This book was so much fun. I loved the scenes of them traveling through the woods. I thought they were great and had some awesome and intense intimate moments between the two of them. I love how there was another plot outside of the romance. It kept the story interesting and I kept wanting to find out what happened to her sister. Overall, this book was a fun read and I loved it.

I went into this book unsure what to expect and it was a delightful surprise! Dahlia is on the mission to find out what happened to her sister when she disappeared on her trip to the Colorado Rockies. With the help of a local expert, Winston, Dahlia sets out to follow in her sister's footsteps. Winston and Dahlia had me rooting for them with their banter and connection from the start. This book had me laughing and gasping in fear as they journeyed on the hike and through the woods. I also couldn't put it down because I needed to know what was happening! Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I really liked this book! I love a hiding-the-wilderness MMC so much and I especially love the "only one sleeping bag" take on the one bed trope. This was super fun all around!

Oh boy do I love a male virgin! This opposites attract/ forced proximity was an easy, albeit unmemorable, read. Dahlia was a slightly ditsy FMC that packed nail polish remover for a hiking adventure. Like excuse me. Winston is your stereotypical grumpt recluse and I LOVED it. I swear that trope never gets old. Overall I will defiantly read more from his author and continue with this series.

This was a really fun book to read! I loved the camping element and the forced proximity trope that came with it. Great characters, and a feel good book.

Katie Ruggle’s Fish Out of Water was a disappointment, feeling like a stripped-down version of her much-loved Gone Too Deep. The plot is nearly identical—city girl teams up with a grumpy outdoor expert to find a missing family member—but lacks the suspense and dual POV that made the original so engaging. While Dahlia is a fun heroine, the hero feels generic and forgettable, and their romance unfolds at odd and unconvincing moments. The single POV eliminates much of the emotional connection, and the pacing drags during the hiking portions. Fans of Ruggle’s romantic suspense series will miss the complexity and charm she usually delivers. Three stars.

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!