I LOVED THIS! This is grumpy/sunshine & fake dating!!! He is a grump, but a cinnamon roll deep down. I enjoy Amy Lea’s books so much and this one was no different! Big city girl/ small town boy !! I enjoyed the banter so much! I just loved this and I hope everyone else loves it too! Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review!

I don’t even know where to start because I loved this book so much! This is the third book in The Influencer series but can be read as a stand alone. I will definitely be going back reading the first two books immediately! I’ve seen a lot of people say this book is The Proposal meets While You Were Sleeping (I haven’t seen the second one but loved The Proposal!) and it nailed the classic romcom humor. Just like Happy Place, this book also had me craving lobster by the end 🤣 Making plans to visit Nova Scotia asap! I absolutely adored Mel and Evan. Move this up your list if you love fake dating and enemies-to-lovers! Not only will you fall in love with Evan and Mel, but Evan’s family was everything 🥹 All the stars!!

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance and Amy Lea for my gifted ARC!

A fake dating, grumpy/sunshine romance between a social media influencer and a grumpy inn owner/fisherman⁣

This is book 3 of Lea’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳 series, though all can be read as standalone romances. I love a good fake dating story and this one had little touches of 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭 that is sure to be a hit with my fellow romcom movie lovers. ⁣
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 - the small town vibe, a fake fiancee situation with forced proximity, a life altering boat mishap, a long standing family feud, well meaning but meddlesome family members, great banter and a quintessential opposites attract couple in Evan and Mel. Plus, there were a few simple heart melting moments (the eyelashes!) that just made my heart swoon for Evan and lots of moments that made me chuckle as Mel was clearly out of her depth in this rustic environments. Also loved the open look at grief, mental health and healing. ⁣
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 - it was insta love - as in a few days and the third act breakup - the reason just didn’t feel worth it to me. ⁣
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Overall, this was a fun & steamy romcom. Exes & O’s remains my favorite of this series but this one comes in at number 2.

I’m not quite familiar with the series (which is on me) and I read this before even realizing it was part of a series 😅 thankfully, this is a standalone—so not much to catch up on.

I liked the discussions on grief and depression here, and the viewpoint the author takes when it comes to acknowledging how hardworking influencers are. That said, I don’t think it was enough to save the book for me. Personally, there just wasn’t enough build up on the whole enemies to lovers front. It seemed more like a full 180 rather than an actual build up—and even then, the tension felt like it sprung out of nowhere.

Another thing for me was really the language used here, because they really sounded like they were in high school. I’ve grown accustomed to sort of tuning out language if characters who are in their 30s sound like they’re in their 20s (not much difference, honestly), but this one took a little too over the edge. My biggest issue though was the whole packing-my-bags-to-be-with-a-guy-I-was-fake-engaged-to-for-two weeks, which just seemed so odd given how headstrong the FMC is made out to be. It didn’t line up with how her character was portrayed and just seemed so strange.

Sadly didn’t work for me.

Such an improvement from the prior two books in the series which I also loved. The story was so much more robust and Mel and Evan were essentially walking off the page. I love the pseudo While You Were Sleeping vibes of the story as well. So cute and so adorable!

Melanie Karlsen is a fashion influencer, but her business has been on a downward spiral. She accepts a job showing off a resort on the east coast of Canada. Everything starts going wrong as soon as she lands though. The hotel booked her for the wrong week, and there is nowhere else to stay locally because everything is booked. She drives to a rural fishing village to stay at a bed and breakfast, but when she arrives she finds that they’re closed for repairs. She manages to insult Evan, the very grumpy manager and lobster fisherman, but luckily his cousin and co-manager lets her crash there anyway.

Mel tries to make the most of being stranded and create some content. She goes out with Evan on his boat, but ends up losing her camera overboard and almost going over herself. While saving her, Evan falls overboard and hits his head, ending up in the hospital. The doctors won’t let Mel go back to see him so she blurts out that she’s his fiancée. What started as a little white lie comes back to bite her as Evan’s family arrives at the hospital and thinks he’s been secretly dating Mel behind their backs.

Neither Mel or Evan is thrilled about it, but they end up pretending to be engaged for a while longer because it seems to be making his family so happy.

