Curiosity Quills Blog Tour ~ KIYA: Hope of the Pharaoh

Title ~ KIYA: Hope of the Pharaoh

Series ~ KIYA Trilogy, #1

Author ~ Katie Hamstead

Publisher ~ Curiosity Quills

Published ~ 30 April 2013

Genre ~ Historical/New Adult/Romance

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Curiosity Quills for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating ~ 4 bites and a nibble out of 5

Naomi is a Hebrew in the city of Thebes when Commander Horemheb comes searching for yet another wife for the Pharaoh Akhenaten. When her younger sisters are taken, she offers herself in their place. Even though she is older and not as pretty as her younger sisters she is educated and could prove useful to the Pharaoh. Horemheb agrees to the trade and Naomi is taken to the city of Ikhaten where the Pharaoh resides with his many wives and concubines. The Pharaoh accepts her as his next wife and hopefully mother to his heir, but she has to change her name to Kiya and alter her whole way of life to fit in and not get herself killed. With a jealous Nefertiti making her life hell will Kiya survive?

I’ve stated many times that I’m not one for the subject of History. Unless it’s wrapped up in a great story. I went into this book with very little knowledge of Ancient Egypt and really you don’t need to have extensive Egyptian knowledge to enjoy this tale. I was hooked from beginning to end. The writing is wonderful, the descriptions of Egypt made me feel as if I was actually there and the characters are well-fleshed and interesting. Especially Kiya. Since the story is told from her viewpoint you really get a grip on her as a person. She’s strong, smart, loyal and steadfast in her views. However, she is human and makes a few stupid mistakes that could have easily gotten her killed. On the whole, she’s someone I’d love to have as a friend. The ending is a cliffhanger though. Luckily, book 2 KIYA: Mother of a King will be out 10/25. All-in-all this is an awesome historical retelling and well worth a read.

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