Dark magic, cursed objects, and a race against time.After unearthing a cursed key, an ancient magic possesses archaeologist Olivia Perez, and the dark, dangerous power threatens to consumer her. The only way to free herself? Defeat the dark mage…before he destroys the world.Setting out with her shifter partner, Olivia hunts for a relic that may be the key to saving the earth, but their mission … earth, but their mission is derailed by demons and sorcerers who want Olivia’s dark magic for themselves. With enemies breathing down their necks and danger stretching out ahead, Olivia must tap into every ounce of wit, strength, and cursed power she has if she wants to stay out of the mage’s clutches.
But will she sacrifice her morality in the process?
Witches reveal truths, fae unveil secrets, and Olivia’s own past begins to clear as she and her partner race their way to an ancient wilderness, where the lines between friends and enemies blur, the struggle for control is deadly, and choices must be made which will haunt Olivia forever.
Fans of Tomb Raider and Ilona Andrews will love the urban fantasy/paranormal romance blend of The Hunted Soul, book two The Cursed Key Trilogy, a dark magical adventure series by Miranda Brock and Rebecca Hamilton!
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The Hunted Soul begins with archaeologist Olivia Perez struggling to adjust to her new powers. With hunky jaguar shifter Kael as her protector, Livi tries to stop the dark Mage Vehrin from getting the third key of power. This is where reading the first book comes in handy because I had to play catchup starting with this book. Once the action starts, this book is a roller coaster ride of danger and magical suspense as you get drawn into the story. The romance is a light touch that just spices up the adventure. I will definitely be reading the first and all the next books in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Wow! What an adventure! After being attacked by demons in the first chapter Olivia dodges demons tracking her, an evil mage, meets angels, shifters, witches, and narrowly escapes death by a poisoned wound. While globe traveling in the search for the third key will she find it? Will she lose her life or Kael’s on the adventures?
This is a great book, with well written characters and plot, descriptive without being wordy. I enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down for real life. Looking forward to the next one in the series!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was the first book I’ve read by Rebecca Hamilton, and I was not disappointed!
I loved the quick, witty banter between Kael and Olivia. The story was enticing, pulling you right into the action. The characters were written in a way that instantly makes you invested in their success. I found myself rooting for Olivia from the first page. It took a couple of chapters for me to decide how I felt about Kael. There is just enough intrigue and mystery to keep the reader engaged. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The second book in The Cursed Key Trilogy series. The action starts at the very beginning as Olivia searches for the third key. Kael aids in keeping Olivia safe from evil forces wanting to take her magic and her two keys. Action, adventure, danger, magic, shifters can be found in this story. Loved the fast paced action and surprises!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
ONE EXCEPTIONAL ADVENTURE!!!
Awe-inspiring! This talented, imaginative and enthusiastic duo delivers all the feels, spills and frills with such exuberance, finesse, style and jazz, laying it out skillfully and precise with a uniquely dynamic approach. Unveiling a foray of drama, intrigue, turmoil, misgivings, psychos aplenty, sinister situations and mounting suspense, along with a boatload of danger, while dodging calamity, you have one block busting adventure. When the going gets tough, pull on your demon ass-kicking boots and get to stomping. A raging tempest of fervent events chocked-full of surprising circumstances, blasting those swirling emotions into a life altering, mind-blowing culmination. Stumbling through the trials and tribulations, along with shocking twists, stunning corners and tricky lines, testing our characters in ways they could have never anticipated. Anarchy, escapades, havoc and evil creatures of the night run amuck, riding roughshod and fusing this baby together smoothly. The personalities are well matched and blend together smoothly. The characters and scenes are so colorfully descriptive to give you a full understanding and realism that blend and flows smoothly. Remarkable job guys, thanks for sharing this little jewel with us.
I really enjoyed book 2, far more than book 1 (even though it was amazing also). I loved being able to see how Livvie and Kael’s partnership grew. I also really love Ren, he is probably one of my favorite characters. I can’t wait to see what happens in book 3!
