This book is so cute! It was seriously so sweet I was smiling with every interaction Aled and Rosie had. This slow burn was so worth the wait. I loved the pining and the roommates to lovers dynamic they had.

I felt so bad for everything Rosie had to go through with her family and ex, but I am so happy she found Aled and his group of friends. The man was absolutely perfect - a professor who read books, watched romcoms, wore glasses, and recited poetry for her. 🫠 He was such a hopeless romantic. And Rosie’s character development was absolutely perfect! special thanks to the author and netgalley for the arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review 4/5 stars!

4/5 Stars

Thank you to Sourcebooks Cascablanca and Dreamscapes Media for the Earc and Audio arc.

I grabbed this book because some of the authors I love, absolutely adored it and I thought it was ridiculous and fun and romantic all at the same time. I mainly listened to the audiobook which the narrator was amazing and got me super invested in the audio. The premise of this book was insane in the best way and it lived up to that.

Dahlia’s sister disappears on what should have been an easy hike so when Dahlia gets their emergency phrase in a text, she packs up and goes looking for her sister. She knows she won’t be able to survive this alone and finds and convinces a local hermit Winston Dane to be her guide. But even with a mountain man wrapped around her finger this won’t be easy.

I really liked Dahlia and her mind was an insane but relatable place to be. I typically read dual pov books so it was interesting just to get her perspective in this book and it worked well. Winston is a grump and I think being in his mind would have lessened that effect. I could tell Dahlia was worried for her sister and relieved when Winston agreed to help her. Neither of them expected a romance but it still was very sweet and adorable.

This has everything you could be looking for in a romance novel with some good mystery elements, grumpy sunshine, and only one tent. Pick this up if you want a fun book that still has some serious moments.

When Dahlia's sister, Rose, goes missing she goes to Colorado to find clues about where she could have gone. Dahlia's clues lead her to the local hermit, Winston Dane, who agrees to be her guide. It didn't take much work on Dahlia's part to get him to agree, just a little flirting, charm, and a tiny bit of blackmail. What could happen, right? Well it turns out that it was a good thing he went along for the hike.

I have read Katie Ruggle's books in the past and really enjoyed them, I feel as though Fish Out of Water may be an anomaly because I was bored for most of the book. I think the best part was Winston and Dahlia getting to know each other on the hike. The best of the book was the last 20-30% of the book which has some action and keeps your attention.

I received ARC in exchange for voluntary honest review from NetGalley.

I would like to thank netgalley and Sourcebooks for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Nice to see to different worlds collide, with a little bit of suspense.

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle is a fun romantic standalone novel. We meet Dahlia Weathersby, our heroine, at the start, when she receives a danger message from her sister, Rose. Dahlia immediately leaves her California home to fly to Howling Falls Colorado to rescue Rose. Dahlia knows she needs someone to help rescue her sister, and decides to get Winston Dane, a local hermit, who is an expert survivalist.

Winston is very private, and has many booby traps to protect his place from any visitors. Dahlia, who is very outgoing, puts on her charm to Winston, who at first wants nothing to do with her need of help. Using her bubbly personality, she convinces him to help her, and Winston prepares everything they will need for both of them, including survival food & water, heavy clothes/hats and sleeping bags. The next day, Winston will lead them into the wilderness, hiking through the mountains, as they follow the map to lead them to where Rose may be.

Dahlia finds herself attracted to Winston, especially with his grunts and some smiles; slowly Winston gets used to Dahlia’s constant talking and hilarious fun, becoming very comfortable in her presence. The long trek is difficult, especially with the bitter cold and blizzard; with Dahlia pushing herself into Winston’s bigger sleeping bag to get warm. The banter and chemistry between them were great, and in no time, Winston, who turned into a sweetheart, fully falls for Dahlia. The chemistry between them escalates, with a steamy scene in Winston’s large sleeping bag. I really loved both Dahlia and Winston together, as they made an adorable couple.

As we get closer to the end, there is a lot of action, with them rescuing Rose, and threats on their lives. Fish Out of Water was a lot of fun and humor, with a terrific couple, a trek throughout the wilderness, as well as the dangerous rescue. Overall, the story was hilarious and so much fun, with some steam.

Fish Out of Water was so very well written by Katie Ruggle. Dahlia was a great character, being bubbly and fun. Winston, after a slow start, turned out to be adorable. The banter between them turned out to be fantastic story. I thought Katie Ruggle outdid herself with this fun and entertaining story line. I wholly suggest you read Fish Out of the Water.

I love Katie Ruggle, she is one of my favorite authors. I couldn’t wait to read this book especially since I’ve been waiting for a new book for so long and I couldn’t put it down. This was a fast paced small town romance with a side of suspense. Loved it.

Fish Out of Water is the latest romance by Katie Ruggle. I have read almost every book that she has written and loved them all, but I couldn’t finish Dahlia and Winston’s story. It didn’t grab me from the beginning and Dahlia was just too quirky for my tastes. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend Fish Out of Water to anyone for those reasons.

Fish Out of Water is the first book I’ve ever read by Katie Ruggle, and I definitely need to check out her backlist after finishing this book.

Storyline: Dahlia Weathersby is in the Colorado Rockies due to her sister sending her an SOS message for help. No one in the town is taking it seriously that her sister is missing, not even the police, and she needs someone to help her. The only person, who could help her is not a people person, and he’s the town’s grumpy hermit for a reason. She’s going to need him to convince him to help her, especially when she has no idea what happened to her sister.

