WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

She didn’t go to the jungle to meet the man of her dreams. Luckily, Dr Logan Spencer is NOT the man of her dreams!

As epic meet-cutes go, travel photographer, Winter Knowles thinks finding a gorgeous naked man outside her Thailand villa is pretty perfect. But then she discovers the naked heartthrob is none other than Dr Logan Spencer, her gruff standoffish (but sexy as hell) jungle expedition leader.

Dr Logan is on the mission of a lifetime. There’s a lost city of gold to discover and he doesn’t need any distractions – especially not the stubborn, sassy beautiful photographer type! His reputation is on the line.

These arch rivals get off on the wrong foot. But when the heat rises in the jungle, Winter and Logan are forced together in the face of danger. Is trusting someone with your life the best meet-cute of all?

A sassy, enemies-to-lovers rom-com perfect for fans of Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura and Something Wilder by Christina Lauren!

Please note that this title was originally published as From Thailand With Love.

MY THOUGHTS (spoiler-free):

Note: I received an Advanced Reading Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Love Quest is a story that caught my eye because of the fun, colorful cover and the blurb promising enemies-to-lovers on a jungle expedition in search of a lost city of gold. And it delivered! This was a really fun, quick read that I finished in a day.

While I really enjoyed the story overall, I do have some mixed feelings as well. So let’s dive in with a pros and cons bullet list, shall we?

Everything I loved:

• The fun setting: An archeological jungle expedition in search of a lost city of gold… I mean, what’s not to like? I really loved this fun and unique setting.
• The adventure and fast pace: I read this in a day as it was a quick and easy read that was full of action, adventure and shenanigans from page 1, so I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next.
• The enemies-to-lovers / sunshine-grump trope: I’m a sucker for this trope and this was no exception. The banter between Winter and Logan was quite entertaining. Though I also had some issues here and there (see cons list), I still enjoyed it overall.
• Dual POV’s: We follow both our main characters, Winter and Logan, as they each get their POV and it really added to the reading experience. Though I LOVED Winter’s POV as she was very sassy and fierce, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this quite as much if it had only been her POV.
• Fun side characters: I liked getting to know the other members of the expedition, especially Archie and Tucker, who are also Logan’s best friends. Their banter was hilarious and I loved seeing the whole group develop a friendship throughout the story.

Everything I loved a little less:

• Logan’s introduction and reason for the enemies-to-lovers: Honestly, Logan came off as a real misogynistic dick at first, someone who didn’t want women on his team as they would be a “distraction”. That part had my blood boiling a bit and it definitely impacted my enjoyment of the romance for a while. It got better near the end and I get that the author wanted to have a reason for our two main characters to be enemies, but I would have preferred if this was done in another way.
• I missed some depth: As I said, I do love that it was a quick, fun read, but on the other hand it was a bit too quick. I would have preferred it to have been a bit longer so that a few more layers could have been added to the characterization, motives, and romance as they all felt a bit one-dimensional and shallow now. Fun, but also easily forgotten.

So some mixed feelings, but still a highly enjoyable read overall. It was my first Camilla Isley but I’ll definitely keep an eye out for more of her books. Though this story can be read as a standalone, it is actually the second book in a series of companion novels. Book one is The Love Theorem which features characters we briefly meet in this one. And book three will be coming out soon too, so I’m definitely intrigued as that will feature Archie, one of my favorite characters from Love Quest. But as I said, this can also easily be read as a standalone, so don’t let that stop you from picking up this book if you’re looking for a quick, enjoyable rom-com with a really fun setting.

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