Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers) by Anita Clenney – 4 stars
In the tradition of Indiana Jones, a feisty heroine with a sixth sense, and two sexy heroes, a dark, reclusive billionaire and a mercenary bodyguard are on a hunt for four powerful relics that could change their lives…and the course of history. But relics aren’t Kendall’s only quest. Eventually, she’ll have to choose between her sexy boss and her badass bodyguard.
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.
I enjoyed this book. Every time I picked it up, I had trouble putting it down. It’s solid, fun, and action-filled. The story didn’t dawdle over anything, pulling the characters from place to place without wasting time on irrelevant information. It’s a fast-paced read, and I flew through it.
The romance aspect felt a little silly to me. It was made very clear that Kendall, Jake, and Nathan are ‘sexy’, each in their own way. The possessiveness and attraction didn’t really seem wholly believable to me, but it didn’t turn me off to the story on the whole. In its way, the love triangle is charming.
It bothered me that Kendall’s ability is so unexplained. The characters make a point to mention this, multiple times. If any sort of ‘rules’ for the ability were hinted at, it was too subtle for me to pick up on, and I was left with the feeling that it works whenever the author couldn’t figure out how else to give them another clue. Which is fine, but injects a bit of artifice that could have been avoided.
Overall, I liked it. I would recommend this to people who like spy action thriller type stories.
