This had such a good premise but the characters felt flat and one dimensional. It just wasn’t for me :(

Thank you to Katie Ruggle, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and NetGalley for an eARC of Fish Out of Water!

This book was super quirky and adorable. I loved the dynamic between Winston and Dahlia and the way the tension slowly built throughout the book. Even though everything only happened over the course of a few days, I felt like the characters had a great connection. Dahlia's relentless questioning and ability to push Winston's boundaries while also respecting them made for funny banter and an interesting story line.

Reading about their adventure in Colorado made me want to get back out on the trails and go on my own hiking adventure. The few interesting obstacles they encountered were entirely relatable for someone on a hike and helped the story feel that much more realistic.

This was a light hearted, quick read and I would love to read more about these characters or others in this small mountain town!

4/5 Stars

The cover really drew me in and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book. Single sleeping bag on an adventurous romantic camping trip.

After finishing FISH OUR OF WATER all I can say is...where can I find myself a Winston?!? This was the rugged mountain man of my dreams -- and the setting was just gorgeous!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Team for this Advanced Digital Readers Copy, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Single POV, Spicy, Virgin MMC, Grumpy x Sunshine, City Girl x Outdoorsy Man, Meet Cute

Dahlia and Winston have a meet cute and there romance takes place as Winston is guiding Dahlia through Colorado Rockies as she searches for her sister. Good banter and chemistry between the MC's but the plot left me wanting more. Also this cover feels like false advertising as there is no passionate kiss by a gorgeous lake nestled in the mountains, also wish the book would have been dual POV.

Overall, not my favorite. The juxtaposition of the rom-com feel with the missing sibling element just didn't mesh well IMO. I had trouble deciding if the story was light and airy or suspenseful and dramatic. I would have preferred one or the other. Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca | Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I guess this book just wasn't what I was anticipating. While the premise of a missing sibling and the other sibling trekking into the woods to find her is "thrillish", the whole "meet cute", break into someones cabin and have no consequences just sort of through me off. There was quite a bit that I found myself just rolling my eyes because lets be honest - that would NEVER happen in real life.

Overall it was an okay read, but not one of my favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this arc in return for my honest opinion.

Pub Date: 13 Feb 2024

I'm honestly not sure how to categorize this for my 2024 reading blanket (and sadly, I have to pick just 1 for the blanker format I chose) it's very rom-com-y (so much LOLing and much highlighting of the best bits) but Dahlia is searching for her sister, and all of the surviving in the wilderness and rescuing bits at the end are very dramatic, which veers it towards romantic suspense--I could go for the safe option and just say it's a contemporary, but it feels like so much more than that, so...hmmm. Stay tuned on that front.

It's been a while since I read a Katie Ruggle book, and the ones that I did were all (ex)military-type guy out doing rugged stuff, mostly with dogs and fighting bad guys with his buddies and a heroine somewhere in the mix-style of reads, and this is a pretty big deviation from that. I can't say I'm terribly upset about it; I loved her previous books, but I really liked this too. I can understand why long-time readers *might* find issues here, but honestly this was just such a fun read for me from start to finish. So many highlighted bits! I'm going to have a hard time deciding which of them I'm going to record in my reading journal for sure.

So...if you don't have set preconceived notions of what a Katie Ruggle book has to be (and maybe even if you do, but you're willing to step outside them to have a good time) and you're a fan of romances with:
-grumpy/sunshine vibes
-a fish out of water character (obvs)
-cinnamon roll heroes with serious survivalist skills
-city girl heroines who have also seen enough horror movies to have clear ideas of what NOT to do in certain situations
-strategic use of a well-stocked travel makeup and skincare bag
then give Fish Out of Water a try!

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This was nothing like I expected and I mean that in the best ways possible. Katie Ruggle is now a one-click author for me!

this was just such an easy read. And Winston was so lovely and unexpected!

The pacing was also nice, it was fast and the story was over quickly.

This was a DNF for me, I just couldn't get into the characters and storyline even though it sounded like a lot of fun!

This book was a wild ride. I loved the setting and the chemistry between the two main characters. The “plot twist”, however, seemed lacking in my opinion, as did many of the suspenseful parts. I did not find it super realistic, but if you are able to suspend your disbelief, this can be an enjoyable read!

This was a great romance. When Dahlia and Winston are pushed together to find Dahlia's sister after she's gone missing, they slowly grow on each other. In this opposites attract romance, there's intrigue, suspense and sisterly love with this entertaining romance in the background. It was very enjoyable.

This was a fast paced book, which I read in one sitting. The story was really cute, and there was a lot of banter which I enjoyed so much. I loved the outdoors aspect of this, and the meet cute in the book was really cute!! Excited to read more from this author.

4.5 stars

Fish Out of Water was a great grumpy/sunshine story with a bit of suspense.

When Dahlia's sister Rose sends her a message with their secret SOS code she immediately comes to help. She is a city girl and Rose is in a small town in Colorado so Dahlia is definitely out of her element. I loved how she forged ahead and was determined to not let anyone or anything stop her from finding Rose. It's that determination that brings her to bribe Winston to help her hike to the location Rose was headed to.

The story is campy fun at times as Dahlia and Winston search for Rose, and I loved the two of them working together. They were adorable as they fell for one another and I liked how she brought Winston out of his shell. I switched back and forth between the audiobook and ebook and it was an enjoyable, engaging read in both formats.

This was a fun, light, and sweet book. It was surprisingly light-hearted for a book about a woman searching for her lost sister. This is the rom-com version of "All Rhodes Lead Here" where everything ends well and no one dies. The mystery/suspense definitely takes a back seat to the forced proximity grumpy/sunshine relationship.

This story follows Dahlia who is looking for her sister and regains help from a reluctant Winston . Dahlia is a huge chatterbox with a love for be a stylist . Winston is your classic grumpy character with a sweet cinnamon roll side . i loved Dahlia and her sisters relationship especially how they were ready to do anything for each other . One of my favorite things has to be their cute banter especially despite how annoying Winston finds her he does everything to make sure she is ok.This is a sweet romance with a bit of mystery and definitely recommend.

This is a super cute novel! I've never read Katie Ruggle's work before, but Fish Out of Water was such a fun read that I can't wait to dive deeper into her other works.

Dahlia is a cute character but sort of reminds me of what happens when someone who knows absolutely nothing about the woods stumbles into an REI and just says "prep me". I can appreciate that her motivation is her sister so very little matters other than finding her sister. I appreciated her character and her growth.

Winston is adorable, and we love a grumpy/sunshine couple.