Book Review: Robin’s impression of Curse of the Amber by Kathryn Troy

Hi, readers! The latest I Love Romance Blog review selection is Curse of Amber by Kathryn Troy.

Take it away, Robin!

Thanks!

Curse of the Amber by Kathryn Troy

I received this book for free. This does not impact my review in any shape or form.

Curse of the Amber, by Kathryn Troy, is a time travel romance about finding love amid war, supernatural, personal, or otherwise. Asenath “Avi” Hayes is an architectural doctoral candidate who has stumbled upon the discovery of a lifetime in the form of an extremely well-preserved corpse she named the Anglesey Man. But what begins as a promising unearthing turns into a nightmarish spectacle when she realizes that the Anglesey Man was not only alive and survived for thousands of years, but was cursed by a vengeful Druid. Despite the obstacles, Asenath decides to help the man, introducing him to modern society and unwittingly falls in love with him.

Meanwhile, Quintus is a Roman general who finds himself in the 21st century. After being saved by an angel, Quintus is immediately bombarded with questions, such as whether or not he could get home, or if his mysterious savior could ever return his budding feelings. There are a lot of parallels between Asenath and Hedra. Both were severely underestimated by the men of their time, Asenath with Alex, and Hedra with Quintus, his men, and perhaps even her beloved painter. They both hold their cultures close, even if they wound up on opposite ends of the morality spectrum. And while the book doesn’t focus much on those parallels, I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened had Asenath come across Hedra first. How many tragedies would befall Asenath, from Alex stealing her work and livelihood from right under her, to her continuing to be at his mercy, financially and sexually, before she decides to be more than a little sympathetic to Hedra’s cause? It’s the what-ifs that bog me down (no pun intended).

Speaking of which, for all her hard work and passion, Asenath encounters the very same obstacles that may have driven Hedra to kill the way she does. From her mentor/ex-lover trying to take the credit and then some, to her squashing her hobbies just to try and make a living (not being homeless is a good way to light a fire under your ass). So for Quintus to come and not only encourage her but also to lift her up and help introduce her to the art world, in a way, helps prevent Asenath from becoming another Hedra. In modern-day contexts, women are fighting back because of the oppression men have shoved them under. And a lot of them have turned to witchcraft because of it. As Paris Paloma says, “You make me do too much labor.” So it’s interesting to me that the most common reason for a contemporary woman’s journey into witchcraft is halted because someone supported her in her endeavors, and did whatever it took to protect her. I thought that was rather touching, to be honest, and a wonderful lesson to teach to the Red Pill Community.

At times it did seem a little too wishy-washy, especially with us realizing that Asenath can make money off more than just archeology (which is a good backup plan to have, but still). Quintus and Asenath’s happy ending also seems more than a little rushed.

But regardless, I did enjoy this book and would give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Many thanks, Robin! ♥

Book Info:

An archaeologist unearths a cursed, ancient Roman and draws the ire of an evil witch in this romantic urban fantasy from the author of A Vision in Crimson.
Quintus is a dutiful son and soldier, sent to Britannia to improve his marriage prospects and ensure the Druids never rise again. Roman soldiers destroyed the last Druid stronghold in a battle of blood and fire. So, he never expects to be sacrificed to their sacred bog, trapped forever by the gods below.

Two thousand years later, Asenath Hayes discovers the most well-preserved body in history. And the last thing she needs is for him to wake up.

As the young archaeologist delves into Druidic rituals to grasp why Quintus was offered to a Welsh bog and then resurrected, she is forced to complete her research with the “missing” body, dodge her ex-lover and mentor with his own agenda, and keep her gorgeous new houseguest under wraps.

But, smitten with her as he seems, Quintus says he wants to go home.

Asenath is drawn to Quintus by the secrets they share, even if it scares her. As Asenath is pulled deeper into the mysteries of the bog, she must risk everything to keep him from hell’s cold grasp as she uncovers forbidden rites, awakened deities, and an attraction that transcends the ages.

Universal Reader link: https://books2read.com/u/3n1Vno

Here’s a teaser from the book…

The cold and damp of Britain,
once the stronghold of the Druids, was relentless. The gnawing feeling at
the pit of my stomach grew, and the thought I’d pushed away more than
once made itself more insistent.
This was a mistake. I shouldn’t be here.

