Thrill of the Chase
written by Kathryn Nolan
narrated by Annalee Scott
My Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: f/f
Blurb:
While on assignment in Santa Fe to find a treasure hunter, reporter Harper Hendrix stumbles onto an even better story—the fate of the missing Blackburn Diamonds, rumored to be buried in the nearby hills. Harper knows a solid lead when she sees one, and with a promotion on the line, she’ll do anything to impress her editors.Even if that means finding the missing diamonds herself.
Unless Eve Bardot gets there first. The cocky antiques salvager is the only thing standing in her way. It doesn’t matter if their arguments make Harper’s blood boil, or if Eve’s grin makes her blush. She’s got better things to do than falling under the spell of Eve’s charm.
Eve’s been waiting a lifetime to find the Blackburn Diamonds—and isn’t about to let a pesky reporter ruin everything. Harper may be beautiful, but Eve needs to focus on staying one step ahead. Even if flirting with her competition is as much fun as fighting with her.
With time running out—and other treasure hunters, hot on their trail—Harper and Eve are forced into a truce to search for the diamonds together. As they set off on a dash through the desert, it becomes impossible to resist the scorching attraction.
My Review
I received a free copy from Tantor Audio and voluntarily reviewed it.
When I first saw this book I knew I wanted to read it, the treasure hunt plot line combined with romance sounded so fun. After I got declined for a review copy on Netgalley I saw Tantor was doing the audiobook and requested that. And I am so glad I did as I loved this book and the narrator was awesome, so I am glad I got it in audio.
Thrill of the Chase is told from two perspectives. One is reporter Harper who visits New Mexico to find the famous treasure hunter Monty Montana and get Monty to do an interview for the journal she works for. And then there is Eve who runs a salvage store and is Monty’s niece and will let no one get close to Monty, not that she knows were Monty is either.
After listening to the first hour I was wondering if this was going to be a bust. Harper was every annoying reporter stereotype packed in one, pushy and persistent, only focused on her goal and job and not listening to no. She ofcourse clashes with Eve right away and rivals to lovers is never my favorite trope. There also wasn’t really any treasure hunting yet. Luckily I decided to continue and the next hour of listening changed my mind. Harper and Eve team up together to search for the buried treasure and slowly open up to each other and I was hooked.
I loved this story. Both Harper and Eve feel like real people and they are so relatable. Something about their stories and struggles really resonated with me. And I loved the message this book had about finding yourself, making time to see the sunrises and enjoy life and live it for yourself and no one else. Both of these characters had some tough parts in their past and when they open up and share those vulnerable and hard parts with the other it was so heartwarming. And I loved that scene with Eve taking Harper seriously when she said she was afraid of ghosts, instead of making fun of her. They might snap at each other at first, but the interesting part is that they really see the other. And then when that turns into passion was amazing. There is a bit of steam as well and i really could feel the connection between these tow both emotionally and physically.
There is a third act breakup and I was really hoping there wouldn’t be, but I actually didn’t dislike it as much as in most books and that’s saying a lot. It made sense given their backstories how they acted and I do think they needed that brief time apart to figure things out. The apologies felt sincere and when they get together again it feels like they dealt with some of those hurts of their past and wouldn’t let it come between them again.
And then there’s the treasure hunt. I really liked the treasure hunt storyline. There’s just something so fun and adventurous about it all, but it also goes deeper than that with the actual story connected to the treasure hunt. And it really matters to both of these characters. I really understood why this story was so important to them, why they wanted to find out what happened to those diamonds and to lady who was said to have stolen them. I liked seeing them find clues, go out there with their metal detectors to try and find something, find more information and hints. And then when at the end it all come together it was so great. I liked how this historical story and the treasure hunt intermingled with the rest of the plot.
The narrator was really good and the narrator gives each main character such a distinct voice I could always tell which point of view I was in. And all the characters really have their own voice and vibe. I liked how she brought the characters to life and added to their personalities with her narration. She also adds emotion to the voices and it really just felt so well done. I am really grateful I got listen to this one as it was awesome.
To summarize: This book was so good. I loved the romance and how these two character really see the other and share so much about themselves with the other. Something about their stories and struggles really resonated with me and it was so powerful to resonate with the story in such a way. I liked Eve and Harper together and the way they open up to the other, they felt so real and alive. And I enjoyed reading about them. The treasure hunt plot line was so fun, I liked the adventurous vibe it added to the story and I really liked reading about all the clues and hints they find along the way. I liked finding out the whole story of the diamonds and the history of the people surrounding them. I also liked how it made sense why Eve and Harper were after these diamonds and why this story meant so much to them. There are some interesting side characters as well that I liked getting to know along the way. The narrator was awesome and gave both Eve and Harper a distinct voice so I always knew whose point of view it was. She did all the voices really well and I really enjoyed listening to this one.
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