Unearthed

by Katie S. Scofield

Annastasia Adkins has not been back to her hometown since the traumatic loss of her father when she was sixteen years old. However, unforeseen circumstances have her traveling back to the mountains of West Virginia, when the construction crew she hired to renovate the land she inherited discovers human remains. As if that isn't bad enough she soon finds out the lead deputy on the investigation is Bobby Payne, her childhood best friend and teenage dream guy.



Will the ghosts of her past remain buried or will it all be unearthed?

303 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 10, 2026

Reviews

[T || · Rating 5 out of 5]

7 star rating

This review will contain spoilers no doubt.
Thanks to Katie & Wings & Words for this ARC Read. Unearthed by Katie S Scofield is a Contemporary Romance, with second chance trope. It also features mental health (PTSD), and other triggers, such as:
Discovering human remains
Open police investigation
Mentions of parental death (in the past) Mentions of child abuse and neglect (in the past) Mentions of abandonment
Dealing with a parent’s alcoholism
Mentions of characters dealing with PTSD and anxiety
Talks of therapy Violence (not between the main love interests) On-page explicit intimacy
I loved the dedication "Grief and loss have no concept of time.” Never a truer word spoken.
Unearthed begins with the Prequel featuring Anastasia the FMC, in what you instantly assume is a past memory due to the (12 years ago) under 'Prologue', and with the descriptions of the FMC surroundings etc, you are instantly pulled into the story, I love when a story can do that from the first page.
It really didnt take long for the shiteth to hiteth the fan 👀🤣 Holy fucknuts. Also the first meeting with Jones in the Bobby chapter - he seems like abit of a Dingbat haha!! * yay we no spoiler no spoiler no spoiler ** like..bruh lol. Zero to be hyped about 👀🤣. But I did take an instant like to Bobby! 🤞 Joanie overall seemed protective of Anastasia which is what best friends are for obviously.
I think, maybe I like Johnny too, his little snapback to Bobby had me cackle “Nah, I’m just a hopeless romantic. It runs in the family.” 🤣🤣🤣
I loved how Katie Entwined the dedication into the story coming from Leah, “Grief and loss have no concept of time,” it is so true!
I love the extent of detail Katie went to with regards to PTSD/anxiety grounding exercises, if only they worked for everyone!❤️
All bow to Diane what a Queen!!! Totally love her.
The diner scene with Bobby and the brothers for operation penguin had me in fits of laughter 🤣 i reread it so much losing where I was it was like a circle (and so much fun🤣🤣🤣).
I seriously hated the bunch of 'mean girls' - i dont even want to name them 👀🤣🤣 like bitch, you are a grown ass woman stop acting like you're still in high-school, gezz. Also Ryan is a complete dickwod and was from the start! Ugh boundaries dude!!

After that scene and helping out the “Sucks to suck" from Anna to Tommy had me cackle kicking my feet 👀🤣🤣🤣 the banter in this book between them all and their dynamic is amazing 🤣🤣. Omgggggg they doing itttt, oh you got me all teary and excited and stuffs!!!!

I also absolutely love the fact that all the brothers are kind of all assholes in some way or another, but always hold respect for their momma. Soooo sweet ❤️.

Omg Anna is amazing! I cackle laughed so hard "Okay, new kink unlocked. I am learning lots of new things today. Didn’t realize praise was my thing." Im dead 😭🤣🤣🤣🤣 The depiction of the Cave system was incredibly how Katie explained it all, you really felt like you were a part of it (low key jealous of that cave)...

Holy hotness, Katie you have emotionally destroyed me like, ...... just... yeah. Fml? Wtf. Gezzz.. erm...I get it now because Anna is my woman as surely as I am her man, even if she doesn’t know it yet, and “I only joined up for you. To be worthy of you—it was all for you.” AND “Let’s not waste another moment then.” holy guacamoly 👀😭😭😭...men be like Bobby..damn..PS, that camping scene 👍👌👌👌👌👀‼️.. and Bobby's momma Lucy, omg ❤️.. OKAYYYYY KATIE, WHO'S CUTTING THE ONIONS...WHY AM I CRYING.....(YES THIS IS A REAL LIFE MOMENT REACTION THATS MAKING THE REVIEW)...You have me crying like a baby right now!!!😭😭 "A sense of belonging I have not felt besides when I am with Joanie washes over me. Family. This feels like family, and I am lucky enough to be a part of it." Fuck me, i guess?😭 like what...okay -gone back to my book. Okay, I'm back, LADY, we need to talk. Do you enjoy having me a bubbling mess 👀, this whole dinner scene has me an emotional mess, you're killing me 😭😭😮‍💨 "The corners of my mouth tip in a smile I can’t hide as a comfortable warmth settles over me." Like.. lady, all Anna's has wanted is love and a family. Stop making me emosh!!! I love the whole family dynamic and how they always feel she has been family anyways, just ugh, you’ve hit me RIGHT in the feels, its after midnight and I cant go to bed now until I'm finished.
My heart when that happened to Anna, omg, poor Anna 😭😮‍💨, can we like d!smember Leanne or something I really fucking hate that woman.
Anyways, yup, overall 7* rating. Loved it, I'm hoping we get more about these 2 in the future because omggg do I need more of them.

[Mina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the Wings and Words ARC community and the author for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for a voluntary, honest review. 

The author's note included information on how to access support for PTSD which I thought was very considerate considering the nature of the book.

Mental health was dealt with in this book in such a realistic way that I had to remind myself that this was fiction. Everyone was very open about it and that was really impressive as it often feels like mental health is used as a plot device in books whereas here it was logical for them to have issues with their mental health but they were also at a stage in their journey where they knew how to identify issues and deal with them in a healthy way.

Now to the plot. I'm quite a fan of a second chance and small town story, so greatly enjoyed this. The characters were very well developed and I liked most of them. Joanie and Bobby's brothers must have been my favourites. The ones I didn't like were the ones I believe I wasn't supposed to like anyway. 

This sort of feels like it will be a series and when I checked Amazon, they actually have this listed as "finding home 1," so hopefully there will be more books. 

[Chanelle Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

First thing I want to say thank you to the author Katie S.Scofield and the wings and words community for allowing me the pleasure of reading this book. This book was that fabulous that it pulled me straight out of a long hard reading slump interesting me right from the beginning. The part of this story I enjoyed most was the unique mental health representation, that was written in a realistic, engaging and respectful way. I loved the mmc gentleman qualities and his character. I loved the strong and caring mfc. Most of the side characters were amazing and entertaining. I loved the mmc whole family and we all need a best friend like the fmc was lucky enough to have in this story. I loved every single minute of reading this book.