I really wanted to love it, but alas I did not. There is Also some issue with ancestry which put a cloud over the experience

Wooooo my approval rating is about to go WAYYYYY down.

1. I got to the end of this book before i did a little stop by goodreads and found the absolutely SHOCKING news about this author appropriating native culture TWICE in her novels and actually not being native american AT ALL?

2.the climac of this book is white people being punished for stealing native goods is amazingly tone deaf in light of this news.

3. Smp has recently had problems with diversity and inclusion and yikes x19363738 for this.

I will not be reviewing this title as it has recently come out that this author might not have true connections to the Cherokee and Choctaw ancestry she claims. To do both this and include Indigenous culture in her and make it a significant point of her novel is not something I am willing to support, especially since the stories can be told without these inclusion or significant plot points having these connections. Indigenous stories NEED to be told, but being told from disingenuine sources is not something I want to support. Should this change and the claims be invalid, I would rescind this. But the lack of response on her part makes everything rather suspect.

The only thing I can attest to is that the cover designs are flawless.

Thank you for the ARC of this book, due to the controversy surrounding this author I don't feel comfortable reading this book anymore.

I appreciate the offer to review this book. I will not be writing a review as I recently became aware that publication has been paused for this book. I do not feel it would be beneficial to share feedback for a book that my followers & friends will not have access to. I apologize and hope this will not affect my chances at any future releases from this publisher.

This book was... not it. I liked the premise and the inclusion of sapphic romance, but the story just fell flat. I had read this author's previously released book and it was alright, so when I saw the blurb, I became really interested in this one and wanted to give it a chance. It just wasn't for me: the plot was good at the beginning and then the development fell short.

I read this before the controversy. The book was good but idk if it was my favorite. I felt like the book could of been better and character development was lacking a bit, loved the story line idea of it but the execution wasn’t here for me. Overall it was a cute story and although the controversy of the author I do appreciate for giving me the opportunity to read this.

So, I did read this before the controversy and I've been sort of wondering how to fit that into a review. Obviously, there are a lot of people talking about the authenticity of the native representation within this book, and I am not an expert, so I won't comment on that except to draw attention to it potentially being problematic and suggest that people look to more knowledgeable sources than me to get the best information. Ultimately, I don't think this will be available for purchase either way, but it does inform my decisions on whether I'd want to pick up another Colby Wilkens novel.

As far as the book itself goes, I struggled with the first portion of it. To me, miscommunication is a hard trope to write without it just being frustrating, and I didn't find the dialogue or characterization to be particularly strong to make up for a lot of the back and forth. This felt very YA, despite also being excessively about how hot the other character is during internal monologues, and sort of landed around an after-dark version of scooby doo. I think I would have enjoyed it quite a bit more if we actually saw the development of feelings between the two main characters instead of starting at a place where they were already in love/lust with one another and just unable to express it, and then off on their silly goofy adventure.

Overall, I would be cautious about picking up another book by this author in the future, and would probably pass unless a trusted source recommended it.

This book was well written and had engaging characters and plot, despite some characters not following through the entire story. While I read and enjoyed the experience of this book, I cannot in good conscious recommend this book, due to the controversy surrounding the author and their false claims.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book due to the author lying about their native ethnic background.

1 star

Having DNFed the author's previous book, I was wary of this one. I had read the first 3 chapters, and was feeling a similar way, when the controversy surrounding the author came to light. I will be marking this as a DNF because of my initial reading, and will not be supporting this author in the future due to her actions.

Thank you to netgalley and SMP for the Arc in exchange for an honest review!

Treasure hunting? More like bad dialogue and really performative and almost cliche representation of native culture.

The first twenty percent of this book was honestly the main character being upset at the other character for leaving and it was honestly so frustrating. She was just so winy which left a lot to be desired from the book.

Characters went missing halfway through to never be mentioned again (you’d think an editor would’ve caught onto that) and there was more time spent in the characters minds lusting after each other than actually talking or expressing their feelings. It felt childish and not at all how grown adults actually act.
The whole treasure hunting portion of the book could’ve had more done to it, it honestly just felt flat. I feel like there’s always a spark missing in these sort of books nowadays and yes the marketing is great and the blurb is great, but the story itself usually doesn’t live up to what is shown to you and that’s honestly just apart of the game of being a reader.

There were some parts that made me laugh and the scenery was described well. I honestly think if the characters were in a different book that it would’ve been incredible, I just don’t think the treasure hunting aspect was executed as well as it could’ve been.

Thank you for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

I’m very sad to hear that this author was falsely claiming indigenous status, and for that I cannot in good conscience read this book. It’s unfortunate because it sounded right up my alley.

Thank you for the advanced copy but due to the controversy surrounding the author, I am choosing to not read or review this title anymore.

Thank you for the advanced copy but due to the controversy surrounding the author, I am choosing to not read or review this title anymore.

I really really wanted to love this book and I feel like the potential for me to love it was definitely there but instead I found it difficult to get through. I love a sapphic romance and was so excited for this story to have indigenous representation. It was the story itself that failed to catch my attention at all times, it was really slow and tough to get through. The indigenous representation also feels very disingenuous amidst recent allegations of this author not being truthful about her heritage. Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for this ARC.

Thank you for the advanced copy but due to the controversy surrounding the author, I am choosing to not read or review this title anymore.

I had started this book and will admit I was for the most part enjoying it. I did unfortunately have to put it down not long after starting it because I learned the author was a white woman claiming status as a native person. That was disgusting to me and I had to stop reading or supporting from there.

It's cute, it's spicy - I loved it. A sapphic adventure romance I didn't know I was looking for. There's tension, longing, and an intriguing plot line. I didn't want to put this one down.

While I appreciate being given the opportunity to review this work, with it being pulled from production at this time I cannot form and accurate review or rating.