A Knight in Shining Armor

Title: A Knight in Shining Armor
Author: Jude Deveraux

Continuing the Romance fever that has been controlling the blog recently, I kept my promise of writing another time-travel themed novel...and it's a very touching one, too. And no, it's not downright corny to feel that way (even after a dose of mystery-solving genre).

Anyway, Jude Deveraux is another romance writer whose works I truly cherish besides Judith McNaught (in fact they're both friends), and one thing about Ms. Deveraux is that she loved to tell stories of the heroine being whisked back to the past...(another title is Remembrance).

Okay. The prologue tells us of a young man named Nicholas in 1564 England, trying to write a very crucial letter to his mother, in order to save his life. The next thing that happened was, he started to hear a woman weeping but he tried to shove the thoughts away since he was alone in his room, it might be the works of a witch. Time passed on and he still couldn't get the woman's weepings out of his head. At last, he gave in, following a ray of light...leading him somewhere.

The next chapter we're back to the future (1988 England). The beginning of the story we're introduced to the heroine, an American school teacher named Douglass Montgomery. She described herself as the *black sheep of the Montgomery family* because all her other siblings have better jobs, better lovelifes, etc., and she was always the laughing stock during family reunions. Thankfully, she thought she would end her miserable lovelife after getting hooked with a man named Robert, who promised her to a romantic getaway in England. Unfortunately, Robert confessed that he was going to bring his beloved 13-year old daughter Gloria, together, thus destroying any hopes of a romantic affair to bloom. If taking Gloria is not enough, Douglass could not get along with the young girl because of her spoiled character, dissing Douglass with hurting comments, and accusing her of doing things. Worse, Robert always stood up for her daughter and blamed Douglass for his daughter's misery. At one point, Douglass could not stand it anymore and decided to leave Robert, hoping that he would ask her to follow him back. But he never did. Instead, he drove off angrily with Gloria, leaving Douglass alone at the cemetery of an ancient English monastery. At this point, readers must have felt sympathy for Douglass.

She wept and wept at this particular tomb which had a marble statue on top, of a man wearing a knight's suit. She read the name on the tomb and it stated, "Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck". It hit her that she wanted someone judt like that - A Knight in Shining Armor. The next thing she knew, a real, living knight in shining armor was standing right in front of her, accusing her of being a witch and demanded her to return him back. The man was no other than Nicholas Stafford himself. She was mesmerized and confused all at the same time. The man was handsome (of course), but he acted (and spoke) differently that she thought Nicholas was a madman who suffered from schizophrenia or something. AT first, they couldn't stand each other because she didn't believe that he was indeed the Earl from the past and he kept accusing her as a witch.

Time passed on and she started to believe him bit by bit (especially after the ancient-coin exchange part). Since it was the future, Nicholas began to ask her what had happened between 1564 to 1988, how the history books portrayed him, what happened to his family...since one second he was writing a letter and the next he's in 1988. Nicholas realized that he was executed in 1564, his whole family was accused of treachery against Queen Elizabeth I. Even the history books had nothing good to say about him...he was portrayed as a playboy, a spoiled brat who wasn't interested in anything except girls. Douglass felt sorry for him because he didn't seem to be that way. And she tried to help him by taking him to his residence (which was refurnished a a tourist attraction, a.k.a, a museum). There, she learnt more about him, especially an important bit where they were told by a guide that NIcholas impregnated Lady Arabella Sydney, the wife of his friend, Robert Sydney. Two servants spied on him and their accounts were written into a book.

Nicholas frowned, but he still had to know what brought to his execution. He also told Dougless that he had an older brother, Lord Christopher, who drowned in a lake and died, and a son, who died too. He also confessed that he had a wife, Lady Lettice, whom he loved very much. Dougless' heart sank. However, the chemistry was too strong that they couldn't stand being far from each other, that one night, they finally made love.

The next day, Nicholas was gone, just before she could tell him the truth on who framed him which led to his death. Worse, no one remembered Nicholas existed. She searched frantically for shirts and colognes that she had bought for him in their room, but all were gone, as if Nicholas had never entered her life. She cried again, weeping at his tomb, and all of a sudden, she was whisked back to the past, 1560. 4 years before Nicholas' execution. She realized that there was time for her to change history and save her lover. But, she had a few problems. Nicholas didn't know who she was, he didn't listen to her words, accused her of being a witch (again), and she thought she would never be able to save him. It also hit her that everything written in the history books were true -- Nicholas was a notorious philanderer. Just as she lost hope (since Nicholas appeared to hate her), she never thought that his family members adored her.

She cured Nicholas' mom's flu by giving her flu tablets, taught the Thornwyck household Broadway songs (like My Fair Lady - could you imagine?), caught the eye of Nicholas' older and much more sensible brother Christopher, and made Nicholas achingly jealous. All the things she did were important to ensure that a few things didn't happen -- the Arabella incident, Nicholas' brother and son's death, his marriage to Lettice, and more importantly, his own death.

She was even thrilled to find out that some people who gave her a large impact in her future life existed in the past. Could she ever prevent the horrible things from happening to Nicholas, thus saving his life? Who was the one who framed him? Could she change history, and more importantly, is it really true that they belong together? Will the power of love prevail?

The answer lies in the chapters of this wonderfully written novel. I cried as I read through the pages because I felt what Dougless felt, both in the modern and medieval times. Forgive me if the review sucked (I've never been good at writing facts), but please do pick up the book if you see it lying on the bookshelf of any bookstore. It will make you feel as if you want a knight in shining armor of your own.