A new favorite!
Amelia Peters meets Indiana Jones with a smidge of MacGyver… in Mesoamerica - Terrific read!
I thought the narrator, Alex Picard, was excellent. Her narration was so good, I could easily picture all the characters and I felt totally immersed in the setting. I’ll definitely be looking for more books read by her!

Ellie is a wonderful character. I love her digressions on archaeology and the breadth of her knowledge, but I also love her sense of justice and her adventurous spirit. Adam and she make terrific partners and their banter is absolutely delicious. Every scene with the both of them is great.

Ellie Mallory fought her way into her job as an archivist, but after being arrested for suffragist activity she loses it. On her way out, she discovers a mysterious artifact and a map to a secret Pre-Colombian city. She would have turned it over to the authorities, but a dastardly villain is after it and to outrun him, she ventures to Belize to find the city herself. Adam Bates is the cartographer that, reluctantly, helps her find her way there.

Empire of Shadows is an exciting, super fun adventure with fabulous characters in the jungle of Central America - highly, highly recommended!

4⭐️s. I enjoyed this but had so much going on with life that I will definitely want a reread before Tomb of the Sun King comes out October 1st. Lots of adventure, some romance, brilliant FMC, and intriguing MMC. Recommended for anyone that enjoyed the Brendan Fraser movie The Mummy. I really enjoyed the narrator, @it_sounds_like_alex. The back and forth from the FMC, MMC, and all the other characters was so well done. Really made me forget it was one person narrating Excited to listen to more of your work.

Ellie is a strong and utterly brilliant woman. But no one really acknowledges it. She knows more than her male scholars, but one mistake made and she’s out. It’s when she finds a map with a definite “X marks the spot”. So, she takes matters into her own hands to find the revolutionized Pre-Colombian history. Traipsing through the jungle isn’t very easy however. Plus, there are others looking for valuable artifacts for selfish gain.

Adam is a Cambridge dropout turned maverick surveyor. Worst of all, he knows Ellie’s family. With the use of a fake name and nonexistent dead husband, he’s just the person Ellie needs to help her survive close encounters with waterfalls, looters, all the animals, and those that might kill them.

Available now in paperback and on e-readers. Audiobook is coming September 1st. Thank you so much to @netgalley @jbensonink and Vaughan Woods Publishing for the advanced listener copy.

Imagine a late 19th century Eloise from Bridgerton dropped into the plot of Jungle Cruise, and that’s pretty much this book. Genre-wise, this was more similar to Lost City in that the fantasy elements were limited to a prologue and the last couple scenes; the rest read as (lovingly researched) historical fiction with a light romance subplot and an enormous serving of adventure.

I didn’t *quite* vibe with Ellie; she’s inclined to get distracted by her scholarly interests at critical life-or-death moments, and to bristle when someone implies she doesn’t know something or shouldn’t do something (which I can understand as a natural reaction for a feminist in 1898, but which I found exasperating during the aforementioned life-or-death moments when there’s an actual expert on hand). The expert in question — Adam — is an absolute delight.

And the audiobook narrator, Alex Picard, is simply stellar. Her narration of the story alone puts her at the top of her game, but where she really blew me away was with her accents/voices. We have an English POV character (Ellie) and an American one (Adam), and she uses one English/American voice to speak each character’s dialogue, and another to read the rest of their POV narrative. A native Spanish-speaker has one accent, and a nonfluent American speaking Spanish has another. Truly incredible!

A couple of days ago I came across this gorgeous book and was immediately intrigued! The cover, the title, the description—it all had me captivated! As a history lover, and the kid who said, “when I grow up I want to be an archaeologist just like Indiana Jones”, I knew I needed this book in my life, stat! So I scoured the library apps and kindle, and then I hit the jackpot. I found the ALC on #netgalley. Woot! Woot!

This one is a little bit The Mummy, a little bit Romancing the Stone, a little bit Jungle Cruise, and whole lot of adventurous, slow burn magnificence. Ancient Latin civilization, a harrowing journey, death defying escapes, bat filled caves, waterfalls, dastardly villains, what more could you ask for? Oh, a dashing, daring MMC just like Rick O’Connell or Allan Quartermain. Check! A highly intelligent and capable FMC. Check! Some forced proximity, reluctant partners, this may be our last moments together on earth, tension and build up for 75% of the book. Double check!!

As for the audio, terrific! One narrator but the scope of her talent was fully utilized with a vast array of characters, male and female, nationalities, and accents. Wonderful job.

I would rate this story PG-13 for mild language and one very descriptive make out.

If you love adventure stories, you need this one! And book 2 is coming very soon!

Thank you NetGalley and Vaughan Woods Publishing for the ALC, all opinions are my own.

