I loved pretty much everything in the Temple of Swoon. What if Indiana Jones were a modern-day rom-com?

When a struggling archaeologist, Dr. Miriam Jacobs, is hired on for an expedition to find the Lost City of the Moon, she never imagined just how wrong (or right?) things would go. She needs this expedition to be perfect, or she won’t get tenure and will lose her job. Add in the photographer for a major National Geographic-esque magazine, with his own competing goals in mind, a black-market artifacts dealer who wants to beat them to the city, and you have a recipe for (multiple) disasters. So, you know, high stakes, lots of obstacles, everything will be fine, right?

Within the action-packed expedition plot is plenty of room for a romance. It’s a slow burn for sure, but things heat up fast once that tension breaks. What I loved about these two is that Rafa is so cool, confident, and maybe a bit aloof. But Miri? She’s a spontaneous, adorkable ray of sunshine that leaps before she looks. Their meet-cute results in an instant connection, with the most unexpected (cute) nickname for Miri.

I’m a sucker for a good plot twist, and this one delivers on that front. Whew! My jaw was on the floor!!

Bonus: the audiobook was stellar with a dual-narrating cast when the POV switches from Miri and Rafa.

If you’re looking for an action-adventure novel meets fun romcom, check this one out!

Thanks to @berkleyromance for the e-book!

3.75 stars

While Temple of Swoon didn't grab me the same way that its predecessor did, I still found myself having a great time reading this story. Author Jo Segura understands the adventure romance assignment and creates scenarios and hijinks throughout that leave readers utterly entertained.

Insofar as the romantic tension and connection goes, I think Segura pulls it off, but it took me a minute to get on board with these two. But once I was locked in, I was totally invested.

Overall, this is a great follow up to Raiders of the Lost Heart, and a successful midpoint to this series.

Description
Dr. Miriam Jacobs aka Miri is determined to become "a badass archaeologist" like her mentor Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía (book 1). She gets her chance when she ends up leading an unmapped expedition through the Amazon in Brazil for the fabled Lost City of the Moon.
Unbeknownst to Miri, there is someone on her team who's mission is to keep everyone from reaching this destination, journalist Rafael Monfils. Rafa believes that the archaeologists will ruin this sacred site that his mother dedicated her life to protecting. Despite his growing attraction to Miri, Rafa believes he must follow his father's direction and steer the crew away. He doesn't expect Dr. Jacobs to push ahead, armed with a secret trinket and nervous energy.

Review
Similar to Raiders of the Lost Heart, Temple of Swoon was a fun, steamy, and adventurous read. I loved the emotional and sexual connection between Miri and Rafa. They were sweet, understanding, and silly together. Rafa's familial connection to the Lost City made this feel personal. The story, as a whole, walked the line between concerns of preservation and a yearning to learn the truth behind the mystery of an isolated civilization. I also like the way it called out the misogyny embedded in the Archaeology field.
The pacing was pretty good and I enjoyed the creativity if the spicier moments. The only thing that wasn't a fan of was Miri's obsession with looking like/being a "badass." That felt repetitive. Aside from that, Temple of Swoon is a bold romance novel that I think genre-lovers would enjoy!

This was such a fun adventure read, packed with spice and plenty of secrets in the lush setting of the Lost City of the Moon. I enjoyed the first book a bit more, but this was still a fun romance with enemies to lovers and humor at the heart.

*many thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this title.

Let me just start out by saying that I wanted to love this one, but it honestly felt like the author was trying too hard to recapture the magic from the first book, Miriam was cute and all but it felt like she was too quirky. Which is not something I typically say. Because I love quirky. But some things felt like they were written for the sake of being as quirky as possible. I also didn't love the constant use of the pet name Pringles. Listen, I love a good pet name.. but when you're reading a spicy scene, the last thing you want is for the male MC to call her Pringles while in the throes of passion. I also think the sex scenes were placed in the weirdest of places and it felt forced at first. [Spoilers ahead.] Especially since they had just found proof they were headed to the Lost City of the Moon and instead of regrouping, they instead fooled around again. And honestly she still should have been mad at him for lying to her and sabotaging her (but did he really? Dude was obsessed with her and couldn't do anything more than bat his eyes at her and take as many pictures of her as possible) but instead they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Potential plot hole at the end when they're told they can't leave and they definitely can't take the photos with them, but then the epilogue is literally Rafael writing an "article" that they in fact found the Lost City of the Moon but no, no one can know. And surprise, he has pictures should he need them. Like what? Not even fifty pages later and it was back pedaled. And what is Miriam's new job? No explanation there.

