Digging Up Love

by Chandra Blumberg

From debut author Chandra Blumberg comes a playful, heartfelt romance about chasing your dreams and finding love in the process.

Alisha Blake works her magic in the kitchen, creating delectable desserts for her grandfather’s restaurant in rural Illinois. Though Alisha relishes the close relationship she has with her family, she can’t help but dream about opening a cookie shop in Chicago. She may be a small-town baker, but Alisha has big ambitions.

Then a dinosaur bone turns up in her grandparents’ backyard. When paleontologist Quentin Harris arrives to see the discovery for himself, he’s hoping that the fossil will distract him from a recent painful breakup. Instead, he finds Alisha—and sparks fly. The big-city academic and the hometown baker seem destined for a happily ever after.

But Alisha is scared to fall in love. And Quentin’s trying to make a name for himself in a competitive field, which gets even more complicated when the press shows up at the dig site. For love to prevail, the two may have to put old bones aside—and focus on the future.

• ISBN10: 154203390X
• ISBN13: 9781542033909
• Publish Date: 1 January 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Montlake
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 345
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I was super excited to read Digging Up Love. I mean, who doesn't love dinosaurs?! Alisha is an aspiring cookie bakery owner working at her grandpa's barbecue restaurant, when they discover a possible dinosaur fossil in their backyard. Enter Professor Quentin Harris, paleontologist and Alisha's dream man. The two strike up a friendship before Quentin's team comes back to excavate, but there's definitely an underlying attraction which ignites once the dig starts. I absolutely loved this set up! It was a cute Romance, but there did seem to be a lack of focus, as it jumped around from issue to issue.

One other thing that I loved about Digging Up Love which didn't get nearly enough page time was Alisha's power-lifting. She's a buff woman and very strong, and she won't let a man make her feel bad for being bigger or stronger than him. This is brought up just a few times, but it's such an interesting topic, I wish it had been explored more! Sure, everyone loves cookies, but I was getting a bit annoyed with Alisha's business (or lack thereof), and wanted more of her lifting! That's just not something I've come across in a Romance novel before, while every other one does seem to feature baking. It was just a lost opportunity.

While I did enjoy Digging Up Love overall, I was not here for that "drama." It was really forced, came out of nowhere, and detracted from the real issues. Why is it any of Quentin's business when Alisha tells her family about her bakery dreams? She knows them and herself way better than he does, so shouldn't she be the judge of when she let's them know she wants to leave? I feel like the author tried to rationalize this with Quentin's past, but it didn't work. It was nonsense. Their other issues surrounding the university was much more believable and interesting. And definitely relevant to today's social media culture.