Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book.

I loved this conclusion to the Influencer series. It dealt with some heavier topics, but was still mostly a fun sweet romance, with lots of great banter.

While the chemistry between the main characters is palpable and the storyline is engaging, the plot may feel somewhat predictable as it’s another rendition of “The Proposal”. However, the author's writing style is engaging, and it has some seriously hilarious moments.

“There is a special place in hell for those who casually take upward-angled shots of others.”
Amy Lea has given us another peek behind the computer screen in the final installment of her “Influencer” series. In “The Catch” we are given a Rom-Com about a grumpy fisherman who is taken on a unexpected ride by the ultra-girly social media star who crash lands at his family’s crumbling bed and breakfast.

Melanie Karlsen is a lifestyle influencer who has been on the scene for a few years and is seeing her followers and collaboration deals moving on to younger pastures. When a brand deal offers her an all expense paid trip to a resort on the Coast of Nova Scotia she is excited for the opportunity to revive her brand. Once she arrives, a scheduling error, and a lobster festival leaves her desperate to find a place to stay, but with luck she finds a listing for a Bed & Breakfast an hour and a half away. The run-down accommodations and are less than photo worthy and the broody (but handsome) owner seems less than ecstatic to have her there.

“Sir, I’m going to need you to have your mantrum elsewhere”
Melanie works to make the best of her stay and create content that would appeal to her waning follower count, Her reluctant host agrees to take her on a boating excursion that leads to an unfortunate accident as her photo-op takes priority over safety and he falls into rough waters to keep her from going overboard.

“Wouldn’t be so rough if you’d worn a warm jacket and proper footwear,” he calls over the roar of the engine. I stick out my wedges, admiring them from all angles.” It’s a wide heel. It’s basically a running shoe”
In a desperate attempt to stay by his side after his rescue, she takes a move from “While You Were Sleeping” and claims to be his fiancé and in his unconscious state Evan cannot argue. The discovery of a secret “Fiancé” was apparently the glue that Evan’s family needed to reunite after years of contention over what to do with the struggling bed & breakfast. As much as Evan wants to resist participating in any of Melanie’s social media photo ops, he cannot give up the opportunity to see his family come together for a common purpose, even if it is for a fake engagement. They agree to play loving couple in hopes of healing his family and saving his business.

“Fake dating always leads to true love. Fact. I don’t make the rules.”
I know I am not alone in loving the grumpy/sunshine trope and where I think “The Catch” gets it right is that as Melanie and our resident grump Evan get closer it is through being unapologetically themselves, they don’t have to compromise for each other because their connection is formed for an appreciation of someone who has different struggles, but the same core values of love and respect.

As we have seen in the previous books in Amy Lea’s Influencer series, there is a stark difference between what influencers post on social media vs. the details of their actual life. They work to create a brand that people want to consume and interact with, and when the brand differs so greatly from their real life they can create an unattainable standard for themselves. As readers we get to see the juxtaposition between Melanie, the adoptee who just lost her father and is struggling to take care of her younger brother in the midst of their tragic loss, and Melanie the influencer who is living in luxury and jet setting to beautiful locations.

I have a deep appreciation for Amy Lea’s ability to touch on deep and emotional topics while staying true to her comedic brand. She creates characters that feel real, with the emotional baggage and sarcasm to match. She creates slapstick comedy scenes that are reminiscent of a classic Sandra Bullock movie and you can’t help but laugh when her characters get into sticky situations.

This may be the end of the series, but I know this is just the beginning of a long and successful career for Amy Lea. I know we will all be impatiently waiting for her next release!

I want to re-title this book Flannel and Fury... it was an adorable small town, enemies to lovers. I liked Melanie and Evan. And I love fake dating tropes...

This was okay. I don't know if it was just my mood while reading this but it took me so long to finish. I have to admit that I liked it so much better than Exes and OH's. But the first book in the series will always be my favourite. I loved how it was set in Canada but the romance just felt flat. I didn't really connect to either character.

3/5 stars

I love this series! You can easily read them out of order, and you don’t have to reread the previous books when a new one comes out. I think this is my favorite one so far!!

Take note because this will 💯 be a Top read of 2024 for me. I L O V E D this book so much!

This is the third book in Amy’s “The Influencers” series and it is currently sitting as my favorite!

It follows, Mel, who is an influencer, and after a snafu, shows up unexpectedly at Evan’s Inn. Their first encounter has them off to a rough start, which was kinda of hilarious and gave them that perfect bit of enemies to lovers tension. 😍

This was a fun read that I could not put down, and when the steam gets steaming it’s 🔥🔥🔥.

