Empire of Ash (God of Secrets Book 1)

Pellucid Rose is a devoted archaeologist on a dig in Greece, when she finds what appears to be an ancient antiquity. She excitedly translates the hieroglyphics and unleashes a sphinx onto the world. Black smoke surrounds her and a very handsome, mysterious man appears. He is a calming influence on Pell and he begins to tell his story. First, he informs Pell that, since she is responsible for the sphinx’s release into the world, she’s the one who has to recapture it and take it back where it belongs. It’s a dangerous mission and Pell comes to understand that there are more secrets than she could ever expect. She still doesn’t know who he is and gives him names like Mr. Cocky Pants, Crazy Guy, but it’s really Harpoc and he’s the god of secrets. As they travel around the globe, recovering and replacing secrets, there’s an attraction brewing between Harpoc and Pell that is sweet and still mysterious. I got a little annoyed with Pell’s inner voice, especially when she whined or shouted over Pell. And I didn’t like the addition of the messed up world and the corrupt politicians. It came up at the beginning and it was still a major point at the end. I want to be immersed in a fantasy, especially one that is woven this well. Pell and Harpoc are wonderfully fleshed out and have personalities that jump off the page. They’re secretive and and amusing as they confront enemies who seek to destroy the god of secrets’ power.
Sarah Kisko does an excellent job with the narration. The voices are clear and dynamic as she brings each character to life!

ONE THRILLING ADVENTURE
Hatching hades! Lee hit paydirt with all the charm, passion, finesse and unique insight, skipping the shenanigans, calming the chaos and roping the mayhem, sowing the seeds and watching them grow, wrapping this gem up sleek, shiny and tight. A raging tempest of suspicious events and dubious circumstances, observant of the staggering trials and arduous tribulations, marking the deadly twist and wicked turns, catapulting those swirling feelings into play front and center, baring all the fervent facts, deals and fiascos, catapulting this jewel to a whole new level. Stumbling through a minefield of daring drama, hidden agendas, damning secrets, mystifying intrigue, grave danger and spiraling suspense, maneuvering through the cunning manipulations of deceptive deeds and dubious actions, blasting this jewel to life spectacularly. Tempting, tangled and tightly entwined, baring the crazy quirks and defying bents, putting our characters through their paces, testing them in ways they could have never envisioned. The characters are complex and genuine with traits and qualities that add depth and diversity, transforming into charismatic personalities. The scenes are strikingly sharp with abundant details and descriptions that feel as though you were transported to ground zero with them. Remarkable job Lee, thanks for sharing this little jewel with us.

Gold eye, silver eye
Amazing, well written, easy to read first book in the series, full of action, magic, romance and awesome MC, with a fantastic plot and great world building
Pell is an Archaeologist, who happens to discover “the find” of the century and the sudden appearance of a hot, sexy stranger, turns her world upside down, making her live the best adventure of her life
Chasing mythological beings across beautiful and ancient archaeological places, her trust and feelings for this mysterious man keep going deeper but, can she really trust him???
This is the first book of this Author I have read and I absolutely loved it, can’t wait for the next one to find out what’s coming next for Pell and Harpoc

„Empire of Ash“ marks the start of a new Series (“God of Secrets”) by L.R.W. Lee with Pellucid Rose (Pell for short) as MC, an archeologist, who while digging in Mycenae unexpectedly, and with the “help” of an earthquake, comes across the FIND of her career, a scroll cache, mind it…. an Egyptian scrolls cache…. in Greece! Unable to wait… curiosity gets the best of her , she reads one of the scrolls… aloud… sounds like a riddle… but before she can even secure the rest of the dig, a strange comes into the site weaving some tale of old prophecies, sphinxes awakening and secret magic, and insisting that Pell joints in some quest to catch the creature on the loose.

What follows is a fast-paced adventure, exciting mix of actual facts and fiction, with twist and turns that entice the reader to join the quest, solve the riddle and get hold of the Sphinx. Pell is a very strong character, with a very no-nonsense approach due to her very personal background, the perfect embodiment for a female heroine in paranormal romance, likeable in extreme and a stark counterpart to the male character, who by the way is not the guy you would wish to push out of the edge… of a dig (pun very much intended )

The book is very well written, a successful blend of archeology, old Egyptian lore and paranormal romance, with several instant recognizable locations, multidimensional characters, and a carefully crafted plot with a satisfying end.
A tantalizing reading.

