e-ALC, 11:18:18
Narrated by: Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
Release Date: July 28, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape (Dell)
Read from: July 30-31, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received this ALC from the publisher and their app. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Sexual Content, Misogyny, Cancer, Abandonment, Death of a Parent, car Accident, Sexism, Gaslighting, Emotional Abuse
For Readers of: Adult, Audio, Catchy Title, Feminist, Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary RomanceThe hunt for fossils—and love—is on in this steamy, STEMinist romance about two paleontologists who join forces to prevent a fraudulent dinosaur discovery, but accidentally dig up feelings for each other along the way.
Renegade paleontologist Ripley Adams is this close to digging up a fossil treasure and vindication. She’s spent the last three years in academic exile after her ex-boyfriend stole her work, betrayed her trust, and broke her heart in one fell swoop. If she can unearth a complete specimen of her newest discovery—a never-before-seen missing link between dinosaurs and birds—it will put her back on the map and finally restore her ruined reputation.
But when unfairly hot Oxford professor James Smithson crashes Ripley’s dig site, she realizes she’s not the only one searching for redemption in the Montana dirt. James is convinced a splashy new fossil is a fraud, and he needs Ripley’s help to prove it. She’d tell the buttoned-up Brit where to stick his suspicions, but the fake fossil is eerily similar to hers . . . and the fraudster is her ex.
The race is on to reveal a T-rex-sized discovery. Polar opposites Ripley and James will have to find common ground if they’re going to take down a hoax that could ruin them both. And as they dig deeper into their unlikely attraction, Ripley’s excavation boots won’t be the only things getting a little dirty. . . .
*MY THOUGHTS*
LOL I have to say, the only reason I read this was because of the dino themed SRP we had this year. I made sure to read it and have it count for some of my points. Definitely was the best idea because this bone filled book was so good!
Ok so the characters in this are the reason I kept reading. I’m not usually a “professor as a love interest” kind of girl, but for this one I gave it a pass. I think because she wasn’t actually his student lol But it was cute. He was smart af and he LOVED her. He had it bad. And I loved that about him lol It was what she deserved. As for Ripley, she got on my nerves lol I wanted to root for her so bad, but she made it so hard. I understand that she got hurt before, but like, the not trusting anyone thing? Got real old. Their job isn’t something you can just do by yourself. The fact that she even tried was crazy. But I guess she was ok lol
I also liked the dino and digging stuff. I had no idea what they were talking about most of the time, but it was still cool to watch them find stuff and put it together. And all the stuff they had to do to make sure everything was like ok and nothing broke was pretty cool. I knew it was intense, but I didn’t know it was like that. This book taught me a lot.
The romance was kind of boring tho. There was forced proximity in a museum and they still didn’t do it for me. (If you know me and you know what I feel about libraries/museums and doing things in there, you know I thought this is crazy to me LMAO) I just didn’t feel like the romance was real. He liked her yeah, but she didn’t like him. And then for the third act break up she was wayyyyy too fast in accepting that he was bad. Normally I would be like yeah, that’s the point. But she hated him all the rest of the book too, so it just seemed that she didn’t like him at all. Idk, they just didn’t gel to me. Which is weird because I liked certain qualities of them apart, but just not together.
Idk, this just didn’t do it for me like I thought it would. Maybe it was the writing style or the pacing? (I was fine with the writing style, but the pacing was terrible. She should have had her fall for him sooner lol) But whatever, it was still good in some ways. And please, take what I said with a grain of salt. Find a review of someone who liked it more and less and then read it and form your own opinion!
Overall, I give this
