Reading an early copy of a book (thank you Dell!) is always a privilege. Reading an early copy of a book that a good friend wrote? Well, that is one of the biggest joys and honours in my life.
I love being proud of my friends. I love celebrating them and telling them how awesome they are. I love hyping them to other people.
It’s also really exciting when other people – perfect strangers – start to celebrate my friends’ successes too.
In case it isn’t obvious by now, I am friends with the author of Fossil Feud. I first met Maggie North via the fun of bookstagram after I read an early copy of her first book, Rules for Second Chances. It was a book I felt deep in my soul and reached out to Maggie and a friendship was born. She’s become a person I know I can turn to for advice and support, who I will happily show up for, and who I know will always say “yes” to getting ice cream.
I also read and love Maggie’s second book, The Ripple Effect. I enjoy her writing style, how she weaves a story together, that she writes characters that I fall in love with and want to root for.
And now we arrive at her third book, Fossil Feud. Publishing July 28, 2026, here’s the synopsis from the back of the book:
The hunt for fossils—and love—is on in this steamy, STEMinist romance about two opposing paleontologists who join forces to prevent a fraudulent dinosaur discovery, but accidentally dig up feelings for each other along the way.
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. . .
Fossil Feud simply reinforces what many readers of Maggie’s first two books already know: she is a phenomenal storyteller, creating characters who have depth, have strengths and vulnerabilities, are flawed humans, are authentic, and make readers want to root for them. Then she layers in a plot which challenges those characters to grow, to face their demons, and, critically because it’s a romance, to choose love not because they HAVE to but because they WANT to. And then she adds in banter, and science, and fun, and great side characters.
Ripley and James are our romantic MCs and I love them together. They are opposites in many ways, but the more time they spend together, their similarities become apparent. Both are stubborn, determined, have a tremendous sense of fairness and justice, and challenge each other like no one else has. They are also, obviously, wildly attracted to each other and it takes Ripley some time to come to terms with that. I loved the big conflict between them – it really forced each of them to take steps back, reflect, consider, and then want to make the choice to be together, and that, to me, makes a huge difference. Love and relationship as choices that are made with free will and not just because fate says so.
It’s so clear that Maggie wrote this story with care for the characters and for the science; she wanted to get the science as right as she possibly could. She sets the scene with authenticity – whether it’s in the badlands of Montana, or being stuck in a museum in Alberta. We get to learn about palaeontology but in a way that isn’t condescending, but is inviting. Maggie gives us, the readers, the opportunity to fall in love with dinosaurs and fossils to better understand why our FMC, Ripley, is willing to devote her whole life to them, even when its the science/academia of palaeontology that took so much away from her.
Fun fact, while Maggie was writing the book, she and I took part in an archaeology dig. It was something I had long wanted to do and it was such a thrill to dig into the ground (and also physically very hard work!). It also gave Maggie an opportunity to get a sense for what paleontologists would do at a dig site: gridding off the area, sifting dirt, marking down anything unusual, carefully documenting finds. It was a lot of fun and if anyone out there has an interest in archaeology, I highly recommend seeing if there are local public dig sites in your area.
Finally, while reading the book, it was so clear to me that Maggie had a lot of fun while writing it and I love that. There is a lot more lightness and humour in Fossil Feud than her previous two books, and I think it is going to give readers a different way to understand and appreciate Maggie’s skills as an author. Fossil Feud was such a joy to read and I will happily reread this book any day and happily recommend it.
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