Made with love
© Victoria Gryson 2024
Dangerous magic, a dark god, and ancient secrets.
Archaeologist Pellucid Rose discovers THE find of the century when an earthquake hits her Mycenae, Greece dig. But before she can claim it, a dark, dangerous, and very sexy stranger steps from a swirl of shadows claiming she’s loosed a sphinx on the world by translating an ancient secret on one of the scrolls.
What’s more, he insists Secret Magic requires her to go with him to capture the ferocious creature.
Against better judgment, Pell teams up with the hot stranger to discover a world of magic where the impossible is reality, crooked mortals hide corrupt secrets, and mysteries older than myth can kill you. That thought alone makes her heart race, but things get even worse when she discovers he’s hiding world-altering secrets, and only she has what it takes to stop him.
Empire of Ash is the first book I read by the author and while the plot sounded great, I, unfortunately, didn’t like the book 🙁
Was good, scenes and environments were clear and detailed. As a fan of archaeology (and mythology), it was fun to read about the sites they explored, not to mention the mythological beings/people they encountered.
Was decent. We walked alongside Pell (short for Pellucid), an archaeologist, as she tries to undo the mess she caused by reading an ancient scroll she just found. Pell is, in my opinion, a pretty particular person with a lot of inner dialogue (like… a lot a lot). That, I could get on board with, but what bothered me the most was that she doesn’t feel or act her age but more like a teenager. Add that to the insistent chatter of her inner dialogue and … yeah, I really didn’t connect with her.
Harpoc, our mystery man in a leather jacket, was well fleshed out and out of the two, strangely enough, felt more real and believable. While he was (and yes, still remains) a mystery, he does open up more and more to Pell.
Were good. A nice balance between conversation and action to keep the story moving forward.
There were no (noticeable) errors and there was no sex described in this book (if that is important to you).
I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book and all in all I can say that unfortunately, this wasn’t my cup of tea. It just felt unpolished and slightly too teens/ya for me. However, if the plot sounds good be sure to give the sample a try, it might be something for you!
© Victoria Gryson 2024