Ancient History

Ancient History by Sophie Penhaligon BooksGoSocial

Athena Duncan is the archaeologist daughter of an archeologist. It’s all she’s ever wanted to be and her life revolves almost exclusively around it. Life is good until her parents are killed in a car accident while they are holidaying in Crete. Her world collapses around her and she leans on close family friends for support. It’s as she starts to re-engage with the world that she is suddenly pursued by Patrice while in Paris. He’s a much older man who apparently wants to show her she might be wrong about a few things in life. Then there’s Jack, who also seems to have her in his sights. The question is whether they are truly interested in her or have other reasons to seek her interest.

I found this started out well and I was intrigued by the mystery to be solved. It seemed to fit the theme of the story, after all. But the overall story didn’t work for me, particularly the romance part. One of the “suitors” was much older and seemed to be something of a creepy predator. The other one had some sort of long-standing obsession with her, which is also rather creepy. There is a supposed romance in there but I just didn’t feel there was any chemistry aside from lust in either of the relationships.

Even mystery’s resolution didn’t satisfy although I did find Athena’s father’s role interesting. Everything got cleared up rather suddenly at the end and the situation was a lot simpler than was indicated earlier. Some parts seemed rushed and others were dragged out and it just didn’t seem that logical. I’d have liked to see the story developed a lot more thoroughly than happened here as it had the promise of a good mystery/romance.

I’m giving this 2.5 stars, as I did enjoy reading about the settings of Paris and Crete. Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for providing an advanced reader copy for free. This review is entirely voluntary.