While I enjoyed aspects of this, there were some things that felt off about the Cherokee. When I looked into some of my doubts, I found out that this author has misrepresented themselves and done so in a willfully ignorant way. I won't be reviewing this book.

This book got pulled from publishing due to claims that the author lied about her indigenous ancestry. I really hope that is not the case.
Regardless, I cannot give a review at this moment.

never got the chance to read which is so unfortunate. i was so sad about i plan to read this soon. such a bummer

I was so incredibly excited for this book, unfortunately that excitement was short lived and very quickly I became uncomfortable with this book. I feel like the romance happened almost too quickly, there were many uncomfortable parts of this book such as self pleasuring in front of someone without prior consent. I felt there was a lot of repetition of conversation and plot points. I also found out nearing the end of my reading time that the author of this falsely claimed native heritage, which in my opinion is not a forgivable thing. So for those reasons I will leave my feedback here, but I won’t be posting a review elsewhere as I don’t want the negative advertising for the author, nor do I want this book connected to my name in any way.

It has come to light that this author lied about her Indigenous ancestry and ties to the Cherokee Nation. In an industry where Indigenous voices are so few (2% or less), this is goes beyond selfish and hurtful. I fully believe Colby lied (or leaned into the lie she’d been told by her family) because she knew that playing the “Native card” would give her a better shot at publication. This was not an innocent mistake. She was given the resources to research her family history and claim her culture. She declined. She was only interested in being Indigenous for self gain and exploitation, not represent and serve her community.

I will never read anything she might publish in the future and I hope her agent and publisher are seriously considering if they want to be aligned with her.

0/5 stars but I am forced to give 1 to post this review.

This book got pulled from publication so I will not be finishing it. Upset but also think it’s the best decision.

I read the book and found it difficult to truly believe the characters. Although I found the story to be an improvement from her last book I still felt it struggled with pacing and showing vs telling. The fact that two grown women who are friends would act like that felt juvenile. I wish there was more background about the MCs family instead of everything being about her friend. The book felt like an idea that had a few interesting aspects that wasn’t fully fleshed out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC!
I love the friends to lovers plot of this book, mixed with the fun aspect of them both being archaeologists. The book was a little messy, as is life most of the time! Third person point of view became a bit confusing in some scenarios, but overall this book was a quick and easy read!

It’s sad that I enjoyed this but won’t be recommending it based on the author’s actions. I will say to each his own and you’re more than welcome to read what you like.

I am not reviewing this book due to allegations by the Tribal Alliance Against Fraud that the author has falsely claimed American Indian Heritage, which has caused this book to be pulled from publication.

I DNF’d this book around 31% when the unfortunate news came to light about the author’s possible misrepresentation of her Native identity. I do not want to support an author taking up valuable space in the BIPOC community when they are not an actual member of said community. I was very upset when the news broke, and I am severely disappointed.

I also did see that this book was being pulled from publication anyway.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to review this book due to it being pulled from publication and no longer available for download

So I will no longer be reading this because while I bet its likely good, I heard that native american treasure is a part of the plot and that the author may or may not have faked her own connection to native american heritage. Yes I love my sapphics but not at the expense of another marginalized community.

Due to this book being currently pulled from publication and possible mis-representation of Cherokee heritage by the author and misleading Native content in the book, I will focus my review on the non-Native elements of the book. As a white reader and reviewer, I will not comment on the validity or accuracy of Native representation in the story, as I do not have personal knowledge or expertise in this area. I would encourage any potential readers to seek the voices of Native reviewers to gain an understanding of this aspect of the book.
The idea of adventure mixed with friends-to-lovers romance is what drew me to this book. However, as I read this book, the repetition of the internal monologue related to the strained friendship between the two main characters made it difficult to stay engaged. The same worries about abandonment and forgiveness were repeated many times with no emotional development or connection between the characters. The ending seemed to be anti-climactic and random, with an appearance by a character that had only been mentioned once or twice before, that became pivotal. I enjoyed the beginning of the book, but the middle was too drawn out and the end was confusing and unsatisfying.

This book was pulled from publication due to questions about the authors claim of native heritage, Given that, I will not be reading it.

I really enjoyed this very much. I liked the friends to lovers aspect. As well as the mystery and action that took place. I really liked the contrast of the two main characters as well as the tension between them as neither wanted to admit their feelings at first. The crazy adventure they went on kept me turning the pages unable to put this down! I highly recommend giving this a try if that sounds like themes you'd enjoy!

As this book has been pulled from publication, I will not be reading it at the request of the author. I hope the author has learned some lessons and will find redemption, as this did look like a very promising read.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy.

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the
E-ARC! Really cute!! Loved the themes & characters so much. I think I even liked this more than the 1st book! Excited to read more!

Since finishing this book, I have heard that the author’s indigenous status is being called into question and that the author treats BIPOC authors poorly. I cannot in good conscience rate this book otherwise.

This story has since been completely pulled from publication due to the author's misrepresentation of their Native heritage. Because of this, I will not be writing a review for this book. The story is very directly influenced with Native characters and beliefs that cannot be accurately portrayed