Shadows in the Ashes

SHADOWS IN THE ASHES paints a vivid picture of life in two very different timeframes and, as the stories unfold, we see how the themes of life and love change little with the centuries. Fast-paced and thrilling! SARAH MAINE, author of THE HOUSE BETWEEN TIDES

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The sunlight caught her gold bracelet, sending a flash that almost blinded her.

She closed her eyes, but jumped when the earth started shaking and there was an almighty boom behind her.

Present Day
Finally escaping an abusive marriage, Caterina Rossi takes her three-year-old daughter and flees to Italy. There shes drawn to research scientist Connor, who needs her translation help for his work on volcanology. Together they visit the ruins of Pompeii and, standing where Mount Vesuvius unleashed its fire on the city centuries before, Cat begins to see startling visions. Visions that appear to come from the antique bracelet handed down through her familys generations...

AD 79
Sold by his half-brother and enslaved as a gladiator in Roman Pompeii, Raedwald dreams only of surviving each fight, making the coin needed to return to his homeland and taking his revenge. That is, until he is hired to guard beautiful Aemilia. As their forbidden love grows, Raedwalds dreams shift like the ever more violent tremors of the earth beneath his feet.

The present starts eerily to mirror the past as Cat must fight to protect her safety, and to forge a new path from the ashes of her old life...

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Just some of the rich praise for Christina Courtenays pacy, evocative and romantic novels including Echoes of the Runes, The Runes of Destiny and Promises of the Runes:

Ive been looking forward to this book . . . and it far exceeded my hopes and expectations. Romantic, fascinating and gripping, its one of my favourites of the series NICOLA CORNICK

As a reader, I was delighted and absorbed accompanying Ivor on his quest to the 9th Century. Courtenay writes so beautifully, drawing you in to each scene, that time and pages slip by effortlessly ERIN GREEN

Whenever I need a break from the Twenty-First Century, I read one of Christina Courtenays novels SUE MOORCROFT

I wonder if I, too, can find a way to travel back in time... If not, reading this book was the next best thing GILL STEWART

Seals Christina Courtenays crown as the Queen of Viking Romance CATHERINE MILLER

This epic romance is sure to sweep you off your feet! TAKE A BREAK

An absorbing story, fast-paced and vividly imagined PAMELA HARTSHORNE

A love story and an adventure, all rolled up inside a huge amount of intricately-detailed, well-researched history. Thoroughly enjoyable KATHLEEN MCGURL