"Original and Believable Time Travel"
A present day American woman named Wilhelmina, Elle for
short, is tired of her life, her dead end job, and the
losers her dear brother and his wife fix her up with.
She's disgruntled with her looks, not being model thin, she
has the type of features that were desirable long ago
not the plastic perfection expected in these modern
times. She despairs ever finding someone who she can love
and who will love her. She proposes that a marriage of convenience is the only
kind worth having. All she needs is a man of wealth, and
preferably good looks, and she can handle the rest from
there. She is being watched, followed by several small
elderly, disheveled creatures, presumable homeless and
possible deranged. One catches up with her and hands her a
grimy coupon that offers a free husband. Not taking it seriously, she unwittingly redeems it after
another particularly disappointing blind date. Little does
she know that the wish is the fulfillment of a fairy debt,
and that she is about to be whisked into the past to trade
places with her look alike, the very wealthy and quite
deceased Eleanor Moore, who is about to enter a marriage of
convenience with Henry, the impoverished Earl of Allsbrook,
a Brittish noble. Henry had always hoped to marry for love but instead finds
himself trading his title for wealth in order to replace
his inheritance lost by his late father He is somewhat
surprised when Elle is not the girl he'd thought she'd be.
His first and only meeting with Eleanor had been most
distasteful. Elle goes along with the wedding, as she believes she will
never have one of her own, but figures she can find a way
back to her own time before she actually has to experience
the honeymoon. This is not to be. She is sent a dream to show that Eleanor
has also taken her place, to be mourned by a grieving
brother. Though Elle is attracted to Henry, she doesn't
plan to stay and also doesn't want to get pregnant. (Her
mother and several other relatives had died in
childbirth). Copyright © 2001 Henry is puzzled as he expects her to at least do her duty
and produce an heir. He proves to be irresistible as time
goes by, and Eleanor begins to experiment with birth
control. This is rather hilarious. Henry puzzles over her strange behavior and odd accent, but
chalks it up to the severe illness she supposedly had
before the wedding. Then then she says something too
strange to let go. She claims to be another woman from
another time, and other equally unbelievable things. She
talks of fairies, and claims she was brought to him by a
wish. He believes perhaps she is homesick, being isolated
from her family out in the country. But when her "sister"
tells him that this woman is not her sister, he decides
that Elle needs more help that he can provide. Fearing that
she will be locked away in an asylum, and hurt by Henry's
lack of faith in her veracity, she plans her escape back to
her own time. Will Henry figure out the truth before it's too late or
will Elle find her way home? Who made the wish that brought
Elle to Henry, Elle or someone else, will Elle's family
ever find out what really became of her? I liked that for
once a time traveler had family that would no doubt miss
her. Too often authors grab at the convenient all alone in
the world, no one will ever miss them ploy. I don't find
that believable. I really like this story. The fantasy
aspect was something different and the plot was well
carried out in my opinion. Elle wasn't so besotted that she
forgot about her own wishes, she remained a 90's woman but
it was clear that she was exactly what Henry needed and
that she loved him very much. I think the reader will like
the ending a great deal.
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted August 23, 2001
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