TO BREATHE THE BREATH OF ISIS, A Time Travel/Historical Romance [NOOK Book]

Captivating Adventure/Romance

A solid 4.5 stars on this imaginative and captivating work. I have a soft spot for books that mash up genres. And when history is added to the mix? It's like birthday cake and ice cream and coffee all in one.

The recipe for "To Breathe the Breath of Isis" would include the following: mythology, history, love, adventure, romance, time travel, destined souls, and breath-taking landscapes.

The story opens in pre-WWI Egypt. British noble, Lord Bruton is a passionate Egyptologist in search of the tomb of legendary Queen Tiye of the 18th dynasty. While discovering several artifacts and sites linked with the Queen, true traces of her existence seem to escape him. In the midst of his projects, a mysterious woman is discovered passed out amongst the excavations. Marguerite is more than just beautiful face which invites the desire of all who behold her, however, she's intriguing. She refuses to conform to any of the expectations Bruton holds for the ways and manners of a proper lady, and despite his initial displeasure with that fact, the mystery of exactly how she came to be in the midst of Egypt without a clue of how she got there, for whom or what she came, or of any idea who she even is beyond her name, ignites in Bruton a fascination and preoccupation with the American. As bits of Marguerite's past dot the perimeters of her memories, it becomes painfully clear that Bruton and she share a deep connection, one tied to the legend of Queen Tiye herself, and harbored in the curse of a beautiful silver necklace that has found its way through time from the Pharaoh's favorite wife across thousands of years to Marguerite. No sooner have the couple come to accept their fate to be lovers, than the modern world pulls Marguerite back into its clutches, sending Bruton on a race against and with time to rescue her from peril.

There's just so much good going on with this story, that it was a delightful, refreshing breath of fresh air (no pun intended) to read. There is a driving romance which underwrites the capital in this book, but there's plenty of adventure and intrigue as well that one never feels, as is so often the case in romance, that the only purpose of the story is to get the hero and the heroine to hook up. [Don't be misled by this statement, however. There are plenty of swoon-worthy passages and for the reader inclined to fall in love with fictional heroes, Bruton will seduce your senses just as he does Marguerite's.] It was a nice turn of pace to read a book which was Egyptian-centered, and yet didn't fall into the trap of centering on the more famous of the Egyptian woman: Cleopatra or Nefertiti (and this from an author whose own book does fall into that trap). The authoress shows a great deal of respect and craftsmanship in the development of Bruton and Marguerite's characters and their love, making them earn their happiness after many trials and tribulations. And whilst I do not wish to give away too much, there is a very clever, albeit brief epilogue told from the point of view of the necklace which seals up the overarching story line nicely. I generally don't care for the use of time travel as a device in most books, but it worked well in this one as there was no overreaching attempt by the author to pound the reader over the head with the whys and the hows.

There were a few very small issues I did have, and as I promised an honest review, I would be remiss if I did not mention them. Firstly