I loved this book so much. And this narrator did a great job as the voice. She told this story perfectly. If you are a history fan like me you will love how this author took history and fantasy and combined them. Pell is a woman trying to prove herself in the archaeology field run by men. First off, I loved her. She was so cool and I loved the fighter she was. Not just for herself, but others. She doesn’t put up with lies. She uncovers what she thinks is the biggest find in history and is going to give her the credit she has been fighting for. But then she meets Harpoc. He’s a stranger to her and ends up being a keeper of secrets. Little does Pell realize, she has just created a giant mess they have to clean up. Throw in a jealous colleague who is a scumbag, action, adventure, hard choices, secrets revealed (literally), and some romance and you have one epic start to a series. I highly suggest this book. You won’t be disappointed.

This is book one of the God of Secrets series and the main character is archaeologist Pellucid (Pell) Rose, who is working on a dig in Greece, with a group of male colleagues and has to work hard to keep her place amongst some of them and their attitudes towards women. Only another couple of years doing digs and then she should be able to get a job as a curator at any museum she wants. If only she didn’t have to put up with characters like Irik, it would be great. It’s like being back at the group home where she was brought up. After a sudden earthquake, they go to check on any possible damage to their dig and Pell goes to check on the hidden staircase and underground cistern. She stumbles across the find of the century, with a secret room full of scrolls.

Only problem is, that by pulling out one of the scrolls and using her skills to read the hieroglyphs out loud, has unleased the creature the scroll was keeping a secret about. After she read it, a strange but mysterious and handsome man appears out of a swirl of shadows, to inform her that she has released the creature, a female sphinx on the world. It was a statue in the Louvre in Paris, that she had visited and seen, but she doesn’t believe this stranger until matters are forced by news reports later that day. Shortly after this, this stranger turns up in her hotel room, to see if she is ready to stop the sphinx or not.

No matter how strange things may be, she doesn’t want the thought of anyone’s deaths on her shoulders or mind. By reading the scroll out loud and for the being to be released, it seems she has some sort of secret magic, like Harpoc, as she finally gets to find out the name of the strange man. But there is a lot more for her to find out about this stranger, as well as more adventures to go on! Secret Magic is so much more than magic, but also the magic of secrets and the power that they hold. She now holds a scent of this secret magic and could herself be in danger from any being or creature she has released. He is not very forthcoming about himself and it took her long enough just to get his name from him, but that may not be the full truth, when he asks her to call him King of Roses, when they go after her third mistaken release.

The reality of what she is dealing with seems impossible, but she will soon find herself out of work, when what she discovered has to be hidden away. She will discover many myths are true and could kill her and many others if they get away from her. That crooked rich people with corrupt secrets, are nothing new, as figures in history have also been in this position. Her memories of a particularly handsy adult in the group home and his attention and treatment of a friend, has made her attention to scandal and crooked people in power positions, strong in her make-up. She is mixing now with the powers of Gods and secrets from the past, which could have world changing effects and it seems only she will be able to stop her handsome but strange companion.

An interesting read and definitely one that is a page turner, as you follow what is happening to Pell and get to laugh at her ridiculous inner voice and her lack of grace having her tripping up all over the place. Her mind may be wandering over this handsome man who has suddenly appeared in her life, making her do things that are not in her normal remit of comfort and making her vocalise many of her thoughts and desires. Pell’s very future is going to change as this stranger becomes a part of her life and everything that happens round her. I look to reading the next book in this series soon. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

Like all her books this one definitely did not disappoint. The story line was captivating. The struggles Pell experiences as an archeologist is stunning yet doesnt stop her, making her fight harder. The intense attraction with the mysterious savior is exciting. The adventures they experience trying to fix what has been done is riveting. I have been suffering an extremely painful headache for weeks and I still couldn’t put this one down. I felt like something was missing when it ended. Thank goodness there’s a book 2 coming out soon. As I anxiously wait for it….

I put off reading this book for a while because of my past experience with this authors books. I was really worried that I wouldn’t like this one or it would drag on.
I felt like this story could receive 3.5 stars but I like the hint of romance and history in this story helped it to 4 stars. This book took me almost a week to read which is slow for me lately.
Honestly Pell irritated me a bit. Her and her subconscious talking to each other was distracting and a little unnecessary in my opinion.
Her job as an archeologist sounded cool but ended abruptly within a few chapters. Now she’s job less and tripskipping around the world without knowing what’s going to happen next.
Some of the characters in the beginning I thought would have more meaning/or be included more in the story but the rest of the story is just mainly Pell and Harpoc with side characters here and there.
Harpoc was an interesting character. He wanted Pell to trust him but he wouldn’t tell her anything unless she needed to know it. Also I really wanted to understand why she has seen his eyes all this time but I guess I will have to read the second one eventually to find out.
This is a super slow burn fantasy novel with a bit of romance thrown in towards the end. I would probably recommend this story especially if you liked her other novels.