I love reality tv and have enjoyed authors mixing them into books. I also love hiking and outdoor adventures so this book caught my eye. Overall I liked the premise of this book and the setting but Amity drove me nuts and it was hard for me to keep invested.

I had to DNF this ARC due to how misogynistic Cooper was; I can't deal with that in a book boyfriend, though I otherwise enjoyed the writing.

This book was a fun and sweet contemporary romance. I enjoyed the sense of adventure in "the great race" feelings as I read. I'm a massive fan of the trope enemies-to-lovers, so I wanted that for our main characters.

There were moments where the story felt repetitive, and while I connected with many of the characters, there were some I had a difficult time with. I adored Amity though!

Overall, while I enjoyed this book and it was very creative, it wasn't my favorite.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Crush in the Cascades has a great premise: a group of reality show contestants are brought to a campground in the Cascades where they'll compete with and against one another on a show that's a bit Survivor meets The Challenge for a massive cash prize. The storyline is an enemies to lovers romance featuring Easton Cooper and Amity Rose, seemingly polar opposites who are paired together for the first competition in the show and have an immediate dislike for each other.

I really WANTED to like this book - and it had some positives going for it: it seemed like improved a bit and hit its stride as it developed - there were a few chapters toward the end of the competition that were a good read, it was a great premise, Amity was a fun character to root for, and a couple of the other characters piqued my interest as well. But ultimately I just couldn't overcome the shortcomings of this book and wouldn't recommend it; among these: Cooper is a misogynistic ass for essentially the entire storyline; the romance element felt like it developed at a rushed pace without enough character development behind it; a number of the characters felt entirely one dimensional like they were tropes being checked off a list; the ending felt shallow and forced.

Unfortunately a miss for me and sadly not a book I can recommend for readers of the romance/adventure genre.

I truly hate DNFing an ARC, and especially this one because the synopsis and the cover held so much appeal and potential. However, I simply couldn't connect with our main characters. Really, what killed it for me was Cooper's blase misogynistic attitude towards Amity. This is 2022 - that's an immediate no from me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC in return for my honest review.

This was my first book from Lisa S. Gayle, and quite enjoyed it her writing.
This story is an enemies-to-lovers rom-com with a reality show setting, so also ticks off forced proximity since the two characters have to interact with one another whether they want to or not.
Easton, our main character is quite unlikeable at the start of the book but did grow on you as a reader.
Amity was such a fun character from start to end however and was the highlight of this story.

Crush in the Cascades was a fun quick read! I really enjoyed the wilderness reality TV aspect and I think it gave it a fun spin. I did think Easton was annoying at times but I really liked Amity as a character. I wish the book would have made the timeline during the show a little more evident because I got them impression that it was over just a few weeks and Easton and Amity’s romance was a little to insta-love for me. I still enjoyed their romance even though it was insta-lovey but would have enjoyed it more if it had been during a longer time. Overall, this is a fun quick easy read! This was 3.5 for me!

2.5 Stars A very cute idea for a rom com! Amity Rose and Easton Cooper are both competing on an adventure reality show competition in the Oregon Cascades where one couple will win $1 million each, and there's the chance that they could fall in love too. Easton doesn't take his first partner, Amity, seriously since she showed up in a dress and heels. Throughout the competition, everyone keeps underestimating Amity's abilities and misjudge her as being a Hollywood rich girl. Sometimes the description of the competition tasks could get a little long-winded and confusing, Amity and Easton going from enemies to lovers was much too quick to be believable, and the overall message of the story wasn't always clear. Overall, I think it was about not making assumptions about others' abilities and motivations, and that in order for a relationship to survive, both people need to be willing to make sacrifices, it cannot be one sided.

Tropes in this book which I loved:
✨Enemies to lovers
✨Competing while on reality TV
✨Forced proximity
✨Opposites attract
✨Rom-com

Listen I seriously enjoyed this opposites attract, Easton and Amity are competing on a reality TV show together. Easton is this very chilled layback, rugged outdoors manly man and Amity is the type of girl that shows up to a survival completion in a dress. These two initially start as enemies, but the banter and angst between them was absolute hilarious and swoon-worthy in the end.

This book was a lot of fun, quick and highly entertaining.
I am excited to read about Easton’s sisters in the books to come🥰

I was thinking of giving it 3 stars but unfortunately this is below average for me. When I finished this book the only thought in my mind was "wow these two definitely broke up after the epilogue". I was not a fan of Easton Cooper at all, there was a lot of casual misogyny in his pov. Amity however was a strong female character, and probably the only reason I finished the book.

