This book reminded me a bit of Christina Lauren's writing except Lauren did it better. I went into it blind so I didn't know a whole lot about it or what to expect. I loved that the action started almost immediately. It's a cross between Indiana Jones and National Treasure with a splash of romcom.

What to expect:
- Slow burn
- Adventure/Action romance
- Forced proximity

Things I liked:
- the slow burn was *che'fs kiss*. The chemistry between Andrew and Adriana was very well done and the tension leading up to their steamy scenes had me aching!
- Adriana's brother (I've already forgotten his name) - he was a HOOT and I wish we got more of his romance :)
- the adventure was super fun

Some things I didn't like:
- the way the author described some of the places they went (i.e., Colombia) and how dirty and unsafe it was. It didn't seem like the author (or subsequently the characters) did any research on the country because Colombia is a beautiful place (yes there are unsafe places but there are unsafe places everywhere).
- the random definitions - honestly, I didn't understand these or why they were put in the book
- body shaming hints like "calories don't count on vacation" and things like that. Or the time Adriana said that Brie (Andrew's ex) will need Botox because once her looks are gone, she'll have nothing left. There were just some one liners that gave me the ick.

Overall this was a fun read with lots of action but there were enough one-liners and toxic traits from characters that just gave me such icky feelings that I couldn't, in good conscience, give this more than 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the published for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a fun read! It jumped right into the action, with a bracelet locked on Adriana's wrist. It took us through villages, crypts, jungles, and hidden clues and traps. Adriana and Andrew were such a fun couple to follow, and Olivia Jackson is a STAR at writing longing. The whole cast were fun, and such a thrilling story!

This book is what you’d get if Indiana Jones was a romcom. It’s cute and full of adventure. It has lovable main characters and supporting characters. You can expect it to be a little bit cheesy, but it works for what the book is. This would be a great beach read. My only complaint is that it’s not dual POV.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I thought the premise of the book was great! It was different from what I normally read but has been an amazing experience.

Thank you net gallery and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Pre Thoughts:
- Adventure romance

Post Thoughts:

This was a very enjoyable Action + Adventure romance read.

The beginning hooked me in, as I was quite intrigued to see how it progressed for the MMC and the FMC.

Dr Andrew was a memorable MMC.

I found it interesting integrating definitions thought the novel.

Tropes:
Slowburn
Adventure Romance
Fast Paced
Forced Proximity

Ratings
3.5 / 5 stars
1.5 spice

I liked the whole adventure rom-com concept of the book. I also liked the banter between Adriana & Andrew but I'm not a fan of insta-love and unfortunately, this book had it. The book was a slow burn but they cau ht feelings real fast for my liking. Nevertheless, I liked seeing them together, so it was a save. Still, the plot wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be and I found myself getting bored through some parts. The mystery was kind of dragged which made me want to skim through some paragraphs tbh. But the character growth was well written (albeit I felt like Adriana was a bit snobbish and self centered and her brother was kind of immature) and some scenes were fun to read. It also took me some time to really get into the story, because the start was really slow though. So while I didn't dislike the book, I did not entirely love it either.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and to HarperCollins UK for the ARC of Digging Dr. Jones by Olivia Jackson.

I was drawn to this book when it said it was for those who liked the movie The Lost City and Christina Lauren (my thought was a comparison to Something Wilder, which I loved). It definitely has some of those vibes - a young woman, Adriana Jones, and her brother are on vacation in Costa Rica as she nurses her wounds from a bad professional decision. She accidentally accepts a package meant for a Dr. Andrew Jones containing a very fancy bracelet. She puts it on mistakenly believing it to be an apology from her ex business partner, only to find out it's part of a treasure hunt in Colombia that Dr. Andrew Jones is trying to solve. When the bracelet cannot be removed from her wrist, Adriana accompanies Andrew on his adventure, and the stakes to find the treasure before his competitors grow higher and higher, as does their attraction to each other.

This is a cute book overall, with a fun premise. Unfortunately, for me, it missed the mark with comparisons to The Lost City and Christina Lauren. I think this is because there are aspects of the novel that feel more engaged in the toxic cultures of the 2000s that reduce Adriana and other female characters to really one dimensional roles. Adriana has to state how "calories don't count on vacation" and focuses on negative body image connotations on more than one occasion - questioning if Andrew will even like her body, etc. Brie, Andrew's ex, is relegated to being a bitch, a cheater, and whiny with no thoughts outside of men and being mean to other women, Adriana is catty in response, making notes about how Brie needs botox, because when her looks are gone she'll have nothing left. It just felt shallow, and like the opposite of how we want to envision women in 2025. It made me dislike Adriana as a heroine.

We also spent close to 1/5th of the book thinking Andrew is married, and Adriana has no problem ogling him, flirting with him, and imagining hooking up with him all while she believes him to be married which kind of gave me the ick, especially when he was flirting back. When they do eventually get together the sex scenes go from 0 to 100 multiple times, leaving the latter half of the book pretty smut heavy compared to the first half.

