*SIGH* 2.5 stars
It is with a heavy heart that I rate and review this book. This is the second book by Jo Segura I've read and the once again we have a secretive and sabotaging MMC which is just so hard to get behind and love. Like she forgave him SO fast and I just don't get it. He just blindly followed his fathers instructions to ruin her life and career and jeopardize the lives of the crew and for what? UGHHHHH

The romance and tension was lack luster and my favorite part of the book is the cover. . Even the action felt less intentional and not as detailed as book one which made it tough to really feel while reading. Admittedly tho he calls her "Pringles" and I LOVED THAT

I was so excited to get this ARC bc I read book 1 and loved the Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider vibes but the romance, characters and stakes in this book were just a let down.

Temple of Swoon was a highly anticipated read for me as I really enjoyed Jo Segura's debut, set in the same world. However; I ended up "not finishing" Jo's latest at the 33 % mark as I found it to be predictable and semi following the same storyline as the first novel. I wanted to read something with "lol" jungle moments and captivating characters but was hit with more of the "lol he's the bad guy oh this again" and probably will not continue my Jo Segura journey.

Great banter and lots of action and adventure.

I love a strong female lead in romance books, but I don't like when they get taken advantage of so much that they look silly on page. Lie of omission is tricky in this sense. It has to be done carefully and not at the expense of the female lead's success.

Overall a fun read with great steam.

Temple of Swoon is perfect for someone looking to find adventure with a heavy sprinkle of quirky humor and just the perfect amount of spice!

As a big fan of Indiana Jones and a lover of the first book in this series, I was STOKED for this. But it was such a letdown. The FMC acted so dumb and it became nearly unbearable. The love was also a little too insta lovey for me. I’ll hold out hope for another great adventure romance but this one didn’t do it for me.

It’s hard to be a badass archaeologist when you’re wearing a fanny pack, err money belt, but Dr. Miriam Jacobs is going to try.

Miri’s mission is to find the Lost City of the Moon in the Amazon rainforest. While Journalist Rafael Monfils’ mission is to stop her. You would think that would make them natural born enemies, but it doesn’t. And, I think this is one of the things I missed. While I loved that Rafa fell for Miri’s adorable dorkiness almost immediately. I did miss some good old banter and tension that you get from two people that are trying to despise each other.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I liked the action and adventure. Also, I love a book with a latin flare, and this one delivered.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was just as adventurous as the first book was! Between the non-stop Jungle Action, with a side of some swoony romance, this book was easy to fly through.

I really enjoyed Miriam. She pushed herself to be her best and definitely had a lot of growth by the end, with Rafa as her biggest cheerleader even if things didn’t start out so pure. I loved the shenanigans they got themselves into and how their relationship slowly developed over time. This was absolutely a slow burn and I was cheering in my seat when they finally got together for the first time, over 50% into the book.

I would love to see a third installment of this series follow Anissa. Now that we have seen Dr. Meijas and Dr. Jacobs have their career altering moments and happily-ever-after romances, it’s time for Anissa to shine!

This is my last read of 2024 and it was a good one! A sign that my next read in 2025 will be just as good.

One of the standout aspects of "Temple of Swoon" is its vivid and immersive world-building. Segura's creation is richly detailed and steeped in mythology and folklore, with a depth and complexity that is simply stunning. The temple itself is a character in its own right, a labyrinthine and mystical place that seems to pulse with its own rhythm and magic.

I loved both Romancing the Stone and Raiders of the Lost Arc countless times back in the 1980s so I’m drawn to books that are of a similar genre.
I thought Miri was an interesting character but I never really warmed up to Rafa. I thought he was a bit vacuous and gullible since he never bothered to check out who his mother was, just taking his father’s version of the story.
The book is action packed and the very end is the best part, in my opinion.
In a day and age where every little thing seems exposed and non private I like to think the city remains hidden and protected from the outside snoopy world.

What a fun read! I really enjoyed this story. It was fun to be back in the archaeological world with romance and adventure.

I love adventure romances and so glad to see this second installment from Jo Segura! I hope there is a third because we deserve to see what the author does with a Crusade title 😉.

Temple was really fun and cozy. A perfect lighthearted read for the end of the holiday season. Just sit back, suspend that disbelief, and go along for the ride. As a former archaeologist, it’s fun seeing see archaeology in romance, even if only in name. Miri and Rafa were both cute and it was fun to follow their story.

✨ Review ✨ Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura

Thanks to Berkley and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

I had super high hopes for this because I loved the first book in the series, but this one fell a little flat for me. It seemed to follow the same arc as the first book, and was both fast-moving and not enough adventure somehow. The pacing was a bit off for me -- everything in the last 50 pages felt a little rushed.

With that said, it was still a fun adventure-filled read, and I love that Segura is bringing in badass brown archaeologists (and the struggles they face in a male-dominated field) to our view.

I loved that Miri was super silly, loving her snacks and swinging on vines, and as a fellow silly PhD, I loved seeing this. I liked the chemistry between the characters. I don't really love lying / miscommunication as a trope and so this also I think impacted my enjoyment of this.

I'll definitely pick up whatever Segura writes next, but this kind of fell in the second book slump for me. :(

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: f/m contemporary romance
Setting: Brazilian rainforest
Reminds me of: Indiana Jones meets badass female archaeologist
Pub Date: January 7, 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ adventure romances
⭕️ badass female PhDs (like Ali Hazelwood's books)
⭕️ the Brazilian rainforest

Miri was so relatable, especially in the way she puts pressure on herself to succeed. Her tenacity and drive had me cheering her on the entire book and I loved her cheesy jokes.

