I wanted to love this story, but it was just…. Odd. Tonally, it didn’t make much sense. Dahlia’s sister went missing in the wilderness, and she (Dahlia) was on a mission to try to find her. So, in theory, she was worried and it was a serious situation. But, too often, she was more interested in the details of items of clothing, or in getting it on with the handsome local hermit she recruited to be her guide. She repeatedly seemed annoyed when she remembered that she should, in fact, be worried, rather than randy. And then things got even more outlandish, and more atonal. There either needed to be a better marrying of the two plotlines and genres, or the story just needed to pick one or the other and focus on that alone. In the end it was a case of the sum being less than its parts. I was still entertained enough to read all the way through, even as I was simultaneously perplexed.

Cassandra Myles did a decent job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Katie Ruggle, Sourcebooks Casablanca, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a cute outdoorsy romance, especially if you are a fan of insta-love. These two were in love in three days. It felt a little weird since Dahlia thought Winston was a creepy hermit went they met.

Some of the banter felted stilted and awkward at times. I could have also gone without reading every five seconds about Winston’s right eyebrow and all the emotions it was conveying. It got weird quickly. Plus the ending, it was just so odd.

The narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life. I could really feel the emotion in her voice. If you decide to read this book, I’d go with the audio version.

I have read s few of Katie Ruggle's Romantic-Suspense books and they were okay. I think I was looking for more suspense and her plots were more romance. Anyway, here we are, and "Fish Out of Water" is styled as a Contemporary Romance, with a touch of mystery, after all Dahlia's sister, Rose, is missing and that is the whole reason Dahlia and Winston have hooked up. This is a single POV quirky romance. The cover is a misdirection. There is no lake, no fish and the couple are dressed for summer when the book takes place in a cold, blizzard in Colorado. The title is a tease too as the couple did have two sleeping bags, but only chose to use one. I can't really say I enjoyed it. The set up was cute with Dahlia breaking into Winston's compound, but it all went quickly downhill, or rather uphill as they set out on a two-day hike. Really boring during this bit. Things get hot about midway and the ending, the last 20% of the book was fine. The End.

My thanks to the Publisher and Author for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.

A trope-y opposites attract romantic suspense novel set in the mountains. Dahlia persuades Winston, a giant quiet man to help her find her sister Rose who has gone missing. He's got the wilderness and survival skills she doesn't. Know that this is an insta-love one but it's got some humor and I liked the setting. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good beach read.

This book was so cute! Very good read with good spice and adventure. I love the characters, Winston is my new Book boyfriend.

Three and a half
I've truly enjoyed this authors previous work and quite honestly George from a previous book is one of my all-time favourite characters so I'm not sure what I think about this story. In many ways Winston is like George big grumpy ( oops meant cuddly) clever hunk of manhood and perhaps that's my issue. The characters and indeed the situation to an extent feel very similar as if I'm reading the same story but perhaps written as fanfic which it obviously isn't. Plus the twist with Winston well I didn't believe it , sorry.
Dahlia, was well frankly irritating and definitely not my preferred type of heroine. She's a little vain but most of all my issues with her stem from the fact that her sister could be lying dead somewhere and all she can do is eye up Winston although admittedly he's clearly someone who deserves a second look. I really wanted to like this but due to the similarities between this situation and the one in Gone Too Deep I struggled to just sink into it at times. Plus what is it with these new style covers ? Does the author wish us to think its a comedy as in a Rom com sort of book ? I do understand there's a shift in cover art but didn't think this one particularly did justice to the story.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

When Dahlia's sister goes missing, Winston, a mountain survival expert, accompanies her on her search. Can Dahlia's citygirl ways survive in the wilderness? Can Winston get out of his grumpy ways to actually have a conversation with Dahlia? 

The grumpy/sunshine trope was in full force in this book as well as the one bed trope - or one sleeping bag in this case! I enjoyed reading how the two characters fell for each other but at times felt like their relationship overtook the main issue of looking for Dahlia's sister. I loved the ending and enjoyed the narration, which was extremely well done. I didn't realize Katie Ruggle had written so many other books! This is my first by her and I now look forward to reading more.

When Dahlia's sister goes missing, Winston, a mountain survival expert, accompanies her on her search. Can Dahlia's citygirl ways survive in the wilderness? Can Winston get out of his grumpy ways to actually have a conversation with Dahlia? 

