Here’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)
May be edited a bit from published version.
I’ve moved on from COLONY ON FIRE and am now going to do a few excerpts from HEIRESS OF THE NILE, my most recent ancient Egyptian paranormal romance.
The snippet from near the beginning of the novel, continuing on from last week:
As she reached the temple, Pebatma reflected yet again on how her life had been upended. She longed to venture inside, to stroll between the colorful pillars, into the beautiful chapel noblewomen used when worshipping. She and her mother had always walked boldly inside, no question of their status, no issue with the guards or the priestesses. Pebatma glanced at her simple, mended linen dress and her patched brown cloak and sighed.
No use to make the attempt. In the early days of their downfall, when she’d had hope, she’d tried and been rudely jeered at and turned away. Members of a family fallen from the Usurper Pharaoh’s favor weren’t welcome even in a temple or so it seemed. Now the new Pharaoh Nat-re-Akhte held sway in the Black Lands but she’d yet to see any change in her own life’s condition.
Pebatma supposed she was blessed to have two men interested in her, dowry or no, and she tried hard to be grateful. For a girl who’d grown up in the nobility, expecting to be a priestess of Hathor herself and to marry a man of high rank, choosing between the innkeeper’s son, who was her old nurse’s grandson, or a spice merchant, neither of whom she loved, represented desperate times indeed. One was a stolid man of few words, whose grandmother she suspected of ordering him to court her. The other, a relatively well to do individual, was polite and deferential on the surface but lately he’d taken to touching her whenever he dared. The thought of marrying him was utterly repellent, even if he had offered to give her mother a home and bring her brother into the lucrative spice trade.
Wiping away a tear, Pebatma refused to allow herself to think of the high ranking man she’d once hoped to marry, there weren’t enough curses to call down on his head. He’d shown his true nature all right.
The book blurb: 1550 BCE – Forced by a vengeful Pharaoh to flee for her life and hide in the poorest section of Thebes, Lady Pebatma has scraped and struggled to support her ailing mother and young brother for the past two years. Now, out of funds with the rent to pay and no possessions left to sell, she begs the goddess Hathor for help. With a new pharaoh taking the throne, surely something can be done…
A powerful general in command of the army and best friend to Pharaoh, Marnamaret has everything a nobleman in Egypt could desire…except for true love. He refuses to settle for less. On a whim, he prays to Hathor to send him the woman of his dreams.Will the goddess answer these heartfelt petitions? And if she does, will Shai the god of Fate allow the course of two lives to be changed by love? For none can deny Fate….
Author’s Note: This is a connected series. Heiress of the Nile can be read as a standalone. Although it’s my newest novel, the story falls between Priestess and Warrior timewise and is set in the early days of this Pharaoh’s reign.
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An intriguing glimpse into Pebatma’s life! Seems like she has some big decisions to make with not the greatest of options.
I didn’t realize you’ve written so many Egyptian books until I saw all the covers. Impressive!
Oh, she’s quite in a situation all right. Hope things will improve for her.
Such a horrible choice to have to make. But she must do something to survive. So sad her fortunes have taken such a turn for the worse. You make her situation very clear and compelling. Enjoyed this very much! Great snippet!
You create such sympathy for her yet she’s so strong.
Thanks for taking time to visit and comment! I’ll keep going with snippets from this for a few more weeks…
These few paras reveal so much about her, the challenges she faces, and what has happened to cause them. What a terrible choicer to have to make, neither involving love. Good snippet!
I bet you had a lot of fun researching Egypt for your books. Great snippet. I really felt for Pebatma – just how hard it is to adjust to a new set of expectations about your life options.
Yeah, Egypt! I love these books.
A lot of backstory slipped in these lines. She’s had quite a downfall from her earlier life in the upper ranks of society. In some ways, she ought to be grateful for having two possible husbands, but neither sound attractive. It’s time to cast the dice.
I’m thinking she may have dodged a bullet with the man she’d hoped to marry now that he’s shown his true colors.
LOL – there weren’t enough curses to call down on his head – love it!!!!
Tweeted.
She has certainly come down in the world. I don’t know that I’d want to pick either of the two possible suitors.
I sure hope things will improve for her.
Oh my, a terrible predicament indeed. I guess I’d rather have a husband who was boring than one who thought he could grope me on a whim.
Your book is included in this week’s Roost Recommendations, featuring a link to this post, a buy link, and a blurb. I share the Roost Recommendations posts on Twitter with readers looking for their next read.
https://ornerybookemporium.blogspot.com/2021/05/roost-recommendations-26-may-2021.html
This snippet really shows her dire circumstances and how others have treated her and her family. Good job.