The players in this unlikely romance are Oshua Iey'mann, Prince Royal of the Se'phrim and Hatshepsut "Hattie" O'Brian, scatterbrained professor of Egyptology. United by an astral disaster and a mysterious amulet respectfully, Oshua and Hattie are transported into an ancient Egyptian cave 10,000 years in the past. Confronted with native tribes, language barriers and an unmistakable sense of displacement, the two still manage to establish the deepest of connections.

The book is ostensibly a science fiction story - alien cultures, time travel and shapeshifting - but it's really more a story of two people falling in love, just under unusual circumstances. As Hattie shows Oshua Earth customs and Oshua tries to use his special abilities without her catching on, there's the tender awkwardness of a couple on their first date. Even though it's cross-species, it's touching without being bizarre and more familiar than many romances.

While the romance of "Joshua Greyman" gives it fine heart, the pacing could use more development. The first quarter of the book is devoted to Hattie's relationship with her students and her CEO boyfriend, all of whom lack interest and are never heard from again; and the ending is an abrupt scene change that lacks explanation. Other parts feel repetitive - yes, it's important to develop courtship, but do we really need to see them cook figs at least five times or keep rubbing each other's legs?

That's not to say the book is structurally flawed, only uneven in places. Fitzgerald does a fine job setting the scene in Africa, providing the details necessary to paint the picture and throwing in a few speculative asides on an ancient world. The science fiction side is helped along by Oshua's shapeshifting adopted brother, a genuine comic relief to the book - though the funniest line relates to Oshua's biological reaction to seeing Hattie, (in his words) "an erection from the blackest pit of intergalactic space."