All in all this was an okay book. I just had a really hard time connecting with it. Things were pretty confusing at the beginning. But the last few chapters of the book, and the reveal of who Rafael's father really is, got this book to three stars.

A jungle adventure that takes you on a quest to find the Lost City of the moon. Be careful who you trust because your life depends on it.

Rafa and Miri will risk everything to locate the one thing that has remained hidden all these years.

This is a spicy read that is layered with adventure and secrets in the heart of the jungle. Lots of attention to details and the characters were charming.

Another fun adventure in the "archeology" realm. It's a cute love story with an adventure. Good for those that like cozy romances but don't want the same old boring settings!

'Temple of Swoon' was a fun enemies to lovers story, as both Rafael and Miriam seek out fame by throwing each other of the path. This was a lighthearted story filled with adventure and romance. I'm very glad I took a chance to read this book, as I'm always looking to appreciate different book genres. I will definitely be looking for more of Jo Segura's work!

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the gifted book!

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Berkley Publishing for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

This was not for me. I really liked the first one. This was repetitive, cheesy, and I never want to read the word Pringles again..

I love a good adventure romance, but I definitely ended up enjoying book one much more than this one. I liked the beginning, but this is more on the rom-com side and the humor was just a bit too over the top for my taste. Then, the ending was pretty rushed and they never really addressed what went wrong...the heroine never made the hero grovel for what he was doing? WE know he felt bad when we were in his POV, but he was literally sabotaging her search for the lost temple...while they were hooking up!? I wanted him to grovel a bit more in the end.

This book was so fun! I was a little hesitant to start it bc while I loved a lot of her first book I hated How mysognistic the mmc was but I’m so glad I read it. Rafa is nothing like Ford. I love a good adventure romance and archeology is my jam (it’s what my degree is in albeit I don’t use it nowadays) and this one had all the fun elements of adventure fiction.

Peter Vatrous is back trying to foil yet another dig, this time the search for a hidden city, and Dr Miriam Jones is out to prove her worth to her employers and herself. Then there’s Rafa who is there as a journalist but really there to make sure nobody ever finds the lost city. I didn’t love Rafa’s mission but I understood his reasoning, and I enjoyed Rafa and Miri together and the search for the lost city was so much fun.

I LOVED Raiders of the Lost Heart so was super pumped to get my hands on the next book in the series! Dr. Miri Jacobs, is a sort of mentee of Corries so I enjoyed that connection, she was cute and quirky, a little insecure and suffering from some major imposter syndrome but girl did not give up! She is leading her very first expedition to find the lost city of the moon. Rafael Monfils is a journalist/photographer there to document the expedition, but he's on a secret mission to keep them from finding the lost city and protect his mother's legacy! Some of the events in this book were beyond ridiculous and silly but it was charming! I saw a lot of reviews saying that the villain and twist were boring but I really enjoyed them and while it felt a tad predictable, I was still engaged and having fun! Can't wait for the next book!

I enjoyed the book - it was nice getting back into the world of women leading in male dominated fields. I enjoyed following someone, Miri, who is a little clumsy, fumbly, and quirky. I enjoyed the flow of the story, the twist towards the end was pretty cool as well. The only thing is wish was different was that Miri didn't pine after Corrie so much. In almost every situation she was wondering "What would Corrie Mejia do?". I get that Corrie is someone she looks up to, but until the very end, Miri wasn't embracing her own self.

In temple of soon we follow Dr. Miriam Jacobs and her archaeologist expedition crew in search of the Lost City of the Moon (Ciadade da Lia) in the Amazon of Brazil. Part of her crew is an expert of the city named Dr. Quinn and a journalist, Rafael Monfils. Rafa, though has a secret agenda, which is to protect his mother‘s legacy. He must keep the expedition crew off the correct path to the city..

Dr. Miriam Jacobs is a quirky, cute, funny, woman. She lacks confidence in herself and and how well she may be able to do her job/ find the city using her knowledge of archaeology..

