It’s come to my attention that this author has been misidentifying as Cherokee and Choctaw despite not having sufficient claims to those identities. And based on that I will not be reading or reviewing this book.

It has recently come to my attention that this author was misidentifying as Cherokee and Choctaw despite not having sufficient claims to those identities. Based on that, and what I have heard and seen in other reviews about the native representation being inaccurate and even harmful, I will not be reading or reviewing this book, and recommend others to seek out real, authentic native voices as well.

It’s recently come to light that this author has misrepresented herself as Chocktaw and Cherokee and has no connections to the Native community. For that reason, I won’t be reading this book. Appropriating and exploiting an identity that’s not your own for profit is deplorable. It actively does harm to Native authors, especially those writing about their lived experiences. Please seek out books by those authors instead of this garbage.

In light of recent revelations about this author and the Cherokee representation depicted in this book, I cannot in good conscience read and dedicate time to this author's work. I would encourage readers to consider picking up books by other native authors instead and uplifting other Indigenous voices in the book community.

It has recently come out that this author might not have true connections to the Cherokee and Choctaw ancestry she claims. As a Cherokee reader and reviewer, Ive had this book on my radar doe awhile. The entire concept of Cherokee Gold is already a little suspicious, but Im willing to sit for a Cherokee person owning this.

I wish I had good news to report but this book has alarming representation. I would NOT recommend it. It is in dire need of a sensitivity read at the very least, to be completely re-written without the Native plotlines at best.

The problem with Native voices is that there are so few of us, no one knows when the representation is starkly wrong. There are lots of examples in this books I could point to, but Im not here to write an essay. I will linger on one.

This books quotes the, "there are two wolves inside of you, which do you feed?" As if it is an authentic story and not absolute fakelore. A simple Google search will reveal that this not something Cherokee people say it is made up hogwash.

Honestly, talking about it makes my blood boil. This person is appropriating a Cherokee identity and massively profiting off of it. There are people actually praising this rep. That is so painful for a Cherokee person to see.

Publishing needs to do better.

I really enjoyed this book! What a wonderful queer romance + i loved the Indiana Jones vibes! The one problem I had with this book is that it lagged quite a bit at times. I really wanted the main characters to get together and that is what kept me going. This truly felt like an adventure game which I really liked! I also LOVE any good book with a lost treasure/gold plot...but make it queer and SHEBANG I liked it. This was a solid 4 star read- and I would definitely read something else from this author!

If I Dig You is the second book by Colby Wilkens. This story is a f/f treasure hunting adventure romance. Archaeologists Isadora Ross and Louise Morgenstern have been best friends since they were teenagers. Their relationship has been hanging on by a thread since Louise, aka Lou, broke her promise to Isadora, aka Isi, broke off her engagement with Dylan, and moved across the world to Turkey for a once in a lifetime job opportunity. Upon Lou’s return move to the States, she has been trying to rekindle her relationship with Isi but it’s proving harder than she thought it would be. Isi’s mom, also a well-renowned archeologist, went missing mysteriously while on a hike and Isi is determined to learn what happened and what she was looking for. Isi discovers one of her mom’s journals that indicates the possibility of a long-lost Cherokee treasure with a map of unknown symbols. Isi and Lou end up being kidnapped by another treasure hunter and her goons as they are also on the hunt for the long-lost treasure. Being kidnapped was the best thing that could have happened to Lou and Isi as it forced them to traverse their feelings for one another that they have been keeping under lock and key from the moment they met. Lou and Isi must work together to ensure they locate and secure the treasure first to make sure it ends up in the right hands.
This book can be read as a standalone but there is some character overlap from her debut novel, If I Stopped Haunting You, but nothing that would cause the reader to not be able to follow the story. This book was full of adventure but the continual internal declination of feelings towards each of the FMCs gets a little annoying because they both know how the other feels, but they keep denying themselves. I wanted to yell “Get over it already” so many times. I really enjoyed this storyline, the characters, the references to Cherokee culture, and growing spicy tension. While this story is one of fiction, it highlights the wrongs that have historically been done to indigenous groups/cultures. Colby Wilkens has a way of weaving stories of perfection through the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ population and hot topics that have historically been hidden or made to appear as ok due to “justification”.
I definitely recommend this read to those looking for an adventure filled, friends to lovers, butt kicking FMCs, and f/f tension building to spice explosion read.
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Colby Wilkens for the advance readers copy and for allowing me to provide my honest feedback.
Book Publication Date: 3/25/25

