A USA TODAY BESTSELLING NOVEL.
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 … 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, a USA Today bestselling novel from USA Today bestselling author Miranda Brock and New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton!
Scroll up and one click to start this slow burn urban fantasy romance adventure!
Binge Read the Complete Series Today!
Book 1: The Cursed Key
Book 2: The Hunted Soul
Book 3: The Marked Earth
more
Olivia is an archaeologist in competition with two other team to dig around an area located in South America. She sneaks away from the others and comes upon a temple of some sort. She ends up finding an old key. She sees two jaguars that follow her. She keeps the secret and key to herself and goes home to the states. While there, morbid visions occur and she has bloodthirsty thoughts. She decides to bury the key and a weird man with magic takes the key and leaves her with strange words. A man shows up looking for the key and demands she give it back. Turns out he was the huge jaguar in South America, works for PITO (a paranormal agency). They discover it is an ancient mage who took the key and is in search of the second one. Olivia and Kael travel to Scotland to find some witches to get the second key. In all, Olivia goes from dealing with humans to Fae, witches, mages and shifters! They will embark on a journey full of rife, magic, and danger that can kill them. When Olivia makes the ultimate sacrifice, she has committed a grievous error. They will return to the states and discover more interesting news to process and that is the end of book one…stay tuned for the next adventure~ I received this as an ARC and am leaving a voluntary review.
Holy Crap! Let me repeat, Holy crap! This writing duo is going to be unstoppable. The Cursed Key is a story with so much detail that I could see it played out inside my head as if the author painted a beautiful picture. I adored Tomb Raider, the movies and games and now this book comes out and its like a dream come true! Shifters in a Tomb Raider like world? Yes please!
I was on the edge of my seat and read this in an entire sitting. No, I don’t read fast… it was just THAT good. This action packed story had characters that were so raw and real that I could see myself being friends with them. There weren’t any basic characters, they all had incredible personalities and real backstories. Overall I highly recommend this epic page-turner book to well… anyone who loves paranormal books! I can’t think of one thing I disliked about it. I can’t wait to see what happens to Olivia in the next book. I need more!
This was a fun adventure story with a great paranormal mythology. Who doesn’t like a story with a strong female lead who happens to find a cursed item on an archaeology dig? Tomb Raider / Indiana Jones vibes with a heavy dose of paranormal added is a great recipe for me.
There were some places the story fell flat, which is why this didn’t rate higher, but I like Olivia, I like the story and am interested in what comes next!
I read this story in one sitting! I have never read anything by either author, so I was taking a chance and it paid off. This book delivered a fresh take on the paranormal/fantasy genre, and I couldn’t figure out absolutely everything that was gonna happen next.
The lead is strong and independent, but can be vulnerable at times.
The supporting characters are well written and dont overshadow the main character. They compliment Olivia (the heroine if the story) very well.
The book does leave off on a cliffhanger, and leaves questions unanswered. So, if that is off putting to you this book is not for you. But, I’d you like ongoing stories I highly recommend this story! I am looking forward to book 2!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I’m nearly finished with this book, and it’s super intriguing! I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Exciting paranormal world, amazing adventure!
I love the combination of urban fantasy and paranormal romance in this book! This story is paranormal adventure at its best!
Loved this book!!!
Can’t wait to read this one!
I have been looking forward to this book for so long – it was pre-ordered the moment I could get my hands on it. Lost relics, cursed objects and shifters – yesss!! As soon as the next books are available for pre-order I’ll be one-clicking them too!
Also, shout out to the stunning cover! If I wasn’t a fan of Rebecca Hamilton, I would have bought it based on that alone!
Fantastic authors have gathered together in a must-have box set.
Action and adventure with a romantic twist.
It looks so good! Can’t wait to read it!
