Member Reviews

This book is like a mix between The Proposal and It happened one summer. Take the fake engagement, quirky characters and insane comedic situations of The Proposal and mix it with the fisherman/ influencer main characters of It happened one summer and you get The Catch.

It was a fun, cute and heartwarming story and I’m really glad that I finally got around to reading it! 😊

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Amy Lea reels readers in with The Catch, a swoon-worthy rom-com that blends humour, heart, and a dash of small-town charm. If The Proposal meets While You Were Sleeping sounds like your kind of story, this book is sure to hook you from the start!

Melanie Karlsen, a struggling fashion influencer, is completely out of her element when she lands in a quaint Canadian fishing village. Enter Evan Whaler, a grumpy yet rugged fisherman who wants nothing to do with her - or her social media stunts. But when an accident leads to a case of mistaken identity, they’re suddenly fake fiancés, and what starts as a temporary arrangement quickly turns into something neither of them saw coming.

Mel and Evan’s dynamic is a classic sunshine-and-grump pairing, with plenty of witty banter and undeniable chemistry. Mel’s transformation from a city girl glued to her phone to someone who starts appreciating the simple joys of small-town life is satisfying to watch, while Evan’s gruff exterior hides a heart of gold. Their forced proximity leads to some truly hilarious (and heart-melting) moments, making it easy to root for them.

The setting is a standout - Amy Lea brings the sleepy fishing village to life with vivid descriptions, quirky side characters, and the kind of close-knit community that feels like a warm hug. While the plot follows familiar rom-com beats, the charm, humour, and emotional depth make it an enjoyable ride.

If you’re in the mood for a feel-good romance with laugh-out-loud moments, crackling chemistry, and just the right amount of steam, The Catch is well worth the read!

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One thing about me is I’m always gonna love whatever ms Amy is writing. The final instalment in the influencer series did not disappoint!
I absolutely adore Amy’s writing and the worlds and characters she creates, has me giggling and kicking my feet every time. Grumpy sunshine trope is always going to do it for me, and Mel and Evan have a special place in my heart. Would absolutely recommend.

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"Because if people no longer buy into my brand, they no longer buy into me. As a person. And what does it say about me if I cant get people to like me – the best version of me – even behind a filter?"

This is the third and final book in the Influencer trilogy by Amy Lea, but it can be read as a standalone. I am a sucker for small-town romance and fake dating and this book delivered! The tropes, the banter, the tension, the romance!!!🫠 I love Mel and Evan, the chemistry in every single one of their interactions was *chefs kiss*.

This book was so fun and so sweet it had me laughing so much, crying a bit, and obsessed with these characters. Amy's writing is addictive and fun and I love the way she writes her characters. They are always so loveable and relatable and you can't help but rooting for them. Her books give you the same feelings as watching romantic comedies.

I think this was the perfect end to the Influencer series and I definitely recommend adding this series to your tbr!💙

Read if you like:
-Small Town Romance
-Grumpy x Sunshine
-City Girl meets Small Town Boy
-Fake Engagement
-Forced Proximity
-Not So Meet Cute
-East Coast Canada Vibes
-Open Door Spice
-Found Family
-While You Were Sleeping x The Proposal

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Felt very similar to It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey but I preferred this one. Whole there was no standout moments it was the characters that made this for me.

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I loved The Influencers series by Amy Lea - every book was so good and I loved Evan and Mel’s story. Amy Lea’s writing grabs you and gets you invested in her wonderful characters. The setting of Cora’s Cove was so picturesque and so detailed; I felt like I was right there alongside all the great characters Amy gave us in this novel. Evan and Mel were total opposites - but their chemistry and the way they helped and supported each other was so incredible and the progression of their relationship was so natural and real. And I loved them together! While each book remains unique to the main characters, the themes of friendship, family, encouragement, support and love remain throughout all three books. I’m sad to see this series end, but I’m excited to see what Amy has in store for us next! This series is a must read in my opinion!

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I didn’t love this one.
I don’t know if it was just me or what I didn’t like but I felt like a lot of books I’ve read before.

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We instantly are delivered a small-town picturesque vibe with this book. Your real Grumpy X Sunshine. Did we catch the feels a little too hastily, maybe! Was I bothered? Clearly not!

Read in a day, baby! Melanie is not a calm cloister, she is as dramatic as they come in my opinion and Evan is not my dream MMC, he was actually mean, wanted his POV tbh to see where his head was at. But, it flowed, I enjoyed it. I took what I needed at the time from it and I didn't take the plot too seriously.

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I adored the first two books in the series but this one didn’t hit the same spot for me and I’m so sad about it.
The chemistry was lacking and Evan seemed like such a massive man child. Also Evan’s mum is wildly inappropriate.