My thoughts after finishing are that the storyline was promising, but I wished it would have been written in dual POV instead of single because I would have loved to know what Winston was thinking, especially since he’s one of my favorite kinds of heroes: grumpy and introverted. I only got to experience him through Dahlia’s POV, and I felt cheated. I didn’t connect with him like I wanted. I did like Dahlia to a point but I did find her personality a little over the top, especially when she’s supposed to be looking for her sister. The whole time, she’s admiring her very quiet, grumpy guide and putting makeup on him to pass the time when they are stuck during a snowstorm in their tent.

I liked the story but didn’t love it. It was an adorable meet-cute small-town romance that had mystery/suspense elements, but it was silly at times with what happened to the characters and how the sister was too focused on things other than her sister in danger. The ending definitely kept me on my toes, though, with the action-packed scenes.

I give this book 3.5 stars, and after reading this, I definitely want to check out Katie Ruggle’s Romantic Suspense books after reading this one.

Story Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5

Steam/Spice: 🌶️

Standalone or Part of Series: Standalone.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you enjoy Contemporary Romance/Romantic Comedy with mystery/suspense elements.

Genre/SubGenre(s): Romance | Contemporary Romance | Romantic Comedy

Trope(s)/Element(s): Small Town | Opposite’s Attract | Grumpy/Sunshine

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle has great characters. It would come across as Mr. Grumpy is hijacked by Ms. Sunshine but honestly, close proximity is a big part of the story or these two would never have gotten to know each other. I knew that Winston could never be forced to do something he didn’t actually decided to do on his own. That came out in the end which is a good thing too.

Dahlia Weathersby comes to the Colorado Rockies to find her sister who sent her a unique SOS message that only Rose and Dahlia would understand. No one believes that Rose is in trouble so she insists that Winston who is living there become her guide. It is a lighthearted romp in the mountains with snow, a bear, and bad guys. Not too serious plus lots of fun to read. The nonstop chatter and banter from Dahlia are a hoot. Winston’s eyebrow, grunts and one-liners add to the charm of this story.

Real life can be so difficult and serious that I enjoyed reading of these two who went, conquered, and save the day, all while looking great and having perfectly natural makeup. My kind of girl.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ll just say the meth lab thing at 85% and having to save the sister was not something I was expecting in this random ass book that no depth.

This was boring as fuck and honestly still in a not good way. The characters have no chemistry and are all flat. The whole purity culture thing where sex was just sex until I had sex with this virgin male. Now it’s magical cause he was a virgin. Gross.

Fish Out of Water was my first novel by Katie Ruggle.
This was a interesting romantic suspense / rom-com with an adorable meet-cute, and all the grumpy/sunshine vibes.
I was excited to give this one a try because it combines some of my favorite contemporary tropes, and some of my loves outside of reading (hiking/camping).
It took me a while to get into Fish Out of Water, but once we were following our two MC's I found it easier to breeze through.

This was a cute rom-com style book that I enjoyed reading but wasn't totally in love with.
Best way I can describe my feelings is- I don't really have a lot of complaints- but it also wasn't memorable? My one and only thing I didn't really enjoy was descriptions used for all the characters in the beginning of the book. It was almost just exclusively brief descriptions of race to introduce the little side characters; i.e 'older black man, white man wearing flannel' (those aren't the exact descriptions, but that it what it felt like reading them.) And while I don't enjoy long winded introductions (think Stephen King with his 2 page description of how red Beverly's hair was in IT), but the LACK of description made the beginning of Fish Out of Water feel very stunted to me.

DNF. This was my first time reading this author and, I don't know, maybe it was because the writing style wasn't for me but I just couldn't connect with any of the characters. Sorry.

Thank you to the author, Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 ⭐️

I enjoyed this one, it definitely wasn’t my absolute favorite, but I did enjoy the banter, the fact that the book made me think a little more deeply, but at the same time didn’t feel like a slow read, it was fun & quick paced.

we love a good meet cute with a little grumpy sunshine added on top ;)

the cover was VERY cute & felt very fitting as I read the book. & ONLY ONE SLEEPING BAG? HELL YES. I dig it.

I really tried to look this book but I just didn’t get into it. The main characters are both fairly odd and awkward. That doesn’t usually deter me. Very slow burn.

Thank you for the ARC for my honest review.

Rated 2.5 ⭐️
This was an easy read with a predictable plot line, which is the comfort of a romance novel. There were some other added elements to make this story different from every other typical romance novel, but this one just didn't give me the warm and fuzzy feeling I like when I read a romance story. There were a few sex scenes, but I didn't love or hate them, kinda were blah and a bit boring.

Thank you to Netgalley, Katie Ruggle, and the publishers for this free ebook. This review is 100% my own and honest opinion.

An enjoyable read! The characters and humour were on point. It wasn't my favourite Katie Ruggle story but I definitely liked it. I think it could have had a bit more suspense and a dual point of view would have offered more insight into Winston. Overall, I would recommend it to others.

This book had me laughing... and not in a good way. I DNF'd around 25%-30% but I "skipped" around as much as the Kindle would allow and it was just - bad. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. The MFC goes out looking for her sister who went missing on a hike. And the heroine doesn't seem interested at all in finding her sister???
Let's not even begin on the sex scene. Just no.



*ARC courtesy of the author and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. I want to thank the valued author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing a copy.*

This was pretty cute. I liked seeing Winston break his walls down and let her in. I do wish it was dual pov, I think it would have added a bit more depth to the story.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Katie really out did herself. This book is so original and I loved the plot and mysteries aspect. I can’t wait to read more of her work

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle is a good story with highly developed characters. Dahlia and Winston are both convincing and embraceable.