#Romantic idea to enjoy
this summer:
“Go to the beach on a cloudy day. Walk the shoreline, picking up
shells. Have a picnic while watching the waves.”
Blurb
One minute, Hattie Williams is in
a museum, sketching a gold necklace that belonged to Hatshepsut, first female
Pharaoh of Egypt; and the next, she's lying in a room too archaic to be the
museum, with a breathtakingly handsome, half-naked man named Senemut bending
over her.
Hattie soon discovers she's been
thrust into the body and life of Hatshepsut, with no way back to her own time.
Tuthmosis, the heir to the throne, hates her; the High Priest of Amun and the
commander of the army want to kill her and Tuthmosis; and the best bathroom
facilities in the country are the equivalent of a cat-box.
To make matters more difficult,
she's falling helplessly in love with Senemut, and soon, she's not sure she
even wants to return home. To protect Tuthmosis from assassination, the lovers
arrange to put Hattie on the throne. But, what should she do when she suddenly
finds herself, an obscure artist from Chicago, crowned ruler of all Egypt?
Buy
links:Tirgearrpublishing
Excerpt:
Tom laughed, then left her alone.
As soon as his footsteps died away, she flipped open her sketch pad to a clean
page and set it on the table next to the necklace. Before she tried again to
imagine Hatshepsut’s features, she wanted to make a detailed drawing of the
collar.
Within half an hour, she had the
broad outlines of the necklace faithfully reproduced on the paper. Yawning, she
laid her pencil beside the tablet. Even the beauty of the necklace couldn’t
keep her awake forever. Maybe it was time to call it a day. She could duplicate
the intricate hieroglyphs tomorrow.
No sooner had she decided to quit
than the back of her neck prickled, and a warm breeze stroked her cheek. Not
again! She whipped around, determined to catch the furtive watcher this time.
Her left arm hit the partially open door, which promptly slammed shut.
Hattie reached for the doorknob
and turned it, giving the door a jerk. It remained firmly closed. She jiggled
the knob and pulled on it, but it was quite obviously locked. “Great!” she
muttered. “Just what I need. I wonder how long that meeting of Tom’s will
last?”
Her mouth dropped open as a
horrible thought occurred to her. What if Tom didn’t return after the meeting?
What if he went straight home? “Tomorrow’s Sunday,” she reminded herself
grimly. “I might be stuck here in this…this broom closet for two days!” There
was no one at her apartment to miss her or report her absence—not even a dog to
bark and alert the neighbors.
Hattie banged on the door. “Is
anyone there? Let me out!” She shouted and beat on the door with her palms, but
all was ominously silent. If someone had been watching her, they had no
intention of helping her out of her dilemma.
At last, resigned to her fate,
she returned to her sketchpad. “If I’m going to be stuck in here, I might as
well finish my work,” she murmured. “Tom’s bound to come back—I’m sure he
will.” Her voice echoed unconvincingly in the dusty, claustrophobic room.
Picking up her pencil, she
focused deliberately on copying the tiny hieroglyphics with extreme precision.
Gradually, she became absorbed in her work and forgot her predicament. Minutes
flowed by with the only sound in the room the scratching of her pencil on the
paper.
At last, she completed the final
symbol on her detailed drawing and set down her pencil with a twinge of
disappointment. She was curiously drawn to the glittering possession of the
ancient, yet strangely modern woman. Hatshepsut had ruled Egypt fifteen hundred
years before Christ, at a time when women were considered no more important
than servants or dogs. How had she managed it?
The vagrant breeze whispered past
her face again, leaving a whiff of exquisite perfume in its wake. A rustle,
like the caress of costly linen against bare skin, drew her attention. She felt
a strong presence, though she knew she was alone in the tiny room.
“Touch it.”
The words were so faint, Hattie
wasn’t sure she’d actually heard them.
“Who’s there?” she asked, though
she didn’t expect to get a response. The room was too small to hide anyone.
“Touch the necklace.”
Hattie spun around, searching for
the source of the barely audible words. “Tom, is that you? If it’s you, I don’t
think this is funny! Open the door right now.” She thumped it with her fist for
emphasis.
There was no response.
Hattie turned back to the
exquisitely fashioned falcon. Maybe it was her overworked imagination playing a
trick on her, but the advice seemed sound. Perhaps if she touched the necklace,
she could make a connection—psychic, empathic?—with the long-dead monarch. The
necklace was strangely compelling, like a long forgotten yet treasured memory.
She reached out slowly,
cautiously. As her fingertips gently grazed the golden bird, an electric shock
pulsed through her and a sudden wave of dizziness sapped her strength.
“Come to me,” the ghostly voice
whispered, stronger now. “Come to me. I have need of you.”
The sweet, cloying scent of
incense filled Hattie’s nostrils, and flashes of light exploded behind her
eyes. Her vision blurred; she felt as if she were reeling, falling down a long,
dark tunnel. Gasping, she reached out blindly for something, anything, to
steady herself. Her fingers skimmed across the surface of the table and
fastened around the necklace. Clutching it, she fell heavily to the floor as
everything went black.
Author info
Elizabeth
Delisi is an award-winning author of mystery, romance and paranormal stories.
She’s been writing since first grade, and enjoying every minute. Elizabeth
lives in New Hampshire with her husband-hero, rat terrier and English budgie.
You can
also touch base with her at http://elizabethdelisi.blogspot.com, http://facebook.com/edelisi, and http://twitter.com/delisi.
This delicious sounding book triggers one of my passions-- ancient Egypt. What an opportunity for Hattie!
ReplyDeleteRight your alley, Flossie. I am glad you discovered a new book. Thank you for checking our tour!
DeleteThanks for the kind words, Flossie! I hope you enjoy the book. And Carmen, thanks for having me as a guest on your blog!
DeleteThis book is already on my TBR list. I love the gorgeous cover. Toss in time travel and ancient Egypt, and I'm sold!!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth will be glad to hear it, trust me, Mae. I agree with your words about the cover and the premise of the story. Thanks for stopping by!
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