Her Life in Ruins

by Cynthia W. Gentry

A laugh-out-loud, friends–to–lovers rom com set in Silicon Valley and the Yucatán Peninsula, about a hard–partying archaeologist, her grad school love interest, and a high–stakes heist.

Life as she knew it is ancient history.

Brilliant but a train wreck, Catherine Saunders is this close to getting her PhD in archaeology from Stanford. All she needs to do is finish her dissertation and then everything she’s endured over the past six years—summer digs in sweltering rainforests, comically disastrous hookups, and bloated student loan balances—will be worth it.

Then the subject of her dissertation, a priceless Maya artifact, is stolen. With the help of her enigmatic research partner, Yolandra, and her very attractive, very exasperating fellow grad student, Nick, Catherine traces the stolen vase to a notorious antiquities forger in Mexico. It’s only a matter of time before it disappears forever . . . along with Catherine’s entire academic career.

Unless she steals it back.

On a trip to the Yucatán littered with pampered tourists and greedy collectors, Catherine’s closest ally is Nick, whose sincerity and principles are nearly as unhelpful as her growing attraction to him. Will she risk her integrity to achieve her dreams? Or will her ambitions (and love life) end in a tank of cheap wine and bad decisions?

For fans of The Love Hypothesis and Really Good, Actually, Her Life in Ruins is a wry, propulsive novel of friends-to-lovers tension and all the reckless, overly ambitious, desperately horny glory of womanhood.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

Expected publication January 5, 2027

About the author

Cynthia W. Gentry didn’t set out to write about sex, although anyone who knew about the Barbie-doll nudist camps she staged as a child might disagree. When she was nine, she self-published a book of short stories full of ghost stories and tales of talking animals, like the lion cub whose mother told her that if she roared, no one would ever want to marry her. The cub roared anyway.

The author of seven nonfiction books on sex and relationships, Cynthia continues to be fascinated by the psychology of desire. Her work has been translated into French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Cynthia lives with her husband, son, and two cats in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she received her B.A. in English from Stanford University and a master’s in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. She enjoys reading, movies, good food, and running (so she can continue to eat good food).

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The banter in Her Life in Ruins by Cynthia W Gentry was absolutely hilarious! I really enjoyed the archeological aspects of this book as well since it broke up the story just enough to add to it. A really well written friends to lovers story with quite the mess to clean up, this was overall such a fun read!
Thank you NetGalley and Abram’s Books for the ARC!

[Amanda Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The delicious double entendre of the title sets this book up perfectly. Catherine Saunders’ life is in ruins…she’s freshly divorced, partying a bit too hard, and struggling to complete her PhD dissertation on time…she’s also an archeologist. The female main character might currently be a mess, but she’s also incredibly intelligent, empowered, and independent, which sets this book up as a modern romantic comedy where the woman isn’t looking for love to rescue her or complete her life. Catherine is going to do that herself, and love- if she finds it- is a wonderful bonus. This fast-paced book is exceptionally smart and focused on the struggles of academia in the humanities fields. The characters’ motivations feel very true to life, and the descriptions of Catherine’s thirst to complete her academic work with integrity were powerful. I was cheering her on as she confronted looting, smuggling, and antiquities fraud! Similarly, Catherine’s ownership of her sexuality and determination to move through the world and her relationships without shame was so refreshing! The book had just a dash of spice to keep things interesting!

Her Life in Ruins is the debut novel from Cynthia W. Gentry, who is best known for her nonfiction works on sex and relationships. Her previous work clearly influenced her development of Catherine into a strong, intelligent, and sex-positive character and created a socially progressive story. That enlightened mentality is also apparent in the author’s treatment of the Maya cultural heritage featured in the book and the nuanced corrections made by the main characters to outdated, incorrect, or prejudiced language and beliefs. This book was very culturally aware and provided incredibly interesting information about a commonly misunderstood people. I not only enjoyed the story, but I also learned a lot as well! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves archeology, adventure stories, and romance!

Thank you to the publisher, Cynthia W. Gentry, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. #HerLifeinRuins #NetGalley

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5
It's not that it was bad. It's the fact that it was SO predictable I'd already figured it out by like, ~15%. What's even the point of reading a mystery if you figured it out at 15%... it kills all the suspense, which is the fun of reading them. Also, some parts of it genuinely made me go "??? what the heck???"
I didn't particularly care for Catherine; she came off extremely judgmental and almost pretentious (perhaps that's not the right word, but definitely annoying - hoity toity, if you will). Nick was... he was there. Honestly, if we'd have gotten his POV too, I think I'd find him equally annoying.
I looked up the author on Goodreads, and this is apparently her debut. All I can say is you can definitely tell; it feels like it was written by someone who's never written a mystery before. Also felt like the romance aspect could've used a bit more work.
It's just... the two parts of this book are mystery and romance: the mystery aspect isn't interesting because it's so easily solved, while there's barely any romance. So then it's like a diary... there's no point.
The writing was good, though! And the topic was really interesting, I loved the whole archaeology topic.
Just fine, overall.
Thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Abrams for allowing me to read the book before publication. Catherine's life is in ruins... literally. She is having a difficult time completing her PhD dissertation, and she is freshly divorced. Despite her life being in ruins, Catherine is a powerful, smart, and independent woman. She does not need a man to come into her life and rescue her. The chemistry between her and Nick is everything. Seriously. Cynthia W. Gentry does a great job of making the characters feel real. The pacing keeps things moving; it does not feel dragging at all. The only reason why I rate it a 4/5 is that some parts of the story felt too predictable, and that is not really my cup of tea. That being said, I enjoyed everything else about the novel. Her Life in Ruins by Cynthia W. Gentry will be out on 1/5/27. If you love romance & archaeology, then definitely give this book a try!

