In Diana's words...
Believing you can ‘go back and do it all over’ can create miracles.
King Edward IV of England and his younger brothers George and Richard ‘do it all over’ when they travel across five centuries. They change their destinies and the world’s—for the better.
In 1475, the mischievous George, Duke of Clarence buys an amulet from a wizard to ward off a vengeful woman’s spell. When George realizes it doesn't match his raiment, he gives it to his brother, King Edward IV. But their youngest brother, Richard, the future King Richard III, borrows the amulet from Edward's jewel box and slips it around his neck. That evening, while out riding, Richard is accosted by highwaymen. Because the amulet shields Richard from harm, he vanishes and turns up in the year 2013, among the ruins of Middleham Castle, his childhood home. Wandering the ruins, lost and bewildered, he stumbles upon his first encounter with 21st century folk—a group of Richard III Society members holding their annual séance to summon Richard's spirit.
Julianna Hammond, a Ricardian historian and Richard III Society officer, takes Richard home. As he explores her house, spellbound by the modern gadgets, she realizes he’s no ghost.
Back in the 15th century, the frantic King Edward and George beg the wizard to find out what happened to Richard. Their youngest brother comes into focus inside the crystal ball, sitting before a square device that displays moving pictures. The wizard realizes where Richard is—five centuries in the future. King Edward demands to be sent there to join his baby brother, who he fears is in mortal danger. He names a cousin heir to his throne and devises a temporary disappearance. George, afraid of being left alone, goes with him.
A beautiful noblewoman, Elizabeth Woodville, is deeply in love with Edward. Approaching the wizard's house for a love spell, she overhears the men planning a journey to the future. She can't bear to live in the 15th century while her beloved Edward goes to the 21st.
Despite reading about his tragic fate, Richard is adapting to modern times easily enough. Julianna runs into a fellow Ricardian, Dorothy Dunstable, who’s producing a movie about Richard. Struck by Richard’s charm, Dorothy and the other producers immediately cast him in the starring role. Richard offers to re-write Home of Thy Heart portraying himself as the kind soul he truly is, rather than the mangled humpback of popular folklore. The producers agree to his script changes, just as another amazing incident happens: Edward and George appear from the past.
The three brothers' emotional reunion moves Julianna, who invites Edward and George to stay with her and Richard. She introduces them to the modern world. They agree to portray themselves in the film, and all is running smoothly, until . . .
A beautiful woman appears at Dorothy's house, looking for Julianna's cottage. She's Elizabeth Woodville, sent here by the wizard to be with her beloved Edward.
Home of Thy Heart becomes a blockbuster hit. Richard is a hero of the silver screen, a compassionate king and loving family man. As he and Julianna fall in love, she realizes Richard is the prince she's always hoped for. It's hard to keep his identity a secret when she wants to shout from the rooftops that she's found her soul mate across five centuries. They want to spend the rest of eternity together, as do Edward and Elizabeth, and George and Brooke Hill, the movie's heroine.
The wizard pops up in the present, purple robes swirling around him. He asks the time travelers if they want to return to their own time. Richard wants to go back and right all the wrongs of his first destiny. Julianna is shattered, but she knows she can't hold him back. Of course he wants her to go with him, so she agrees to be his queen in this alternate course of history. They return to the 15th century so Richard can relive the remainder of his life and avoid the battle.
Fate brings them all where they belong—Ned and Elizabeth decide to go to the far future, while George and Brooke stay right here.
In the epilogue, George lives in our present as a member of the Richard III Society. He joins the rest of the world in witnessing the discovery of Richard's skeleton under a Leicester car park. The facial reconstruction on his skull and examination of his remains prove that Richard wasn't the ugly mangled humpback of Shakespeare lore. “Yep, that's my little brother Dickon, I’d know that mug anywhere,” George whispers as he gazes upon the handsome face.
More about For Love and Loyalty by Diana Rubino:
In time travel, anything goes, and the humor is bawdier than our jaded modern minds can imagine it was in the 15th century.
In the majority of time travels, the modern heroine goes back in time, but to have historical figures come to modern times from the past is unique.
The 1480s beheld the biggest mystery in English history—the disappearance of King Richard’s nephews, “the Princes in the Tower.” Richard’s enemies accused him of murdering his nephews and maligned him in every way, from his politics to his physical appearance. Here was the most fitting historical figure to bring to the present. We watch his stunned reaction as he reads biographies of himself, learns his fate, and changes his destiny.
About Diana:
Every Ricardian has a story about how they discovered Richard and here's mine: I'd just finished the first historical I ever wrote, The Jewels of Warwick, set in Henry 8's court. I was trying to think of an idea for my next historical. I was in the Cambridge (Massachusetts, US) library, in the 'stacks' upstairs where they keep excess books, and found Crown of Roses, a Ricardian novel on the wrong shelf. The author thanks the Richard III Society, which I'd never heard of. This is pre-internet time, 1991/2. I contacted the Society by snail mail, and wrote my next book, Thy Name is Love, set around Richard and a fictional hero & heroine.
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Looks fabulous, Kim, thanks for hosting me! See you again soon on my blog, Diana
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Diana, and thanks for stopping by! :)
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