I am not publicly rating this book because I did not finish it. I could not get past how horny the characters were. I read romance. Love it. But these characters were over the top. They could not focus on anything, even when in danger, because they were too focused on sex. It was exhausting. If you can get past that, it was setting up to be a nice adventure. I didn't make it that far. God speed to those who make it. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read the arc.

first of all, thank you @ netgalley for letting me in on this ARC 🫶🏻

second of all,,,, ugh. i so so wanted this to be amazing, especially since meeting colby wilkens at romance con in milwaukee. plus, who wouldn’t pick up this book based on the cute cover alone?! however, i was disappointed :(

the tea is - i know this book is objectively well written. the sentence structure was great and i f so heavily with the representation. but the chemistry wasn’t sizzling, the tension wasn’t making me giggle, and the friends to lovers wasn’t giving. overall, i think this might have been a dnf for me had i not wanted to push through for colby and netgalley.

i haven’t read colby’s first book but i own it and still plan to. maybe i’ll vibe more with those characters? let’s hope so.

3.75 stars
thank you to netgalley, author colby wilkens and st. martins press for this arc copy of “if i dig you”.
this gives queer national treasure or the mummy with some moderate spice.
the adventure was great and so was the tension between isa and louise. i liked the story, setting and the conclusion.
this will be our march 25, 2025 and i highly recommend checking it out.

It was super cute and fun to read about these two characters, especially since they had PhDs and were archaeologists. The romance is kind of cute but there was not a lot of chemistry to go off and it dragged too long so it was more of a chore to read. The treasure they were hunting was somewhat interesting, but again there was just not much there. We get the basics about the treasure, Isi's mom, and Louise and Isi's past relationship. It felt like bare bones and there wasn't much plot. I suppose since it's a romance book it's ok to not expect a detailed story line about the treasure hunting, Tamora Ross, and the enemies they were fighting. It also felt like everything was perfectly aligned for them and there was no real conflict. The fighting and treasure hunting almost felt childish in a way but again it's just a romance book, not an adventure book so I guess it's not such a bad thing, which is why I gave it three stars. Overall a fun read for when you need a cute sapphic romance just for fun!

Thank you to NetGalley for this Arc of If I Dig You!

2 stars out of 5. I wanted to love this book as the premise sounds like the lesbian Indiana Jones of my dreams, but ultimately it fell flat. The main characters weren’t likable enough for me to root for them as a couple and often times the book felt extremely repetitive which made moving the plot incredibly slow. The 2 stars is primarily for the Native representation which stood out as the shining star of the book. While it might not have been my cup of tea, I’m sure this will be the sapphic adventure of someone else’s dream

After falling in love with Colby's first book, this was an automatic add to tbr for me. This is a sapphic romance (friends-to-lovers, mutual pining) with a full on Indiana Jones style treasure hunt adventure with some gorgeous Cherokee mysticism sprinkled in.

Unfortunately I have a lot of the same complaints about this story as I did about Colby's first book. For me the book had a slow start and it was hard for me to feel pulled into the story. But once the adventure got rolling, I was definitely hooked. I also felt like there was a lot of unnecessary repetitive thoughts (though that might just be because I'm not the biggest fan of friends-to-lovers). Neither of these complaints made me dislike the story, however!

