4 stars! This was a fun, adventurous and silly story. I really loved both Miri and Rafa. Pick this up if you're looking for an exciting escape filled with characters learning to find their confidence and voice despite whatever challenges come their way.

For years Dr. Miri has been striving to make a name for herself in the field of archaeology to no avail.  However, her aspirations are fast-tracked when she is unexpectedly assigned to lead a high-profile expedition in the Amazon jungle in search of the legendary Lost City of the Moon.

Full of self doubt, but desperate to prove herself, her plans are quickly disrupted when disaster strikes, leaving her stranded in the heart of the jungle.  Fortunately, she is aided by a sexy photojournalist named Rafa, who helps her fend off the mysterious adversaries who are pursuing them.

Unbeknownst to Miri, Rafa harbors a hidden agenda that directly contradicts her own: to ensure that the lost city remains concealed forever. Stakes escalate as their flirtations grow into a deeper connection and secrets are revealed.  

Rich in plot twists, set against an exhilarating backdrop, and featuring endearing characters, this dual point of view, slow-burn romance is sure to captivate fans of Segura’s debut, Raiders of the Lost Heart, further solidifying her reputation as the preeminent author of adventure romance.

I had so much fun with this book! I really enjoyed Jo's first book, and I think I liked this one even better! I am someone who grew up on Romancing the Stone and I definitely get all of those vibes from this series. The combination of love and adventure makes this a book I couldn't put down!

Temple of Swoon, written by Jo Segura, is a captivating story of heartbreak, redemption, and passion. This narrative follows the journey of two enemies who unexpectedly fall in love. Once I began reading, I found myself unable to put the book down.

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing Group, NetGalley and PRH Audio for the ALC/ARC!
All opinions are my own!

What a fun read. I loved this adventure romance. I thought Miri and Rafa had amazing chemistry and I loved their story. I would love to see another book with them as main characters in the future.

Kyla Garcia did an excellent job with narrating the audiobook. My only crituque is that I wish there had been a seperate male narrator for Rafa's chapters, but I still thought Kyla did a good job with the male voices. It is just my personal opinion that the audiobook may have flowed better with dual POV narration instead of single POV.

Overall Jo Segura is a fantastic writer and I can't wait to read her next romance novel!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley and PRH Audio for the ARC and ALC!

Jo Segura’s Temple of Swoon is an immersive, swoon-worthy blend of action and romance that hooked me from the first page. Set in the lush, treacherous Amazon rainforest, the vivid descriptions made me feel like I was right there with Miri and Rafa on their thrilling search for the Lost City of the Moon. Miri’s determination, corny humor, and relatable self-doubt make her an easy-to-root-for heroine, while Rafa’s secret agenda and internal conflict add depth and intrigue. Their banter is chef’s kiss—fun, flirty, and brimming with romantic tension that had me grinning throughout. The pacing is spot-on, balancing heart-pounding danger, laugh-out-loud moments, and a slow-burn romance that unfolds beautifully amidst the action. With high stakes, witty dialogue, and a story that keeps you hooked, Temple of Swoon is perfect for fans of treasure hunts and sizzling chemistry. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the chance to review this fantastic book!

Many thanks to @netgalley @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the #gifted advanced digital and audiobook copies! #berkleypartner #berkley #prhaudioinfluencer

Dr. Miriam Jacobs is going on a significant and unique archeological dig in the Amazon with her mentor, but things aren’t going her way. She misses the bus and embarrasses herself in front of a hot stranger (twice!). She needs to pull herself together because this dig to find the Lost City of the Moon is a career maker - and she desperately needs a career maker. And as if the day couldn’t get any worse, her mentor had to stay back and put Miri in charge - and she cannot fail. Journalist Rafael Monfils is documenting the dig, or at least that’s what everyone on the dig thinks. In reality, his goal is to prevent the team from finding the holy city - to protect both the city and his mother’s legacy. Every time Miri and the team seem to progress, something sets them back, and it is usually Rafael’s handiwork. However, as the weeks pass, Rafa begins to question his loyalties because Miri seems to be on an ethical quest for understanding and preservation. And he cannot stop thinking about her and her quirky Larua Croft imitations, disturbing love of junk food, clumsiness, and general adorable nature.

