Can you all welcome author Diana Rubino who is visiting me again, this time to introduce her new release:
FOR LOVE AND LOYALTY, a
‘reverse’ time travel by Diana Rubino and The Wild Rose Press
Can a 15th century king and a
21st century woman find love and rewrite the past, or will time tear them
apart? Time travel has always fascinated me, and this story had a strange
birth: my long-time critique partner Bonnie and I were tossing around ideas for
my next book, and she asked me to picture Richard III in modern times
blow-drying his hair. The rest is history!
England, 1476: A wizard’s
charm sweeps Richard, Duke of Gloucester far, far away.
England, 2014: The Richard
III Society’s annual séance doesn’t go quite as planned.
Julianna Hammond believes
their mysterious visitor really is Richard. As a loyal Ricardian, she feels
obligated to educate him on past and present. In dismay, Richard learns of his
destiny in a certain battle, and his depiction in a certain play. Julianna and
he wonder: can history be rewritten?
Back in the Middle Ages,
Richard’s brothers King Edward and George Plantagenet are determined to find
him-wherever he is-with the help of a little magic conjured up by a wizard.
Since the wizard can’t say no to money or a lady, Edward-infatuated Elizabeth
Woodville isn’t far behind them.
Changing one’s destiny is
complicated. So is falling in love. When the two collide, three brothers, three
women, and history will never be the same.
An excerpt from FOR LOVE AND LOYALTY
“Well, you’re certainly a hero,” Julianna
lavished well-deserved praise on him. “You’re kind, sensitive, brave, warm and
very good looking. Everything a hero should be. But why don’t you think you’re
romantic?”
Richard shook his head. “I never brought a
lady flowers, I don’t pour honeyed flattery over them like Ned, I don’t recite
poetry like George, I don’t cook gourmet cuisine. All I can do is spread
bananas on pizza.”
She smiled and sipped at her wine. “It’s
romantic if your intentions are sincere. I enjoyed your banana pizza more than
any gourmet meal I could get at LaGrenouille.”
“Sincere?” He buffed the Middleham Ring on
his shirt. “Mayhap. I don’t put forth any false fronts. Nay, there’s naught
false about my front.” He took a quick glance downward. Her eyes couldn’t help
but follow.
“That’s my idea of romantic,” she assured
him. “Not flowers or poetry or flattery. Just sincerity. That other stuff is
just veneer, and it wears quite thin after a while.”
His eyes pinned her and she took another
sip to ease the tension. “Simply speak your heart. Share your heart. That’s
what romance is all about—to me,” she said softly.
He reached over, took the glass from her
hand and placed it on the table in one swift, graceful movement. “Then may we
share some tonight?”
The hearth glowed, seductive music floated
through the lounge—the perfect ambiance.
But now that the moment was here, the reality of it nudged her in a stern
warning:
Don’t.
“Come here, Julianna.” The way he opened
his arms to her, she couldn’t refuse. One
warm embrace can’t hurt. But once she was in that embrace, and his lips
sought hers, it felt as natural as breathing. He kissed her lovingly, gently
and thoroughly. Stopping him would be as wrong as telling the sun not to shine.
Her heart beat the same primitive tattoo
as the music surrounding them.
When his hand slid to her breast, she knew
she had to take charge or nature would. “Richard—” She hadn’t meant sound so
whispery, but her voice was nowhere to be found. She cleared her throat. “We
can’t get involved. It’ll be too much heartache if something happens and you
get sent back.” She wondered how convincing she really sounded, with her
fingers still wound through his hair and her body half pressed up against his.
“I’m not going back, Julianna. I’m
resigned to my fate. I’m not like Ned, I don’t rake every wench that crosses my
path. I keep my desire firmly in check. But right now my desire is about to
burn a hole in these thin trousers so I’ll have to go back to wearing that
torturous denim castrati garment.”
She let out a deep sigh and tried to calm
her breathing. There’d been some pretty heavy breathing till now. “Richard,
I’ve been fighting my feelings all along and doing a pretty good job of it so
far. Don’t let me weaken. Don’t let me fall in love with you. There’s enough
weird stuff going on here already. We’ve got enough to do.”
“I’ve grown very fond of you, Julianna.” He stroked her cheek.
“And I’m still growing.” He relaxed his embrace and brushed her lips with his
before sitting back. “However, you must lead and I follow, as this is your
domain. I’m also a gentleman. If this were Ned sitting here, you’d have been
ravished thrice already, in six different ways, and on your way to fetch him a
beer.”
“Doesn’t he take no for an answer?” Her hand still played
through his hair.
“He doesn’t even ask.”
“Looks like he doesn’t mind never going back to his own time.
After tonight, George might not, either.”
“Well, Ned covered his arse quite well. He informed me he left
the kingdom in good hands with no detail unattended to, and George will go
anywhere there’s wenches and booze, even if it’s back to the stone age.”
“I wonder if you can go back by sheer force of will. Our minds
are so much more powerful than we think.” A jumble of thoughts entered her head
and vanished. This wasn’t the time to ponder telekinesis, as he tickled her
earlobe and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. All she could do was close her
eyes and let the exquisite sensations take over. She instinctively moved
closer. Their bodies touched, his skin against hers. One more kiss, just one more of those delicious warm kisses, and I’ll
call it a night, she convinced herself. Their lips met.
The door knocker pounded.
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Purchase FOR LOVE AND LOYALTY:
Kindle http://amzn.to/10mU4FT
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