The grumpy/sunshine trope was in full force in this book as well as the one bed trope - or one sleeping bag in this case! I enjoyed reading how the two characters fell for each other but at times felt like their relationship overtook the main issue of looking for Dahlia's sister. I loved the ending and enjoyed the narration, which was extremely well done. I didn't realize Katie Ruggle had written so many other books! This is my first by her and I now look forward to reading more.

This book is about Dahlia Weathersby, who is looking for her sister in the Colorado Rockies after receiving an emergency text from her. The police won’t take the disappearance seriously and think her sister is alright. Dahlia decides to go looking for her out on the trail, but realizes that she doesn’t have the competence to do so herself. She recruits the grumpy hermit, Winston Dale, to be her guide in the wilderness, using just a tiny bit of blackmailing. But the wild is not easily mastered, even with an excellent guide. Includes bears, toilets behind a tree, snow blizzards, and a shared sleeping bag.

I really liked this book, both Dahlia and Winston are totally likable characters. Winston is nice (although he doesn’t think so himself) and really takes care of Dahlia in a way she has never been cared for before. But she isn’t a helpless city woman, she has packed sensible clothes and is eager to learn about surviving in the wild. That’s really a plus for this book, that she doesn’t need to be rescued, but like all people, she sometimes needs help and is able to ask for it. The only downside (and a little bit strange) is maybe that she sometimes forgets about her mission to find her sister, and is happy about the hiking. But aside from that, it’s really nice reading and made me happy!

Fish Out of Water was the opposite of what I was expecting. I didn’t know what to expect but I enjoyed it. It’s part thriller, part mystery, part aventure, with some added romance and nature.

The grumpy sunshine trope is one of my favorites and Katie Ruggle depicts it soo well in this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙮 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝘽𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠 & 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙠𝙮 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚.

📍 Read if you like:
• The Colorado Wilderness
• Grumpy/Sunshine
• Romantic Suspense
• Insta Love

I went into this book with a completely different mindset, I wasn’t expecting it to have triggers such as gun violence.

The cover completely threw me off, I was expecting this to be a lighthearted romance - and while it had its moments, the mystery side of the story was a lot heavier. I honestly should’ve read the synopsis beforehand, but the story was still a good read.

This was a mix of romance, comedy, and mystery - each genre was portrayed well in my opinion. The story starts right away with the mystery, Dahlia is trying to figure out what happened to her sister Rose after she sends her a message asking for help.

The story is set in the wilderness of Colorado and I absolutely loved that. It was so atmospheric and the wilderness was portrayed so well in this book. While the suspense was alright in this, I personally would’ve enjoyed the romance part more.

This story started off on a good note, I was enjoying it and was intrigued by the story. Again, I didn’t realize this had a mystery aspect to it before reading it. I definitely judged it on the cover alone. However, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending. It wasn’t bad by any means, it’s just not an ending I like.

I did, however, really enjoy the grumpy/sunshine in this and the one tent trope in this was absolutely phenomenal. I enjoyed the humor scattered throughout and I thought the audiobook was great.

This was an overall great romance read with a suspense subplot. While some of the elements weren’t my fav, I still enjoyed the story as a whole. I could definitely see myself reading more from this author.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Kidnapping, Sexual Content, Abandonment, Drug Use, Gun Violence

god, i really really wanted to like this book because the cover was so cute and the premise seemed so interesting but it just sort of fell so flat for me.

dahlia, our main character, was great. i actually really liked reading about her but the fact that this was written in a third person point of view with no real insight to the hero, winston, made it seem like the book could've done without the romance. which says A LOT since romance is the biggest pull for me to read a book (usually). i also didn't find much "suspense" given the entire plot is them looking for dahlia's lost sister.

also, while you, as a reader, do warm up to the possibility of winston and dahlia ever being able to be an item. most of their conversations are one sided with a series of grunts from him. i mean, honestly, how dahlia had any patience with him -- she deserves sainthood. i'm all for reading about a grumpy mountain man, but he has to give me SOMETHING more than just a couple moments of slipped vulnerability.

also it made me feel weird that anything physical happened between them while her sister was still missing and in (possible) danger. there were some instances during their time trapped in a tent with nothing else to do apparently but have sex that she mentions feeling guilty about her sister but then she pivots her thoughts to winston so she can focus on the task at hand - as if that was what was more important??

i wish we could've read more about winston and what happened in his head to make him a more believable romantic hero but this, again, all fell a bit flat for me.

Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and dreamscape media for the free e-Arc, and ALC. The opinions are my own. I love the cover however the story was so out of left field, not possible and the insta-love more then I could stand. The last few books I've read were insta-love and cemented I am not a fan....

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle is a contemporary romance with a dash of suspense currently scheduled for release on February 13 2024. When Dahlia Weathersby's sister disappears on what should have been a simple day hike, Dahlia immediately heads deep into the Colorado Rockies to find her. Knowing she'll never survive the mountains alone, she convinces the local hermit—adorably grouchy survival expert Winston Dane—to be her guide. All it takes is a good helping of Dahlia's charm, and just the teeniest bit of blackmail…before she's got all six-foot-something of him wrapped around her finger. But even with her very own mountain man in tow, things aren't going to be easy. With everything the wilderness has to throw at them, it'll take more than charm and some city girl ingenuity to make this trek anything but a disaster waiting to happen, and an adventure she'll never forget.

Fish Out of Water is a fun and engaging read. I liked Dahlia and Winston, their chemistry, and they way that communicated. There was fun and humor, but they did also do a little deeper sharing and getting to know each other. I liked that there was plenty of getting to know you time, and that neither of them were dismissive of the other's interests or concerns. I did feel a bit like most of it was less deep and layered than I was expecting from this author. The story that was here was entertaining and fun to read, and there were a couple moments of deep understanding between the two, and a dose of danger towards the end. However, I wanted something more. There was enough groundwork laid to cover so much more of the history and families of both Dahlia and Winston- but it was barely touched on. I get that it could very well be the groundwork for a series, but I still wanted more in the here and now.

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle was a cute rom-com with a little mystery thrown in to entice her suspense fans to read the book.
The first few chapters introduced Dahlia and Winston and they really were a perfect example of "opposites attract". I often laughed at Dahlia's ramblings as she was trying to get responses from Winston, who is definitely the "strong silent type". The plot moves swiftly as they try to find Dahlia's sister and there were a few twists but not until the dramatic finale.
I do agree with a few other reviewers that the plot is very similar to Gone Too Deep a previous book by Ms. Ruggle. However. the main characters were nothing like the characters in Gone Too Deep and this one had more humor throughout the book.
All in all, this was an easy and entertaining afternoon read. I would like to thank Alyssa Garcia for reaching out to me for a chance to read this eARC.

3.5 rounded up

This was a funny and heartfelt opposites attract, forced proximity romance between a grumpy virgin wilderness guide and a savvy beauty influencer searching for her missing sister. I enjoyed this a lot on audio and would definitely pick up another book by this new to me author. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: open door, mild details

It seems like I've been waiting forever for a new book by Katie Ruggle and the wait was worth it. I loved this funny, quirky, small-town survivalist meets big town make-up artist story.

Dahlia is in search for her missing sister, and Winston is her reluctant guide. Dahlia can't stop talking and Winston just grunts with an occasional smile. Two opposites, that are perfect for each other. It had everything I want in a book, humor, action, romance. I couldn't put it down. It's a quick & easy read, that left me wanting for me.

I received this advance review copy from NetGalley & the publisher for my honest review.

Fish Out of Water generated mixed feelings for me as a reader. Dahlia, a girly girl, heads to the Colorado Rockies in response to an SOS from her missing sister. Early in her search, she connects with Winston, a somewhat reclusive guy who agrees to help. I enjoyed their outdoor winter trek, following a map left by Dahlia’s sister Rose. There wasn’t a lot to the plot and the suspense factor was not particularly intense. Dahlia herself was a mix of unrelatable silliness and respectable competence. Overall, I feel lukewarm about this book. I prefer some or Katie Ruggles’ earlier titles.

This was a fun mystery romance with humorous banter between the two main characters. There was enough action and witty dialogue to keep me interested. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this one. It was really fun to read. This book was well written with good conflict and fun character banter. I love a good introverted mountain man hero! This was a fun rom com with some mystery thrown in. The characters were developed with good chemistry. The only issues I had were that I know Dahlia is a city girl, but I expected her to be a bit more concerned about her sister. Overall, a great read. I can’t wait to dive into her romantic suspense books. Huge thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book!