Us in Ruins By Rachel Moore

Margot Rhodes is on a mission to piece together her broken heart—and it all starts with an ancient, cursed vase. The mythical Vase of Venus Aurelia vanished in 1932, but Margot is determined to find it. Her quest begins with her school’s archaeological trip to Pompeii, a far cry from the romanticized digs she imagined. But Margot has an edge: a century-old journal belonging to the missing teenage explorer Van Keane, whose poetic entries map the vase’s missing shards.

As she delves into Van’s words, Margot finds herself inexplicably drawn to the boy who penned them. Her search takes a shocking turn when she uncovers a statue in Pompeii that looks exactly like Van—and then the statue comes to life.

Van Keane, resurrected in the present, is nothing like the dreamy wordsmith Margot envisioned. He’s all sharp edges, determined to retrieve the relic for reasons that clash with Margot’s. Yet the cursed vase’s deadly challenges require them to work together, no matter how frustrating—or dangerous—the partnership becomes.

As they navigate Venus’s ancient traps and unearth their buried pasts, Margot and Van realize they’re not just searching for a lost treasure—they’re searching for themselves. In a race against time and their own tangled emotions, they must figure out if they can piece together the shattered relic—and their hearts—before their story ends in ruins.

The Relic of Venus is a stand-alone adventure rom-com brimming with humor, magic, and the kind of banter that can only lead to love. Rachel Moore weaves a tale where the greatest treasure isn’t gold or jewels—it’s the love that can be unearthed in the most unexpected places.