The Cursed Key is Book 1 of The Cursed Key Trilogy and is a collaboration between Miranda Brock and Rebecca Hamilton. The storyline and plot are exceptional and the character development is excellent. This is a fast paced, action packed, page turning thrill ride that has magic, shifters, mystery, an evil mage, and adventure. Olivia, MFC, is an archeologist on a dig in Brazil who finds a key, an ancient relic, which she decides not tell anybody about and to keep it (very unusual for a dedicated archeologist). Because of the key, her life begins to chance and will no longer be the same as she begins to have visions and unusual intuition. I found this to be an interesting and enjoyable read. Am looking forward to the next book to see what adventure Miranda and Rebecca have in store for Olivia and Kael. Received a copy from Booksprout and this is my voluntary and honest review.
This awesome new paranormal/urban fantasy sank its hooks right into me! It’s a little bit Laura Croft and a lot of a fantastically built world.
The main character, Olivia, is as tenacious in her pursuit for answers as she is at a dig site. I enjoyed following her around the world and learning about the magic existing right under her nose.
And Kael the leopard shifter? Yes! I loved their dynamic together and look forward to exploring their relationship more in future books!
I’ve read quite a few of Miranda Brock’s novels but this a first with Rebecca Hamilton. I’m curious to read more of her work and see if I can decipher which part of The Cursed Key comes from which author!
An absolutely must read. Great start to new series. Plenty of action and twists, as well as great characters.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
An absolutely must read. Great start to new series. Plenty of action and twists, as well as great characters.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Much to her ,disappointment, archaeologists Olivia Perez and team trek to the dangerous Amazon only to find they are third on the scene of a new find. While she surveys the ruins her instincts pull her west. After a harrowing climb she finds more ruins and this time she is first. Only suddenly a giant panther appears and she finds herself falling. Her reward is a mysterious key. It is not until she has brought it home that she realizes it may be cursed. Dark dreams plague her so she gets rid of the key. Then the Paranormal Intelligence and Tracking Organization comes seeking the key. But she no long,ear has it and then her troubles really begin.
This is an amazing adventure filled with mystery, magic, paranormals and heart stopping action. The characters are well defined, interesting, charismatic and personable. The stakes are high. The action is non stop and very well described. The sense of urgency and suspense builds throughout the book. They storyline is easy to read and is filled with amazing twists, unexpected turns and interesting surprises. It is also a journey of self discovery for Olivia as she deals with her growing power. So much is going on in this book yet it is easy to read. Being the first in a trilogy means we have to read two more books to get to the end, I can hardly wait until I can read the next book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
*Spoilers* Mild spoilers below.
So, I wavered on what I should rate this book. I initially was going to score it lower, but as the book progressed and I got more wrapped up in the story I began to see a more redeeming side of “The Cursed Key.” However, calling it an “Adult” urban fantasy book seems a little off as it read more like a young-adult novel to me. That might just be my perception though as I tend to read more young-adult than adult novels.
My biggest issue with the book is that the beginning (around 1/4 of the book) seemed to drag on, but then the last 3/4 seemed to go by very quickly and almost felt rushed. The book isn’t very long to begin with (Amazon puts it at 229 pages, on my iBooks it was around 400 pages) and I feel like it would it did the plot and character development a disservice by keeping it shorter. While it is a trilogy, the first book almost gave me whiplash with all the scene changes and rapid character/relationship development.
There is no clear timeline presented in the book, but it did not seem like that much time had passed from when Olivia was sweating bullets in South America and then freezing in Scotland. I don’t believe a lot of time needed to pass to be a believable timeline for the plot, but I do think Olivia and Kael’s relationship developed pretty quickly for how much they seem to care for one another.
Overall, I enjoyed the book far more than I thought I would when I first opened it up. I am excited to see the following books be released so I can follow Olivia’s journey in finding who she is and what will happen with her soul.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Olivia down on her luck comes across a mysterious key. Not knowing what she actually uncovered, she throws away the key away. After learning the truth, she embarks on a journey Kael fraught with twits and turns keeping the reader hooked in their mission to recover the key from a dark mage. Looking forward to the next book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.