Romancing Miss Stone by M.C. Vaughan
Belize Dreams #1
Contemporary Romance
June 25, 2024- Afterglow Books by Harlequin
ARC

Review by Angela

This book popped up on my radar after seeing this cover while putting together the new release post. I know I’ve griped about cartoon, animated book covers recently, but this is one that is guaranteed to catch me eye. Vibrant colors, well-drawn characters that have all their facial features, and after reading I really think it captures the feel and content of the book it represents. Romancing Miss Stone is an adventure romance, and even though I haven’t really had great experiences with those lately, I jumped right in anyway.

This book was soooo much fun. Featuring a MMC who travels to Belize to confront his ex-fiancée after getting a breakup text and a FMC who he hires as his travel guide. Bo is a careful, reliable, and absolutely type A personality who can’t just ignore that he never actually talked to his now ex-fiancée after she dumped him via text. He needs to know what went wrong, so he impulsively buys a plane ticket and flies to Belize where Destiny is on a dig site. Alex is desperate to repay her debts after her ex stole all of the funds from her family’s guide business. So, when a tourist offers to pay her way too much money to guide him through the jungle to a dig site, she immediately says yes.

This is the kind of adventure romance that works for me. Instant chemistry between the main characters, playful joking and banter, only one bed (or hammock), and comedic situations that show off the differences between the main characters… this book had it all. Alex is wonderfully adventurous and a brave woman who jumps in with both feet in every scene and is messy in all the best ways. I loved her. Bo is her opposite as he’s a planner, a manual reader, and someone who maps out every scenario ‘just in case’. Their relationship and how fast they came together worked for me. Even though this book spans only like 5 days, there is just enough chemistry, meaningful conversations, self-reflection, and sexy love scenes that I was all in.

I zipped right through this read in a couple of hours. This fun, fast read set against the beautiful backdrop of Belize made me happy. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Grade- B