Olivia must balance the use of her magic but not let it consume her. Olivia and Kael are on a quest to stop Vehrin. They must find the third key. The one that can control the two around Olivia’s neck. If Vehrin gets it he will have her soul and can control her. Along the way they will have help from new friends but there will be betrayals. If they fail Vehrin will ruin the world. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review
This continuation of the series brings more action and mystery. The MC continues to grow and develop, and right along with the plot and story. The twists are better this time around.
This is apparently the second book in a series. It is late autumn and Olivia Perez, magic-user, travels with PITO shifter Kael Rivera from Charleston, South Carolina to Denver to Chicago to Paris to Nairobi, Kenya and finally back to Charleston. PG13, I finished it in about eight hours.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Olivia and Kael search for another key, a Key that could be particularly dangerous if it were to fall into the wrong hands. Their search takes them from Paris to the African wilderness, where Vehrin has set traps, and influenced the shifters who hold what they seek. Olivia and Kael will fight for their lives, and the lives of the innocent, whom the evil mage would destroy to obtain the same relic.
Fascinating, and unique characters, both the familiar, and those introduced within the pages of this book. Wow! Exciting, and action packed read with lots of magic, and paranormal creatures. Suspenseful, with some unexpected, and surprising twists in the plot that kept me on the edge of my seat, and reading into the early morning hours. Fantastic book!
I am voluntarily leaving an honest and non-incentivized review of this ARC.
Stellar sequel…
This is the second book in The Cursed Key trilogy and it is a stellar composite of action, excitement, intrigue, danger, and romance. Olivia Perez, archeologist and magic wielder, along with Kael, her protector/love interest are off on another harrowing adventure to stop Vehrin, an evil mage, from unleashing chaos and devastation upon the world. The fast-paced adventure and vividly described action will appeal to Lara Croft and Indiana Jones fans while the cadre of paranormal beings on both sides of the conflict will draw in fantasy enthusiasts. I, for one, am eagerly anticipating the third book in this addictive and highly entertaining trilogy.
I received a free copy of this book from Booksprout and am voluntarily offering my honest and unbiased review.
2nd book in this series so be sure to start with book 1 before reading this one.
Love that we get tons more of tomb raider type stuff. Lots of action and adventure for Olivia and Kael! Love all the imagery the authors give the settings; fun to imagine. Love all the magical elements going on and I just find the whole premise interesting. Olivia and Kael are on the hunt for the dark mage before he finds the next magical object and causes mayhem and death. They find themselves in many dangerous situations; there’s lots of enemies to fight, so Olivia and Kael need to kick some major butt. Loved that Kael and Olivia’s relationship is starting to evolve and grow into something great. Love how protective he is of her; he could express his feelings in a more verbal way, but he’s the type that doesn’t do great with feelings. Really though, Olivia sucks at feelings too, so they are actually a pretty good fit. I’m excited to see where this story is going to go in the next book! This series is a fun read!
Good world building occasionally undermined by persistent romance elements
I like this series, but I felt this book sometimes suffered from romance elements that undermined its execution. As a male consumer of urban paranormal that, until recently, were mostly written by women authors, I have become accustomed to the romance elements of most of these books. It’s also part of life, so I don’t ding a novel for its mere presence. This is my way of saying romance isn’t an instant red flag for me, though I avoid stories that are only about the romance.
Mainly, I worry about 3 things: does the romance distract from the narrative of the story, is it unrealistic, or is the love interest just plain annoying (See my review of Ilona Andrews’ On the Edge, to see what I mean). Hunted Soul’s problem is the first. The narrative is occasionally undermined by the romance, which I dislike because it takes me out of the story, especially when there is already significant tension. Romantic tension is OK, but not if it’s too much and too repetitive. This doesn’t happen often, but enough for me to ding the story.
Some of the action sequences were also really hard to follow. You couldn’t tell what was going on or why. I found myself going back and re-reading portions that were just too confusing to me.
