Digging Up Love (Taste of Love)

Our Review

DIGGING UP LOVE is not only the first book in the TASTE OF LOVE series, it is Ms. Blumberg’s debut novel. As I read there was a feel good feeling throughout even when not so good things were happening. I loved the brightness and the colors of the cover plus how it tied the story together. Depictions of the two sides of the story—a baker and a paleontologist—show them to be very different. Are either of them looking for love?

Alisha and Quentin tell the story in different chapters, putting their wants, needs, and goals at the forefront. Quentin’s been burned in love before and devotes himself to his university job in Chicago, where he has a PhD in paleontology and hopes for tenure. His family gives him grief for his life choices, more often than not, but you can still feel the love and affection between them even if you sometimes have to dig for it. The addition of his young nieces is a nice touch.

Alisha dreams of leaving the small town in Illinois where she grew up with her sister and grandparents to open a cookie bakery in Chicago. She and her sister were the only black people in their small town but were raised with love once their father left (after their mother died.) She gives up her dreams so her sister can live hers, and so she can be there for her grandparents, especially helping them run their barbecue restaurant.

When bones are found on Alisha’s grandparents’ property, their plans for a pool go up in smoke. But paleontologist Quentin and his team appear after getting permission to dig on the property to investigate the bones. This could be a feather in his cap. 

Quentin and Alisha spend time together getting to know each other, and slowly, they begin falling for each other. The story is emotional, fast-paced, and satisfying. (Though sometimes the choppy segues had me looking back to make sure I didn’t miss a page on my Kindle.) The ending is terrific, and I look forward to reading more books in this series.