Like Segura’s Raiders of the Lost Heart, this book is packed with action, adventure, and romance. The excavation storyline is more than a backdrop—it’s central to the plot, offering a well-developed narrative that drives the story forward. I loved Miri and Rafa’s relationship, from their disastrous meet-cute to their growing bond filled with humor, nicknames, and deeper emotional connections. Segura’s strong, adventurous female leads shine once again, balancing vulnerability with badassery, and proving that they don’t need saving - in fact, they often do the saving themselves.

The audiobook is narrated solo by Kyla Garcia, who did a fantastic job bringing Miri and Rafa to life—and sometimes to almost death! Her narration embraces the absolute fun of this book and draws listeners in immediately. The run time is 10 hours and 23 minutes.

Thank you to Berkley for the eARC and PRH Audio for the ALC.

Temple of Swoon felt like I was watching an action-y RomCom movie.

Is it a little cheesy? A bit instalove-y? Unbelievable events and actions? Yes to all of those. But did I still devour and enjoy this one? Again, yes.

Miri and Rafe are instantly smitten with each other when they meet, but unfortunately, Rafe has some secrets and is secretly undermining Miri’s search for a hidden city. I usually hate when a main character is hiding something so important, but for some reason it didn’t bother me so much this time. Rafe was such a golden retriever, so adoring of Miri (and her brain!) that I couldn’t stay mad at him.

The audio was done entirely by Kyla Garcia and I loved her accent when speaking Portuguese or mimicking a French-Canadian accent. While I usually lean towards duet narration, her voice fit the characters very well and kept my interest!

My first from this author and now I definitely need to read her debut!

I absolutely devoured this book in two days, and overall enjoyed the story. This book follows Miriam (Miri), a snack loving, fanny pack wearing archeologist on her expedition to find the missing mythical city of the moon in the jungles of Brazil. Trials, tribulations, and setbacks all occur in this story of resilience and proving to herself she is whoever she wants to be. I loved the growth Miri had and left the book encouraged with an I can do and be what I want mindset. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a swoon worthy, adventure romantic comedy.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I never considered myself a big action/adventure fan, but I am LOVE with Jo Segura's books. Following a series of unfortunate events, Miri found herself in charge of the search for the Lost City of the Moon. This was her chance to prove herself, but those unfortunate events continued to plague the expedition. The only thing working in her favor was the growing attraction between her and Rafa, a journalist documenting the journey, but he seemed to have some ulterior motives.

This book really called to the nerdy, Indiana Jones lover in me. Here is a short list of things that made this book a big hit for me:

* The characters - Both Miri and Rafa were easy to love. Miri was quirky and amused me right from the start, but I also cared about her. She struggled with being taken seriously in the realm of her career. This made me root harder for her to succeed as I wanted her to prove all the naysayers wrong. Rafa was charming, but some of his actions frustrated me. In the end, I was #TeamRafa after learning more about him.

* The romance - These two were precious together. Their interactions were fun and flirty, and it was so sweet the way Rafa really "saw" Miri and appreciated all the parts of her.

* The setting - It's wonderful to be whisked away to places I have never been, and the Brazilian Amazon definitely qualifies. Segura did a fantastic job transporting me to the jungle and depicting all its danger and beauty.

* The story - This is a fairly plot driven book, so I don't want to give too much away, but I can say that Segura blended romance, action, and humor to produce a story that captivated me from beginning to end. With some interesting lore and a few unexpected twists and turns, I had an amazing adventure with Rafa and Miri.

Overall, Temple of Swoon delivered both swoons and thrills, and I hope Segura has many more adventures to share.

I really wanted to like this story. The premise sounded super fun but as I started the book I quickly determined it was not for me. The FMC and MMC did not have any legitimate chemistry depite being involved in a hot relationship. He lies felt extreme and it was hard to imagine a woman forgiving him. He talked about his heritage and honoring it but it felt a bit forced because he knew nothing of that heritage. Many of the other archeologists came off a tab cliche and of course Miri was paired with an overbearing loud mouth.
The book did not capture my attention at all. I forced myself to continue reading hoping for the spark that would make me eager to turn the page but sadly did not get it. I understand from my research their is another book in the series and the other book has more action which I think this book sorely needed.
I hate to give a bad review because the book did not suit the expectations I had based on the back cover but I just felt the book failed to launch.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC..

