Romance Review – RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART by Jo Segura @berkleyromance

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I’m a huge Indiana Jones fan so as soon as I saw the title of Jo Segura’s debut romance novel, Raiders of the Lost Heart, I knew I had to read it! Between that title and the promise of a sexy adventure romcom featuring rival archaeologists, I knew I was in for a good time.

The story follows Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía, an archaeologist who has devoted her career to studying Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec Empire, who also happens to be her ancestor.  Her dream is to someday lead an expedition into the Mexican jungle to search for Chimalli’s long lost remains.  An unexpected invitation to join just such an expedition, all expenses paid, sounds too good to be true to Corrie, but she just can’t resist if this means finally achieving her dream. To her utter dismay, once she arrives in Mexico, she learns the leader of the expedition is none other than her archnemesis, Dr. Ford Matthews.

I was angry for Corrie on so many levels.  She is clearly the expert on all things Chimalli so how could this guy be chosen over her to lead her dream expedition?  Not only that but we also learn that he broke her heart when they were in grad school together and he stole a fellowship that should have been hers. Needless to say, I was all aboard the Let’s Hate Ford Train when we first meet him, haha!  Ford eventually won me over though because it’s clear that he cares about and respects Corrie even in the face of their long-standing rivalry.

Corrie was truly the star of the show in this book. I loved watching her prove what a badass she is over and over again.  One of the other characters in the book refers to her as Lara Croft and I thought that comparison was perfect!  Ford is a great character too, much more sensitive than I was expecting him to be and clearly dealing with some issues of his own that are weighing him down.  I really enjoyed watching Corrie and Ford interact.  It’s clear that they have some pretty sizzling chemistry and I loved watching them work together, growing closer with each passing day, all the while trading some pretty hilarious banter because they’re both so darned competitive and can’t resist trying to outdo one another.

If you like a bit of action and adventure to balance out the romance and the more emotional moments of a story, you’ll definitely enjoy the actual expedition, which has plenty of twists, turns, excitement and danger to keep things interesting and keep Ford and Corrie on their toes.

Raiders of the Lost Heart is a fun, sexy read that also has a lot of heart. I loved it and look forward to reading more from Jo Segura.  If you like adventure romcoms, badass STEM heroines, enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity romances, you’re going to want to pick up a copy of this one.

Thanks so much to Kristin Cipolla from Berkley Romance for the invitation to take part in this blog tour!