Top Ten Tuesday – Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List. I decided this week to just share ARCs that I am planning to read this winter but may share another post in the near future about books from my shelves that I also want to prioritize. As always, it’s a mix of romance, thrillers, historical fiction, and whatever else has caught my eye.
Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List
3. EVER AFTER ALWAYS by CHLOE LIESE
4. THE GETAWAY LIST by Emma Lord
5. THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS by Katherine Arden
6. HAPPY MEDIUM by Sarah Adler
7. THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins
8. LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
9. ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY by Stacy Willingham
10. THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
* * * * * *
Question: Are you planning to read any of these?
Romance Review – RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART by Jo Segura @berkleyromance
Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura 
Published by BERKLEY on December 5, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Pages: 357
Source: Netgalley
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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!
About Jo Segura
Jo lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband and needy, but lovable, doggo Henrik (Swedish Vallhund—look it up, they’re adorable).
Her favorite season is Fall, though the color change in the PNW isn’t quite as beautiful as it is in her home state of Ohio. Jo loves cooking, though her favorite thing to eat (aside from potato chips) is pho, which she’s unsuccessfully tried to make three times. Her drink of choice is either a Gibson or a Bloody Mary, though lately she’s been experimenting with mezcal. She also loves puzzles, hiking, and karaoke.
Jo’s stories feature strong, passionate heroines and draw upon aspects of her life, such as her love of good food and great cocktails, dancing, her Mexican heritage, and her fascination with archaeology which inspired her debut romcom, RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART, to be released December of 2023 by Berkley Romance.
Jo is represented by Eva Scalzo of the Speilburg Literary Agency.
Thriller Thursday Review: #CrimeTime
Hey everyone, Sharon here with a bonus edition of Thriller Thursday. This week I am reviewing an audio original called, #CrimeTime, written by Jeneva Rose and Drew Payne. This book is different from the mystery/thrillers I normally read and review. #CrimeTime is a comedic mystery and I have never laughed so much with reading a mystery/thriller. Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Audio for my complimentary copy of this book.
#CrimeTime Goodreads Author: Jeneva Rose and Drew Pyne
Publication Date: December 12, 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
#CrimeTime is an audio original, written by Jeneva Rose and her husband, Drew Payne. The story is taken from a true-life event that happened in their apartment building, which they explain at the end of the book. And I have to say I loved the banter they had while explaining these events as much as I enjoyed the book itself.
Nadiya is a crime novelist, who writes under a pen name and enjoys her privacy. She has worked hard to keep her life private, but when she finds out she has a half-brother, Chase, through a DNA site, her private existence is about to go very public. Chase is an aspiring TikTok star and has come to Chicago to get to know his sister. He has been crashing at Nadiya’s place until he can get on his feet. When the apartment upstairs is burglarized, Chase decides to film it and post the videos on his TikTok channel. Overnight Chase’s videos have gone viral and at the same time they have put Nadiya and Chase’s lives in danger. With dirty cops and organized crime now after them, Nadiya has to turn to the one person she has not spoken to in almost twenty years, Nadiya and Chase’s father, Viktor. What follows is a comedic mystery that I didn’t want to end.
OMG Guys! This book was so fun to listen to. I loved the back-and-forth banter between Nadiya and Chase. I laughed out loud so many times. As annoying as Chase was with his videoing everything for TikTok, he was also just so funny. Chase was immature and said and did whatever came to his mind, while Nadiya was mature and levelheaded. I loved how their different personalities interacted and balanced each other out, as well as adding so much humor to this story.
I think the cast did an amazing job and brought each character to life. The main narrators were Jennifer Damiano, who voiced Nadiya and Abelardo Campuzano, who voiced Chase. I also loved Phil Thron, who voiced Viktor, he had me laughing many times as well. There were so many other voices for the secondary cast that were awesome as well. And I loved all of the sound effects. From the fart sounds (yes farts, Lol!) of Nadiya’s dog, Winston, to doors opening and closing, footsteps, gun shots and to police sirens (FYI, be careful if you are listening in your car as I did. I thought for sure those sirens were real. LOL!). These sound effects made the story feel like I was watching it and just really rounded the whole story out and added to my enjoyment.
I really cannot say much about what happens in the story as that would spoil things. But this was a cute mystery that had a few twists and turns. Some I saw coming, some I did not. I will say though, I was getting a little nervous at the end of the book.
I would so not be opposed if #CrimeTime became an audio book series. I would love to have more stories and continue to follow, Nadiya, Chase, and Viktor. 4 stars
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Simon & Schuster Audio in exchange for my honest review.