I love me some fake dating....or fake engagement as the case may be. Throw in some sunshine versus grump / opposites attract and I am one hundred percent onboard...or overboard, as the case may be. 😆 I loved getting to know Mel and Evan. Each of them not only had some history holding them back but they were also both facing uncertain futures they had to sort out. It really tugged at my heartstrings at times and made me chuckle at others.

If you haven’t reeled this one in yet, I highly recommend you do.

This isn’t a review I wanted to write. Although I really loved the first two books in this series, this one was just ok and I don’t know how I feel about this. If you know me at all, you know books about social media have my heart. Podcasts, influencers, dating websites, the whole 9, I like it. And since I loved the first two in this series, I expected this one to be one of my faves as well. But this was completely different than the others.

Ok so I see where Lea was going with this, but it just didn’t work for me. I guess I wanted to see more Influencing? The first two had two main characters where they were like Influencing on page. And in this one, she says she’s dressed up, but she doesn’t always say what she’s wearing. And like I’m sorry, but she had all the opportunity to like show her styling some outdoorsy clothes. But she barely mentioned what she did and it felt like she was ashamed and I didn’t like that. Influencers work freaking hard, like I’m talking about books all the time myself, and I’m not even a full time influencer. Her other two protagonists talked about their passions non-stop too. I can only guess that she didn’t because she was supposed to be trying not to seem too girly, but I don’t see anything wrong with that.

I did enjoy the humor in this book tho. The freaking scene after they just did the do and they had people come in there? Mannnnn that had to be awkward af. Because didn’t the room smell like? I can’t even type that lmao I’m sorry they all would have got cussed out. Because what in the world lol And the whole shower curtain thing lmao I actually laughed out loud. But even with the non-stop humor, I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would.

The trope itself is one of my favorites. I LOVE fake dating, so when I saw this was what it was about, I was excited. But when I tell you it was so basic. It was like this book was just checking boxes on what a fake dating book should have in it. And I hate saying that because they’re all the same, they just take different ways to get to them same result. But this actually felt like something I’d seen before it was so basic. I just wasn’t impressed.

The narration was good. But I don’t remember anything special about it either. It too was also basic. I’m not sure if I was just in a mood because of the book or what tho because I’ve actually listened to an audiobook narrated by her before and I thought she did those really well. She did do the funny bits really good tho. It didn’t seem like she missed a beat when she was reading them. Like they were her own jokes and that was really cool.

I thought this was going to be a 5 star read for me, but it just didn’t work. The awesome humor and the good narrator couldn’t save this one for me. I hate that this was the last of the series. I hope there is more to come to redeem this last one. If nothing else, a novella maybe? Idk, a sister in law or brother or something or one of the friends who becomes a travel influencer? Idk lol Something.

This might be my favorite book in the series so far! I loved Melanie and Evan's dynamic, and I'm a sucker for a fake fiancee storyline. I thought that they both were dynamic characters, so I enjoyed when they interacted. I loved the Whalers and hearing about their drama and then meeting them and seeing them interact. I just wish I remembered the other two books better because I really don't, so I didn't care that much about the Crystal and Tara moments. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC!

To start this review off I must say I truly love books that are set in Canada! This one was definitely my favourite of Amy Lea's so far. It was sweet, silly and steamy! Unfortunately I do feel like all 3 books in this series are extremely similar, and I couldn't really differentiate between the main characters much, except for a few things for each.

I really enjoyed a lot of what this book had to offer, but a little bit of the third-act was too much for me. That's what took away from the fourth star here. I didn't really buy the chemistry as much as I wanted to either, it felt a little forced and didn't seem like it was natural.

Overall, it was cute enough to recommend, but not memorable enough to call a favourite.

