Thanks to a rough breakup a year ago, Kenzi Ashbury has hunkered down in her comforts-mostly work, books, movies at home, and a glass of wine with her besties.
But Kenzi’s friend Lauren decides to shake up her world even if she has to throw her on a plane herself. Together, they trek to Castel Gandolfo, Italy, to take part in an archaeological dig, right before Kenzi’s work and family obligations are set to send her screaming for the safety of her couch.
Together in Italy, they mine the Roman Empire’s past as Kenzi struggles to master her anxiety surrounding the upcoming family holiday and a huge project at work-the new headquarters for a famous designer. Not to mention that cute coworker who keeps emailing her!
Will the history buried in the earth help Kenzi make peace with her past and bravely step into a bigger, bolder life?
Tropes
Small Town
Archaeological Dig
Healing from Heartbreak
Office Romance
Italian Vibes
No Spice
Reader Review
“I flew through this book!! I loved the main character. The plot moved at the perfect pace to keep me never wanting to put the book down. A great summer poolside read. Cori is an amazing author and I highly recommend!”
~Dominique
Behind the Story
Several things inspired the story. First, of course, Kenzi’s character and her need to develop into the amazing woman she became. But also, I was watching a lot of documentaries about archeological digs in Europe over the summer of 2022. My husband and I love history, and we particularly enjoy watching these together. In the middle of one that took place in Italy, lightning struck. I jumped up from the couch and ran to my office.
I had recalled a book I bought almost 20 years ago that focused on two of my favorite subjects coming together: mythology and archaeology. I bought the book because of a show I watched where they interviewed a scientist, Adrienne Mayor, about her theory of where stories about mythical creatures originated. They had to come from somewhere, right?
She hypothesized that the ancients found bones that didn’t look like any creatures they were familiar with and, much like with their nature or seasons myths, wanted to make sense of the world around them.
So they came up with giants and centaurs and Pegasus and all the other amazing beings that we love to hear about in those stories. What I found so amazing was that she matched up the origin of the myths with bone beds in Italy and Greece that could have supplied the impetus for these stories to people thousands of years ago, and the maps overlapped perfectly.
When I rushed to my office, I grabbed the book—The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times—and re-read several pieces of it. In particular, I liked the idea of including griffins in Kenzi’s story because Roman emperors claimed to have their skeletons. It was a perfect fit again.
The Treasures We Seek had been slow going till that point. Then, I finally pulled together the outline for the final version of Kenzi’s story and began writing with fresh fervor.