I received this book for free (hey, thanks!) in exchange for an honest review. I promise that this does NOT affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. For real.

Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Published by Penguin Group on January 7, 2025
Also by this author: Raiders of the Lost Heart
Format: eARC (368 pages) • Source: Blog Tour, Publisher
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A LibraryReads Pick!
Her mission: find the Lost City of the Moon in the Amazon rainforest.
His mission: protect the holy temple . . . and his heart.While her mentor may be the world’s most badass archaeologist, the only thing bad about Dr. Miriam Jacobs are her corny jokes. But when Miri is charged with leading an unmapped expedition through the Amazon for the fabled Lost City of the Moon, she finally has her chance to prove to her colleagues that she’s capable—and hopefully prove it to herself, too.
Journalist Rafael Monfils has joined the archaeological team to chronicle their search for the lost city. Or at least, that’s what they think he’s doing. Rafa’s real goal? Make sure the team does not reach the Cidade da Lua, stopping the desecration of the holy city and protecting his mother’s legacy. All he needs to do is keep them on the wrong path.
If only the endearingly quirky Dr. Jacobs wasn’t so damn tenacious—each of Rafa’s tricks and purposeful wrong turns only seem to fuel her determination. Even worse, he’s charmed by her goofy attempts to channel Lara Croft as they traverse the dangerous Brazilian rainforest. But they’re not the only crew hunting for the lost city, and soon the untamed jungle—and their untamed hearts—might be the least of their worries...
When I first saw RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART, it immediately became one of my most anticipated books of the year. There’s something about a romance with a super unique, adventure-filled premise that intrigues me. I enjoyed the general concept of SOMETHING WILDER by Christina Lauren for example – yes that one got a little far-fetched at times but this kind of ~adventure~ story mixed with rom-com elements has me written all over it for some reason.
I ended up enjoying RAIDERS quite a bit, and seeing TEMPLE OF SWOON announced soonafter was a dream come true. Another rom-com with archeologists and Indiana Jones vibes? Yes, keep them coming, Jo Segura!
TEMPLE OF SWOON follows Miri (mentee of the MC from the first book) and Rafael (a journalist with an overbearing father who forced him on this mission even though he tried to quit). Miri is looking for the lost City of the Moon and leading her first expedition without any help. Rafael’s mother and her ancestors had been protecting the lost city for years; his real reason for being there is to sabotage the mission on her behalf (and his father’s) to ensure its legacy remains intact. He didn’t expect to start falling for Miri and her tenacity though!
This book was even better than Segura’s debut – the same Indiana Jones adventure vibes were prevalent without being too unrealistic. The romance was excellent. Yes, the two had a little bit of instalove, but I enjoyed it a lot. Miri was kind of a weirdo in an endearing way, which was nice to read!
Despite the big secrets Rafael was keeping from Miri, there wasn’t a lot of miscommunication or frustration while reading this book. There was a certain character that I HATED early in the book – I won’t say who for spoiler reasons – who luckily left the story and eliminated some annoyance.
There was some twists that I genuinely did not see coming – it was really unexpected to be surprised by certain characters and plot points in a romance! I really hope that Segura keeps writing books like this, and other romance authors implement some fun adventure elements in their books!
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