Lily Wilder is the daughter of a notorious treasure hunter. But when Duke Wilder died he left her little more than a notebook full of clues and riddles that she has ignored for the last decade. She’s making a living out in the desert, giving guided tours to city folk looking for a bit of adventure, when an old flame walks back into her life. Leo Grady was her big love ten years ago, but circumstances separated them and Lily is still heartbroken about it. When Leo turns up as a guest on one of her tours, it’s time to clear the air. But one of his buddies isn’t just along for the ride. He’s looking for long lost treasure. When a confrontation goes horribly wrong, Lily and Leo are left wondering if the treasure is worth looking for after all. And whether their romantic past is really behind them.
This started off like a cute rom-com. I had in mind Romancing the Stone and The Lost City. The set up works, showing us briefly Lily and Leo in the past and why they lost each other. No one is an arsehole, just life and circumstances (and apparently people throwing away phones/not thinking to write a letter, but I’ll let it go). The supporting characters all felt real and I was really ready to wholeheartedly enjoy this, especially when the two clear the air early on. I like when things aren’t dragged out awkwardly for an age. But then this takes a turn. And it doesn’t seem to know whether it wants to be a romance or an adventure or a thriller and so attempts all three. And it didn’t quite work for me. There’s an incident where someone dies, and it’s shocking, but then very swiftly they’re all moving on and talking about treasure hunting and lying about what happened. Sure. I guess the police are pretty inept and wouldn’t ask any pressing questions, like why you said the guy wandered off but he didn’t take any of his stuff with him? The stuff that you’ve had on your person the entire time? And they kinda make jokes about it? The guy was a total dick, yes, but come on. It’s a traumatic event.
And the treasure hunt wasn’t all that fun for me. The clues weren’t something you could solve, only Lily could. And it all ends up as a bit of a ‘what was the point’ circular escapade. The romance is cute enough, I liked them. I just really wish this had been more fun. It often felt like a slog. It needed to pick a tone and go with it. And I wanted some humour. Maybe don’t use a death to springboard the action and have a bit more fun with it? I dunno. I’d rather watch The Lost City again.