Druid’s Portal: The First Journey
Janet, an archaeologist, is drawn into danger when a hooded man stealing artifacts from a Newcastle museum drops a pendant and disappears before her eyes. Soon after, nightmares of an imprisoned Roman commander, Trajan, being led to a sacrificial altar by Druids haunt her. After studying research notes that her former abusive fiancé had left behind, she discovers the pendant is a portal to the past. With a leap of faith, she breaks the time barrier and travels to ancient Britannia to save Trajan. Together, they begin a harrowing journey north of Hadrian’s Wall to uncover the mystery of the hooded man. Along the way, Janet discovers Trajan is her soul mate, who has bridged centuries to find her again.
The fast-paced story captures the history and culture of the ancient Romans and Picts. Janet and Trajan are well-developed characters that readers can root for, but the antagonist comes across as one-dimensional. There are persistent dialog tag errors in which quotes are separated from actions by commas instead of periods. For example: “‘High heels are the invention of the devil,’ she smiled.”
Nonetheless, Druid’s Portal is a unique historical romance, with elements of adventure and time travel, that readers might enjoy.
