Book Review: Timeless Christmas

After watching several movies with the holiday theme, I thought it was time to read a holiday-themed romance next. I found the book A Timeless Christmas by Alexis Stanton on Amazon and decided that this time-travel Christmas romance would be the best one to try.

The story is about inventor Charles, who buys a clock that somehow takes him to the future. He discovers that according to history, he suddenly disappeared from his home and that his property has since become a museum and tourist attraction. With the help of Megan and the rest of the people who work in the museum, Charles tries to navigate his way around his modern surroundings as he searches for a way to return to his own time.

As a romance, it is, of course, expected that Charles and Megan end up falling in love as she helps him figure his way around modern times. It also helps that this all happens during the holidays which, for me, adds to the romance factor. Love stories feel more romantic during this season for me. 

I have been reading reviews where people mention the similarities between this book and the movie Kate and Leopold and in some ways, I think that it is the same, but also different, if that makes any sense.

Being won over by the old-fashioned ways of the male time traveler is one of the things that is the same. I think that is part of the appeal of the story. In these modern times, it is charming to find men who are still gentlemen and have manners that are different from this day and age. In terms of time-travel, however, the stories are different.

In A Timeless Christmas, there seems to be no concern over how things will change in terms of the time travel aspect when everyone is helping Charles to try to find a way home. Considering that they are making a living off his home as a result of his disappearance, you would think that they would be concerned about how their lives will turn out if he makes it back to his own time. Plus, while Kate and Leopold explain time travel more scientifically, A Timeless Christmas attributes the occurrence to something more magical.  

A Timeless Christmas is a feel-good, wholesome romance typical of just about any Hallmark book, I am not surprised that they turned it into a movie. Having people from two different times fall in love and having the conflict of him wanting to go back to his own time even when he knew he was going to leave someone he loved made the story interesting to read, just to see how it would play out. I did not expect it to go the way it did (spoiler alert!), I honestly expected the Kate and Leopold ending where the woman joined the man in his time. I feel like it made more sense than having Charles stay in the future. I think having someone appear out of the blue would be easier to explain in the past than in the future. It was still a good ending to have him stay and build a life with Megan, but I found myself wondering if that was plausible (look at me talking about plausible when the guy TIME TRAVELED).

If you are looking for a holiday-themed romance, A Timeless Christmas would be a book for you to read. But if you are not the book-reading type, watching the movie would be a good alternative. The background characters are a little different, but the story is still pretty much the same. Personally, the book is better for me than the movie, although the film does explain Charles’ motivations more than the book, and Megan’s career choice makes a bit more sense in the movie than in the book.

So, if you were given the chance to fall in love during the holidays with a time travel element, what would you choose: to fall for someone who traveled to your time or to a time that YOU traveled to? Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!