This was such a good read! I was immediately sucked into the story and could not get enough of the characters. I went on a full emotional journey with these characters and I really enjoyed it. The book was easy to read and kept a good pace where I was never bored. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends and family.

For lovers of Indiana Jones and The Lost City, for the archaeologists and anti-colonialists, for the slowburn historical adventure junkies, this one's for you.

Ellie is a suffragist and archaeologist - or she would be, if anyone in 19th century England would allow her to be. When she stumbles upon an old map to a mythical city and a No Good Very Bad Dude looking for it, she is determined to find it first and preserve what knowledge she can. But the only way she's going to reach this city deep in the jungles of British Honduras is with a guide, and no one wants to take her. Unfortunately for Adam Bates, the job falls into his lap. Literally.

This is a slow one. Jacquelyn Benson takes her time setting up her story and getting her characters to their end goal with a pretty good balance of harrowing near-misses and moments to breathe and talk. The romance creeps in over time and I'm grateful for all the breaks Adam and Ellie had to get to know each other along the way. Despite knowing where, physically, they would end up, I had no idea how they were going to accomplish their goals (and it still surprised me at the end).

DNF at 11%

While I get that most books follow a formula depending on the genre, I couldn't get beyond the feeling that I'd seen this scenario before and I realized it's because The Jungle Cruise movie is a very similar start.

Female scholar is held down by men due to the times, finds an object, pursued by a villain, leaves on an adventure to a lost civilization. I didn't even meet the guy but from the cover, I can definitely see him being the comedic relief boat skipper.

Overall, not for me, especially with +500 pages.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read an advanced copy of this!

A swashbuckling fantasy-adventure that perfected its balance of romance, fun, and history. Ellie and Adam were fantastic leads, and I can't wait to read more of their adventures together! Jacquelyn Benson is a master of properly selling you into the setting. I had a blast reading every page. - Goodreads and StoryGraph

Did you ever think you would need a book mash up of The Mummy with Brendan Frasier and Disneys The Jungle Cruise? Because this book is absolutely the best versions of both! I love the characters they each have their own unique personality and the humor and back story you get throughout is great! It gives you a sense of wonder and I was absolutely wishing that it was real! I will be adding this to my shelf because I would like to read it again physically🖤
Posting to good reads Magaidh Dunbroch
Posting to Instagram @author_magaidh_dunbroch

Thank you, NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book blew me away. Historical fantasy isn’t a typical genre that I reach for, but Jacquelyn Benson may have changed that for me.

As many other reviewers have said, this is a The Mummy x Indiana Jones type of novel with a strong FMC. I was immediately rooting for Ellie Mallory, a well-educated aspiring archaeologist, stuck in a job she was simply overqualified for. An arrest for protesting for women’s equality that led to her losing her job forced her hand and catapulted her into an adventure she’d always dreamed of - searching for ruins and uncovering history.

I loved the banter between Ellie and Adam, who despite his educated upbringing also chose a lifestyle against the grain. Their adventures together were so fun to read and I loved seeing Adam be the level-headed explorer counterpart to her impulsive and bold nature. The character development throughout the whole book were extremely evident and the attention to detail in describing their surroundings was phenomenal.

If you are looking for an action-packed adventure with a hint of fantasy and romance, I highly recommend.

Empire of Shadows comes out April 2nd, 2024- and there will be a sequel

I love the characters. Both Ellie and Adam are very likeable. It didn't take long for me to enjoy the story. It was fun reading about their treasure hunting adventures!

The romance in this book is also very entertaining. Those of you who like historical romance with exciting adventures will probably want to give this book a try.

Thank you to Netgalley, lovely author and publisher for this ARC~!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crimson Fox Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely LOVED this book! Picture The Mummy meets Tarzan meets Sandra Bullock’s The Lost City. It was so different from what I would normally read, and I really enjoyed the dive into the realm of historical fantasy.

