Fossil Feud
Renegade paleontologist Ripley Adams is this close to digging up a fossil treasure and vindication. She’s spent the last three years in academic exile after her ex-boyfriend stole her work, betrayed her trust, and broke her heart in one fell swoop. If she can unearth a complete specimen of her newest discovery—a never-before-seen missing link between dinosaurs and birds—it will put her back on the map and finally restore her ruined reputation.
But when unfairly hot Oxford professor James Smithson crashes Ripley’s dig site, she realizes she’s not the only one searching for redemption in the Montana dirt. James is convinced a splashy new fossil is a fraud, and he needs Ripley’s help to prove it. She’d tell the buttoned-up Brit where to stick his suspicions, but the fake fossil is eerily similar to hers . . . and the fraudster is her ex.
The race is on to reveal a T-rex-sized discovery. Polar opposites Ripley and James will have to find common ground if they’re going to take down a hoax that could ruin them both. And as they dig deeper into their unlikely attraction, Ripley’s excavation boots won’t be the only things getting a little dirty. . . .
- Pages
- 385
- First published
- 2026
- ISBN
- 9798217299089
Shelved by 3 Litcadians
Reviews
Finished July 20, 2026
**What do you do when your former colleague, (a hot british professor of paleontology,) shows up at your dig site & needs your help investigating your (super shitty) ex who ruined your career? You spend the summer doing everything you can to take him down, of course. For science. And maybe you uncover something more along the way... ** I had so much fun with this academic rivals-to-lovers workplace rom-com!! Watching two nerds fall for each other in their shared element is everything to me, I loved the dinosaur jokes and the Jurassic Park references, as well as learning the actual history shared (please look up Mary Anning if you don't already know about her!!) and the real-life "fossil feuds" this was based on. Ripley and James had me laughing out loud with their banter and tearing up with their tenderness. **read this if you love: 🦴 women in STEM 🦴 forced proximity 🦴 a man who YEARNS 🦴 anxiety rep 🦴 slutty forearms, slutty glasses, slutty thigh tattoo** CWS: parent living with cancer, on-page anxiety attacks, misogyny, gaslighting, toxic ex & parent relationships thank you so much to dell for the digital review copy of this book!