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review the ARC of this book.

3 stars

There were parts of this book, around the middle, that were fun and enjoyable, flowed well, and made me want to keep reading.

The rest of the book was… fairly messy. There was a lot going on between anthropological and archaeological information, to background information, to traveling to Mexico, PhD dissertation, some mystery, some romance (even though it only had a handful of romance scenes, the spice level was 3 to 4), along with some potentially toxic self-destructive behavior. It was a lot. And not written particularly well. There were a lot of flashbacks that weren’t clear they were actually flashbacks; some were in the middle of a chapter or even a page. That part was confusing and a distraction.

The ending was fairly good. Overall, the story needed more Mary. I would read a whole book about her adventures.

[Sarah Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Books for this advanced copy of Her Life in Ruins.

4.5/5 stars

I always love a story that takes on the academic world, and this was a fun venture into Archeology and the money that - legally and illegally - drives it.
While the read was enjoyable, it was not quite the RomCom I was hoping for by the cover, nor was it a mystery. I knew pretty early on in the book who the antagonist was going to be, but once revealed I was slightly stressed out and intrigued by the scenes trying to figure out how Catherine would get out of it.
The flashback scenes felt like they popped up at the wrong time, slightly slowing the story; but those scenes are also pivotal to define why Catherine made the choices she did.
So while it was slightly clunky, it was an enjoyable read that made me want to finish it. This will be a great vacation read!

[Mary Gosse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Catherine and Nick (and the side characters) were very relatable, the storyline was smooth, and the plot was interesting with a couple of twists/reveals. I love how good of friends Catherine and Nick were, and how we got to see flashbacks over the course of their friendship. This really helped to show how steady they were in each others lives, but also gave background for the plot and helped moved the storyline forward. It was also interesting to learn more about the world of Maya archeology, and how tourism, academics and private collectors mingle in this world.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advanced copy - this is my honest and voluntary review.

[Marita Radloff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/🌶️

What an unexpected romantic comedy with full-fledged, flawed characters! Catherine's life is literally in ruins, both professionally and personally. She feels like a real person who is navigating past trauma and learning to navigate adulthood, not just a female lead in a romance character who maybe has one "flaw." The side characters are also not perfect, especially the MMC who is dreamy but not in an overt way.

This felt like a mix between a STEM-forward Ali Hazelwood novel and "The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year" by Ally Carter. I really enjoyed learning so much about Maya culture while also having an interesting plot and romance. I did feel like the end dragged a bit.

Highly recommend!

[Terri McCarrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this eARC from Edelweiss and my opinions are my own.
I can see the direction that Gentry was wanting to go with this book. a little archaeology romance to resemble Ali Hazelwood's STEM novels. This unfortunately fell much flat of that.
The random dual timelines that were abrupt and jolted you out of the story for no apparent need or connections were rough. The attempt at spice read very awkward, absent of chemistry.
The suspense portion of the book was ludicrous at times, and hard to get invested in.
The premise of this had a very high ceiling, but it just didn't execute for me.

[danie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, thank you to Netgalley and Abrams for the ARC for this novel!

This was a hilarious, action packed almost heist movie about an aspiring archeologist looking to find a stolen Maya Vase that her dissertation is based on. She finds herself in Mexico with her friend, Nick, and a group of colleagues while on the hunt for the missing vase.

With hilarious dialogue, a suspenseful plot, and mysterious twists, this is a fantastic novel! I enjoyed reading it and discovering the mysteries from the first page. Highly recommend!

[Remy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun romp! You don't see an archaeology heist romcom every day (cough cough writers, bookstore owners, etc...) and I was appreciative of the change of pace.

Was it caricature-y and heavy handed? Yes. Was it realistic? No. Poignant? no. I know nothing about Nick except that he's nice and helpful. Do I care about any of that? Not really. I expected lighthearted fun and I got it. The twist that I knew was coming appeared around 60%, so the rest was unexpected.

TL;DR: A fast, easy read more fun than the 3,000000th writer romcom.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

[Stephanie Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! I appreciated a smart, witty and strong archaeologist main character in Catherine! I found her just so refreshing and cool to see in this story! As a history girl, I loved that Catherine was an archaeologist, Grad student, and all around cool lady! It was also really neat to see that her focus area was the Mayan culture! I would definitely recommend this book!

[Sans Washington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for some belly laughs as you are in for a heck of a ride as vice-ridden grad student Catherine returns to Mexico with her annoying "friend" Nick in search of the stolen pottery on which Catherine's future archeological career is based upon.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! There were some clunky sections that dragged on a bit when I wanted more build and tension in the plot and the relationships but overall a totally fun read. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!