The Wishing Cup

Title & buy link: The Wishing Cup
Author: JM Gryffyn
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: M/M historical
Length: Novella (103 pages)
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

A guest review by Leslie S

Review summary: Interesting archaeological details but a tepid romance that suffers from poor pacing and a lack of spark.

**Review contains slight spoilers!**

Blurb
Orphaned as a boy and brought up by the crusty, disapproving Edward Collins, Dr. David Jameson may not know much about love, but he makes up for it with an encyclopedic knowledge of Egyptian history and language. Too bad his job as linguist for a team excavating in the Valley of the Kings puts him right under Edward’s nose. When the discovery of a rare artifact leads to a disagreement between guardian and ward, Jeremiah McKee, the team’s American benefactor, sends no-nonsense Jake Tanner to protect his investment.

David’s disappointment at not meeting McKee fades quickly in the heat of his intense desire for Tanner, who seems to be the only member of the team to give credence to his ideas. Push comes to shove when Edward discovers the burgeoning romance between David and Jake, but not everything is as it seems. Will David and Jake find more in Egypt than sand and strife? Something that, like the pyramids at Giza, will stand the test of time?

Review
I love a good romp 😆 and so much the better if it’s set in an exotic clime with a bit of history. Egyptian-set books are still a bit thin on the ground in this genre, and there’s not too many archaeology books either, so I grabbed the chance to review The Wishing Cup. The author makes it clear at the start that she’s twisted history to suit her story, so I went into it hoping for something like The Mummy movies.

The book opens in the Valley of the Kings, with an entry from David’s diary, in which he records the discovery of a faience cup with hieroglyphs naming Queen Sif-re, the wife of the Pharaoh Sherentah. Edward Collins, David’s guardian and the leader of the expedition, intends to find the tomb of Pharaoh Ahmentap, the successor of Sherentah, and the archaeological team press on and discover a doorway. The seals are intact, and though David believes they’ve found the tomb of Queen Sif-re, Edward tells him no woman was buried in the Valley of the Kings and this must be the tomb of Ahmentap. A wire is sent to the expedition’s chief benefactor, the reclusive American millionaire Jeremiah McKee, inviting him to be present at the opening of the tomb door.

Then Edward receives news that Jeremiah isn’t coming. Instead he’s sending someone on his behalf, Jake Tanner. David is sent to Cairo to meet the emissary, and as soon as he lays eyes on Jake, David is all flustered. They share a room at a hotel but Jake is careful to keep away from David so as not to scare him off. At the dig site, Jake manages to annoy Edward with his flip remarks, but soon the excitement of opening the tomb overtakes everyone. The first door is opened and they find amazing golden treasures inside, but no coffin. David is still convinced that beyond the next door they’ll find the resting place of Queen Sif-re, but Edward tells him not to be a fool. Other members of the expedition mock David, and Jake feels sorry for the young man. Then Jake realises he’s fallen in love with David.

Because of the importance of the find, the Egyptian government closes down the dig for a while. The team go to Luxor, and over dinner one night Jake teases David about being the only man who hasn’t slept with Maris, the wife of one of their expedition colleagues. Upset by such loose talk, David leaves. Jake goes after him and kisses him. Unfortunately they’re seen by Edward, who hits David and tells him he’s disgusting. Jake threatens Edward and tells him never to bully David again. Then Jake leaves for Cairo. Through their mutual friend Carver Morris, David sends Jake a letter begging him not to leave and asking if David can go with him.

But Jake has to leave and return to America for business reasons – and when he returns, he’ll no longer be just Jake Tanner but Jeremiah McKee. Morris explains the truth to David, who hopes that Jake’s affection for him wasn’t a lie. A couple of weeks later, Jake-as-Jeremiah attends a luncheon party with the Egyptian government and the newspapers to announce the discovery of the tomb. Again David’s ideas are rubbished and he’s humiliated, but then comes the time for the opening of the tomb – just who is buried inside?

I warned for slight spoilers, but in all honesty The Wishing Cup is one of those stories where the various outcomes are all obvious from the start. It’s a well-trodden plot, but even the most cliché plot can work if there’s twists and turns in it, but there’s no surprises here. Perhaps it’s my problem because I started this book with such high hopes after the blurb and the first couple of pages, but I finished it feeling disappointed for all the potential that didn’t really go anywhere. Which was a real shame because this could have been a fantastic story.

The main problem was the pacing. If this had been novel-length, all the scenes that we really needed to see could have been included. The story is a bit slow in places, with too much telling rather than showing, especially at the start.

Some elements of the story were really crow-barred in, for example, David is attracted to Maris, the wife of one of his colleagues, but when Maris makes advances to him, David is embarrassed. A little later, Edward’s Egyptian chauffeur also gives David the come-on, right before he goes to meet Jake. Maybe it’s just me but I thought the set-up of David’s sexuality was a bit clunky and could have been managed better. The same holds true for Jake falling for David. He goes from pity to love in a very short space of time, and we just don’t have enough scenes between them to make a connection with them or to see the connection being made between the two men. They share a tent but the only thing we get is Jake wiping some dirt off David’s face, which makes David aroused and so embarrassed that he runs off.

David starts off as quite a sympathetic character but I lost interest in him as soon as he started acting like a really whiny uke in a yaoi comic. His reactions towards anything to do with sex are somewhat exaggerated and he really is like a damsel in distress from a 70s bodice ripper at times. But without the bodice ripping – there’s only one love scene in the book. I just found David irritating and wet.

Jake is a bit better, mainly because I was imagining him as Indiana Jones. He has an interesting backstory that is mentioned only briefly and again I would like to have seen more of this. In a novel this could have been fleshed out more and had so much potential.

There’s a May-December thing going on (Jake is almost 20 years older than David), which startled me when it was first revealed, but aside from a couple of brief mentions, mainly Jake feeling guilty about fancying a guy so much younger than him, it doesn’t have any relevance. David doesn’t seem to notice the age gap, so it seemed a bit pointless to mention it in the first place. Twenty years is a big gap. Since David’s parents died when he was a child and his guardian Edward is emotionally distant, the most obvious reading is that David is looking for a father figure, and Jake fulfils that need, which is… kind of icky, for me. But because there’s not enough characterisation beyond a few basics, the characters are pretty much clean slates and so the reader has to come up with their own ideas for why this character did this and that.

I was waiting for something more about Edward to explain his behaviour but there wasn’t anything. I guess he never wanted to be saddled with a young child as his ward and didn’t know how to show affection or give praise (again I am extrapolating since the author didn’t give us the information), but considering this was such a strong part of the story I really did expect more.

The part of the book I enjoyed most was the stuff about the archaeology and the process of digging the site and what they found. The author says most of this is based on Howard Carter’s accounts of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, and that much is clear from the text, too, right down to the opening of the door and looking through the hole to see the glint of gold on the artefacts. So while the archaeology was shown to great effect, the romance languished because the characters lacked the same spark. And that really is a shame.

Ultimately this was a book that disappointed me because I felt that, with stronger editorial guidance, this could have been an amazing story. Instead it’s sort of neither here nor there for me. It’s still an interesting read about an interesting time and place, and if you have a yen for ancient Egypt and archaeology then you may enjoy it. Just don’t expect much from the romance.