|
In this sequel to "Come Back to Me", the protagonist is Ellen, Marian's sister. Marian remained in the Middle Ages and her body in the present died. Ellen became convinced that the so-called "holy water" was responsible for her sister's death and she could not bring herself to believe her sister survived in the Middle Ages. But she did, of course. Marian was able to find two more doses of Holy Water and hid them away in the underground vaults of Harrison's estate, Chesterfield Park.
Harrison had searched long and hard after Marian died, convinced that if there was a way for her to 'send back' more holy water, she would. But no new ampullae appeared in the church crypt. It just took Marian a bit longer that she'd hoped to secure more ampullae and in that time, Harrison began to doubt until the day he looked long and hard at his family's crest and realized there was a message from Marian there. Shortly thereafter, he did find the two ampullae secreted in his own estate's vaults. Happy beyond belief, he only had to now convince Ellen the water was safe to drink and that it would cure her. Unfortunately, she would not be convinced; instead she was sure the water would put her into a coma and she'd end her life unconscious. She preferred to spend the time with Harrison and the sick children of her Foundation.
To prove to her that the water was safe, Harrison took one of the doses.
Harrison did fall into a coma and in her desperation, Ellen showered his unresponsive body with caresses and kisses. And as he started to recover, his own suppressed love and desire for Ellen erupted causing Ellen to pull away in confusion; unable to admit to herself that she had true desire for him. But in the midst of the embarrassment and confusion, Harrison was thrilled to discover he now had full use of his legs. And this was, of course, proof to Ellen of the efficacy of the miraculous water.
Once Harrison was able to convince Ellen to drink the water and after she recovered, the two of them went on a spree of doing all the things on Harrison's "to do" list that he'd never been able to do as a cripple. Eventually, Ellen's tests returned results that confirmed her cancer was gone as though it had never existed. As happy as Harrison was that she would live and his infirmity was gone, he despaired of ever receiving love and desire from Ellen.
Then, the big pharma company that had hounded them in the previous story, reappeared. Apparently, despite Harrison's attempts to keep their miraculous recoveries secret, Lionel Inc., had learned of it. And they were determined to have it. They kidnapped Ellen and forced her to time travel back to the Middle Ages to secure more of the precious water. But Ellen wasn't prepared for life in the Middle Ages. She was unceremoniously deposited outside the castle of a brutal overlord with no way to find or contact her sister.
Meanwhile, Harrison is going out of his mind trying to locate Ellen's body. He realizes that Lionel will be testing her blood to find a way to synthesize the water and if they discover he also drank an ampulla, they'll imprison him, as well. And it would be highly unlikely that either of them would ever be released. But finding her is proving impossible; he might need a clue from the past to do so. Or even a personal visit. But returning from the past would create another impossible need: both of their bodies in the present would need another dose of holy water to live. And there isn't any remaining water anywhere in the present.
Again, this story is more a romance with time-traveling elements to spice it up. And as a romance, it's pretty low key although I don't read a lot of those to compare with. The characters were pretty predictable but likeable. The plot was pretty good; not much in the way of worldbuilding, though. The ending was expected but if there hadn't been a "happy-ever-after", it wouldn't have been much of a romance. ~~ Catherine Book
For more titles by Jody Hedlund click here
|