I start with apologies as this review should have been posted yesterday. There is nothing but bad going on in my life so I’m thankful I have actually managed to post at all! Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and Christina Courtenay for the gifted ebook.
Brimming with romance, adventure and vivid historical detail, Christina Courtenay’s gripping dual-time novel travels from the present day to the fires of ancient Pompeii.
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 she’s 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 family’s 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, Raedwald’s 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…
No matter which book I read from this author, she always brings the past vividly alive with her beautifully descriptive writing. Shadows in the Ashes is yet another example of why Christina Courteney’s novels are a go-to read for me when I need to get away from real life.
Another dual timeline story with the wealth of research I have come to expect now. This particular book is set during the present day and in 79AD in Pompeii. I was glued to the story as I got to know the characters while the events unfolded. Set in Pompeii, the drama is guaranteed, but what isn’t so clear is the number of twists and turns there are.
I love Christina’s Viking period books, so I had quite high expectations. She has ticked every box yet again for me to make it a favourite, which stands out against other dual timeline novels. I highly recommend any of Christina Courtenay’s novels. They are all exquisitely written with characters that are well developed and a setting so well created you feel like you are by whichever character is time travelling.
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Ashes-breathtaking-dual-time-author-ebook/dp/B0C42YW7W9/
https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Ashes-breathtaking-dual-time-author-ebook/dp/B0C42YW7W9/
Author Bio
Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a former chairman of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association, now a Vice President, and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes. SHADOWS IN THE ASHES (dual time/timeslip romance published by Headline Review 18th January 2024) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).
Social Media Links
http://www.christinacourtenay.com
https://www.facebook.com/christinacourtenayauthor?fref=ts
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 
I loved the book too. Hope things improve for you soon, Sharon!
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Thanks Karen xx
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