with shades of HOPE FLOATS and YOU’VE GOT MAIL. Spin off of the bestselling Texas Brand Series.

Between Seasons


Aida Brassington - 2011
    And after his parents leave the house, he's trapped without company -- until a mysterious woman who can channel his memories buys the house forty years later. The spring brings with it new life, but falling in love with the new owner may only bring heartbreak to them both

The Summer I Learned to Dive


Shannon McCrimmon - 2012
    On the night of her high school graduation, things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that her mother has been keeping a secret from her—a secret that causes Finn to do something she had never done before—veer off her plan. In the middle of the night, Finn packs her bags and travels by bus to Graceville, SC seeking the truth. In Graceville, Finn has experiences that change her life forever; a summer of love, forgiveness and revelations. She learns to take chances, to take the plunge and to dive right in to what life has to offer.

The Vicarage Bench Anthology


Mimi Barbour - 2009
    Tobias Andrews, guardian of the magic, assists each trapped spirit—but not until every story’s happy ending is assured.In She’s Me, chubby, shy Lucy McGillicuddy who lives in a small English village in 1963 is forced to share herself with 2006 top model Jenna McBride. This experience teaches them both valuable lessons that enable them to finally accept true love.In He’s Her, schoolteacher Carrie Temple has to make space for Vegas casino owner Rhett Parks, whose spirit invades her heart as well as her mind, and won’t leave. At first she desperately wants him to get out, but soon she can’t bear for them to be apart.In We’re One, Vegas nightclub star Crystal Davis wants nothing to do with men until she’s seduced by Ashley Parks while they flee from a killer. Ashley traps her spirit inside of him to keep her safe, but she soon convinces him to trust her—it’s his safety they need to worry about.

The Music Box


Heather Meyer - 2013
    In hopes of finding it, she escapes the city and settles in a small South Carolina town to write his story. There, she meets Matt, a young man struggling to come to grips with his own father’s legacy.Despite a growing attraction, she keeps him at arm’s length until the tune from a tiny music box reveals a common bond that pulls them together and sets them on a journey of discovery that will challenge everything she believes about herself and about the man she thought couldn’t possibly exist.

Dec the Holls


Jasinda Wilder - 2014
    Holly is working overtime, cold and lonely and broke. Across the hall, Declan is lonely too, and thinking this Christmas is going to be a joke. Then one blustery night Holly’s car won’t start and Declan is there to help with a little love in his heart. Open this gift from bestselling author Jasinda Wilder to find out if a single mother of two can let herself fall in love with her sexy-as-hell workaholic boss.