Okay, everything Amy Lea writes is GOLD. This is no different. I loved Mel's story and the whole The Influencer series is superb, I highly recommend checking these books out. There were so many scenes that made me laugh out loud: the poison ivy, the interrupting family members, etc. and honestly so many were totally relatable -- I too am irrationally afraid of spiders and more of an indoorsy gal. A hike always sounds nice until I'm actually hiking. Evan is a gruff, strong, sexy outdoorsy man who is always in a flannel, while Mel is a high maintenance (but not in a mean way), fashion loving, influencer who is definitely more used to doing things for the aesthetic than sitting back and enjoying the view but it is her livelihood so very understandable. I love that they are so different but their chemistry is strong from the very first meeting. The banter, tension and the way they open each other up to completely different ways of seeing things is just so genuine and fun. I really enjoyed this book and found all of the characters to be truly lovable, including Evan's big chaotic family. CW: there's also mention of depression and grief, and the death of loved ones but it's done in a way that is sensitive and meant to show how tough situations can have lasting effects on people and their loved ones and how grief comes in all shapes and each person manages it differently.

grumpy x sunshine
fake dating
opposites attract
found family
grand gestures
restoring an old inn/family business
small town vibes
enemies to lovers
forced proximities

The Catch is a sweet, fun, heart-wrenching at times, beautiful love story that's the perfect cozy read! It's the third and final installment in The Influencer series but can be read as a stand alone novel. There are cameos from the couples in the first two books and they are referred to with some frequency so it's nice to also know their stories but not necessary if you want to jump right into this one! I love how Evan's family embraces Mel despite how completely different she is from all of them and it's sweet to see her finally feel like she belongs and has found someone who would be her power of attorney one day if she needed. I'm glad Amy wrote her as someone who has friends and a sibling so she's obviously not completely on her own but still struggled to be vulnerable around them due to her past and how she's able to overcome that with Evan and his very involved family. Evan is a steady presence the whole time, even when he's grumpy and acting like he hates Mel, he still is protective and looks out for her. I love a good grumpy MC with a soft heart and that's just what he is. His cousin, mom, aunt, uncle and grandma are a lot to handle but in the best way. Even though they bicker and the feud between Evan's mom and aunt is the reason for their fake engagement, they still all came together when Evan was in the ICU and then to welcome Mel and plan an engagement party and dress shopping for her.

Big thanks to Berkley & NetGalley for the eARC which I have voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Catch is available in stores, online and at libraries so go check it out if it sounds like something you'd like!

The Catch by Amy Lea was the perfect read this weekend. A huge thank you to Berkley Romance for granting me access to this title and to PRH Audio for granting me access to the audiobook too!

Melanie is trying to keep her business relevant and Evan is the owner of a family bed and breakfast. After a boating accident that leaves Evan unconscious in the hospital, Melanie panics and claims she's his fiancee so she can stay by his bedside. From there things get crazy as Evan's family runs with the lie.

I enjoyed the women in Evan's life and their very layered dynamics. Although the romance in this book is very much present, I found myself most drawn to the family dynamics in Amy Lea's latest novel!

Omg this book had ALL the feels for me! It had incredible characters and their banter was off the charts! It was the perfect way to end the series. The fake engagement and strong grumpy-sunshine vibes all worked to create a worthwhile story, It was wonderful to see how Melanie and Evan really fall for each other but also keep in mind the small things. It was so freaking good! Use this as your push to read the series if you haven't yet!

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @prhinternational for an early copy of The Catch by Amy Lea. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐/5
Release date: February 13th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/154488304-the-catch?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4vopBMPtph&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

The Catch is the third book in the Influencer Series, and the characters just got worse for every book. This book tells the story of fashion influencer Mel, Crystal and Tara’s friend, and lobster fisherman and bed-and-breakfast owner Evan. They had a rocky introduction, with Evan instantly showing his dislike of Mel despite them being strangers. How immature is that? Total red flag. He keeps his demeanor over Mel regardless of how she’s helping him and his family reconcile by pretending to be fake engaged to him. Circling back, Evan’s family’s issues just don’t sit well with me. For a family consisting of adults, their non-sensical and non-stop bickering is just overly immature, and I really don’t get how Mel pretending to be engaged to Evan (they have zero chemistry, by the way) would help the entire family reconcile.

If you know what’s good for your mental health, I suggest steering away from this book. Evan and Mel’s dislike for each other, his family’s bickering plus Mel’s neighbor/stalker is just too stressful for me and not good for my mental health. I’d prefer a romance novel without too much drama and red flags, please.