She and Rafa were perfect for each other. I loved the awkward meet cute and instant attraction between them. They have great chemistry and the banter is so much fun! I loved that this was dual POV because seeing Miri through Rafa's eyes was so sweet. There's lots of sexual tension and spicy moments throughout, with several open door scenes.

I absolutely love the Indiana Jones vibes of this book. The expedition to find the lost city had it all: high stakes, action, adventure, and even some capybaras. As Miri might say, this book was rad!

Thank you Berkeley Romance for the free copy of this book!!

Temple of Swoon is the second book in Jo Segura's rom-com archaeology series. It's super cute, a tad cheesy (in a good way), with adventure and spice thrown in.

Where Raiders of the Lost Heart was more romcom then adventure, Temple of Swoon had more adventure thrown in. Which I enjoyed. I just wish with Miri's badassery and knowledge, that she had discovered more using them then by accidentally finding everything. It wasn't until the very end that she truly shined and showed what she could do.

I did love Miri and Rafa together. Their meet cute was adorable and I love the tension between them and the banter throughout the story. I also loved the nickname Pringles.

Read if you like:
Adventure Romance
Forced Proximity
Sabatoge
Spice


Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the eArc in exchange for my honest review

I love adventure romance books and this is a solid contribution to the genre.

The book has the humor and fun adventure vibes that I was craving and I appreciated that each of the main characters were nuanced and the expedition and backstory was well thought out and I loved the front and center focus of the rights of indigenous people in Western archaeology.

Unfortunately I felt that the book was a bit uneventful in terms of the archaeology plot - they barely make an progress and then within the last 10% solved the whole thing. I also had a hard time liking the FMC, Miri. I'm sure many will find her quirky and charming, but I just found her annoying. I understand the character growth of overcoming her imposter syndrome, but to me it made her seem extremely younger than her 25 years and got really grating.

Overall a fun read with some interesting twists and a strong angle for indigenous rights for cultural sites in archaeology.

Jo Segura's adventurous rom-com is so much fun, and readers who enjoyed Raiders of the Lost Heart will find a lot of the same energy and sense of humor balanced with high stakes in this one. Charming, funny, swoony, and atmospheric.

THIS. This is the kind of fun romcom I will just devour. With adventure, action, sizzling chemistry and spicy romance, banter, classic villains, kissing in the rain, vine swinging lessons 🤣. Oh and no third act break up! But it might leave you craving Pringles 👀.

Miri is a smart and witty, Fanny pack wearing, snack loving FMC who I adored. And she handled Rafa’s revelations so maturely. Rafa might have been deceitful in the beginning but his heart was always in the right place. Their meet cute was hilarious and though there was immediate attraction circumstances led to a slow burn romance with plenty of tantalizing moments.

I also appreciated the focus on preserving archeological sites and respecting the history of the people who lived there.

Thanks to the publisher and author for the ARC, thoughts are my own.

"Temple of Swoon" is the newest addition to the exciting "Raiders of the Lost Heart" series by Jo Segura.

I am a huge fan of female characters dominating in a "male's world" and Dr. Miri Jacobs is no exception. She's cute, spunky, and a little unsure of herself at times, but in a good way.

I had high expectations for this one after really loving "Raiders of the Lost Heart" and I think that set me up for some slight disappointment. "Temple of Swoon" is an adorable rom-com but I think I was expecting a little more on the adventure front given the Indiana Jones inspiration.

I still enjoyed this one nonetheless and can't wait to see the hype it deserves in January.

Thank you to Berkley for selecting me through the Underrepresented Voices program and to NetGalley for providing the e-arc.

This book was fun and entertaining, but I do think it was a bit disappointing. I liked Rafa as a character and his storyline, and I also liked the romance between him and Miri; I think their chemistry came across well and the sort of sunshine x sunshine energy was cute!!

What I didn’t like so much was that this book felt very anticlimactic for me. I was expecting a lot more action and adventure and details on the exploration itself, as well as the backstory on what they were exploring, while a lot of the time that plot line felt like an afterthought. The last few chapters were rushed, especially when considering their importance to the story, and I wish that the actual dig had a bigger role in this book!

⭐️ 3/5
🌶️ 3/5

Regrettably, I think the cover is what I liked most about this book… 😬

I have loved the Indiana Jones movies since I was young, so I was on board with the premise right from the jump, but this was overall just really lackluster.

For me, the action was uneventful and the stakes felt pretty low. I feel that the author wanted to replicate the vibes from book one, but didn’t quite hit the mark. There was so much repetition in this storyline that I found myself truly bored.

I feel like there is so much more that could have been explored, but all we focused on was the horniness of our two MCs. These two were so hot and bothered over one another after less than 48 hours. Not to mention, the MMC’s sole purpose for being on this expedition is to sabotage our heroine’s attempt to find the fabled lost city. Lying and sabotage just aren’t fun for me.

What I did love was the lore behind this expedition and the various clues they found along the way. I wish we were able to delve deeper into this and the mysterious guardians of the lost city.

After enjoying Raiders of the Lost Heart, I really wanted to love this story, but I just felt let down. I still have hope for the author’s next in this series, The Lust Crusade. I can’t get enough of these titles!

Thank you Berkley Romance for the advanced copy!