Hanna's Heirloom Series

After receiving an ancient ruby clasp from her long dead grandmother, Hannah Wilson decides to visit Masada, supposedly the place where this gift was given to one of her ancestors. Travelling with her is Max Vallier, her best friend, who was already going to Herod's fortress in the desert, as part of an archaeological excavation team. Once there, Hannah is disturbed by strange visions.  Visions, which seem to revolve around the AD66 attack by Zealot rebels, on the Roman garrison based at the fortress. As her two worlds begin to entwine, Hannah realises that she is experiencing the events of the past as they unfold, events, that so far she has only dreamed about. Pulled into the ancient world, she tends to three Roman soldiers who survived the attack, but who are now captives. Back in the modern world, she finds artefacts that tie her to her ancient counterpart. Meanwhile, her relationship with Max takes an interesting turn, but just as they admit their feelings for each other, a tragic accident tears them apart. Fate intervenes and Hannah slips into the world of Ancient Masada. There, away from all modern trappings, she must rely on her wits and instincts to deal with the challenges of her alternate life. A life in which she, an unmarried Hebrew woman, is a healer - a trained physician fighting to keep alive the men under her care. This life becomes more complicated as she realises she is falling in love with one of the Roman soldiers, a love that could have deadly consequences. Unsure whether she will ever be able to return to the modern world, Hannah accepts her destiny, rising to the challenges of living on an isolated fortress and, believing that she has a chance to save those she loves by using the knowledge she has brought with her from two thousand years in the future. The knowledge that, eventually, Jerusalem will fall and, that those escaping the city will make their way to this outpost, followed by an avenging Roman army intent on destruction. Will Hannah escape? Will she ever see Max again, or is she doomed to die along with hundreds of others as Masada falls - and what does any of this have to do with an ancient ruby clasp?

Pompeii was once a bustling port nestling under a forbidding mountain. Then in AD79, the mountain erupted, smothering the town under a thick blanket of ash and volcanic debris, leaving it lost for thousands of years. Now, rediscovered and a world renowned heritage site, archeologists from across the globe yearn for an opportunity to uncover to the town's past. Some things though, are best left alone - revealing the secrets hidden beneath the stones could prove perilous. Eighteen months have passed since Hannah and Max left Masada, Herod's isolated fortress in the Judaean desert. The place where, just as they admitted their feelings for each other, they were wrenched apart. Hannah slipped into an ancient world, discovering how her ancestor had received the ruby clasp - her talisman. Somehow she survived the ensuing tragedy and Max's love was strong enough to bring her home. Since then, Hannah has had no awareness of her ancient counterpart and wonders whether the slender thread that united them had been broken, lost beyond time, leaving only a memory. On a spur of the moment trip to Rome, familiar dreams recur. Unable to recognise where her ancestor is, but realising that she is not on Masada, Hannah struggles to understand the reason behind her visions.  Then, a chance meeting with two friends sees Hannah and Max invited to join an excavation team, one whose goal is to determine what lies beneath the ruins of Pompeii. Although excited to be a part of such an investigation, Hannah experiences a growing sense of unease, an unnamed fear circling at the edges of her consciousness. Her worlds being to converge and Hannah realises to her horror, that her fear, this reconnection of minds, must be related to Vesuvius and that the woman she is bound to was actually in Pompeii before the eruption. Hoping she can somehow warn her ancestor without being drawn back into her other life, Hannah tries to convey her knowledge through her dreams. As before however, fate intervenes. After entering a house which bears a Hebrew inscription, Hannah falls back through time. Although familiar with this fusion of souls, she still has to rely on her instincts to adjust to life in ancient Pompeii. A world where her ancestor is a physician to gladiators engaged in mortal combat, where riotous mobs run amok and where a ghost from the past returns to haunt her. All the while knowing she needs to save her family from the devastation that will befall this town. Will Hannah escape the cataclysmic eruption? Can she persuade her loved ones to flee before burning debris engulfs the town? Will she ever find her way back to Max the love of her life waiting, not so patiently, millennia away? Or will echoes be all that remain?

AD80 ~ It is a year since Hannah and Maxentius escaped from the cataclysmic eruption of Mt Vesuvius and, after a pleasant interlude in Rome, they must now embark on a new journey. This time to the troubled frontier of Northern Britannia, recently subjugated, yet maybe not quite pacified. This harsh borderland is a far cry from the luxuries and relative security of Rome, and danger lurks where least expected. A garrison of soldiers, some rather disgruntled with their isolated posting and it's new commander; local tribes people, although outwardly accepting of their erstwhile enemy, may still harbour a burning resentment that their lands have been occupied. Meanwhile, in the modern world and now married to Max, Hannah Vallier is working in the archives department of a museum on Hadrian's Wall; cataloguing artefacts from some of the original wooden forts, recently discovered following a series of aerial surveys. While most of the finds are mundane, Hannah is shocked when she comes across an all too familiar item. It is her, or rather her ancestor's pomegranate; the one carved by Maxentius in the aftermath of the massacre at Masada, carried from there to Pompeii and then on to Rome.  Confused as to how it could be here in Northumberland, Hannah searches a new database for answers, finding a fragmented inscription indicating that Maxentius and Hannah had indeed been posted to Northern Britannia; that Maxentius had been commander of a garrison, the fort for which, coincidentally, had been almost exactly where she was now sitting. Realising what this might mean, Hannah needs to talk to Max, who is away on business. Before they get the chance, disaster strikes! Believing the love of her life to have been killed and unable to deal with her grief, Hannah retreats into the past, re-connecting with her ancient family. Unfortunately, scant historical evidence for this period means that Hannah is unaware of what might be looming, instead she must trust that any information she holds will be enough to save them once again.  Adjusting to a world on the frontier of Empire, Hannah meets the local wise woman and, as they share their love and knowledge of healing, a tentative friendship blossoms.  The burgeoning cordiality between the garrison and the locals is jeopardised however, as a multitude of challenges conspire to undermine the fragile peace. Hannah realises that the threat might come from a most unexpected quarter, for there is one within the fort whose enmity will have dire consequences. At the same time, Hannah's heart whispers that maybe, just maybe Max is still alive and that he is calling her home. Will Maxentius be able to preserve the hard won trust of the locals, or will everything descend into madness? Is there any hope of discovering who is inciting such hostility before it's too late? Can Hannah learn to trust her heart, or will she remain forever caught out of time, her destiny floating away like embers on a breeze.