Ellie immediately captured my heart with her fierce but dry personality and passion for history and the knowledge that comes from it. Adam was the perfect rugged American counterpart to the proper English lady that Ellie is. The banter is perfect, the slow burn is sloooow but so good, and I just couldn’t get enough of the two of them. The book was really well paced and I loved the action and mystery of it! I also think the author set up the next book really well, and I can’t wait for more!

Eye. Blood Drinker. Priestess. Power. Blade.

Eleanora Mallory, a fearless civil rights rioter, arrested by the knights 🗡️ of Her Majesty the Queen. An independent girl, told to get a husband in the place of a job.

Inhabited kingdom. The White City. Enticing words and even more alluring adventure. River of Smoke, far more than fairy tales and Hokum. A tempting expedition.

Cups of tea and eclairs. Treasure maps. Hieroglyph of Truth, a feather 🪶. Strangers. Coral 🪸 snakes. Princess 👑. Adam Bates. Kidnappings. Mayan civilizations. El Dorado.

A Smoking Mirror 🪞, allowing the viewer to see the Past, across vast distances, and the Future. The Mary Lee. Winchester rifle. Manatees, the ugly mermaids pirates scouted.

Caves and mountains. Swamps and crocodiles 🐊. Egypt. Dreams. Death God guardians. The House of Gloom. Evil spirits. Santa Muerte, Saint Death. Cursed Realm of Hungry Spirits.

The Arch Hollowed by the Hand of God. El angel de la Muerte. This was truly a riveting read! A scholarly englishwomen on a treasure hunt with a map cartographer - I recommend this adventure to every reader who craves unique storylines and historical, mysterious expeditions. 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!

Thank you to the author, @netgalley , & @crimsonfoxpub for an advanced copy of this book! I have never read a book that felt as perfectly written for me!!!

After finding a historical relic, Ellie leaves behind proper society for an expedition in the British Honduras. There, she enlists the help of Adam, cartographer extraordinaire, to beat nefarious competitors to the ancient, mythological civilization of Tulan.

What I liked: Chock-full of action, mystery, and adventure the likes of which haven’t been seen since the third Indiana Jones movie, this book was full of lighthearted banter, a compelling romance, and a truly evil villain. I love love love these characters and I need their next adventure NOW. Huge shout out to @wordsandwyverns for the A+ recommendation!

What I didn’t: Before it became clear, I thought the villain would become the love interest… That may be my own issue.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🥰
No-scroll: 📵📵📵
Jaw-clench: 😬😬😬😬

Recommend if: you are also a huge Indiana Jones fan, you like mainly action/adventure with some romance sprinkled in and leaves you wanting more, you’re into cinnamon roll guys, you love a feminist protagonist

4.5 / 5 stars

First off, big thank you to NetGalley, Crimson Fox Publishing, and anyone else that allows readers to read books beforehand and help attain our goals of reading new authors.

My honest review is: I freaking loved this book. The mythology, the history, the fantasy, and of course, Ellie and Adam. This is an amazing blend of lore + great character development.

This is my first Jacquelyn Benson and I know it won’t be my last. I look forward to picking up more of her books in the future.

Spoiler alert here: damn, that ending left me wanting so much! I cannot wait for the next one.

I will say the only reason this is marked as a 4.5 instead of a true 5 is because of the amount of historical / mythology intertwined within the story - it could be a wee of a turn off for anyone not prepared for it but ya girl was really happy with it.

Overall, great read and enticing from page 1 to the end - great work Jacquelyn!

This read more like a rom com with a fantasy element rather than a true fantasy or romantasy. The writing was strong but it did read a little young. Otherwise, the story is entertaining.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crimson Fox Publishing for the ARC. If you like The Mummy and Indiana Jones, this book is for YOU. We start out with our FMC Ellie getting arrested which in turn has her losing her job. Upon being summoned to her boss's office, she discovers a map and an important artifact dated from the seventeenth century. Ellie decides to keep her discovery in trying to find the secret city that is depicted in the map. However, at the same time, someone else is after Ellie to get what she has. Upon traveling to British Honduras, Ellie meets Adam who agrees to take her to try to locate the forgotten city. Overall, Empire of Shadows is an amazing story. The pacing didn't feel too slow and I really enjoyed learning the back history from back then.