My fingertips numbed to the statuette in my hand, a solid representation
of the wet chill in the air. Its faceless form was as alien to me as the bog in
which I crouched. The shape of the stone fetish was at least interesting, a
long, slender column with a severe “V” etched into it. It held more promise
than the dozens of thin rings fashioned out of iron, bronze, and even gold,
heaped together in a tangle, the clay pottery, now in shards, and scraps of
linen that appeared to be tossed desperately into the bog as a last-ditch
effort to avoid Roman destruction. But I couldn’t enjoy it for what it was. It
was inscrutable, too disconnected from anything familiar. Its primitive,
obscure expression reminded me of my own cold thoughts, and as I
squeezed the chilled stone in my hand, I doubted if I would discover
anything that had once been warm — made of flesh and blood. We were as
deep down as the famous bog bodies had been, more so in certain places,
and still we had nothing, or rather no one, to show for it.
I lifted my head, trying to shake off my melancholy and averting my
eyes from the stone carving that would not reveal its secrets to me. I was
too low down to inhale even a whiff of air that wasn’t saturated with the
grassy pungency of the bog wall. From my vantage point, huddled low in a
deep, man-hewn pit, the sodden depression of the bog appeared even more
overgrown on all sides. Birch trees poked out of humble clusters of willows, red-speckled buckthorn, and mountain ash. Except for these trees skirting
its outermost edges, the sunken area was wide and open. The cauldron bog
retained its secluded atmosphere, despite being carved into a series of
waterlogged cavities.
My somber mood deepened when I saw my advisor approach. Up until
then I’d been successful at avoiding him. I deliberately didn’t linger, and
always found a reason to visit another pit when the one we were in
suddenly emptied of other researchers. I’d resisted the wrenching feeling in
my gut too long, but as our excavation wound down, it was impossible to
ignore, with nowhere for my thoughts to hide — there was nothing left of
what used to be my life.
“How’s it going?” Alex asked, and knelt beside me.
“Fine,” I answered, not bothering to look up from the peat I was
brushing off of a link of iron rings sunken into the over-saturated soil.
After a long, awkward silence, he said, “It’s okay, you know.”
“What is?”
“If you don’t…if we don’t find one.”

I swallowed hard. The only place for my rising fury to go was back
down.
“I just don’t want you to think that this whole thing was a waste — ”
“A waste?” I shot back. “I’ve got enough to keep me occupied for the
next decade, thank you.” It was true, but that didn’t make the prospect of
studying human sacrifice sans a human sound any better. Nothing would
tell us as much about the Druids as human remains that had, willingly or
otherwise, undergone their practices. It may have been more than anyone
else expected, but the bar had been set impossibly high. A human discovery
might have been the only way to exceed my father’s own discoveries in the
Valley of the Kings and earn the same level of respect in my own right.
“All right, all right,” Alex said, contrite. “I didn’t come over here to
upset you.”

“Then why are you here?” There was more bite in my voice than I meant, but he had that amused eyebrow raised again, the one that made my
anger meaningless and painted me as a silly, wide-eyed novice with dreams
of finding the next Tut.
“I thought you might need a refill.” He offered me a cup of coffee.
A gruff “thank you” was all I could manage. My brain had reached
maximum capacity for caffeine, but it went down easy. Milk and two
sugars, just the way I liked it. Damn.
He reached out for me but caught himself before his hands could find
their way into my hair, frowning before he lowered his voice.
“Will you come tonight, Asenath? It’d be a shame for you not to see the
room. You picked it, after all.”
Memories of Alex’s firm, feverish grip on my hips, his moans in my ear,
passed unbidden across my mind. Some days it was so easy to look at him
and just see the charming, somewhat quiet young man always at my father’s
side, more often than not covered in two-thousand-year-old dust.
“Will you tell her?” I asked.
His silence hit me like a stab in the gut. It was self-inflicted — those rosy
pictures and all his stale promises were just a veil, a childhood infatuation. I
saw him then as he was — his chocolate-brown hair had dulled, the sharp
line of his chin softened; so, had the brilliance of his eyes, their dark
fathoms fading. Small lines crept at the corners of his eyes and mouth. I bit
my tongue as a distraction. The imprints of his touch on my skin would
fade, if I let them.
I sipped my coffee again. It had a bitter taste the second time around.
When I let the silence settle between us, he rose to his feet, stifling a groan
on the way up. He disappeared again to the other side of the dig, and I went
back to work.

AUTHOR: Kathryn Troy

TITLE: Curse of the Amber

GENRE: Time Travel/Fantasy Romance

RELEASE DATE: May 28, 2019

PUBLISHER: City Owl Press

ISBN/ASIN: ‎B08BNJCYZ4

OUR RATING: ♥♥♥♥ 4 stars

REVIEWED BY: Robin G.

Guest Blogger/Reviewer Bio:

My pen name is Robin Goodfellow. I fell in love with reading after I picked up Fallen by Lauren Kate. I am currently a licensed substance abuse counselor and LPC-A (although I hope to be an LPC soon). I was also a former math and special education teacher. Although I tried going to medical school, it didn’t work out. On the bright side, I’ve got more time for reading and writing! Mental health is a personal passion of mine, as is crochet, and annoying my husband.

This book looks great! ♥ We’ll check it out…

Thanks for reading our latest book review on ILRB! ♥ Have a great rest of your week, everyone!

Originally published at http://iloveromanceblog.wordpress.com on August 22, 2024.