Review: Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle

 

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle

Publication Date: February 13th 2024 by Sourcebooks Casablanca

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Books-a-Million | e-Book | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Dahlia’s sister Rose is her best friend, the one person in her family she can count on.  So, when she receives a “911” text from her Dahlia drops everything and flies out to Colorado, her sister’s last known location.

I admired Dahlia’s determination to find her sister, flying in blind after receiving her SOS signal, not knowing what she was up against. Dahlia was perky, silly, and fun, the quintessential “sunshine” to Winston’s “grumpy”. Winston wasn’t all that grumpy, though with a big, mushy, protective heart under a gruff exterior.

Loved all the backpacking/survival bits! The challenging weather and terrain lent a bit of excitement, and the forced proximity made acting on their attraction inevitable! There were some deliciously sexy times!

I enjoyed Katie Ruggle’s romantic suspense, so I was looking forward to Fish Out of Water, described as a "murdery rom-com". Some parts were a little a beyond belief, like how Winston just agreed to help Dahlia in her search right after meeting her, but I was okay to go along and enjoy the ride. It was a lot of fun, and a lot silly, with a little bit of suspense and danger mixed in.

4 Stars

Book Description:

Why date a mountain man? Because he knows how to pitch a tent.

When Dahlia Weathersby's sister disappears on what should have been a simple day hike, Dahlia immediately heads deep into the Colorado Rockies to find her. Knowing she'll never survive the mountains alone, she convinces the local hermit—adorably grouchy survival expert Winston Dane—to be her guide. All it takes is a good helping of Dahlia's charm…and just the teeniest bit of blackmail…before she's got all six-foot-something of him wrapped around her finger. But even with her very own mountain man in tow, things aren't going to be easy. There are:

Long hikes through gorgeous wilderness? Check.
Bears? Check.
A single shared sleeping bag? Check.
Enough sparks to set the Rockies ablaze? Check, check, check.

With everything the wilderness has to throw at them, it'll take more than charm and some city girl ingenuity to make this trek anything but a disaster waiting to happen…and an adventure she'll never forget.