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Amateur archaeologists race to claim an allegedly magical Roman relic. Margot Rhodes isn’t exactly famous for her follow-through; she’s quit activities from watercolor painting to taekwondo. So it’s no surprise that her snooty boarding school classmates are more than a little skeptical when she impulsively applies for and is accepted into a six-week archaeology summer class in southern Italy. Armed with a special volume from her school library—the personal journal of archaeology wunderkind Van Keane, who tragically died in a 1932 dig site collapse in Pompeii—Margot is determined to find the missing pieces of the Vase of Venus Aurelia that Van was searching for. But when she stumbles upon a marble statue that eerily resembles the boy whose words have captured her heart, she gets more than she bargained for. Her discovery awakens the long-frozen Van, who’s decidedly less poetic and a great deal surlier than his journal let on. The two become unlikely partners in the hunt for the vase and must prove themselves worthy of the treasure by completing tasks that test their wits and courage before their competitors—and the curse that turned Van to marble to begin with—beat them to it. Unfortunately, Moore neglects the setting’s potential, and the story's minimal attention to detail undermines its rich historical aspects. Plot holes and unconvincing villains also weaken the story, but Margot and Van’s banter and chemistry are engaging. Main characters are cued white. A fun but insubstantial genre mashup.(Romantic adventure. 12-18) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.