I absolutely loved writing and researching this novel. Not only did I get to travel in imagination with my heroine Harriet Montague and my hero Lucas Saintclair to the Sahara desert, but I got to read many legends and tales associated with the mysterious queen Tin Hinan. Her tomb was discovered by archaeologist, adventurer and allegedly occasional con artist Byron Khun de Prorok what a name!
In the days before carbon dating, it was the imprint of a coin with the effigy of Emperor Constantine on a sculptured bowl which enabled historians to date the tomb from the 4 th century AD. Antinea lives in a palace hidden in the mountains, where she seduced and entrapped lost explorers to the Sahara.
Recently there has been some controversy about the identity of the woman who was buried at Abalessa, with some historians now disputing that the remains belonged to Tin Hinan at all!
But whoever was buried there however was a woman of immense prestige and immense wealth. I hope that readers will enjoy the adventure and the mystery in the story as much as the romance between Harriet and Lucas, who remains one of my all times favourite heroesβ¦. Sometimes the most precious treasures exist in the most barren and inhospitable of places β¦ Harriet Montague is definitely too much of a gentlewoman to be frequenting the backstreet taverns of Algiers. Originally from Lyon in France, Marie now lives in Lancashire and writes historical and contemporary romance.
She also writes short stories for the bestselling Miss Moonshine anthologies, and is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. Her novels are available as ebooks and audiobooks on Amazon and various other platforms. You can find out more about Marie here: Facebook Twitter Pinterest. Welcome to my blog, Marie. Thank you very much, Carol, for welcoming me on your blog for this special Christmas countdown! My heroine Cassie Bell loves Christmas.
