by Anita Clenney
Series: The Relic Seekers #1
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
Kendall Morgan is a human bloodhound. Spending her childhood hunting relics with her ambitious archeologist father, she knew the two of them shared a sixth sense for the history and location of objects—sometimes even people. What she didn’t know was that their paranormal gift could ultimately be their undoing. After the tragic plane crash that killed her father as well as her childhood best friend, Kendall dedicated her life to finding and protecting relics. When mysterious, sexy billionaire Nathan Larraby hires her for his latest expedition—the search for four powerful relics —she’s thrown into a world of high-octane danger. He sends brooding mercenary Jake Stone to watch Kendall’s back, but he may have created danger of a different kind.As the team chases down clues, a man called the Reaper makes a play for the artifacts and will stop at nothing to put them to his own sinister use. What’s worse is that Nathan hasn’t told the whole story, and the dark secrets he’s keeping could cost them the mission…and their lives.
When I saw the cover and the blurb for Guardians of Stone I immediately set out to order it for my Nook. Now many of you know I have a self-imposed rule about only buying eBooks during 2012. Now I have gotten around that a few times on holidays by specifically asking for a particular book, but you can only get away with that so many times. So I wrote the author and asked when and if it would be released on Nook and she graciously had the publisher sends me an ARC. I love Urban Fantasy, Dan Brown, and Indian Jones and was eager to start this series. I found this to be a delightful start to a new series and was completely caught up in the quest.
Kendall Morgan spent her childhood hunting relics with her archaeologist father. She has a paranormal gift that helps her find objects. Lately, her skills have been changing and she doesn’t quite have control of them. She has spent her life finding and protecting relics, and when she is approached by the smexy and mysterious Nathan Larraby she agrees to help the billionaire locate four powerful relics. With little instruction she finds herself headed to Italy with mercenary Jake Stone in search of a box. The tale that unfolds is action packed and may just get them all killed.
Clenney gives us three really strong, flawed characters to deal with and they were completely fleshed out, annoying traits and all. Kendall is very inquisitive and often follows her sixth sense rather than using caution. She totally reminded me of Rachel Morgan from the Hollows minus the whining. This trait drives Jake absolutely batty as he tried to protect her. He also finds himself attracted to Kendall and makes his attraction known to her. At first, I found him abrasive, but he slowly grew on me. Nathan intrigues me most of all; this sexy, disheveled mystery man. He is secretive and keeps things from Kendall and Jake to protect them. I struggled with how he chose to keep them safe and out of the loop; feeling that one negated the other. It is clear he has feelings for Kendall but hasn’t acted on them. He is ruthless and I am eager to discover all of his secrets. I loved the characters they interact with from other tourists to seekers of the relic. I am very curious about the man they call the Reaper. We have a love triangle, and some intense moments but nothing really develops. Kendall cares about both men and is attracted to them both for different reasons..we shall see.
The quest was fascinating and fans of Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons will enjoy this as will fans of National Treasure and Indian Jones. We have hidden relics with power, a secret order to protect them, catacombs, booby-traps, clues and lots of action-packed danger. The tale is told through Jake and Kendall but every once in a while we got a peek into the mind of other players. This was jarring at times, and I found myself saying, “Who is speaking?” “What just happened?” It was like watching an intense scene in a movie and someone changing the channel. Despite it, I found this tale intriguing and the perfect start to the Relic Seekers series.
I recommend Guardians of the Stone to fans of urban fantasy and quests. While not without flaws this tale kept me highly entertained and even had a dose of humor. Anita Clenney is a New York Times Best Selling author and you can check out more of work here.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
Sharon - Obsession with Books
The cover is really eye catching & it sounds like a great story! I am a huge fan of Dan Brown so I’m definitely popping this one on my wishlist.
Thanks for sharing Kimba 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
I love Dan too, thanks Sharon 🙂
A Belle's Tales
Love the concept of this one, Kimba! I could really use a paranormal gift to help me find objects (the remote control, my phone, my missing suede gray boot… *sigh*). I’m a bit concerned about the multiple POV’s – usually I’m a fan, but not when I have to figure out who’s doing the talking. I’m adding this one to the list, though. Lovely review!
Blodeuedd
Not too sure about the many POVS, they can be distracting
kimbacaffeinate
We only occasionally get the bad guys pov, and that is why it threw me.
thegeekyblogger
This series has not been on my radar but I am thinking I might enjoy it 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
I did 🙂 thanks Felicia.
kindlemom1
I was really hoping this one was good because I really wanted to try it and I admit, I love the cover! I am so glad you liked this one Kimba!
kimbacaffeinate
Yes it’s crack for cover whores!!
Christina Megan
Oh hey, you liked this one, and a bit more than mom did! That’s good. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
It wasn’t without flaws, but yeah I enjoyed this one, had similar issues with it like your Mom. It was almost a 3.5 for me, but I am truly excited to read book two which bumped it up.
GRgenius
Alas, not my cup of tea but great review just the same! LOL on making it around your ebook buying rules… ^_^ Avid readers FTW!
kimbacaffeinate
Hey we book addicts need to be creative!
Mrs. Q: Book Addict
Glad you enjoyed this one. I have a hard time with too many point of views.
kimbacaffeinate
The problem was that it really only had Jake and Kendall’s but as the scenes became more intense, we saw into the mind of other players in pursuit of the relic and when it happened while interesting it was jarring. I think I may reword my review, because I do not want people to think we have like five pov’s throughout the book.
Nick
You say it will appeal to fans of Dan Brown? Then, I’m definitely in. I love the sound of the 3 characters. Definitely need to check this one out!
Great review as always, Kim!
kimbacaffeinate
thanks Nick, I thought it was cool 🙂
Kimberly
Appeals to fans of Dan Brown you say? You already had me at the mention of relic seekers. I’m totally checking this one out.
kimbacaffeinate
hahaha…it was cool and I love quests of any kind.
Candace's Book Blog
Any character at all similar to Rachel Morgan has my attention! This does sound like a great series and I love the cover!
kimbacaffeinate
thanks, this was fun and so love the cover!
Naomi Hop
Great review Kimberley. It looks like my kind of book for sure!! Love triangles keep things interesting as we are not sure who she’ll pick!! I love action packed danger, thats for sure!!
Just because I like to share weird facts, but I love the movie National Treasure, and while I was in labour with kid no 2, we were watching it!! lol!! The things we do…..
kimbacaffeinate
This was cool, and i hope you get a chance to read it. That is so cool about National Treasure. We saw that movie with our three kids at a dinner movie theater. It was a memorable night for us as well.
Loupe Duffy
Yay! Thanks for reviewing, this was just released on audio and I was wondering about it. Sounds like something I could really enjoy.
Aurian
The cover and the series title drew me in, and now I want to read the book! Thanks for the review.