**Note: there are some minor spoilers below, but only if you haven’t read the first book.
That said, there is still good world building and I do love the Olivia’s continued internal battle with her own ancient demons. Another element that I really like about this story is the recognition of the consequences of violence and the throwaway nature of secondary characters in our literature and movies. The series seems to recognize that many of the secondary and tertiary characters are innocents or coerced and so the main protagonist actually makes an effort not to harm people when unnecessary. Often this is cast in terms of resisting the compulsions of her ancient memories. It makes for a more interesting story.
Also, the description of the story as being a nod to Tomb Raider is apt, since there is a lot of searching for lost artifacts–and in an effort to keep them out of the hands of the big bad.
So, those who like a healthy dose of romance in their novels will probably love this story and those that hate romance won’t. Those who fall in-between, give it a read and let me know what you think.
I rated this a 3.5 but will round up to 4 because I do like the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Olivia is on a leave from her job while Vehrin is still running around. She has been training and working with Kael. He is alittle over protective of her. They are looking to find the third key.Olivia is still trying to deal with magic in her system, it is ancient and wants out. It seems so destructive to her, she feels like she loses herself to it.
After she is attacked at her hotel, Kael helps her defeat them. They have a lead to the key. What they don’t know, it is just the beginning of their journey. The leads will lead them to Africa. Where a lot of different things will happen for Olivia and Kael. Olivia will learn more about her magic, who she and Kael were together, what Olivia feels for Kael now.
There are so many things that happen in this book for the characters, It takes you on a roller coaster ride. When you reach the end, you wish you had the next book. Can’t wait to see what the author has instore for these characters.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Really enjoyed this book, if you like books about Shifters, Mystery and Magic then read this, with danger Olivia Perez and Agent Kael travel through Africa trying to find the third key in order to stop the evil dark mage, cant wait to next book
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a great adventure, with demons, fae, a dark mage and a variety of other magical creatures. Olivia and her jaguar shifter partner Karl are on the hunt for another key to keep it from the dark mage, so he cannot use them to destroy that which he can’t control. This follows there journey to finding the keys and trying to hold on to them. I can’t wait for the next book in this series to see where they go next and what adventures await.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Archaeologist Olivia Perez and PITO Agent Kael are back trying to find the third key in order to stop the evil dark mage from beating them to it and destroying life on the world as we know it. At the same time Olivia as to struggle to contain the dark magic that lives within her and with Kael’s help keep coming back when it tries to take her over. At the same time, they need to fight off all the others who would like to have the keys and her magic themselves – can they do all of that and stay alive? Can Olivia handle the glimpses of her past as they become revealed to her let alone keep her own morality intact while making some really difficult decisions?
Wow – this was a great continuation of the trilogy which moved the story along nicely while leaving lots of outstanding questions as well as tasks for them to do in the final book. I loved the way their relationship developed as well as the results of that development. The situations they found themselves in were credible to the story and well written so that I could see and feel them as I read the story. I just cannot wait for the final instalment now and now it all ends – especially the conclusion of the mate discussion.
Olivia and Kael are back in the next part of the journey to find a third key! They have to go through more battles, more deaths, and more trials. The dark mage is sending more and more demons and other things after them to stop them! They end up dealing with a witch, lion pride, a prophetess, and more. Many misunderstandings occur within the organization Kael works with. Something major transpires between Kael and Olivia…but she is clueless until Ren fills in the blanks. Olivia’s archeological team goes on a dig to India for an artifact that will cost them much more than expected. Olivia is gifted with an old weapon by an old friend. Someone deep within her is making herself known and she intends to go after the fourth key and stop the dark mage once and for all. I received this via Booksprout and am leaving a voluntary review.
Olivia finds herself in for the fight for her life. Ever since she became soul bound to the ancient key, malignant and malevolent forces have been seeking to capture her, take her, destroy her…
“Power doesn’t make you evil, and it doesn’t make you good. It gives you strength, certainly, but how you exercise that strength is what really matters.” – Kael
A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues as Olivia and Kael find themselves in one dangerous situation after another. Will they persevere, or will evil overtake the world?
“Was my life as I knew it really over?” – Olivia
This riveting and haunting tale will keep you entranced. You won’t want to put this book down until the final word has been read. Danger and desire, amazing imagery and situations that will leave your head spinning.