Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

Series:  Raiders of the Lost Heart #1

Published by Berkley on December 3, 2023

Genres:  Romance, Contemporary, Adventure, Fiction, Enemies to Lovers, Rom Com, Forced Proximity

Pages:  357

Format:  eBook

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★★★★

🌶🌶🌶/5 spice

Rival archaeologists must team up on a secret Aztec expedition, or it could leave their careers—and hearts—in ruins.

Archaeologist Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía has a bone to pick. Literally. 

It’s been Corrie’s life goal to lead an expedition deep into the Mexican jungle in search of the long-lost remains of her ancestor, Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But when she is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig to do just that, Corrie is sure it’s too good to be true...and she’s right.

As the world-renowned expert on Chimalli, by rights Corrie should be leading the expedition, not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome nemesis. But Dr. Ford Matthews has been finding new ways to best her since they were in grad school. Ford certainly isn’t thrilled either—with his life in shambles, the last thing he needs is a reminder of their rocky past.

But as the dig begins, it becomes clear they’ll need to work together when they realize a thief is lurking around their campsite, forcing the pair to keep their discoveries—and lingering attraction—under wraps. With money-hungry artifact smugglers, the Mexican authorities, and the lies between them closing in, there’s only one way this all ends—explosively.

I was pumped when I found out there was an archaeology themed rom-com getting released and this one IMMEDIATELY went on my TBR.

This book was SO cute. Little bit of rivals-to-lovers with a side of mystery and extreme chemistry in a forced proximity setting. Corrie was funny and I loved how she opened Ford up and they were able to speak with each other. She was definitely giving Lara Croft vibes.

I also appreciated how the author threw in themes of feminism and how hard it is even today for a woman to work in a STEM field and men not taking her seriously.

There were a few things that bothered me (SPOILERS and details below) but overall I had a fun time with this one. It's an easy read and it flys by with everything going on not only with the MCs but the search for the artifacts as well. I loved that there was some action and adventure thrown in too.

Highly recommend this for readers who love a rom-com with spice as well as some adventure. The spice was perfect and I could easily see this turning into a new Netflix movie.