⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Empire of Shadows is a witty, fun historical fantasy with adventure and romance perfect for Jungle Cruise, National Treasure, and What the River Knows fans.

I had so much fun with this one! The characters were captivating and funny. I loved the chemistry between Ellie and Adam. The incorporation of romance, history, and fantasy elements was great. With fast pacing, mystery, danger, and puzzles, this book reads like an adventure movie. I love treasure hunts and cannot wait to read more of the series!

Alex Picard narrated this book beautifully. The accents fit the characters, and her voice is lovely and soothing. Her narration made the story even more immersive and fun. I highly recommend listening to this one on audio!

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

The feminine rage is strong in this one. Ellie, the female main character finds herself rowing hard upstream against a highly patriarchal and misogynistic society and I adore it. Her desire to be a respected scholar and archaeologist sets off a heart racing and often times laughter inducing chain of events. One can’t help but swoon over the American cowboy finds herself partnered with on this crazily epic adventure. I love the attention to detail the author has in this world building the cross between true historical accounts and mythology and the level of scholarly research perfection. This is one of those series that could lead on so many fun and exciting future endeavors and I would love to tag along with Ellie and Adam while it does.

Highlights:
✨Feminist Scholar FMC
✨American Cowboy MMC
✨Slow-Burn
✨Historical Fantasy
✨Archaeology

Favorite Quote: “Books were like breathing for her - an extension of her being”

“The gesture still made Ellie think of stories of knights errant rescuing maidens. Slaying dragons, she thought distantly. She wondered what sort of dragons a man like Adam Bates might be called to slay.”

Thank you to NetGalley and author for the review copy of this audiobook. My opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book!

The narrator did a wonderful job. I especially enjoyed how she changed accents. The pacing was perfect in the audio book, as well as the nuances in her reading.

I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who enjoyed historical fantasy, witty banter and I agree that it has a lot of the mummy vibes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the audio Arc. All opinions are my own and I am posting them voluntarily.

The Narrator is brilliant. Alex did such a good job with all the characters that I was fully immersed into the story.

Ellie and Adam are adorable and absolutely great together, I loved their banter throughout the whole book. I really liked we got to read from both of their point of views and they were both as ignorant as each other when it came to their feelings at the start. They are just great together!

This is definitely perfect for fans of The Mummy. The American who can help her fight off assailants and hike through the wilderness, while remaining both charming and infuriating at the same time. The English woman who is very opinionated and strong willed, determined to find her ruins, while remaining wild and endearing.

The historical aspects of the book were written really well from the word choices to the women's movement, it was done really well and I was fully immersed throughout. The story and history of the ruins was intriguing, I can't wait to read book two and go on another adventure with Ellie and Adam.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for this Audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook.
I devoured this book and I cannot wait for the next one. The narrator did a wonderful job switching between a wide range of accents in this book. There was not a dull second of this listening experience.