A surprise gift is exactly what Adriana Jones needs to improve her vacation, and a bracelet with gems will do the trick.
Except once it’s on, she’s faced with two problems:
The bracelet is actually meant for Andrew Jones – the renowned and utterly gorgeous archaeologist
It will not come off, no matter how hard she tries…
Andrew Jones needs this bracelet if he wants to find an ancient lost treasure deep in the jungles of Colombia. And there’s no way he’s letting Adriana’s mistake cost him his career.
There’s only one solution: Adriana must accompany him on his quest. Trekking through jungles and crawling through crypts wasn’t on Adriana’s vacation agenda, but an adventure with the very sexy Dr Jones might just be the treasure she’s been seeking…
| Title: | Digging Dr Jones |
| Author: | Olivia Jackson |
| Series: | – |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Category / Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Opposites Attract Action Adventure |
| Point of View: | First Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | Mostly Colombia |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 2 May 2025 |
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A romantic jungle romp
This is Olivia Jackson’s first book and after reading this one, I hope that it’s the first of many. I wouldn’t even care if it’s another story just like this one. Seeing Adriana and Andrew again would be just wonderful.
As the whole theme of the book suggests – this is an action adventure romance. Think of film romps like Romancing the Stone or what I wished The Lost City had been. Adriana Jones is on holiday with her brother after her dreams of starting her own business go up in smoke. When a parcel comes to her room with a bejewelled bracelet inside, she puts it on. But then the darn thing won’t come off. Which would be fine except the bracelet was actually the property of archeologist Dr Andrew Jones and he needs it to find lost treasure. So that means Adriana is joining Andrew on his adventurous treasure hunt across Colombia.
Adriana is exactly the kind of girl that you’d want for an adventure such as this. She’s just as dubious and doubting as anyone would be – but when push comes to shove – this girl throws all of herself into the hunt. I loved her feistiness, her vulnerabilities and was rooting for her to take a chance. Her insecurities and hang-ups are all completely understandable (and relatable) but it can be hard to write a character with inhibitions that doesn’t come across as a moaning Minnie. But I didn’t think that once about Adriana. I just wanted her to get it together so she didn’t miss out on the lovely Andrew.
“…I’ll happily say this is one of the best books of 2025 so far.”
I loved Andrew. There’s always the worry when you hear “British hero” that you’re going to be stuck with horrendous attempts at some stereotypical type of accent. But hooray – apart from calling people ‘love’ – which is a totally acceptable Britishism – Andrew speaks totally normally and won’t make British people’s bums clench. He’s also an absolute sweetheart. We hear the story from Adriana’s point of view but that meant we didn’t really know what Andrew was thinking or feeling until he came out and said it. But I loved how he was with Adriana – and how he raised her up.
Adriana and Andrew were a deliciously slow burn in terms of their romance. They really got to know each other and danced around each other until they took the chance. And I was surprised just how hot this book turned out to be. Not a complaint but I was expecting it to be a little tamer than it ended up being. Happy days for everyone!
The characters and their relationships were an absolute delight but it was the action adventure romp around Colombia that really made this a winner. We have a treasure hunt, secret codes, an ancient love story, graves, moving floors, crazy rivals. It’s just everything you want out of a romance that’s all about that jungle adventure. I have now pre-ordered the paperback of this book as I like to have my favourite books on my shelves and I’ll happily say this is one of the best books of 2025 so far.
However, as an aside, it’s an absolute travesty that in the playlist at the start of the book doesn’t have the absolute belter Dr Jones by Aqua. Come on now – even the video fits the book’s theme! Missed a trick right there. SMH.
* I received this book in exchange for my honest review. *
Olivia is a former software engineer who writes steamy contemporary romance. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, two kids, and two naughty cats (Hairy Houdini and Bess). Besides writing, she enjoys traveling and experimenting with cooking, and most of the time, she ends up eating the new meals herself because her family has a limit on how much they love her.
She is a member and volunteer at Georgia Romance Writers and the Atlanta Writers Club.
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