Time After Time [Paperback]

Antoinette Stockenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1995

Time After Time is the story of a Newport working girl who falls in love with one of the richest men in town--and the ghost of his ancestor. The heroine, a divorcee who's built a nice business for herself as a children's party planner, has hopes of breaking into the glitzier and more lucrative events of Newport society. Figuring that proximity is half the battle, she buys a tiny cottage adjacent to the huge estates of Bellevue Avenue.

As the heroine becomes more involved with her wealthy neighbors, she and her outlandish and amnesia-stricken friend, Victoria St. Onge, discover a sealed cache of old letters which detail the bizarre story of thwarted love almost a century old.

More and more prestigious parties are planned in Newport by our heroine and she becomes closer and closer to her neighbor, but at the same time a man begins appearing to her--the ghost of her neighbor's grandfather who planned to marry a working-class girl like herself all of those years ago, but was stopped by his family's ambitions and the mysterious death of his older brother... all of which is chronicled in the stash of old letters.

The grandfather has returned, however, because he's not going to let class distinctions stand in the way of true love any longer. His only problem now is keeping the heroine from falling in love with him instead of his grandson.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Time After Time is the story of a Newport working girl who falls in love with one of the richest men in town--and the ghost of his ancestor. The heroine, a divorcee who's built a nice business for herself as a children's party planner, has hopes of breaking into the glitzier and more lucrative events of Newport society. Figuring that proximity is half the battle, she buys a tiny cottage adjacent to the huge estates of Bellevue Avenue.

As the heroine becomes more involved with her wealthy neighbors, she and her outlandish and amnesia-stricken friend, Victoria St. Onge, discover a sealed cache of old letters which detail the bizarre story of thwarted love almost a century old.

More and more prestigious parties are planned in Newport by our heroine and she becomes closer and closer to her neighbor, but at the same time a man begins appearing to her--the ghost of her neighbor's grandfather who planned to marry a working-class girl like herself all of those years ago, but was stopped by his family's ambitions and the mysterious death of his older brother... all of which is chronicled in the stash of old letters.

The grandfather has returned, however, because he's not going to let class distinctions stand in the way of true love any longer. His only problem now is keeping the heroine from falling in love with him instead of his grandson.

Antoinette has written another witty and down-to-earth (yes, even the ghost) paranormal romance.

From the Inside Flap

Time After Time is the story of a Newport working girl who falls in love with one of the richest men in town--and the ghost of his ancestor. The heroine, a divorcee who's built a nice business for herself as a children's party planner, has hopes of breaking into the glitzier and more lucrative events of Newport society. Figuring that proximity is half the battle, she buys a tiny cottage adjacent to the huge estates of Bellevue Avenue.

As the heroine becomes more involved with her wealthy neighbors, she and her outlandish and amnesia-stricken friend, Victoria St. Onge, discover a sealed cache of old letters which detail the bizarre story of thwarted love almost a century old.

More and more prestigious parties are planned in Newport by our heroine and she becomes closer and closer to her neighbor, but at the same time a man begins appearing to her--the ghost of her neighbor's grandfather who planned to marry a working-class girl like herself all of those years ago, but was stopped by his family's ambitions and the mysterious death of his older brother... all of which is chronicled in the stash of old letters.

The grandfather has returned, however, because he's not going to let class distinctions stand in the way of true love any longer. His only problem now is keeping the heroine from falling in love with him instead of his grandson.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Dell (July 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440216761
• ISBN-13: 978-0440216766
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

USA Today bestselling novelist Antoinette Stockenberg grew up wanting be a cowgirl and have her own horse (her great-grandfather bred horses for the carriage trade back in the old country), but the geography just didn't work out: there weren't many ranches in Chicago. Her other, more doable dream was to write books, and after stints as secretary, programmer, teacher, grad student, boatyard hand, office manager and magazine writer (in that order), she achieved that goal, writing over a dozen novels, several of them with paranormal elements. One of them is the RITA award-winning EMILY'S GHOST.

Stockenberg's books have been published in eleven languages and are often set in quaint New England harbor towns, always with a dose of humor. She writes about complex family relationships and the fallout that old, unearthed secrets can have on them. Sometimes there's an old murder. Sometimes there's an old ghost. Sometimes once-lovers find one another after half a lifetime apart.

Her work has been compared to writers as diverse as LaVyrle Spencer, Nora Roberts, and Mary Stewart by critics and authors alike, and her novels have appeared on bestseller lists in USA Today as well as the national bookstore chains. Her website features sample chapters, numerous reviews, and many photos. www.antoinettestockenberg.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hauntingly Fun!, April 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Time After Time (Paperback)

Liz moved into the small house in hopes of getting contracts for events with the upper class neighbors. But things got strange the moment she found the old trunk in her attic with letters that told of a great love lost a century earlier. Liz began hearing chimes. Then the ghost kept appearing.

Jack Eastman was the most arrogant and stuck up person Liz had ever had the displeasure of meeting. His mansion was connected to her land, but seperated by rusty, age old, barbed wire!

She accepts his contract for a birthday party, which ends in disaster. Then for a picnic. The picnic is sabotaged by ants. It's saved only by fast reaction by Liz. At the same time, someone is also making accidents happen at Jack's ship yard.

Jack finds Liz volunteering at a shelter for battered women one day and the two plan a fund raiser for the shelter. Word leaks out that PRINCESS DIANA MAY SHOW UP. It is to be a masquerade. With that rumor, ticket sales soar.

***Wonderful story. Did the Princess show up? I'm not telling.***

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better Than I Expected, February 26, 2008

By 

J. Perkins (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time After Time (Paperback)

I'm wary of what might turn out to be a sappy romance, especially if the dialogue is poorly written. On the other hand, I'm a sucker for fiction stories having to do with ghosts, reincarnation, time travel, etc, and romance is a pretty big genre for those factors.

You've got the plot from the other reviewer. I'll add this (or you may have guessed it anyway) - they fall in love, of course, except that each one is sure the other one doesn't feel the same way or at the least, isn't worth bothering with. So of course we've got all sorts of complications alternating with romance but thank heavens no bodice ripping smarmy love scenes.

The ghost definitely factors into the Jack/Liz equation, as does Liz's friend Tori, aka Judy Maroney - or maybe it's vice versa. Judy had a severe accident that almost killed her, and subsequently became Tori and created a whole new persona, who also figures into the whole reincarnation/ghost thing. (It works much better than I make it sound).

So it was an easy read, entertaining, and not insulting. I cared about the characters, I rooted for the obvious, and I was charmed by both the ghost and Tori. And when Liz finally..........well, maybe you'll have to read the book and find that out too - along with whether or not Princess Di showed up at the party!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a GREAT find!, September 19, 2011

By 

Janet Watt - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Time After Time (Paperback)

I have to say, I LOVED "Time After Time!" I know I should admire the main character Liz, (and I do) but oh god, I am in love with Jack! Just kidding (NOT). This book was entertaining, sexy, (oh Jack), loved the play between the past and present (I do not discount reincarnation or ghost), great characters, loved Victoria/Judy and the Eastman Family--we all have that kind of family (wealthy beyond) in every town. Newport just has so many!!! So enjoyed getting acquainted with Newport. I think that is where a book should take you, to a place you are not familiar with, but a place you now know.

This is the first book by Antoinette Stockenberg that I have read and it will not be my last. Can't wait to open my next book by this author.