1 Stars

I think this book had promise but fell flat. I love an adventure theme but there were too many plot holes and conveniences for me to give this book a higher rating. I was very irritated by the end of this book and was ready for it to be done.

I did read the book in its entirety before I learned of the controversy around it and based review solely on the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin Griffin for an earc. All opinions are of my own.

I was decently excited for a f/f treasure hunting adventure. However this felt like the most low stakes treasure hunt ever. I honestly found myself more annoyed throughout most of this story than anything. While the last 20% was definitely the best part of the story, I don’t feel as though it made up for the first 80%.

We have Louise and Isa who have been friends for majority of their lives and secretly in love with each other for most of that time as well. Isa lost her mom a while back, so Louise is all she has left. Louise after a breakup decided to take a job in Turkey and has recently returned. I bring this up simply because Isa brings up how Louise abandoned her continuously for the first 60% of the book. I found myself so irritated every time it was brought up because, while her feelings are valid, I just felt that they were so self centered and I just could not empathize with them. She can’t look at Louise the same way afterwords, and can’t see their friendship the same way, because she felt abandoned.
Maybe I am heartless, however, these women are in their thirties, Louise still made trips back to see her important moments, i’m assuming they still communicated, I just felt like Isa was dismissing anything Louise needed to process, and I just could not get behind that being one of the main conflicts between them for most of the book. I feel bad but I think I rolled my eyes every time that was mentioned. There are friends I would die for, but I would never feel abandoned if they left to take care of themselves, or for a job, because their life doesn’t revolve around me sadly. Would I be sad? Of course, but everything about this felt so me me me.

Maybe I am just not a fan of Isi? I did enjoy Louise. I liked her optimism. I found her to be realistic and I liked her passion about her job and how she continued to talk about and connect things she learned in Turkey to the treasure hunt. I also thought she was pretty resourceful. Every time there was an Isi point of view, I swear I was either going to be reading about how big Louise’s boobs are or how Louise abandoned her, both were brought up consistently.

As for the plot, as I mentioned above, this was the most low stakes treasure hunt ever. They were kidnapped very early on, but then the rest of the time while supposedly running for their lives, they masturbate (3) times in the hot springs in front of eachother unknowingly (these scenes made me a little uncomfy because they didn’t know the other was doing it), walk the path to find the treasure with little to no action aside from internal drama, more boob glances, etc. The last 20% felt like the best part of the book but at that point I was so ready to be done that I couldn’t enjoy it to its fullest extent.

I really wished I liked this more. I am always looking for a good F/F romance and I always like adventures, however I do not think I will be picking up the other book in this series and after seeing the allegations about the author claiming to be Cherokee when they are not (which Cherokee heritage is a major part of this book), I will not be supporting any future stories either.

I read this book before I found out the controversy with the author. I did not like her first book and I did not like this one as well.

I gave this one a shot hoping it would be better than the first one she wrote, but it unfortunately was not.

Both books were trying to hard to be a the female romance version of Stephan Graham Jones.

This dragged for a while, would shoot forward for a few pages, then drag again. Towards the end, it started to really amp up the ~ scary Cherokee magic ~ aspect and I started to get a bad feeling, but I decided to just hunker down and try to finish it out. In retrospect, I should have probably looked into it a little more once the red flags started going off.

It has come to light that Colby Wilkens is very likely exaggerating or outright lying about her Native heritage. I'm truly not the person to speak on it and would only be repeating what others have already said, but the TAAF did an extensive deep dive into her and wrote a report if you would like to look into it. It's bad enough to lie about things like that to get a leg up in the industry, but to explicitly center a story not only around Native identity, but also a clearly very white idea of Native treasure and curses? C'mon. It's time to do better not only as authors, but also in catching people like this before they're handed six figure deals.

My heart definitely goes out to Isi the most, having to navigate a majority of her life with no family and only Lou for comfort. So understandably when Lou chooses a toxic ex and a job in Turkey over Isi, she is more than broken hearted. So of course with no one to rely on but herself, she fixates on the only thing she can to take her mind off of Lou which is finding the answers to her mother’s disappearance. So in that regard she came off as very relatable and I I found myself immediately rooting for her. I loved how not only tough she was, but how smart and dedicated she was to her work and finding the answers she needed in order to be able to move on with her life. She definitely had great chemistry with Lou, I just wish we had a little more insight into how they met and more of their early days as friends that could have filled in the gaps and made for more build up to their romantic feelings.