It's an adorable romance with added adventure. It is first and foremost a ROMANCE. Which means that the adventure aspect does have some plot holes/plot armor, so don't go into it expecting it to be flawless. (I feel like I shouldn't even have to say that, but I know that people will complain about it and I don't feel like it's a valid complaint if you go in expecting it to be a romance. But maybe that's just my opinion.) As long as you're going into it expecting a heartwarming and spicy romance, you'll enjoy it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

I wanna thank St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley for allowing me to read this book, and the publisher for reaching out to me by email and giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5!⭐️ Holy shit this book was insane. I read “if I stopped haunting you” and loved it and this one was no different!! I grew up playing Indiana Jones games on Xbox. I loved the thrill, the adventure those games used to give me and this book was exactly that! It had all of the adventure, thrill and hot romance you could want! 2 archeologists on a mission in the mountains to find and retrieve lost gold all while both struggle to admit their feelings for one another. It was so action packed every chapter! I usually don’t go for books with plots like these but the minute I saw the cover and was reached out for this sapphic/adventure romance I knew I had to give it a chance. Sooo glad I did🫶🏻

You had me at sapphic archaeologist romance. The second I started reading this book, (While I was in line to ride the mummy at universal) I was hooked. I found myself getting completely engrossed in the plot. This was a pretty quick read for me, and it was the first time I’ve ever read something from Colby Wilkins. If you are a fan of good sapphic romance books as well as adventure books, this is the perfect book for you.

I do plan on checking out Wilkins other book, and I hope to see more releases from them in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

This book was kind of unique, I don’t really pick up too many of this genre.

I will definitely check out more books from this author.

This fully leans into the puns, actually gives us several on page sex scenes as our mains become lovers and finally admit how they feel for each other, and some pretty damn fun riffing on National Treasure but with indigenous American tribes. Just a fun, hot, ridiculous read, in the best kind of way. Yes, there are some moments of rough info dumps, but it could be a lot worse. Pick it up when it comes out this spring.

Sapphic archaeologist romance? SIGN ME UP! This was such a sweet and action packed read. It's easy to root for Isi and Lou right away, and even though they're fighting for their lives nonstop, the angst and yearning of this friends to lovers romance works so well. A must read for all the queer girls who went through an archaeology obsession. :D

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

*If I Dig You* by Colby Wilkens is an exhilarating f/f adventure romance that intertwines themes of friendship, love, and the thrill of discovery. The story follows archaeologists Isadora Ross and Louise Morgenstern, whose sixteen-year friendship is put to the test after Lou takes a transformative job on a dig in Turkey, leaving Isi grappling with feelings of resentment and unrequited love. As Isi immerses herself in her quest to find her mother, who disappeared during a research trip years ago, the emotional distance between the two women grows, creating a palpable tension that drives the narrative.

When Isi uncovers an old journal suggesting that legends of lost Cherokee gold may hold truth, their dynamic takes a dramatic turn. Kidnapped by a wealthy collector who shares their interest in the treasure, Isi and Lou are thrust into a high-stakes adventure that forces them to confront both external dangers and their complicated feelings for each other. The plot takes unexpected twists that heighten the suspense and keep readers on the edge of their seats, as they must navigate not only predators and the harsh elements but also their evolving relationship.

Wilkens masterfully blends heart-pounding action with poignant emotional moments, creating a compelling narrative filled with surprises and tension. The chemistry between Isi and Lou shines as they face life-threatening challenges, making *If I Dig You* a captivating read. This novel is not just about the quest for treasure but also about the treasure of love that awaits when we dare to confront our true feelings, leaving readers eagerly anticipating each new turn in their journey.

Oh my god!!!! This book had me from the first time I read the blurb and it did not disappoint.

As a lesbian myself, sapphic books are always high up on my reading list and I adore almost every one.

With this book, there was something so special about having the friends to lovers connection that makes reading so much more enjoyable. The different aspects of adventure and the culture and romance blended together to make a fantastic book.

I look forward to reading more by Colby Wilkens after this!