Jo Segura does it again! Temple of Swoon had me in an obsessed chokehold. I couldn't read it fast enough. I love how it follows Dr. Miriam Jacobs, whom we met in Raiders of the Lost Heart, and her very first expedition to find a seemingly impossible place. Miri is a love letter to those quirky gals who were told they were too weird through life, and shows how much quirks can be loved by the right people... including herself. Also! This book felt like it fit together with it's predecessor without actually copying any of the previous romance tropes, which was surprising to me, though, I shouldn't have been surprised. Jo is a wonderful writer. I like that I found out more about the series' bad guy, Pierre Vautour, as well. It makes me want to reread Raiders to see him in a newer light. I imagine we will be seeing him again with Jo's third installment titled [something based on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... possibly The Heart's Crusade?]

Such a fun rom com!! Albeit the story did take a while to get rolling, but once it did, I couldn’t put it down! Rafa and Miri were adorable, even though I hate the lying trope… lol. At the end though, the plot twist totally made up for it. I’m excited to see where Jo Segura goes next with her books🫶🏼


A big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review😊😊

Thank you Berkely for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

WOW.

I truly was going into this with an open mind, but as the book continued that idea changed. This book takes a "quirky" attempt at an archeological adventure and it didn't work.

The characters and material within itself fell flat. How the content in the book seemed repetitive and yet overwhelming at once is quite surprising.

I also want to share that I disagree with the premise of the way that the relationship was written, having the MMC be responsible for the sabotaging the mission without communicating with the FMC his intentions and his actions wasn't hot but a red flag. Don't get me wrong, I truly disliked the fmc but damn was that a major ick.

This is the second time in which this author has written a MMC that purposely sabotages the FMC career and I simply cannot stand behind this idea. Like why is it that men have to sabotage women's careers and these women forgive them and fall in love with them?

The relationship dynamic and building between the main characters as romantic partners was truly terrible and a poor attempt in quirky. It's so strange and I cannot find myself finding reason as to why their relationship was worth reading about.

I couldn’t wait to see if anyone would really swing on vines – and yes, they do! This romance takes place on an expedition through the Amazon in search of the Lost City of the Moon. I like Indiana Jones movies so I was excited to check this one out. While it was a little cheesy and frustrating at times, overall, it is a fun adventure.

Our love interests, Miriam (Miri) an archaeologist and Rafael (Rafa) a photojournalist, first meet when they both miss the last bus to Manacapuru, Brazil where they need to go for a kick off meeting for an expedition they're both going on. Miri shares her snacks (she loves snacks!) with handsome Rafa and he, in turn, shares his taxi with her. Once they get to their meeting, they find out that Dr. Socorro Mejía, Mira’s mentor (who is the world-famous archaeologist from Raiders of the Lost Heart), won’t be able to make the trip. She assigns Miri and Dr. Bradley Quinn to co-lead the group.

Though Miri realizes this as an opportunity of a lifetime, she is very insecure and full of self-doubt about whether she can do this. I confess I found this a little off-putting and thus it took me a bit to warm up to her.

Rafa is a photojournalist for Global Geography magazine who assigned him to document the search and discovery of the Lost City. This is to be his last mission. He’s been all over the world and now he wants to settle down and write novels. His mother died when he was a baby and this part of Brazil was her homeland so he’s hoping to learn more about her heritage. He doesn’t have much to go by, only her first name, Andressa. There are stories he’s heard about the Lost City and how it glistens under moonlight. It is supposed to be full of riches - precious metals. But Rafa has an ulterior motive! His father wants him to protect the Lost City which he says is Rafa’s mother’s legacy and that he should do whatever he needs to do to stop the expedition from finding it. But things aren’t always what they seem. (This is also true for Bradley Quinn!)

