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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Artifact Hunters Blog Tour/Personal Review and Giveaway!


I'm excited to be hosting a stop for the Artifact Hunters tour that features Nefertiti's Heart and Hatshepsut's Collar by A.W. Exley.   This series is new adult / Mystery / Steampunk, recommended for ages 16+ (there's some mature content). The tour runs March 3-14th.  Check out the tour page for the full list of tour stops.

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My Personal Review of Nefertiti's Heart

I LOVED this book! It was an awesome read and I had trouble putting it down once I started reading it :)  Cara is a great character, and she reminds me of Lara Croft in a lot of ways, just set in a different time period.  I especially like the steampunk theme running through the book like the electrical waiters in the restaurant!  It's such a different experience from our daily lives and completely transports you to another realm of fantasy. 

I read this book and the second book in the series and I like the way that the author portrays Count Nathaniel and Cara's relationship in this book as compared to the second book.  Their relationship evolves so much from the beginning! He is like an enigma wrapped in a mystery to Cara and the reader throughout the book. 

Cara as a character is so appealing because she is a very strong and independent woman with skills but she is also very vulnerable not only because she lost her father but because of something from her past that is unexpected to the reader.  I truly enjoyed the snippets that explained the "Nefertiti's Heart" throughout the novel, and you knew that Cara would be involved somehow but until the very end it's a mystery how.  I had a VERY hard time not flipping through the rest of the story to read the next snippet about the Heart!  It was awesome :) 

In the end, this story has it all - imagination, Heart, action, love, friendship, heartbreak and fantasy. This is definitely a must-read series!  I can't wait for the next installment to find out what Cara will be doing next :)

***I received an advanced copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review***

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Nefertiti's Heart (Artifact Hunters #1) by A.W. Exley
Page Count: 284 pages
Published: February 4th, 2013 by Curiosity Quills Press
Genre: NA/Mystery/Steampunk
Recommended Age: 16 and up


Cara Devon has always suffered curiosity and impetuousness, but tangling with a serial killer might cure that. Permanently.

London, 1861. Impoverished noble Cara has a simple mission after the strange death of her father – sell off his damned collection of priceless artifacts. Her plan goes awry when aristocratic beauties start dying of broken hearts, an eight inch long brass key hammered through their chests. A killer hunts amongst the nobility, searching for a regal beauty and an ancient Egyptian relic rumored to hold the key to immortality.
Her Majesty’s Enforcers are in pursuit of the murderer and they see a connection between the gruesome deaths and Cara. So does she, somewhere in London her father hid Nefertiti’s Heart, a fist sized diamond with strange mechanical workings. Adding further complication to her life, notorious crime lord, Viscount Nathaniel Lyons is relentless in his desire to lay his hands on Cara and the priceless artifact. If only she could figure out his motive.
Self-preservation fuels Cara’s search for the gem. In a society where everyone wears a mask to hide their true intent, she needs to figure out who to trust, before she makes a fatal mistake.

Links:

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My Personal Review of Hatshepsut's Collar

 I loved both these books!  I am a HUGE fan of anything Victorian, and the way the author used a mixture of  history and fiction to tell the story.  Cara is an amazing character - she is extremely deep and realistic as a heroine.

These books also appealed to me because I love Egyptian myths and they fit the bill perfectly :)  The author does a fantastic job of depicting the scenery and you feel like you are really in the middle of the story, which is what a good book should do :)

Nate is a fabulous character as well - I LOVE his relationship with Cara and how you can just feel his love and devotion to her not only through his words and actions but through the authors eyes. 
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Hatshepsut's Collar (Artifact Hunters #2) by A.W. Exley
Page Count: 274
Published: November 13th, 2013 by Curiosity Quills Press


An ancient Egyptian artifact is driving Queen Victoria insane, and that’s not top of Cara Devon’s growing list of problems.
Viscount Nathaniel Lyons is a man of numerous secrets, but there is one in particular that threatens his fledgling relationship with Cara. Stunned by Nate’s revelation, and before she can absorb the ramifications of his actions, he is arrested, charged with treason and imprisoned in the grim Tower of London. He stole something the mad queen wants, and only has days to deliver, before his date with the executioner.
Although sorely tempted, Cara can’t let him die on Tower Green, not when their connection means she would share his fate.
Only together can Cara and Nate figure out how to wrestle Hatshepsut’s Collar from around the queen’s neck, before she plunges Britain into a world war. The search for answers sends Cara to the opulent Winter Palace of St Petersburg and the frozen depths of Siberia, with every step shadowed by an enemy with his own dark plans.


Links:


Anita Exley's Biography:
Books and writing have always been an enormous part of A.W. Exley’s life.
She survived school by hiding out in the library, with several thousand fictional characters for company. At university, she overcame the boredom of studying accountancy by squeezing in Egyptology papers and learning to read hieroglyphics.
Today, Anita writes steampunk novels with a sexy edge and an Egyptian twist. She lives in rural New Zealand surrounded by an assortment of weird and wonderful equines, felines, canine and homicidal chickens.


Author Links:
Facebook | Goodreads


Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This tour was organized by CBB Book Promotions.
 

2 comments:

  1. YAY! So glad you enjoyed both of these! I loved them as well and felt like the relationship was a little different then most. I really loved Nate when he was dressed as an air pirate ;)
    Love your reviews. Thanks so much for hosting a tour stop!

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    1. I did I loved them! I love strong female heroines and it was really the first Steampunk novels I have read so it was really neat because I never understood what exactly steampunk was until reading these :) So cool! I know Nate as an air pirate I could just imagine him mmhmm LOL :) I was honored to host a stop for you and appreciate being given the opportunity to read and review these awesome books!

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