#alc #bookreview #audiobookreview #netgalley #jacquelynbenson #raidersofarcadia #empireofshadows

I read this as an ebook originally and was so excited when the author announced that there would be an audio book. I fell in love with the characters and their adventure and couldn’t wait to visit their world again. It’s one of my favorite books.

The narrator does such a wonderful job. I usually struggle to focus on audiobooks, but the narrator has such a great voice and matched the energy of the book so well! Definitely a great listen!

Thank you to NetGalley and Jacquelyn Benson for sending this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I can’t fathom why a whole novel narrated from an British English protagonist ( a ‘nice Victorian Lady’, as per the blurb) should be contracted to an American actor who has to try to feign an RP accent for nearly 17 hours.

This entire audiobook is undermined by a tension where it feels like we’re just WAITING for the artificial accent to slip and for American to show through. And boy does it show through!

Alex Picard macerates her vowels, particularly in her habit of chewing short vowels into long vowels. Like in Ellie's mother's and friend's names: Flo[w]rence and Co[w]nstance.

Similarly jarring is Price's inability to make a British 'u' sound; her 'Tuesday' is still 'Toosday', as is her over-correction of her American softening of a double t, as in 'little'. The phrase ‘rankest injustice’ comes out as a Deep-South Louisiana drawl version of a London Suffragette.

This really ruined the book for me. I was listening judgementally to the comical Queen Elizabeth II impersonation, and taking in none of the story. I was jumping from one pronunciation horror to the next instead of following the plot (try listening to Picard’s ‘o[w]ff’ and not hearing the Queen of Hearts yelling “Off with their heads!”).

When I realised that I needed to rewind to the last place I’d been paying attention to the novel and not the narration, and having literally no idea when that was, I concluded that this audiobook was not for me.

It really seems like a no-brainer to me to cast an English actor for seventeen hours of an English accent. What a failure of casting!

But my thanks for Audio ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op.

Empire of Shadows is a mass-up of Jungle Cruise (Disney 2021) [the setting] + The Mummy (1999) [Rick O’Connel] + the most badass scholarly FMC [Lily + Evie coded].

There is… adventure [copious amounts]. banter [a lot]. Romance [a little]. Historical elements [tons]. Magic/Fantastical elements [a tiny bit].

This was a pretty great time. I really enjoyed the banter and relationship between the MMC and FMC and my biggest complaint for this book is that there isn’t MORE romance!

If you enjoy historical fiction this is a fun one! It feels very well researched (although I am NOT an expert) and I enjoyed how the author handled some of the tougher topics/aspects of the time period.

Audiobook Narration 4.5⭐️

The narration was spectacular, I loved that there was a distinct accent for the different POVs. Since this is technically all 3rd POV - the female narrator does work well for both sections, but a dual narration with a male narrator would have really set this apart. I do understand that hiring two narrators is often cost prohibitive for indie authors however - and I still think the narrator knocks it out of the park.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for sending this book (audio ARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I got this Audiobook as an arc from Netgalley. I will be posting this review on my goodreads and instagram. Since I got this as a audiobook arc I will start my review by saying this narrator did a great job! I loved how she changed accents for all the different characters to help the listener differentiate. If you are a fan of Indiana Jones and the mummy then this book is for you! I’m going to give this book 3 ⭐️ and a 0 🌶️ rating. I’m giving this 3 ⭐️because it was a little slow paced for my liking.

3.5 Stars

I really loved the premise of this book and loved the voice actor. I am a huge lover of history and thought the search for an archeological site while facing danger was a perfect setup. While I did enjoy this book it felt a bit slow and the added details outside of the "adventure" was something that was hard to keep my attention. It felt also weird to include a romance when the fml Ellie was so against marriage and being with a man. I feel like this would have worked better without having a romance at all. All in all it was an okay read and definingly for people who are looking for a Indiana Jones feel.

YES, All of the YESes. If you are like me, and I know a lot you are, you fall into the following group: Born in the 80s, grew up in the 90s, survived 2000 etc. This book has been described as The Mummy meets Oceans 11, and if you KNOW, many of us had our awaking watching The Mummy 1 and 2 movies. SO: This audio is that. The Mummy meets Oceans 11 and make a baby that turns into COZY ADVENTURE WITH TREASURE. And the narration is submerge. The narrator does such a good job with the voices, her tone and the men. I truly loved this one. Hats off to both author and narrator. Give me more!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was such a fun story with high stakes, mystery, and sprinkling of tension-building romance! I loved every second of learning about the characters and learning more about their journey to the City of Gold.

The audiobook narrator did a great job of utilizing accents to differentiate between characters and bring the most emotion to every character on the page! I think the audiobook could have benefited from having a male narrator for Adam's point of view, but the narrator did a great job on his chapters as well!