As the group heads out, they encounter one problem after another. They are even attacked by a ruthless group and held at knife point by men who worked for Pierre Vautour, the enemy from Raiders of the Lost Heart. Amidst the danger, Mira and Rafa are attracted to each other but while Mira thinks Rafa is funny, kind and brave, she wants to keep things professional between them-- she doesn’t want any distractions.

It was frustrating to watch Rafa sabotage the group’s work and I felt some of Mira’s actions were risky and reckless, especially when she and Rafa go off to search on their own. But I enjoyed the adventure and romance as things started to heat up in the second half. Rafa has never seen anyone as fascinating or beautiful as Mira and when Mira poses for photos in front of rocks in the jungle, it starts out cheesy but ends up getting spicy.

While it’s got some cheesy moments, Temple of Swoon has enough action, adventure and romance in the Amazon jungle to carry it through.

The much-awaited sequel to Raiders of the Lost Heart, Temple of Swoon does not disappoint! It features archaeologist Dr. Miri Jacobs, who’s tasked with finding a lost Amazonian city. She’s young and hasn’t led an expedition like this before, but she knows she’s up to the task. But not everyone else shares her confidence.

Rafa Monfils, a journalist, joins the crew. Officially, he’s simply there to observe the expedition and write an article, but he comes with an ulterior motive—to do whatever it takes to block Miri from finding the lost city.

And of course there’s a brilliant meet-cute and a near-instant attraction, but they decide they absolutely must be professional on this expedition. As if that’s going to happen, but they do keep it up for a while. As Rafa’s roadblocks don’t stop Miri, and as real danger confronts them, here come the twists and turns.

Temple of Swoon was FUN! The romance and attraction was palpable, and the characters had fantastic chemistry. The adventure element was interesting and kept me captivated. Miri’s quirks were so endearing and she was the most lovable FMC. Rafa was uber sexy too, and I love how dazzled he was by Miri. Ok, there were a few small parts that dragged a little bit and a couple moments where I wondered how people with Ph.Ds didn’t think of some things, but all in all, what a fun, fun book that I loved from the start.

WWCMD? My new mantra!

WOW! Just WOW! I love Jo Segura and her writing for what it is: fun, lighthearted, humorous, and yet somehow relatable. I have a degree in Anthropology, Medical and Biological archeology to be exact, and despite this author not having a FORMAL degree in such... she knocked THAT aspect out of the park. Like, truly did a wonderful job of describing what it's like on a job! The tension and banter between Rafa and Miri were top notch and had me both wanting them to extend their 'courting' of sorts and have them get together asap! My only grievance is that PERSONALLY, I found the purpose and backstory of our MMC to be a little hard to accept and understand, purposely trying to throw our FMC off the trail and stoping her from achieving her goals? I could never push past that! It was just a little hard to accept and move forward with the story and relationship once learning what his intent was, but it was brought together and concluded in a beautiful way. Besides that, no other complaints and I simply cannot wait to see what Ms. Segura does next!

- Quirky Awkward Archaeologist FMC
- Journalist MMC
- Forced Proximity
- Secret Mission in the Amazon
- Workplace romance

I wasn’t aware of this before requesting an ARC, but there is another book that technically comes before this one, Raiders of the Lost Heart. While it is not necessary to read the first book to understand this one I personally wish I would have realized that sooner and read them in order to fully appreciate the story.

Overall I thought this was cute. I actually liked the dynamic between Miri and Rafa, even the instalove. Miri frustrated me with her questionable and rash decision making and there was a lot of far fetched scenarios, but I still though this was a fun adventure. I wish we would have gotten more with the epilogue though as I was left with some unanswered questions.

Lackluster, fell flat, I didn’t buy into the romance between the two characters. The second book didn’t continue Raiders of the Lost Heart’s fun, fast-paced action.

Miri and Rafa have been together in the Amazon for almost over a month, spending hours every day together, and somehow they don’t seem any closer at the end of the book than they do at the beginning. I didn’t even care about the steamy scenes and I never skip past those. Overall 2 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC. I fell in love with the characters. You do not need to have read her previous book to enjoy this one but it helps because they reference the two main characters the most.