The entire series, overall, isn’t for me to be honest. While I enjoyed some scenes from the first novel, Set on You, Amy Lea’s characters are just one-dimensional and come off as immature for their age for the entire duration of their respective books in the series. The couples start off as either enemies or rivals or nonchalant to each other. I don’t think I’ll pick up any of her books anytime soon for the sake of my sanity.

This book was absolutely adorable!!

I loved the small town vibes, the grumpy x sunshine trope, and the use of the fake relationship trope. IMO, this book did everything right, and although it wasn't my favorite romance ever, I thoroughly enjoyed all of my reading experience.

My favorite part of this book was the sneaky found family story hidden within! I loved watching Mel get to know Evan's family and become one of them. It was so heartwarming and made me smile until my face hurt.

This was my first of Amy Lea's books and I can't wait to go back and read the rest of this series!

When an accident leaves Evan unconscious, Melanie is drawn into a family tangle as she is mistaken for his fiancée by Evan’s quirky family. In exchange for Evan’s help with her social media content, Mel agrees to pretend to be engaged for a week, triggering a series of comedic and emotional situations.

As Mel and Evan spend time together, they explore feelings that go beyond the facade of their urban lives. The tension between the perfect city life and the possibility of genuine love in nature becomes the heart of the story as both characters face decisions that could change the course of their lives.

With a mix of romance, humor, and heartfelt moments, “The Catch” invites readers to immerse themselves in an unexpected and authentic love story that challenges expectations and celebrates the beauty of genuineness.

Thanks for the free book PRH International

this one gave me tessa bailey "it happened one summer vibes" in a way, with an influencer going on a trip to canada and finding herself stranded due to the busyness of fishing season, ending up at an inn that is closed and OF COURSE is run by a very hot man and his cousin who let her stay. i mean, I'm sure you have NO CLUE how it all plays out...

i didn't realize it was book #3 in the influencer series, but it was fine as a standalone (just nods to her bffs who were the first two books' FMCs). i thought the grumpiness of the grumpy MMC was a bit overdone and took too long to have context for, and their "issues" seemed forced for the sake of a trope.

overall, though, once the family got involved and a fake engagement was in the mix, things got more tender, but still didn't seem believable the way i've seen the trope done in other romances, so it wasn't a fave for me overall.

it was good but not great!

DNF @ 10%

I loved the first two books in this series, but this one was not for me, unfortunately.

For one, everyone was way too calm about the issue with her showing up for her influencer gig for the wrong week. How did that happen? Who booked the ticket? If she is really on her last leg as an influencer and this is her *last hope* with relevancy…wouldn’t she be more careful? I hate when influencers or people in fashion are depicted as being ditzy. I watched Legally Blonde 300 times when I was a teenager and I just can’t believe that someone wouldn’t take their business more seriously. Everything snowballed for me from that moment and I just couldn’t find my love for the book again.

If you like your romcoms over the top, filled with catastrophes and everything going wrong, I think this one could absolutely be for you. I need my main character to have a little more fun or I just find myself feeling bad for them.

I enjoy a fake dating trope but I LOVE a fake engagement with a super involved family. Melanie is an influencer trying to revive her social media by going to a Canadian Resort. However, when the resort gets the reservation wrong, Mel finds her own accommodations in an old AirBnB. Evan is a grumpy fisherman whose family owns the BnB. He falls unconscious from an outing with Mel, and in order to follow him into the hospital, Mel says she’s engaged to Evan.

FAKE ENGAGEMENT YES PLEASE I loved this.! While You Were Sleeping meets The Porposal. So fun and so swoony.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the coastal vibes, the grumpy character, and the tropes. I thought this was an even stronger character development than Amy's other books, which were also great, I just mean that she is continuing to cultivate her craft and it's showing! I really love this author and her writing!

Thank you to Amy Lea, Netgalley and PRHAudio for the ebook and ALC!

Listen, anything Amy writes is delightful.

I really enjoyed the location of this book! Love a coastal town! Add in a grumpy hero and a bit of a fake dating trope? Yes.

I love this series!