e-Audio, 10:39:34
Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
Release Date: December 5, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape (Berkley)
Read from: December 6-7, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Misogyny, Cancer, Death of a Parent, Violence, Sexual Harassment
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Romance, Adventure, Academic Rivals, Dual POV, AdultRival 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.
*MY THOUGHTS*
It took me a minute to write this review because I really didn’t want to. And I’m being so for real. When I first saw this cover and found out the title I was like HELL YES! As a librarian I’m a huge fan of the show The Librarians, and after hearing that this was something like it, I knew I needed to get this in my hands. But then when I got it, I was disappointed to say the least.
I’m just going to say it….Can we just stop with the academic rivals trope where the MMC steals the work of the FMC? And can we take it a step further and also say it’s especially heinous if it’s a yte man who takes the work of a person of color? Like can we just give that a rest? Because its just not sexy. Even with his reasoning behind it, it didn’t make me feel sorry for him, it made me pissed off even more. And like you KNEW your mom wouldn’t have approved of how you did it, but like you still did it anyway? Everything about that situation was terrible.
I also didn’t really like the dialog when it came to the two of them. Their whole attraction to each other felt hella weird. Like why did she put so much attention on the way he was drinking? It kind of weirded me out. And like, that wouldn’t be sexy on anyone? I have no idea what made her keep bringing that up lol And that first time when she just walked in on him and then said, “Can I see it?” or what ever she said, I cringed so hard. They sound like they were 13 years old! And these are people with PhDs! Idk it just felt strange to me and I disliked it a lot lol
The rest of this, like the action and adventure part was amazing. I totes felt the librarian/Indiana Jones vibes. I’m glad it wasn’t overshadowed by the weirdness of the romance tho. I just found it really weird how she was able to incorporate the legend and all the like information and side stories that came with it, but the romance itself was so weird. But I was glad that that part was still in the story. At the very least the entire book wasn’t lost. And I’m glad there’s something out there that has some kind of representation in academics. Especially in this type of academics. I really loved this part of it, but I was sad that I couldn’t REALLY enjoy it because I was too busy cringing on most things that was going on lol
This book was weird and I really didn’t like some things and really wished that others were more developed. There was a little mention of what MIGHT be a sequel at the end, and I’m interested enough in the adventure part to maybe check it out. Especially since we hopefully won’t have to hear about him stealing her work and then actively using it again. It should give the author some time to fix these things and move on to something else.
Overall, I give this