For me this was like a mash up between The Proposal, While You Were Sleeping with a sprinkle of The Perfect Storm (idk this is the first fisherman movie that came to my mind so just stick with me 🤣).

I highly recommend this one, you cannot go wrong with any format, the narrators did a perfect job and made my ears so happy. 😘

I enjoyed each of the The Influencer series books (who knew so much went into being an influencer?!), but this was my favorite. Mel won me over from the start, with her love of friends and family and great style. It was great fun to see Mel get outside of her comfort zone, leading her fall in love with Evan and his whole family!

I enjoyed this one, but it was too instalove for me. I get that Lea was trying to make it work in a pretty short time frame, but it just wasn't enough time to feel authentic. That being said I liked Melanie as a character and her growth was apparent throughout the book. I like the feel of the small town and the quirky characters that lived there.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC! The Catch is the first book I’ve read by Amy Lea and it won’t be the last. This book is like watching a romcom in the best way possible - so much fun! The emotional growth in the story was excellent, I loved the Nova Scotia small-town setting. The cast of extended characters was fun and the chemistry between the two leads was great. There’s fake dating, a small town, grumpy sunshine & opposites attract vibes - I loved it! Although this is the conclusion to the Influencer series by Amy Lea, it’s the first one I’ve read and I’m so excited to read the first two! Don’t miss this if you love romcoms!

This is book 3 of The Influencer series by Amy Lea. I didn’t love or hate the book, but I def enjoyed the 1st two more. This was a cute romcom though, and I loved the setting of the town that it took place in. It makes you want to explore and go hiking!

Evan’s grumpiness balanced out Mels sunshine attitude, and I liked how she was able to get him to loosen up throughout the book. Also who doesn’t want to read a boo with a hot fisherman?!

All three books in this series can be read as standalones, but I recommend reading in order as characters from book 1 and 2 are mentioned in this, and I just love books that do this/add in easter eggs!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, but this one fell a little flat for me.

I can't necessarily pin it on a specific thing - it might just be an amalgamation of a number of things, but overall, this book didn't really hit the same spot that Set on You and Exes and O's did. Melanie wasn't a fleshed out character, and honestly, the big girl in a small town hitting it off with the grumpy local is a story that I have read 1000 times. It needs to be done well to draw me in, and this book did not do that. Evan wasn't very fun to read about either. His personality was also very flat, and honestly, he felt a bit immature for someone who was supposed to be a fully formed adult.

I don't know. I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, and this just didn't do it for me.

This was really cute! For fans of The Proposal, When You Were Sleeping and small town romances. Grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract and a heroine with so much familial baggage but highly relatable. If you're a parentified child, you'll relate to Melanie. Evan's family is great and they all are really well done characters. Mel's influencer friends were new to me because I haven't read the others in the series, but I'm certainly interested in going back to finish the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC!

Amy Lea can do no wrong in my eyes! I have loved everything I have read from her and this was DEFINITELY no exception. It was heartfelt, funny, bittersweet, and overall a great experience reading it. The characters were dynamic and flawed, but the author really lets you see where each of them are coming from in an honest and open way. Plus, I love the fake-relationship trope. Its always a good time in my book. Can't wait to read more from her in the future!

Thank you for the free book @berkleyromance!! #penguinrandomhousepartner #berkleyIG #BerkleyBookstagram

The Catch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
comes out Feb 13!!! (perfect Valentine’s Day read!)

First of all, ladies get you a guy who supports and understands your eyelash obsession! 😂

Ugh this book just rolled all my favorite tropes in one amazing read and I just loved it so much!

It was set in a small fishing town in Canada- so obviously it came with all the quirks any small town story has. There was a whalewatching scene and Lobster Fest and I loved reading about them all! Also, I loved learning about the fishing lifestyle - i’m not talking about the fishing photos we are all familiar with (you guys know what I’m talking about 😂) but actual fishing for a living!

It was an enemies to lovers that started with an unfortunate meet cute and witty banter.

It had fake dating/ engagement and it opened up opportunities to so many cute scenes especially the male lead’s family is adorably overbearing 😂

She’s a high maintenance, big city, lifestyle influencer and he is a plaid wearing fisherman who loves living in his childhood town. So yesss, opposites attract + grump/ sunshine lovers, this is for you too!!

As for SPICEEE, you guys. I think Amy Lea is my favorite when it comes to finding the perfect balance of spice and story! And to my spice loving friends, this won’t disappoint because it iz spicyyy 😉🌶️

Lastly, it is instalove but this trope doesn’t bother me anymore because IT CAN HAPPEN, okay? 😂

But beyond all the cuteness from the book, it, touches on the concept of finding your home. Being someone who had always moved her entire adult life, the “finding your home” storyline is near and dear to my heart.

