Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: The Talisman Ring of Amenhotep
SERIES: The Talisman Ring of Amenhotep #1
AUTHOR: Zev de Valera
PUBLISHER: MLR Press
LENGTH: 61 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 18, 2014
BLURB:
Can one innocent act change your life forever?
When mild-mannered veterinarian Julian Wingate picks up an unusual bauble for a song in Cairo’s Khan-al-Kalili, he has no idea that the acquisition of this ancient ring will alter the course of his future. Recently widowed from the famous Egyptologist Theo Barojas, Julian finds himself on the point of tossing aside all reminders of the past; eager to start his new life with an old love …. but the curious ring – boxed away for almost a year – beckons … Once Julian slips the artifact upon his finger, nothing in his well-ordered life will ever be the same.
17,000 words Historical/Paranormal/Fantasy
REVIEW:
I have to say, there was quite a bit to take in with this story, especially for its smaller size. The beginning of the story takes place in Egypt where you get a bit of set up with Julian and his husband Theo. I liked the initial introduction with the work Theo was doing; it made for an interesting change from other stories I’ve read that take place in the same area/time. There’s a time jump after that where the plot of the book really gets going but I didn’t mind that at all as things would’ve dragged on otherwise.
The focus of the story is obviously on Julian and the ring he acquired while in Egypt but there’s a lot more to things than that; the ring is more than just a pretty bauble and the mystery surrounding it is a pretty big one. Add in some shady secondary characters and a new love interest and I was fairly invested in seeing where the story would go. I do wish that there had been a little more information about Julian’s new beau (what you get is fairly minimal) and as I didn’t get to see the start of their ‘relationship’, things just seemed to progress from friends to ‘hot and heavy’ too quickly. That’s just me, though.
Overall I enjoyed the story and the mystery surrounding both the ring and the people after it and I look forward to continuing the series to see where the author takes things. If you’re looking for a shorter read with a hint of mystery you may want to give this one a look.
RATING: 
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