I’ve noticed a really fun trend lately where authors are writing adventure-forward contemporary fiction and romance. These stories can have an Indiana Jones vibe, featuring paleontologists, archeologists, or scientists going out on a dig or quest or something similar. The first author I think of is Jo Segura; I’ve really enjoyed all of her books within this trope so far.
Her books follow archeologists or scientists who go out to dig sites looking for fossils, scientific discoveries, lost cities, and more. The romances are always really fun and offer a unique setting for a contemporary novel. As you can tell, the titles are all puns based on Indiana Jones movie titles, if that gives you an idea of the vibe!
I went back in my brain a bit and remembered that SOMETHING WILDER was actually my first foray into this sub-genre. It’s not the most popular Christina Lauren because it felt a little unrealistic, but honestly I enjoyed the ride! It follows a treasure hunter’s daughter who uses her father’s maps to bring tourists on a fake hunt. I’ve owned a copy of THE JEWEL OF THE ISLE, which is another OG within this genre recently, but haven’t gotten to it yet. This one doesn’t really follow the science or job-forward vibe of the others, but features “two very indoor people rough[ing] it on a remote island after getting swept up in an archaeologist’s hunt for a famed jewel.” I also learned of the Raiders of the Arcana series recently from Kayla of Books and Lala on YouTube. Same archeology vibe but historical fiction!
I have review copies of FOSSIL FEUD and YOU, ME, & THE CONSPIRACY that seem to follow a similar ~adventure~ type of romance trope. The first is about two paleontologists and the latter is described as having a National Treasure type of vibe, for those of us who enjoy Jo Segura’s aforementioned books. I’m really looking forward to diving into both of these. HEART MARKS THE SPOT follows a treasure hunter and a novelist – another one with similar vibes to the books mentioned.
In my quest to find similar books, I came across two by Olivia Jackson that feature being shipwrecked, stranded, and hunting for treasure on a remote island (HUNTER’S TREASURE), or an archaeologist on a quest (DIGGING DR. JONES). I also saw IN STORMY WEATHER, which has a rivals-to-lovers plotline featuring two meteorologists doing some storm chasing.
I don’t want to dive too deep into romance books that really are two distinct genres pushed together (like romantic suspense/thrillers), but a few of these ones toe that line. I’ve been super excited to get into A KILLER KIND OF ROMANCE, which follows a true crime podcaster hunting a serial killer but also falling in love. I don’t actually know that I plan to read TOURIST SEASON but this is a “small town romance” series involving serial killers apparently. Again, kind of toes the crime/mystery line, but mostly a romance. Another genre-bending romance (and I will stop here because again I could spiral into paranormal/supernatural kind of romance for days) is GOOD SPIRITS and the rest of this series, which has a gal falling in love with the Ghost of Christmas Past.
I could probably do an entire post by itself of books that involve spies and romance, but I’ll leave it with a few here. THE SPY AND I has been on my TBR and I actually picked it out as a “blind date with a book” once. Ally Carter is famous for this type of novel, so I’m featuring THE BLONDE WHO COME IN FROM THE COLD, but you could also check out THE BLONDE IDENTITY. I’ve had THE TAKEDOWN on my TBR for a while and it follows a CIA agent.
Taking a slight pivot into the supernatural without being a paranormal romance, we have Mallory Marlowe. I’ve really enjoyed (even loved) her books so far. LOVE AND OTHER CONSPIRACIES is my favorite and follows an online conspiracy theorist looking for cryptids. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHTING involved aliens and Area 51 vibes. Her upcoming book, ENTITIES TO LOVERS, features ghost tour guides.
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