This book was just so much fun, I have been introduced to a new genre of historical romance of archeology and adventuring and I want more.

Ellie Mallory a clerk who fights for women’s suffrage with a desperate desire to actually utilize the education she received is our heroine. After happening on a mysterious map and a high speed chase that ends with her en route to South America she begins her journey to find the item at the end of her treasure map. She meets Adam Bates, a born wealthy and Cambridge educated surveyor who does not want to partake his family’s business. The two of them wind up adventuring inland and the journey kicks off.

I really enjoyed the banter between our two main characters. There were some moments I found a little cringey but it’s a romance novel that comes with the territory.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 4.5/5

This book was an absolutely fantastic reading; taking me out of readers block and then dropping me back into it because I couldn't imagine how my next few reads could be so good. As someone who loves history, the world felt extraordinarly fleshed out and though I don't know much about this era yet, from the way it was written, I could tell it was historically accurate. I adored Ellie and Adam, and their chemistry is off the charts. I'm definitely going to be buying Empire of Shadows when it comes out, and I'm so excited to see their adventures continue!

Not that I initially realized it when I nabbed it for review, but I read the original version of this (The Smoke Hunter) about 7 years ago. Back then, it was billed as an "Indiana Jones meets Lara Croft" action thriller, which I think set the wrong expectations for me. I gave it a 3-star review at the time, calling it too light, too pulpy, too silly, too improbable, and too romantic.

In it's current form, the pitch is entirely different, billing it as a cross between What the River Knows (YA historical fantasy) and The Mummy (pure pulp awesomeness). Going back into it with those expectations, I still found it light, pulpy, silly, improbable, and romantic, but in an endearing fashion. Whether it's expectations, being a different reader 7 years later, or the revisions Benson made to the text, I enjoyed this significantly more than I did the first time.

Ellie is a wonderful protagonist, a bold, outspoken feminist at a time when women just didn't do things like gallivant across the world, hunting for treasure. Yes, her feminism was a little too on-the-nose at times, interrupting scenes in a preposterous manner that could only be taken for comical, but I liked her. Adam was a great partner, with all the romantic tension and banter you could ask for between them, and

Although there are fantastical supernatural elements that drive the story, there's also a genuine sense of history, and the respect for cultures, civilizations, and peoples of the past really added an extra layer to the story.

Empire of Shadows is kind of a Road to El Dorado meets Atlantis adventure book. I enjoyed the adventure aspect and the historical and ancient culture aspects.

(Possibly mild spoilers ahead? Though everything is pretty vague and/or easily predicted from the summary.)

However, this book overall was kind of disappointing for me. Ellie is intelligent and independent, which is great, but she is also an over the top feminist, which got old pretty quickly. She makes everything about gender. The villains underestimate her? Must be because she's a woman. It can't have anything to do with the fact that they have more people and resources on their side. There were several other instances of this. I could look past that and still appreciate the book until about 3/4 of the way through, when Ellie decides that a life or death situation was the best time to make a point about feminism. I was easily able to see a way that it could have been rewritten to still make the point but not in such a ridiculous setting. I am not the author (obviously) so maybe there are reasons why those scenes are they way they are, but I personally felt that it was poorly done. After that, Ellie reached a point where she wasn't just a feminist, she was actively sexist against men. Yes, some men were sexist to her throughout the book and her life, but she takes that to apply to all men, including Adam, who was supposed to be the love interest. Adam never really acted sexist in my opinion. He struck me as the type of person who would act the same way, respectful and chivalrous, regardless of the gender of his companion. It was particularly unfair for Ellie to get mad at him for being "sexist" when he really wasn't and hadn't been throughout the book.