I loved this book! I really enjoyed the archeological setting that is perfect for fans of The Mummy, Indiana Jones, and Jungle Cruise. This is full of action, delicious dialogue, and compelling characters. The banter between Ellie and Adam was so good! Do yourself a favor and read this one!

First off all, this story is fantastic 🤩 I cannot believe I’ve never read a book that gave Mummy vibes before. And I LOVE Ellie. The second she handcuffed herself to parliament I knew she’d be one of my favorite FMCs💛

I read via audiobook & the narrator -Alex Picard - was perfect! She was so easy to follow, and had me laughing out loud. My husband also started listening and loving it as well - he was even asking for updates when I was listening without him.

5/5, I cannot wait for book two!

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing & Jacquelyn Benson for the ARC

*posted to Goodreads & Amazon

In the era of the Suffragettes Ellie Mallory, champion for her own and women’s rights, is unlikely to fulfil her dreams. Archaeological knowledge is her bedrock, getting the tea for her oblivious boss is the reality. A husband to be found for blissful peace - Ellie’s opinion is ‘absolutely no way!!!’. A series of by chance events mean that Ellie’s dreams are actual possibilities. Deadly ones at that, and just maybe she does need some male help after all. But definitely not Adam Bates, no, anyone but him. But as ancient arcane secrets and magic come to light, the search is on and evil conspirators need to be foiled. Book one is a whole story, but I think there will be more adventures for Ellie in the future. Just what she wants (and a boyfriend/male companion to boot after all). Thank you to Vaughan Woods Publishing and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I think this is going to be my favorite read of the year! (2024) Because holy cow was this good! This was EVERYTHING I have been wanting and hoping to find in a book again. Immaculate vibes. I know it will get compared to The Mummy a lot and you can tell the author took inspiration from that. But Benson weaves her own unique tale with just an unique blend of characters. I loved every moment of this book. The pacing was done well, the character development was on point, the tension between the love interest was adorable! I don't even like Historical Fiction that much, or so I thought! I loved the setting and time period for this story, and the hint of fantasy was just enough. I can't wait to recommend this to all my friends. I really really can't wait to read the rest of the series.
The narrator did an excellent job on the voices as well, overall great audio production.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book! It is absolutely packed with adventure, mishaps, myths, legends, and bantering main characters. I found Ellie and Adam to be great characters and while they both have hearts of gold, they are also very human and have their flaws. I loved their first meet scene lol. When I saw comparisons to The Mummy/Indiana Jones, I was both excited for the vibes and a bit nervous that it wouldn’t deliver - but this book did not let me down.

The audiobook is incredibly well-done and the narrator perfectly captures the personalities and performance of not only the main characters (which are spot on!) but even the smallest side characters. Highly recommend the audio version!!

Thank you to Vaughan Woods Publishing and NetGalley for this advanced audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review.

This sounded like something I would absolutely enjoy. I love the cartoon The Road to Eldorado so thought a romance would be amazing. I loved the adventure story. Sometimes I read these romances and the adventure is minimal and I always want more action. I want more of the journey and obstacles so this was great. I enjoyed the audio narration. The characters had good chemistry when they weren't arguing. Well, when she wasn't arguing. I felt like it was suppose to come off as funny banter but she just got on my nerves. She started arguments with him for the dumbest reasons. I felt like the story dragged on a little too long and while I enjoyed the adventure there wasn't enough romance to balance it out. I found myself growing bored toward the end. Overall, it was fine but not a standout. 3 stars.

LOVED this book! It gave me the perfect Indiana Jones/archaeology vibes. I love history and found this such a good read!!

This book was sold to me by comparisons to Indiana Jones and The Mummy, it didn’t disappoint. I fully expected this to be a good book, but I absolutely loved it! I’m usually a high fantasy girl so this was actually a refreshing break I didn’t know I needed and it had me giggling and squealing. The narration was great, I had a few issues here and there with the over-emphasised posh accent of Ellie (which was funny considering the narrator is British) but other than that 0 complaints. My favourite book of the month.

This was a fun, fun read. I ate this one up. It gave me vibes of a mash up between The Mummy, The Goonies, and National Treasure. What I loved most: Bates. He is a treat to spend time in the pages with. His dynamic with Ellie was so, so fun. Ellie brought a feminist (for the time period) spunk that I tend to latch onto. I really liked her as well. The booby trap filled adventure kept me needing to know what happens next. This book is so my scene that there really isn't much I didn't like. The world building was vivid and easy to follow - which might also be partially credited to the absolutely stellar narration done by Alex Picard. The way she was able to separate characters all on her own was insanely good; her use of voices and accents added to much to the reader's experience. I absolutely recommend the audiobook for this one.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jacquelyn Benson, and Victory Editing for this audiobook ARC - I do own a physical copy I purchased myself.