I feel like I’ve seen Rebecca Hamilton’s photo before in another book that I’ve had a chance to read, but apparently I never reviewed a book from her before? Or at least, not yet. I don’t know but her photo looks very, very familiar. The name sounds familiar too.

Hmmmmmm.

But anyway! Thank you so much to Giselle at Xpresso Tours for including me in this blog tour. This book gave me both Tomb Raider and The Mummy Return vibes and I was so intrigued from the first chapter! Click on the banner for the rest of the tour schedule and for more information.

A forgotten past, a dark mage, and an unyielding curse.

Another team beat free-spirited archaeologist Olivia Perez to the dig of a lifetime, and now she’s left with the choice to wait for scraps or brave a dangerous, dusty tomb in hopes of finding other priceless artifacts. Her reward? A mysterious key she has no idea is cursed. Soon, Olivia realizes she’s brought home more than just an ancient rarity.

Malevolent visions begin to plague her. Unnerved by what they reveal, she casts away the key…unknowingly placing it into the waiting hands of a dark mage bent on destruction. Only when a shifter agent from the Paranormal Intelligence and Tracking Organization arrives searching for the key does Olivia realize what a huge mistake she’s made. 

Forced to team up with the ill-tempered shifter, her journey to reclaim the cursed key leads down a twisting path of dark histories, dangerous magic, and deadly obstacles. But Olivia’s efforts to take back the ancient relic before the dark mage can destroy the lives of humans, shifters, witches, and fae alike are thwarted by her own dark past…and a price steeper than what she’s willing to pay.

Fans of Tomb Raider and Ilona Andrews will love the blend of urban fantasy, magical adventure, and paranormal romance in THE CURSED KEY from Miranda Brock and New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton!

New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance for Harlequin, Baste Lübbe, and Evershade. A book addict, registered bone marrow donor, and indian food enthusiast, she often takes to fictional worlds to see what perilous situations her characters will find themselves in next.

Represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA, Rebecca has been published internationally, in three languages: English, German, and Hungarian.

Author links:
Website / Facebook / Twitter

From an early age Miranda Brock has always loved fantasy and adventure everything. Since she doesn’t live in a world of enchanting powers, mythical beasts, and things unbelievable she has decided to write about them. (Although, if you happen to see a dragon flying around, do tell her.) Born in southern Illinois, where she still resides with her husband and two children, she grew up running through the woods, playing in creeks, and riding horses. What started out as writing poetry grew into short stories and eventually led to her first novel, Souls Discovered. Miranda lives in the country where she finds inspiration in the simplicity and beauty around her. With the help of a ridiculous amount of coffee and some good music she writes whenever she gets a chance.

Author links:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours and Evershade Publishing for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Okay I don’t care what you think about the two Tomb Raider movies with Angelina Jolie in them, they are some of my favorite freaking movies in the world and I loved her in both of them. Now while I was reading The Cursed Key, I couldn’t help but get Lara Croft vibes with her being an archaeologist, but also a bad ass living in this beautiful big house after her father passed away. Plus, hello? She also worked for Yale – I mean I know Croft lives in England, but similarities people!

Plus I also got Evie vibes from The Mummy Returns in the beginning of the novel when she was being pulled towards the ruins as if she had been there before. Even though of course those ruins have been shut away from the modern world for years, right? Riiiiight.

But anyway, Olivia was such a crazy cool character and I was proud of her for getting into this field and not allowing any of the men or whatever to tear her down just because she was a woman and all that crap. She was good at what she does, even when she had to start way behind the starting line, you know? She was already at a disadvantage because of being a woman, and I’m sure that there were a lot of people that didn’t think she could handle it even though her father was her inspiration and was one of the best history teachers at Yale for goodness sake.

And then this is a trilogy too so of course now I need to know how its going to end because that whole story just blew me away. I’m excited. I really liked this one and I’m glad I was a part of the blog tour!