Christmas Eve

Thirty-year-old Eve Sharland is browsing a Pennsylvania antique store when she discovers an old brass lantern tucked away on a shelf. She picks it up and sees something behind one of the sooty glass panes. To her surprise, she finds an unopened letter stuck inside. The letter is postmarked December 24, 1885, and it is addressed to Evelyn Sharland in New York City. Eve gasps and drops the letter. That's her name! The letter is addressed to someone with her name in 1885: Evelyn Sharland. Eve purchases the lantern and the letter, and returns to her New York City apartment. Later that evening, she opens the letter and reads it, astounded by its contents. She stares at the lantern in wonder and alarm, deeply moved by the story of a tragic romance. A few days later, following a request in the letter, Eve cautiously lights the lantern. To her utter shock, she finds herself in the past-in 1885 New York City. Eve is thrown into a life far beyond what she could have ever imagined, as she gets involved with one of the richest families in New York City, and meets the handsome Patrick Gantly. She must struggle to survive and return to her own time, even as her destiny is changed forever.

When husband and wife, Eve and Patrick Gantly, discover a shocking secret from Patrick's past, they make the difficult decision to use the old lantern once again to return to 1885. They hope to save his child from a tragic future. Although they try to plan for every possible contingency, something goes wrong. They lose each other and end up in a different time! Nothing goes as planned. They struggle to save Patrick's daughter from certain death, even as they search for the lost lantern that will return them to their own time.

Eve and Patrick Gantly are living a normal life in 2019 New York, preparing to celebrate the Christmas season. To their delight, Eve 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. A day later, Patrick shadows a woman who has been staking out the Gantlys' 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. 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.

Eve and baby Colleen are traveling to Ohio for the Christmas holidays to spend time with Eve's parents. After a few days in Ohio, they all plan to fly to Florida in Eve's father's private airplane. Patrick will meet them there after he completes exams for his forensic psychology degree. Nothing goes as planned. The day Patrick is to leave for Florida, he receives a shocking telephone call from one of Eve's cousins. Sobbing, she tells him a terrible tragedy has occurred. His life shattered, Patrick knows he must use the time travel lantern to return to the past in order to prevent the current tragedy. But once again, the time travel lantern has a mind of its own, and Patrick is hurled back to a time where he must confront a strange, unfamiliar world and learn why the lantern transported him there. When Patrick comes face-to-face with a mysterious, beautiful woman who looks and acts like Eve, and whose name is Eve, Patrick is haunted. He recalls the promise he and Eve had made to each other on Christmas Eve the previous year-no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles they must face, they will always find each other, help each other, and love each other for all time.

In November 2021, Eve and Patrick grow uneasy when they read an article about the arrest of a strange, disoriented woman on the Lower East Side. Based on the descriptions of her clothing and behavior, Eve is sure the woman has time traveled. She convinces Patrick they must help the woman, as others had helped them during their time travel journeys. In guarded conversations at the police station, they learn that twenty-seven-year-old Annabelle Palmer did indeed light a lantern and time travel from 1904. They post bail for her and invite her to stay with them while she recovers and adjusts. As the days pass, Patrick grows more and more suspicious that Annabelle is not telling the entire truth about her past. When Annabelle asks if she can use their time travel lantern to return home, they agree, wanting her out of their lives. The morning Annabelle is to light the lantern and disappear into the past, she commits an unthinkable crime and then vanishes. Eve and Patrick are devastated and enraged, and Patrick vows revenge. Once again, the couple must light the lantern and pray it will deliver them to the same time and place as Annabelle. But, as always, the lantern is unpredictable.