If you love any adventure story then this is the book for you. Ellie Mallory, suffragette and archivist, is sacked from her job when she is arrested for picketing. She manages to snaffle a map, showing a Meso-American archaeological site in British Honduras. She manages to get there by steamer, while being chased by the man whose map she stole! Once there, she meets Adam Bates, an Indiana Jones/Rick O'Connell type of explorer (who does seem to like to go about shirtless).

Their adventures lead them further into the jungle, meeting natives and falling foul of other explorers. What happens is a riot of nail-biting cliff hangers before the denouement.

The story rolls along far better after the first half, which I found rather slow, but it was enjoyable. However, the narrators pronunciation of certain English words had me shouting out loud as they were clearly incorrect. It's such a shame that a great story (to me) has been spoilt by bad narration. I certainly won't be listening to more by this narrator, though I will definitely be reading the next books in the series.

4 ⭐️

Empire of Shadows was a wonderful story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is perfect for fans of The Mummy and National Treasure. Benson's writing is delightful. She delivers a thrilling tale of adventure with a dash of romance. I found all the characters so endearing and different from each other. I, for one, am excited to get to know these characters more in the next book!

I was privileged enough to received advanced listener copies of Empire of Shadows, and Tomb of the Sun King thanks to the author and NetGalley, and I can’t express enough how obsessed I am with this Victorian adventure series with paranormal/fantasy elements to it 💕

The first book in this series is Empire of Shadows, and it surrounds Ellie, a brilliant and independent academic suffragette, whose values lead her to running from some villains in British Honduras in order to protect an important artifact. Her ferocity and rebelliousness immediately makes her a likeable and endearing FMC. While escaping capture, Ellie quite literally falls into the lap of Adam Bates, a gruff and charming American man (who literally carries around his favourite machete). The two set out on an adventure in the Honduras’ jungle to discover a forgotten civilization and save its artifacts before the villains discover and steal them. I loved Adam and Ellie’s banter - his quirky humour was a perfect balance to her stubbornness. Adam Bates is definitely added to my growing list of book boyfriends! I love this MMC - besides the fact that he prefers to be shirtless and he loves getting under Ellie’s skin, he is also respectful, loyal and brave. Alex Picard does a fantastic job at narrating both books to the point that I forgot it wasn’t a dual narration because Bates’ voice had me 🫠

4.5 stars

Empire of Shadows

This book was straight up fun. It was full of action and adventure. It felt like The Mummy. Ellie was a brilliant young woman who wanted more from her life than what society offered her. She was college educated and fought for women’s rights at a time when women weren’t respected outside the home. Her character was intelligent. I loved seeing her work through problems and find solutions. If those solutions involved blowing things up all the better.

Now for Adam. Gosh, I loved him. His respect for Ellie and his slightly bad boy ways were just what the story needed. It didn’t hurt that he found reasons to take his shirt off and carried a machete.

There’s plenty of romance and longing in this story, but it also has a solid story line involving Mayan artifacts. I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more of Ellie and Adam’s adventures.

This book contains scattered moderate profanity has kissing and some wandering hands.

If you grew up loving the witty banter and adventure of The mummy, you are going to love this book!

✨ Historical Adventure & Mystery
✨ Forced proximity & Slow burn
✨ Feminist FMC & Grumpy MMC

Special shoutout to the narrators, I loved that there was a distinct accent for the different characters and they were both so engaging!

Thank you net galley for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review

A very highly entertaining Indiana Jones -esque book following a suffragette and her outdoorsman guide as they race to discover an ancient civilization.

I loved everything about this: the audio narration, the writing, the main characters, the romance, the banter, the adventuring..
This would make such a fun TV series.

I'm very eager to start the sequel!

What is a nice Victorian lady to do when she finds herself ousted from her government job and in possession of a mysterious artifact that others want? Obviously, she should definitely journey to the New World by herself to solve the mystery…right?

This was a delight to listen to, the narrator was charming and added another layer to the already wonderful story.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the audio ARC!

This was a great audiobook. The story was very interesting and it was so fun to listen too. I would highly recommend this book.

This is a fun read but it’s unfortunately a long way from where it needs to be in order to be considered a good quality historical adventure.

The premise of this is a good one, and I liked the initial set-up that places the characters on a sort of treasure hunt/exploration adventure. Some of the problems here stem from comparisons to Indiana Jones or The Mummy. This is Victorian. That’s a long way from a similar setting/circumstances to The Mummy (1920s) or Indiana Jones (1930s).

The characters don’t exactly feel like a match for the time period, perhaps the cause of the inapt story comparisons. But the biggest problem with this is that it really shorts you on the actual history. The action sequences are fine and the plot (though a bit predictable and shopworn) is basically fine. But it’s missing the lush and informative description and accuracy that makes a book like this truly immersive and successful.

It’s also just too long, which is odd for a book really short on anecdotal detail. I’m hoping for an improvement in the second book in the series, which moves the action to Egypt.

The Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson was a fantastic book. I was drawn in and could not stop listening as the tale unfolded. I highly recommend this author and the narrator.

Thank you NetGalley! This is actually a 6 star book lol! I can’t wait to buy a physical copy to annotate. This was such an amazing ride. I normally don’t like history or anything like that but this was just soooo good it didn’t even matter lol! Can’t wait to reread this already and get my hands on book 2!!

I appreciated the Indiana Jones nature of the story, but I did not care for the audiobook narration. It made the story sound more silly, satirical, comedic, and I prefer to imagine my fantasy romances more serious than that. Or maybe I just don't like that aspect that is inherently rooted in this story. I just don't think this is my preference.

On paper this book has everything I love! Adventure, villains, a legendary archeologic goldmine of a location, a smart, feminist MC.

I'm really not sure why it fell short for me. The reader for the audiobook was brilliant though I think I probably could of gotten into it more had I had a physical copy.

This book is perfect for anyone who loves the MC of Jungle Cruise in an adventure like Atlantis and stakes like Indiana Jones. I can see why people love this book and I'm gutted it just didn't hit the same for me.

This book was recommended to me by a friend because she knows I’m always thirsty for a good treasure hunting story.

If you’re like me and you’re always on the hunt for any story like that, you’ll love your time spent getting lost in these pages.

The whole premise and the romance within really fed my love of The Mummy and Romancing the Stone. Lovers of those movies will not regret picking this up.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Vaughn Woods Publishing for this arc!!

5/5 stars!!

Omg, I loved this SOOOOO MUUUCCHHH!!!! The banter, the adventure, the mayhem - everything was absolutely perfect. Definitely inspired by Rick and Evelyn in The Mummy, AND I LOVE IT WE NEED MORE LOVE LIKE THEIR LOVE!!!! Alex Picard was a PERFECT narrator, nailing each separate person and accent flawlessly! There were so many characters but I never had to wonder who was who, she is just that good 😎 I finished this in just a few days, and I can't wait to start the next one lol. I love that this is the first in a series and where it ends in a way that the storyline is finished, there's more to their story and I honestly want to read the next one as much as I would if it had a cliffhanger ending 😂 I JUST NEED MORE ELLIE AND ADAM PLZ THANK YOOOUUU!!!

This book proves the theory that the venn diagram of people who love fantasy and people love historical is just a circle. I loved the dynamic and the banter between the main characters, and thoroughly enjoyed their adventures. Can't wait to read what's next.

This book reminded me so much of films like Indiana Jones or The Mummy. The sense of adventure was palpable, and the two main characters leapt off the page. The first half especially was a proper armchair adventure, complete with the enticing call of the unknown.

I loved the two main characters, Ellie and Adam. Their paths cross unexpectedly but it soon transpires that they do in fact have connections back home. The chemistry between them was obvious from the get-go, which made them such a compelling duo. They’re the sort of couple where you do a little celebration when they finally got together!

While I mostly enjoyed the adventure itself, it did start to drag as the book went on. I think it just went on for a little too long, and I started to lose interest in the final third of the book. It did pick up again at the very end though, which I was very glad for!

The audiobook narrator tries her hand at a variety of voices and styles, some of which are more successful than others. I will admit that I nearly gave up during the prologue, as she was doing that calm, ASMR-style narration that makes it impossible to pay attention to what’s going on. As soon as the first chapter started she had a much more conversational style, and I was relieved at first – but then I soon realised she really struggled with a British accent! It did mostly improve as the book went on, but an early example is that I was trying to work out what she meant by ‘ported fan’, then realised she meant ‘potted fern’. Towards the end of the book, the word ‘stalagmite’ came up a LOT, and it was mispronounced every single time. Adam’s chapters were read with an American accent, and I do think it would have been better to have two different narrators, one for each character.

Overall this was an enjoyable adventure, but I don’t know if I will be picking up the sequel any time soon.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this fantasy adventure!!! The romance, the quests, the action. It was all so much fun

Empire of Shadows is for fans of archaeology, Raiders of the Lost Ark vibes, with a dash of romantic tension. It's a historical fiction story where well bred ladies are not often dashing into the forests and running away from home. And it features a handsome and slightly disheveled guide who can save you from a snake and seduce you in one moment. Empire of Shadows is for fans of archaeologic puzzles and plenty of action. It feels cinematic and listening to the audiobook with Alex Picard's narration felt like you were transported.

4.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Vaughan Woods Publishing for an audio ARC of this book. All thoughts/opinions are my own.

This book felt like Indiana Jones and Jane from Tarzan had a baby and I loved it!
I found the entire concept so intriguing. The story took off from the get go and didn't stop until the end. There were so many smaller conflicts within the main plot that it really kept you interested the whole time. While I LOVED the book, I did think it could have been a tad shorter but overall, still great.
Overall, I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading the sequel one day soon!