'I would let him take me anywhere. Past, present or future. I would give hours of my life to have seconds in his.'
OMFG this book was amazing — addictive, awesome, and such a delight to read. I need the next one right now. How am I supposed to cope until next year??!!
Within the Space of a Second is Elise’s debut novel and she has absolutely hit the ground running. I love a time-travel story (because it’s real, right? People can actually time travel? I just need to crack the method). I was fully immersed in Mariella’s world from page one, and when she starts realising her dreams are actually a form of time travel, I immediately decided that my own incredibly vivid dreams must mean I’m time travelling too. 😂
It’s a love story packed with fantasy, possibilities, choices, and so much more. It’s beautifully written, brilliantly edited, and one of those rare books I already know I’ll reread. I’ve even grabbed it on LibroFM so I can try the audio!
Buy it, add it to your Christmas wishlist, borrow it from a friend or the library — whatever you do, just read it and then tell me you didn’t love it as much as I did.
Thank you to Elise Helliwell, Atria Books, and Simon & Schuster for the gifted copy of Within the Space of a Second.
About the Book
Every morning, Mariella Adams wakes with a strange electrical energy buzzing beneath her skin. Terrified she has inherited her late mother’s mental illness, she tells no one. But when Mariella discovers her mother’s lost journals with an entry dated after her death, she’s desperate for answers.
The mystery only deepens when Mariella is approached by two strangers, Rose and Parker, who claim to be time travelers from the future. They say that interfering with the past – and Mariella – is forbidden, but they need her help to restore Parker’s ability to time travel before they’re caught in Mariella's timeline.
Shocked, Mariella agrees to help them. After all, they might hold the answers she’s looking for. And the more time she spends with them, the more she finds herself drawn to Parker. As she fights to uncover the mysteries of her past and the secrets of his future, will Mariella discover the truth before time runs out – and Parker disappears forever?
Elise resides on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, with her husband and two young girls. An avid romance reader, Elise writes contemporary and sci-fi/fantasy romance, juggling themes of love, anticipation and emotional angst.
Part time scientist/radiographer and full time hopeless romantic, Elise’s writing combines her love of science and the romance genre to produce suspenseful, swoon-worthy love stories that will keep the reader falling until the very last page.
When Elise isn’t parenting or writing, she’s either in her head watching characters and storylines come to life, or curled up at home with a glass of wine in hand, reading romantasy or contemporary romance.