Lou from the start was also very likeable, despite her very clear mistakes regarding her relationship with Isi. I loved how dedicated she was to making it up to Isi’s and actually showing her what she would go through to be with her. She never complained about their journey, her lack of shoes, and her thoughts regarding Isi’s mom, even though she could have, but instead offered to support Isi and help her on her journey. I admired her courage and her protectiveness over Isi. My main complaint is just that she would have trusted her feelings and told Isi how she really felt ALOT earlier. I've honestly never seen two characters beat around the bush so hard as these two did. I also wish we had more information regarding her family, especially her estranged relationship with her brother.

I absolutely loved the spicy scenes, but the timing of them could have definitely been better and more balanced with the action/adventure plotline. I could have done with a lot less of the pining and obvious flirting that resulted in multiple UGH just kiss already moments that seemed to drag on. Along with the two of them constantly rehashing the same argument and feelings about why they can’t risk getting involved romantically because it will destroy their 16 years of friendship. In order to get a better sense of their friendship and shift in feelings I definitely think the book could have utilized some flashbacks. They reminded me of horny teenagers most of the time, so I wish it didn’t take so long for them to actually get together. Their banter though was very cute and funny at times, especially the typical archaeology puns.

I appreciate how unique the plot is, I mean who wouldn’t love a lesbian Indiana Jones/National Treasure story? The problem was there simply wasn’t enough of the action, suspense, and adventure. Alot of the romance did take over, especially in awkwardly timed situations. We didn’t get enough time with Clarice and her band of goonies, nor did there seem to be any repercussions for everything that went on before the final treasure reveal. I do also wish there was more information regarding the Cherokee history, but I still appreciate the beginning discussions regarding treasure hunters, artifact restoration and preservation, and how the native communities have been affected.

Overall, I enjoyed Isi and Lou and their chemistry, and of course the lesbian Indian Jones/National Treasure plot, but I had a hard time with the pacing, repetitive pining and arguments, and wish there were slightly more villain scenes and friendship character depth regarding Isi and Lou’s past.

This was such a fun read! It was full of tension, chemistry and light suspense. The pinning between Isadora and Louise was so delicious and made for quite an enjoyable slow burn! I always enjoy friends to lovers and Colby did such a great job! I loved the cultural parts of this book! I couldn't stop reading! I just kept turning page after page to find out what happened!

I will not be reviewing this book as there is controversy with the author and it has been pulled from publication.
Thank you, NetGalley.

I will unfortunately be joining all of the people who are not reviewing this title due to author controversy.

I started reading this and then consulted other reviews when I became bored of it...only to find out the author has no Native American ties. I did not finish the book, and do not recommend that others pick it up.

Not willing to read something by an author who is taking up space in marginalized spaces. And claiming to be indigenous when she is not.

I will not be reading or reviewing this book at this time due to controversy with the author.

Thank you.

If I Dig You by Colby Wilkens attempts to blend romance and wit, but unfortunately, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. While the premise offers some potential, the pacing feels uneven, and the characters are not as engaging as they could be. One of the book's unique touches is its quirky, almost surreal narrative style, but it doesn’t fully come together in a way that keeps the reader invested.

I’m opting to not review this book at this time due to controversy with the author.
Thank you NetGalley.

I like everyone else will not be reading/reviewing this book until the controversy is cleared up surrounding the author's heritage and the impact on the book.

This book was cute time, while it didn’t do anything new but it did do the standards very well. Definitely worth checking out.

Recently came to my attention that there are some problematic issues with the author's use of Cherokee heritage in this. The book has also been pulled from publication. I will not be reading or reviewing the book due to these

I will not be reading or reviewing this book based on the author. This book has also been pulled from publication so I do not believe a review would be worth anyone's time

I really liked the start of this book, however it went south for me very quickly. The adventure, Indiana Jones aspect was really cool and well executed, however, the romance was too repetitive for me.

I think that people who perfer adventure and can ignore the romance would like this book a lot.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book early in exchanged for a honest review.

I requested this book because of the comparison to Count Your Lucky Stars in the blurb. But I do not think I’m in the mental headspace to read this book as the first few pages talk about a parental loss / disappearance, which is a difficult topic for me to read about.

I have like many other reviewers here on NetGalley, I have heard the scandal about the author’s heritage. It also seems like many people are under the impression that this book is no longer being published? I was not aware of this until looking at reviews and attempted to check the author’s social accounts which are now private. So I do not intend to read this book now or at any time. And will not be reading anything from this author in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. However, I will not be reading and reviewing based on the controversy surrounding the author’s (false) claims of Native American heritage. I do not feel comfortable reading a book that does not have the proper representation and that because of this controversy, will not even be published.