*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the Tour Wars blog tour hosted by Rachel's Random Resources.
Title: Tour Wars
Author: Carla Luna
Genre: Romance
Rating: ★★★★
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Ten days, two rivals, and a busload of tourists. How bad
could it be?
For archaeologist Emilia Flores, landing a fellowship to
work at the ancient ruins of Pompeii in Italy is a dream come true. The only
catch? She’ll be digging alongside her infuriating nemesis, TJ Mayer, who’s
been a constant thorn in her side.
TJ isn’t about to pass up the Pompeii project. Sure, he’ll
be stuck working with Emilia, but he thrives on challenging her. And he hasn’t
forgotten that secret kiss they shared at an archaeology conference last
winter.
Though unearthing Pompeii’s treasures might be a dream,
student debt is a nightmare that never takes a vacation. So, when TJ and Emilia
are offered a lucrative side job to lead a ten-day tour through Southern Italy,
they grudgingly agree to tackle it together.
Forced to set aside their animosity and work as a team, they
forge an unexpected camaraderie. As the sparks between them ignite, their
rivalry gives way to passion, making it easy to forget their years of fierce
competition. But what happens when the tour ends and the real world steps in?
Tour Wars is a rivals-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine romance
featuring a nerdy cinnamon roll hero, a strong-willed Latina heroine, and
plenty of hotel hijinks.
Tour Wars is the latest instalment in Carla Luna’s Romancing
The Ruins series. Fans of academic rivals to lovers, forced proximity and reverse
x sunshine with lots of spicy hotel scenes thrown in for good measure and all
set against a beautiful Italian southern backdrop, this is the book for you!
Emilia and TJ were fantastic protagonists and I loved seeing
their relationship blossom from academic rivals to reluctant friends to
something more. They had great banter and really bounced off each other well. This
is quite a slow burn so you have a whole books worth of beautifully written sexual
tension before anything spicy but it was definitely worth it! The spicy scenes
felt really realistic too which is something I really look for in a romance
book.
Emilia was a fantastic FMC. She was driven, passionate and fierce
when she needed to be. TJ was the cinnamon roll MMC of absolute dreams and I fell
completely in love with him. We saw wonderful growth in both of them as the story
progressed and they spent more time together and this was lovely to see.
We also have lots of fantastic supporting characters through
the rather quirky bunch of tour guests. I particularly loved the Golden Girls
and the brief backstory they were given.
Carla Luna’s vivid descriptions transported you to the beautiful
southern Italian setting and it was the perfect backdrop for a romance story. I
loved the snippets of history that were included in the story and finding out
more about archaeological work; the author’s passion for archaeology was clear
throughout the novel. She has a really engaging writing style and the story was
very well-paced. I was so hooked that I read the entire book in a single
sitting.
Tour Wars provides an important commentary on sexual harassment in the workplace, particularly focusing on the experiences of women in male dominated fields. These scenes made my blood boil, particularly seeing another woman being complicit in the harassment, but it’s a really important topic that it was great to see represented within the book.
Although this is the third instalment of Carla Luna’s Romancing
The Ruins series and the characters from the previous two books feature in minor
supporting roles, this was my first time reading anything from Carla Luna and
the story worked well as a standalone story. It has made me really keen to explore
the other books in the series though, particularly as each book focuses on a different
popular romance trope.
If you are looking for a feel-good romance packed full of your favourite tropes and a gorgeous European setting, look no further than Tour Wars.
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