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Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

This didn't work for me at all because all I could think about was "It happened One Summer" by Tessa Bailey... if you compare these two books this falls short in every aspect.

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The Catch by Amy Lea is a swoon-worthy romance packed with humor, heart, and undeniable chemistry. The characters are refreshingly relatable, and their banter adds a delightful spark to the story. Lea expertly balances heartfelt moments with lighthearted charm, making this book impossible to put down. Amy Lea is becoming one of my favourite authors.

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This was an easy read and enjoyable, but pretty predictable and cookie cutter from other romance books.
The dynamic between the main characters felt forced and the plot, for me, wasn’t believable. I didn’t understand why she didn’t just explain what was happening to his family.
It felt familiar which meant that it was an easy read and fairly enjoyable. But lacking with the characters and plot for me.

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This is a While You Were Sleeping, fake dating, grumpy sunshine romance. Suspend all your disbelief and enjoy the characters.
Melanie and Evan are both likeable
Evan's family are delightful.
This is frothy and fun and everything you would expect from an Amy Lea romance.

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I’ve loved this series since Set on You, the first book, came out in 2022 so I was sooo excited to get an eARC on this and be able to complete the set!

The Catch brings us Mel, a fashion influencer, and Evan, a fisherman, who meet in unexpected circumstances that sees one of them immediately almost drown on an ill-fated boating trip. This somehow leads Mel to be mistaken for Evan’s fiancee by his family, and fake-dating chaos ensues.

I will admit, I found the premise for this one a little bit too unbelievable - even for a romance novel! I struggled a little bit to get into the relationship in the same way I did with the first two novels, because this one just felt a little more fantastical.

Having said that, once I could set the plot aside I did enjoy this - it has Lea’s trademark steamy scenes and Mel’s friendships with the ladies from the rest of the series were just as fun as in the earlier books too. I did also enjoy the subplot around Mel’s family and her brother; I think this is part of what eventually grounded the story for me and kept me going with the story.

I think this one was the last in the Influencer series (please do correct me if I’m wrong on that!) and I thought it was a wonderful end to the series - I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Lea’s future books too!

Have you read this series? What did you think?

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This was a really fun and gorgeous read, I couldn't wait to keep turning the pages on Mel and Evan's story. I loved the small-town vibes and the comedy between the two, it was the perfect romance.

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This was such a fun read! I absolutely flew through the story, just kept turning page after page to find out what was coming next for Mel and Evan.

The combination of hate-to-love and fake dating is actually hard to pull off, but oh my god this book absolutely succeeded. Add the small town vibes (and lobsterfest!) to the mix, and you get just about the perfect romance.

And now we know what happens when you combine 'While You Were Sleeping' with 'The Proposal': a really really great story featuring totally adorable characters.

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The latest romantic comedy from internationally bestselling author Amy Lea features a sour lobster fisherman throwing a fashion influencer's flawlessly manicured life overboard.

Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a small fishing village on Canada's east coast in a desperate attempt to save her brand from the verge of extinction. The only thing scarier than nature itself? Evan Whaler, a bearded and muscular fisherman and owner of a bed and breakfast, is the one person who disproves the notion that Canadians are "nice."

Mel is mistaken for Evan's fiancée by his hospitable but eccentric family, who have a long-standing feud over the B&B, after a boating accident leaves Evan unconscious in the hospital. Mel makes the audacious decision to pretend to be engaged for a week to get Evan's assistance with her social media posts to patch up family tensions.

Keeping their developing feelings for one another in check is becoming harder every day amidst lengthy hikes and campfire conversations. Will Mel, however, give up her idyllic city life for the possibility of an unadulterated, genuine love in the wild?

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Thanks to NetGalley for sending me the arc of this novel and being able to read it.

I really wanted to read this author, this is the first time, and unfortunately I think it will be the last, I don't think this book was for me.

It's a fairly short book, but I had a hard time reading it, I feel like I didn't connect with the story or the characters, or the pace of the book.

I think the main idea was super cute, a fisherman and a city girl, it was my cliche fav, and in the end I feel like the characters were too shallow, I just didn't get to see beyond them.

It's a shame that a book I was so looking forward to reading, has been such a sadness.

The drama at the end, totally unnecessary, I feel like Mel has no clue about anything and changes his mind in every chapter, and then Evan, "change your whole life for me because I can only live at sea" it was terrible to read this, it's just typical, always moving your life for a man, it's just that this guy from the beginning has had little things that creaked on me and I couldn't connect with him.

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This was a really cute romance with a grumpy/sunshine and city/small town vibe - it was great for escapism.

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The Catch by Amy Lea was full of great banter and spice make it another great romcom in her influencer series! Really enjoyed this book.

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