Overall, it still wasn't a bad read, but the extreme and over the top feminism kind of ruined it for me. I wish it had been handled better, because while I am interested in what Ellie and Adam do next, I don't actually plan to continue the series because I just can't handle Ellie's attitude.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC! All opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

Hmm. 🧐

This was an adventure book; there weren’t really any big twists or major dramatic entanglements and I didn’t really feel any sort of… panic or anything because I knew the two main characters would survive and there weren’t really any side characters besides the enemies and some minor friends who weren’t in any dangerous situations. So ultimately the book felt a bit too wholesome for my taste. I needed some more drama or flair.

The banter was decent and there were a few scenes I enjoyed, though the semi-spicy scene was a bit… weird. It didn’t really feel like it worked well, at least not for me. 😅 I didn’t much like Ellie and when she would spout her “why did you protect me; is it because I’m a woman?!” I wanted to go “No you dimwit, it’s because he doesn’t want you HURT.” 🙄

I liked the beginning quite a bit but the middle dragged a LOT. And by the end, when we got some “puzzles”, I just wanted the book to be over because I knew how it would end? It was just very predictable. Even the little “semi-plot-twists” at the end were not really all that surprising.

Overall, I don’t think Benson’s writing style is for me. She is very verbose and I found myself skimming a LOT of the historical info and physical descriptions of things. I won’t be continuing with the series. Just the thought of more of this makes me groan. 😅

I absolutely ADORED Empire Of Shadows! The romance was sweet but not too much and was perfect for the story. The humor and the banter was so much fun. I loved the adventures and the two main characters were so personable and worked so well together! The jungle setting was lush and I loved all the descriptions that actually made me feel like I was seeing it through the characters eyes. The history and folklore was absolutely fascinating! This definitely gave off Indiana Jones vibes with slight Jungle Cruise and The Mummy vibes as well. I think readers who are into Mesoamerican history and like archeology are going to absolutely fall in love with this story! I cannot wait for the next adventure in Egypt!

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.

Ellie Mallory refuses to conform to the ridiculous notions that Victorian society believe she should be. Why shouldn’t she be able to hold the same jobs or rights as a man does. Ellie is a suffragette and has no qualms about who knows it even if it leads to her being let go at her present employment. However as she’s waiting in her soon to be ex employers office she finds a map on his desk. A map to an ancient city long thought to be myth. Ellie realizes she has more than enough knowledge and means to decipher and find the “x” located on this map. There’s just one problem she’s not the only one who wants the map. Now being chased by a villain whose goal is to not only to locate the ancient city but steal its arcane treasures. Determined to thwart these looters Ellie journeys to unknown lands forcing her to enlist the aid of guide and surveyor, Adam Bates. Together they must trek thru ruins and dangers to reach the city before their pursuers.

This book was so incredibly amazing! As someone who has a huge love of history and ancient civilizations this book was everything I needed and more! This novel was as if Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and Jungle Cruise all came together and I devoured every minute of it. Empire of Shadows brings all the adventure, mystery, and heat. I enjoyed Ellie’s character so very much as she was funny, independent, smart, determined, and resilient. Adam was a great counterpart to Ellie, his role as the “rogue” type to Ellie’s ladylike demeanor was perfection. I’m simply obsessed with them! The tension, the banter, and their mutual appreciation of each other’s knowledge had me smiling every second of reading. The history elements, depictions of native Belizeans, and the Mesoamerican folklore were so incredibly well done that it is abundantly clear the amount of research that the author has done for this novel. The authenticity of these elements made my history loving heart happy. The way Benson wove all these historical facts with the adventure, plot, romance, and fantasy elements was flawless. I am desperate for the sequel immediately as I do not see myself not thinking about this book, anytime soon. I cannot express enough how much I adored this book!

Empire of Shadows is for anyone who like me once dreamed of adventures unearthing history from our world’s past. If you love historical fiction that has action, fantasy, ancient civilizations, and romance all within an incredibly immersive setting you have to read this book.

Empire of Shadows comes out April 2nd, 2024.

Thank you NetGalley and Crimson Fox Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.