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was super cute. The romance was cute. I love that Miriam was very quirky. I had so much fun reading this book because it was like an action movie. It was so action packed. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I was just constantly turning the pages. I love that we delve into Miriam‘s insecurities, and how she grows to become more confident in herself and become a total bad ass in these action scenes.. I love that Rafa his familial drama, and discover a lot more about the city and his family, and who he can and cannot trust.
I did love the plot twist in regards to the second crew looking for the city as well. I don’t want to spoil anything in my review, but the plot twist is kind of separated into two parts. The first part was very predictable. The second part at the ending really had me going. I did not expect that.

I was not a fan of the spicy scenes occurred or how they were written. They were just a little bit on the cringe side for me, but the romance was still cute..

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc and exchange for an honest review

𖣘ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ: I would absolutely risk it all for a lost city and a soft-hearted, secretive guide.
ꕤᴍᴏᴏᴅ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ: adventurous, flirty, craving mangoes and danger
•♫•ꜱᴏɴɢ: Eyes Closed by Taylor Swift

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just like Raiders of the Lost Heart, I loved this adventure-packed, swoony sequel and I’m officially begging Jo Segura for more!

Miri is the lovable, pun-cracking archaeologist I didn’t know I needed more of, and her mission to find the Lost City of the Moon in the Amazon is filled with danger, romance, and so much heart. Add in Rafa, mysterious, protective, and deeply connected to the land they’re exploring, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a jungle-set rivals-to-lovers slow burn that completely delivers.

The banter? On point. The stakes? High. The chemistry? Off the charts. I laughed, I swooned, I wanted to swing from vines in solidarity.

This book gave me the thrill of an Indiana Jones-style quest but with a heroine who’s just as passionate as she is awkwardly charming. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, and now I need the next book yesterday.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for granting me access to this title!

Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura has interesting characters, a quest for a lost city, and romance. However, the story moved a little slow in sections to me. Temple of Swoon will appeal to readers who have enjoyed books about adventure, strong female protagonists, and other books by Sequra. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

What an adventure this book was. Miri was such a funny character and I definitely connected with her in her awkwardness. Rafa definitely fell quickly and was trying so hard to not love her and do his job. I did kind of see the “twist” coming but it definitely made sense for the story. I would love to see a new story in this world and see these characters again.

"Temple of Swoon" by Jo Segura is an absolutely captivating, steamy romance that pulls you in from the very first page. The chemistry between the characters is electric, and the twists and turns keep things exciting and fresh. Segura does an amazing job blending sensual tension with emotional depth, making this an unputdownable read. Huge thanks to the publisher for the ARC! I’ve already added a copy to my library system. If you’re looking for a passionate, thrilling read with complex characters, this one is a must-read! Highly recommend it!

Thank you to Kristin , NetGalley, and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour! I appreciate the gifted eARC and am leaving this review voluntarily!

1. 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 • This play on words for Temple of Doom was the kicker for me immediately. Huge fan. Add in some eventual serious spice and we have a winner folks. 👏🏼 👏🏼

2. 𝐅𝐚𝐫-𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 • Miriam’s seemingly aloof attitude to the expedition was a bit too improbable. This quest is going to make or break her career and she is constantly inundated with spicy thoughts about Rafael. However, this is why we call it fiction, and nevertheless, it entertained me through its entirety!

3. 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 • For me, I read this as more of a slow burn romance between Miri and Rafa instead of an enemies to lovers. I felt like they hit it off right away, and while they did try to step away from each other a bit, they were truly never far at heart.

4. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐆𝐮𝐲𝐬 • First, let’s hone in on the fact of what a pompous ahole Dr. Quinn is. Then, lurking in the background, we have Vautour. The guy who is after the treasures and is sending people to thwart the expedition. When his identity comes to light, it is a shocking revelation.

5. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐲 • Miri’s sense of humor and funny quips had me giggling many times throughout. It is, after all, what brings Rafa’s fondness to the forefront right away! And Rafa’s nickname of Pringles made me smile every time!

While Temple of Swoon was an enjoyable read, it didn’t quite capture the magic of Raiders of the Lost Heart for me. It felt a bit like a copy/paste scenario—especially with the return of the same villain, which made the plot feel a little too familiar. I did enjoy the twist at the end, but overall, the story lacked some spark.

Miri and Rafa were likable enough, though I have to admit, his nickname for her made me cringe a bit—particularly during the steamy scenes.

With all of that being said, Jo Segura’s writing is fun and fast-paced, making it a solid pick for a light weekend read.

If you’re looking for a quick, adventurous rom-com with a side of archaeology, then you may enjoy this series!