I also had a few concerns about certain language used to describe Colombia when they first arrive in the country. Adriana makes a few comments about it being unsafe, dirty, etc. while at no point actually engaging with the culture or the people. As someone who has spent time in Colombia, including Santa Marta, the negative connotations didn't seem like it was necessary to the story.

There were also a few instances where randomly there would be a definition of a word with a funny description - at first I thought these were specific to each chapter, but then it seemed like they were just random placements. I'm not sure what purpose they really served.

For the mystery itself, I enjoyed it, though I think there were a few plugs into the plot to make all the pieces work in the end, which I will write in the comments to the publisher and not this review.

Again, overall it was a cute and fun story, but for me I think I needed a bit of a different vibe from the characters to really want to root on their adventure.

This adventurous rom com is like National Treasure with a rom com twist! It all starts with a bracelet being delivered to the wrong Jones, and the adventure begins taking Adriana and Andrew on a quest to uncover the treasure that began with an ancient love story. Villains, fake friends, a drunken brother, and so many other mishaps that lead the two to many plot twists while they also find love of their own! Cute story, loved the treasure hunt, and it comes together nicely. Some of the spicy scenes felt like they weren’t needed, but I adored the foils of William and Brandon. Such a good message that we cannot allow our past and shame to impact our future!

This lush adventurous tale takes us on a treasure hunt through colourful Columbian towns and rainforests alongside our two love interests, Adriana and Dr. Andrew Jones. This novel is a modern rom com twist on the classic 'Indiana Jones'.

The plot was engaging and action-packed, as well as comedic. I loved the historical aspects to this novel, and the intrigue and mysteriousness behind uncovering the location of the treasure. The background lore behind the artefact was very well thought out and well written. I felt immersed in the history of it and how special the story behind it was.

Andrew and Adriana's journey spans around two weeks of searching for clues. However, the romance is certainly a slow burn. It isn't until well over halfway through the book until their first kiss is shared. Their flirting and snarky better was super fun to read however. Once the simmering romantic tension finally breaks between our main characters, the spice does not disappoint! Their chemistry was electric!

I didn’t love the FMC's personality as much as I did Andrew's. Andrew was sweet and funny and confident, whereas I think Adriana's inner dialogue let her down a bit, as I found her quite sardonic, and she thought some cringey things at times.

Due to the length of this novel, the search for the mysterious artefact became a little dragged out, as it needed to be really stretched out in order for the story to fit the page count. I think it could have been shorter and still had the same impact. However, some people may enjoy the longer time we get to spend with the characters.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this!

*I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) for free in exchange for an honest review*

3 stars ☆
⤿ spoiler-free review
thank you to net galley for this arc!!

ೃ⁀➷“I would agree to anything you asked me to do as long as it made you happy."

plot: Adriana is on vacation at a resort in Costa Rica when she gets a present at her door. She opens it to reveal a bracelet, and without thinking anything of it, puts the bracelet on. During some much needed bar time with her brother, Adriana gets approached by Andrew Jones, an archeologist, who claims the bracelet is hers. This leads to an adventure in Colombia where the pair crawl in caves, crawl in crypts and crawl in bed with one another (ahhh!!)

★│ Adriana │

This girl has visions! I love that Adriana is ambitious and despite their upbringing, her and her brother, William, both preserver to prove themselves worthy. Adriana thinks she is unlovable because of the house she was raised in, but Andrew debunks those myths. At given times, she was a little insufferable because of her overwhelming self-pity, but I could definitely feel the growth from her by the end of the book.

★│ Andrew │

The way this man kept me on the edge of my seat all the time. I never knew when or when not he would go in for a kiss. He really kept us waiting. Also.. hes British!? I wish we had more mentions of that. Anyway, Andrew was so head over heels, it was adorable to see. I feel like this book would have benefited so much if we had his POV as well.

pacing: I wont lie at some parts I was quite bored, and contemplating if I should DNF or not. But the last 20% of this book really redeemed it, and I fell a bit more in love with our couple. Overlooking my main issues with boredom of the book, I feel like if this is your type of book, you would fly through this!

✧.* read this book if you want a lighthearted, fun, and quick treasure finding adventure with an adorable romance!

While reading this I felt as if I was in a real-life Indiana jones scenario. This is an insta love between the main characters. Also, the banter between the FMC and her brother was funny and I loved it. The best thing that the FMC did was put on a bracelet that was meant for someone else because it took her and us on the adventure of her life. This is action packed, mystery and swoon worthy.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins UK (One More Chapter) for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.5⭐️

The cover on this book is absolutely gorgeous and the blurb definitely piqued my interest so thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It took me a while to get into the story as the writing and dialogue were a bit too quirky for me. It was like the author was trying very hard to make the inner monologue of the protagonist comedic, but it came off more annoying. The FMC Adriana and her brother William were also very immature and childish. I couldn’t stand them at times. The romance was between Adriana and Andrew was rushed as well. They developed feelings so fast.