I was not a fan of the writing either; there were a lot of "..." for no reason that did not flow well, and the characters' thoughts were a lot of telling instead of showing. I felt like I was guided through everything I was supposed to feel instead of getting it myself through the writing, and I didn't like that. Trust your reader! We can understand nuance and innuendos!

Thank you to Netgalley and Lisa S. Gayle for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading books about dating and reality shows. I don’t know why, but I find them fascinating! Crush in the Cascades combines a dating show with an adventure show, kind of like I’m a Celeb. The characters compete in couples, but those who come first in individual challenges can choose to stick or have a new partner, which of course creates drama!

‘All that matters to me is that I’m with you.’

Easton and Amity don’t make great first impressions on each other, and their relationship hits the rocks quite a few times. This book is an enemies-to-lovers romance, and I ate it up! There was a bit of miscommunication but it was solved quickly. The plot was fast-paced and I found myself rooting for this couple to win the competition. I recommend if you love reality shows and romance!

This book was so much fun and a must read if you like enemies to lovers!

The story follows Amity Roe and Easton Cooper working together at a chance to win a million dollars. However the two don't get along and after a long period of forced proximity the they realize the other isn't so bad.

(Do note the Easton isn't the nicest) but it's still a decent read!

The cover of Crush in the Cascades by Lisa S. Gayle totally got my attention and I really liked the blurb.
And as a lover of reality TV I would definitely watch this book as a show!

Easton and Amity. Both are so different but also part of the new show The Race for Riches or Romances.
When they have to be a team for the first game it's so obvious they don't like each other. Both have so many prejudices it's not even funny.
But... can spending time in the wilderness together change their point of views?

Oooh these two! My head's still spinning around and around.
What a roller coaster ride!
They don't like each other... maybe they like each other?
I liked the storyline and the challenges as well. The whole game to be in the wildlife with different characters and being teamed up with strangers. It really sounds kinda exciting but I'd never wanna be part of it. LOL
Sadly I couldn't totally connect with Easton and Amity. There were a lot of moments were they stole my heart and I was like "YES! Now you've got me!" But... other times they lost me again somehow...
All in all Crush in the Cascades was an easy-to-read and nice summer read for me. I'd give it 3.5 to 4 stars.

Thanks a lot to Lisa S. Gayle and the publisher for this early copy via NetGalley Read Now.

Sorry for my belated review, but it's my honest one in my own words.

From the description I knew this book was going to be fun, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. Amity was a fabulous main character who I couldn't help but love.
I'm personally not a fan of the insta-love trope, but this was so light and easy to read that it was actually manageable in this book.
If you're a a fan of romance novels with an outdoorsy feel, a quirky storyline (even if its a bit unbelievable!) and a super lovable FMC than I could not recommend this for you more.
Will definitely be picking up some more of Gayle's books in the future!

I usually love an enemies to lovers trope, but that fine line between love and hate gets pushed too far to the hate side and then it becomes hard to believe the love. Add to that the pettiness and meanness of reality TV and the romance falls short.

I really wanted to love this book as I the premise held so much promise. Unfortunately, the characters were so unlikable and superficial that I was never reaching for this book and DNF at 37%.

Entertaining, loved the adventure and the steamy scenes. Didn’t fall in love with the characters but enjoyed the story anyway!

(Gave up at 56%)

To be honest, this book was not my cup of tea at all. At no point did I feel eager to flip the page, and I felt like giving up sooo much. It took me more than a month to get the middle, which is quite a lot for me. I just felt to motivation to read it. And I felt it dragged on a bit too much and lost motivation to read it.

However, I will give it the benefit of the doubt because sometimes slow burns get better. But I still felt like when Cooper and Amity got together, it still didn’t have a climax.

Overall it was not a bad story, or as far as I went it wasn’t a bad story. I felt like I could predict most of it, I won’t ever know if that was true, but oh well! I hated having that feeling.

Ahhhh idk about this one. I really wanted to love it and was so intrigued by the setting and I am a diehard Survivor fan but the characters just really didn't do it for me. Particularly Easton, I felt like he was so judgmental, somewhat rude, and casually misogynistic which is not what I want when I read. The pacing also felt off and really slowed down towards the middle. I always feel bad giving ARCs low ratings but I just don't feel like I can give this one any higher than 2.5 stars.

This story is a classic enemies to lovers story but set in a reality game show situation which I found very intriguing and original. The characters were flawed but pulled through in the end, I enjoy when characters show development and growth throughout a story. I particularly liked how they gradually showed how strong Amity truly is and highlights not judging a book by its cover. A sweet, enjoyable read and a little bit different.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.