ARC Review: Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura

Raiders of the Lost Heart
Author: Jo Segura
Publication: Berkley (December 5, 2023)

Description: Rival archaeologists must team up on a secret Aztec expedition, or it could leave their careers—and hearts—in ruins.

Archaeologist Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía has a bone to pick. Literally.

It’s been Corrie’s life goal to lead an expedition deep into the Mexican jungle in search of the long-lost remains of her ancestor, Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But when she is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig to do just that, Corrie is sure it’s too good to be true...and she’s right.

As the world-renowned expert on Chimalli, by rights Corrie should be leading the expedition, not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome nemesis. But Dr. Ford Matthews has been finding new ways to best her since they were in grad school. Ford certainly isn’t thrilled either—with his life in shambles, the last thing he needs is a reminder of their rocky past.

But as the dig begins, it becomes clear they’ll need to work together when they realize a thief is lurking around their campsite, forcing the pair to keep their discoveries—and lingering attraction—under wraps. With money-hungry artifact smugglers, the Mexican authorities, and the lies between them closing in, there’s only one way this all ends—explosively.

My Thoughts: This romance ticks off all the boxes for me. I main characters are archaeologists who have been rivals since graduate school days. Socorro Mejia has always come out second to Ford Matthews which she claims is the result of his using his charm to take unfair advantage.

Events come to a head when she is asked to join a dig which is supposed to finally locate Aztec warrior Chimalli. She believes herself to be a descendent of Chimalli and has made searching for him and discovering the truth about him one focus of her life's work. She wrote her thesis about him. 

Ford is in charge of the dig which is almost enough to make her get right back on the plane to Berkley. But the draw of finally getting answers about Chimalli is enough to keep her there. Ford is keeping secrets about the purpose of the dig and his reasons for undercutting Corrie's chance to have been chosen to lead the expedition. His mother is suffering from cancer and needs expensive treatments he can't afford if he doesn't find what his investor wants. 

As the two are forced to work together, feelings that they have had buried since graduate school come out. She's always had feelings for him but focus on her career and convincing everyone that she's more than a beautiful body means denying those feelings. Ford has also had feelings for her but ambition was more important than exploring them. 

Now the two rivals need to work together and work out their feelings because something isn't right on the dig and with their mysterious investor. 

This was a fast-paced and entertaining romance. 

Favorite Quote:
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: A Different Dawn by Isabella Maldonado

A Different Dawn
Author: Isabella Maldonado
Narrator: Roxanne Hernandez
Series: Nina Guerrera (Book 2)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (August 10, 2021)
Length: 10 hours and 47 minutes

Description: For nearly thirty years a serial killer has been hiding in plain sight. So has the key to an FBI agent’s dark past.

A family is murdered as they sleep. FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera and her new team are tasked with determining whether there is any link between this attack and another triple homicide from four years earlier and more than two thousand miles away. In the process, they’ll discover a serial killer so cunning that his grisly trail of death spanning nearly three decades has gone undetected. Each crime scene reminds Nina of the ghostly Latin folktale of La Llorona, which terrified her when she was an abandoned and vulnerable child. Now it’s back to haunt her.

Nina has known evil, but these macabre reenactments are as disturbing as they are baffling. Now she must uncover the meaning behind the rituals as the evidence leads her in an unexpected direction—far closer to home than anyone could have imagined. As the team narrows in on a suspect, the present collides with Nina’s past in a twist of fate that forces her to make the ultimate sacrifice.

My Thoughts: This is the second in the Nina Guerrera series. This time Nina is integrating with her new team of FBI agents as they look into the murder of a young family which has ties to a similar murder four years earlier. 

The team discovers that this is only one of eight different murders of young families that have occurred on leap day. As they try to find connections between all the various murders - some of which had been classified and murder-suicides - Nina begins to find a connection to her own life. 

She was found abandoned in a trashcan when she was an infant and was raised in the foster care system. She had always wondered about her past and this story answers her questions.

The narrator did an excellent job with the variety of characters and accents in the story. She also did a good job with the pacing. 

My only complaint has to do with the coincidence that brought Nina's past into the story. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story which was fast-paced and interesting.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.