However, once I hit the 50% mark, the story kind of clicked for me. Adriana and William became more bearable characters and I found myself rooting for the romance between Adriana and Andrew. It helped they had a lot of cute and steamy moments in the second half. Andrew was a great love interest. He was broody, sweet and protective. He was without a doubt my favourite character. The treasure hunting was also really interesting and probably the strongest part of the book for me. I was itching to see how everything would play out.

All in all, despite the bumpy start, I ended up having a lot of fun with this book.

This book came just when I needed her the most. Nothing was sticking to me in terms of reading and when the opportunity came to read this it just felt right. And it was so good.

3.5⭐️ rounded up.

Thank you to Netgalley, One More Chapter and Harper Collins UK for the arc of this one, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was actually really enjoyable! It had a lot of Indiana Jones references, but it also really gave me National Treasure vibes - you know, that horrendous Nicholas Cage movie that I definitely have not watched at least a dozen times…

The banter was fun, the adventure was fun, there was longing and spice and fun side characters - in case you couldn’t tell, I had fun with this one.

Will I remember this book two years from now? Probably not. But that is perfectly fine - I was all in for the few hours I spent with this book, and I walked away from it feeling happy and content. As far as I’m concerned, Olivia Jackson did her job with her debut novel. I look forward to seeing what else she does in the future.

One last thing - I’m going to need someone to create a proper list of all the names William called Dr Andrew Jones throughout the book. It was impressive.

A fun adventure read! I enjoyed the forced proximity and banter. I would’ve loved more tension and character depth.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for providing this book!! 💖

2.75 ⭐️
The thing that drew me to Digging Dr. Jones was the setting and the whole expedition vibe—I’d never read a romance in this subgenre before, so I was excited to dive in. And honestly? The first half had me hooked. The setup was great, the slow build of Andrew and Adriana’s relationship was fun, and the descriptions of the locations were stunning.

But the second half? Not as strong for me.

As a Spanish speaker, I can be a bit picky about how the language is used in books, and some of the place and character names didn’t make much sense. On top of that, the lack of Colombian representation felt like a miss—just a bunch of white people hunting for treasure to stick in a British museum? Yeah… not really my vibe. I also totally thought Adriana was Colombian or at least Latina based on her name, but nope. That’s on me, I guess, but still.

As for the romance, I needed more tension and banter to really buy into them as a couple. The spice also felt a little forced into the story, and there was more of it than I expected for the plot. Plus, there were a few plot holes and unresolved details that left me scratching my head. 🤷‍♀️

Overall, it was a decent read! I enjoyed parts of it, but it didn’t blow me away.

I love a good adventure book! I thought there was great chemistry between the MC and Dr Jones. It was almost like a romantic Indiana Jones. Perfect and unique women’s fiction novel that stands out from it’s predecessor

If you know me, you know I didn't think twice before requesting this book on NetGalley from HarperCollins... and I was NOT disappointed! 🏴‍☠️👑🕸️

When Adriana Jones accidently opens a package meant for Andrew Jones after one too many tropical cocktails, 🍹 she ends up with a piece of priceless history in the form of a bracelet stuck on her wrist. Forced to accompany Dr. Jones on his quest, Adriana gets more than she signed up for on her vacation…

Opposites attract in this forced proximity rom-com! Lovers of Indiana Jones, The Lost City, and Romancing the Stone will adore this delightful adventure!!

This was an adventure - literally and figuratively. Trekking through jungles and crawling through crypts made for the perfect romance for Adriana and Andrew. 💎💰🔦 I actually think this story would've been really good as an enemies-to-lovers romance, but I also appreciated that it wasn't. Adriana ended up loving the adventure and history, which I enjoyed their shared passion for.

I was skeptical of William coming along, but I think he made for a great break from the romance while adding his own story to the mix. I do wish that there was more betrayal in this story… I felt like the betrayal that occurred was pretty significant but was never actually addressed and at the end I had no idea what that meant for Dr. Jones.

Overall, this was such fun and a quick read that has me itching for more stories just like it! 💞

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC!

Indiana Jones meets your favorite romantic comedy! This book was such an adventure in love and mystery. I couldn't put this down and devoured it! Andrew and Adriana have so much tension and chemistry too

This is what I'd call a fun romp of a story - I really enjoyed the adventure plot, the Indiana Jones/The Mummy/Goonies vibes, the banter, and the romance. As well as the central pairing of the two Joneses, I also loved Adriana's relationship with her brother, and it was good to see him get a HEA, too! I feel like this is the perfect book to take on a summer holiday and enjoy by the pool or beach, while daydreaming about adventures you *could* be going on if you felt like leaving the comfort of your lounger. It's often silly, the baddies are kind of one-dimensional, but I feel like that's also part of the 'matinee adventure' thing, so a feature rather than a bug. All in all, a fun, easy read with adventure, spice and humour, and I'd definitely read more from the author in the future.