I can talk about this book all day, so please, do yourselves a favor and read it so you could experience the joy this book brings!

I listened to parts of it on audio and the narrator was superb! It was so easy to follow!! Thank you @prhaudio for the audiobook!

💭 Will you ever consider being in a long distance relationship?
☕️ Quality time is one of my love languages so no for me 😂

Thank you @berkleyromance for my complimentary copy and @prhaudio for my audiobook. My thoughts are my own.
#penguinrandomhousepartners

This was my first book by Amy Lea and I really enjoyed it! Grumpy/Sunshine is my favorite romance trope and the banter between Melanie and Evan is hilarious! The storyline centers around a fashion influencer who shows up at the wrong Canadian bed and breakfast and demands a room only to be refused by the grumpy lobster fisherman who owns the inn. Through a series of mishaps Melanie somehow finds herself agreeing to be this disagreeable man’s fake fiancée for a week! Then the fun really begins!

I alternated reading and listening to this one and I enjoyed both versions. Kelsey Navarro Foster does an excellent job narrating the story which unfolds through Melanie’s perspective.

Don’t miss this one if you enjoy:

*Grumpy/Sunshine
*Fake Fiancée
*Forced Proximity
*Hilarious Banter
*Slow burn, then LOTS of spice!

I loved the first two books in the Influencer series - they had the right amount of heart and the heroines were exactly what I look for in my rom coms. I was super excited when I scored a copy of this on Netgalley. Unfortunately, The Catch just did not land with me the way that Amy Lea's first two books did. Sadly, this book honestly felt a little paint by numbers - it hit most of the expected romance beats, but did so without any of the heart or chemistry.

When reading books, I try not to draw too many comparisons to similar books - but this one really had It Happened One Summer vibes, to the point that it was impossible for me to not think about their similarities while reading. Unfortunately, this was not a flattering comparison for The Catch. Where It Happened One Summer had similar leads (a grumpy fisherman and a outgoing fish out of water female lead) and told a similar story (big city girl in a small town) - The Catch lacked the heart, chemistry between the two leads, and character growth that It Happened One Summer had.

I just could not get invested in Evan and Melanie's story - they didn't grow or change in an organic way throughout the story. Also, their romance was a little too instalove for me - one day Evan just declared that he was in love with her and she should drop everything? That he had been in love with her since they met despite him being a bit of a tool to her? I don't know, it just didn't work for me and it felt like the author was telling the reader to make logical leaps that her writing just didn't account for.

Overall, I'm bummed that I really did not enjoy this one. I had high hopes, but I think this has bumped Amy Lea from being an autobuy author for me. The whole book just felt phoned in and overall I probably should have DNF'd this one.

Gahhhhhh. This book gave me all the feels!! I absolutely loved it from beginning to end and was rooting so hard for Melanie and Evan.

I adore a good grumpy/ sunshine story and this one was right up my alley! I enjoyed it so much that I requested the others in this series from the library and have my weekend reading all set.

The setting was wonderful and I absolutely adored Evan’s family and their lack of boundaries.

I will definitely be reading other books by Amy Lea. An enormous thank you to NetGalley for this arc.

@amyleabooks has done it again 🎣 and captured my heart 💙

Thank you @berkleypub for my #gifted copy!

It’s no secret that I love Amy’s The Influencer series, and The Catch is no exception.

Melanie needs to figure out how to maintain her followers and brand deals in order to keep her income. So, she decides to take a trip to Canada to visit a resort, but the resort messed up the dates. Now, she has to stay in a rural fishing village in a bed-and-breakfast run by grumpy fisherman, Evan. When Evan ends up in the hospital, Melanie pretends to be his fiancée so he isn’t alone. The problem? Now his family also thinks they’re engaged.

THIS BOOK HAS ALL THE FEELS 🥰 I loved the characters, the banter, the setting, the tropes! If you’re wondering if you should start this series, the answer is yes.

I cannot wait to read what Amy writes next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#litbylillireviews

When influence Mel gets invited to an all expenses paid Canadian resort for one week in exchange for content, she jumps on the opportunity. Only to find her travel reservation was screwed over. She finds an inn in a small town, the only one available for the time frame she needed. When she arrives at said inn, which was in a state of disrepair, she runs into the grumpy bearded inn co-owner Evan. Throw in a fake engagement, forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine, and what do we get? A blossoming romance between the two?

This was cute! I read it on vacation and definitely enjoyed it since I was on a vacay on the water. Lea did a great job with the small town vibes and details about the Cove where I felt like I was there. Mel and Evan were absolutely perfect for each other. I got total Victoria Justice vibes x Falling Inn Love x While You Were Sleeping.