Not reviewing after belatedly discovering the author lied about being Native American. Super gross that white authors keep doing this, literally what is the point???

This was a big miss for me. The pacing was absolutely horrible, the characters I didn’t care for, the romance was lackluster at best, in the end I was skimming and hate reading. I checked review pages to see if it was a me issue and discovered the drama and discussion surrounding the author. This was my second attempt reading this author and the second book I’ve read that’s been a big miss. At this point I’ll be moving on from this author and not picking up anymore of their works.

Thank you NetGalley for this review copy. Somehow I couldn't get past the miscommunication and whiny characters. I wanted to love this book and just couldn't. *sigh*

Isadora Ross and Louise Morgenstern are both archaeologists and have been best friends for years. They have different areas of interest and Lou has returned from a year in Turkey. Isa felt Lou had broken a promise by being away and has very strong feelings for her. Isa has been spending her free time searching for clues of what happened to her mother. She was seeking ancient lost Cherokee gold and had disappeared fourteen years previously. When Isa finds her mother’s journal she and Lou start seeking the legendary gold. But they aren’t the only ones who want it.

I looked forward to this as a f/f romance, with a cute cover and an adventurous storyline. The characters are likable. And I like the pent up longing between the pair. There are villains wanting the two to find the treasure for them. Some of the plotting stretches the imagination, think Indiana Jones type adventure. But there is realism in surviving in the wilderness. This takes place in the same world as the author’s previous book ‘If I Stopped Haunting You”. I have read that as well but these are stand alone novels.

I wasn’t aware of the controversy surrounding this author and this book before reading it. I am not changing my rating because of the issue. But I do understand why others lowered their rating and I was glad to have their reviews so I could be more informed. One person said this book has been pulled from the publication schedule. I am not sure if that is true but am still leaving the review for the ARC edition I read.

ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. I loved this book so much. It's "The Mummy" meets "Indiana Jones" with indigenous and LGBTQIA+ representation. What else do you need? Not only was it a fun adventure, but I was LOLing at parts and the romance was scorching. I love these two!

Finished this book before I became aware of the controversy surrounding the author.

If addressed, will leave my honest review.

I will not be providing feedback as I believe this book has been pulled from publication. If anything changes in the future and the controversies around this book are resolved, I would be happy to review at that time. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book.

No.

I really just don’t want to expand that. This was just a no.

Thank you to Netgalley and SMP for the arc though

Give me ALLLLL the lesbian romance books!!!!! I love a book I can relate to, and this was no exception. Thank you so much to St Martin’s Press for sending me a copy of this to read- it releases in 10 days for anyone that wants a wonderful queer romance story with a legit plot.

Louise and Isi have been best friends since college…and also have been in love with each other without the other knowing since then. Louise left Isi high and dry when her mother died, but now she’s back in town and they’re in the same archeological field; aka forced to interact with one another. Will their feelings for each other come to the surface? Or will they go another ten years not dealing with their own emotions?

DNF

I was sent an ARC of this book on Netgalley and accepted it based on the description. I DNF'd this author's previous book and have since learned of the controversy that she may have exaggerated her Native American Heritage. As a white person it's not my place to say if this has good Native American representation or not, but I suggest seeking out native reviewers who can speak to this.

I did attempt to read this, but the pacing was immediately slow for me. I also wasn't a fan of the characters.

Thanks Natgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this ARC to me.

I will not be leaving a positive review for this book based on the controversy of this author. A dissappointment because the cover is really cute.

This book was not for me despite me being a huge Indiana Jones and Mummy lover. One of the FMC's was insufferable in a bad way, and the dialogue was too immature for my tastes. It was just overall meh to me.

Thanks to NetGally for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I read about 20% of the book before another book reviewer let me know this book was pulled from publication. I’m not sure if you eventually plan on releasing it, but I will not be continuing the book and so I won’t be reviewing it on my bookstagram. Here are my thoughts of what I did read:

I liked the treasure hunting aspect of the story. I love a book with adventure, so that aspect of the book really appealed to me. I like the friends to lovers, but I was getting a little annoyed with their miscommunication. Overall it was interesting, but after I found out about the author’s false native identity claims it soured the book for me.

Thank you!

ThisThis book was just not for me. I did not enjoy the first book and this one wasn't any better. In addition to the author's controversiality, this one also does not help.

Based on the author’s recent controversy, I no longer feel comfortable leaving a review for this book.

This book is not for me. It starts out much slower than I expect for an adventure romance. The characters seemed to be defined by their pining for each other, which could be resolved by a simple conversation. DNF.

I understand the novel has been pulled from publication because of a controversy over the author’s heritage. This controversy did not affect my star rating.

This one isn’t for me. I was excited about the idea of an adventurous romance but I disliked the characters too much to continue reading. I normally would try to push myself to read a little more and see if I grow to like the characters, but with all the discourse around this author I don’t feel comfortable continuing to read it.

This release has been pulled from publication so I don't think it's worthwhile to leave my review. It's my understanding that the author doesn't have Cherokee heritage which is a plot point in the novel using "Cherokee Magic".

A cute read but I honestly just couldn't get too into it. I may pick it back up in the future but I did end up DNFing at 50% because I just wasn't enjoying as much as I'd like to. The writing and story was good but I think it just wasn't really my cup of tea unfortunately.

Thank you to SMP and NetGalley for the chance to read and review If I Dig You by Colby Wilkens.

I do not feel comfortable reviewing this book after all of the discourse that has been going around about this author and her stories.