I loved Dahila and Winston. The banter between them was so well done. It made laugh out loud several times especially when she bribed him. She brought to live an introvert simply by being herself. I liked how most of the story takes place during the hike with Dahila and Winston getting to know each other.

This was a well written story and I have already listened to the audiobook. I enjoyed it just as much the second time through.

Rating: 3 ⭐️
Pub Date: February 13, 2024
How I Read It: 📱

Synopsis
Dahlia, an LA based makeover consultant, arrives at a small Colorado town to find her sister, who she believes is missing. Her sister, Rose, sent her a text message that said, “tell mom hi,” which was their code for “help!” but the people at the hotel think she’s crazy, as do the local cops. She decides to go find Winston, a grumpy survival expert/hermit, lumberjack, cozy mystery author. She blackmails him to help her find her sister and they embark on a trip through the woods to find Rose.

My Thoughts
The BANTER! Omg the BANTER! I loved it! This book was different. I thought it was weird that I was laughing while reading this, because the characters were looking for a missing person so I had a feeling that Dahlia’s sister was alive and well. There was other craziness going on in the book such as Dahlia putting makeup on a grumpy, rugged survival expert in the middle of the woods, which had me asking myself why on earth did she have makeup in the middle of the woods?

Final Thoughts
This book was a fun and quirky romcom! If you’re looking for a light, quick read with an outdoor setting, this one’s for you.

❗️Of Note
🌶️ It’s SPICY

Themes:
🏔️ Wilderness Adventure Romance
🌞 Grumpy/Sunshine
💛 Banter
💛 Opposites Attract

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This was definitely different than the Katie Ruggle I'm use to. There was lots of humor with just a hint of danger, so I'd qualify this as a romantic comedy (grump/sunshine trope) instead of her usual romantic suspense that she excels at. That said, I really enjoyed this book. It was lighter and sometimes that's just what you need.

Dahlia was hilarious. That whole 'Legends of the Hidden Temple' obstacle course chapter at the beginning really gave us a good look into her personality and I was laughing to myself the whole time at her resilience and commentary. At times the whole makeup thing was annoying (I am not one of those who wears makeup), but at least she was passionate about her chosen career. And somehow she managed to break down the walls Winston had erected as the grumpy hermit. Winston was adorable. It's not every day you read a book with a 30 something year old man that's a virgin. But he stole my heart with his silent demeanor. I can't say that I really know that much more about him since he was you know, silent most of the book. I would have definitely loved an epilogue of them in the future to see how they're faring in their new jointed life.

This book was just so darn cute I couldn’t stop! I was lucky enough to also receive the audiobook so I read and listened; and I just adored it!

I enjoyed this book. As a mood reader I feel like it’s the right kind of book for after I’ve read something a bit darker or with a lot of angst. I haven’t read any of the authors other books (I get the impression that those that have maybe had different expectations for this one- so that’s worth considering ).

What I liked:
- fast paced
- good banter
- grumpy/sunshine
-forced proximity
- virgin MMC
-the addition of a bit of suspense
- no third act breakup

A few things that people might feel strongly about (not my favorites, but not deal breakers for me either).
- single POV
- a bit “insta-love”-y

3.5 rounded to 4

A quick, fun read with a building romance. I thought the ending was rushed and the hermit sitting for a makeover a bit unbelievable. Will look forward to more from this author.

This book was so good. My only complaint was the overuse of the word "hermit". lol. I loved how Dahlia and Winston's relationship played out. I loved the mystery aspect of them looking for Rose. Such a great read/listen!

Funny and sweet. Loved this book! Have not read anything by this author before but had so much fun with this read. Only a little suspense which was fine with me. The city girl goes camping thing is not a new troupe but was done incredibly well. She wasn't obnoxious and was always ready to jump in and do what she could without complaining. Also loved the running commentary from her and quiet humor from him. Fun easy read when you just want to relax with a good book. Can't wait to see what's next from this author!

4.5 stars

Finally! A new book from an author I love. Unless I’m missing something, she hasn’t published a book since 2019. While I wasn’t a fan of the single POV, I still greatly enjoyed this book.

Dahlia is such a joy! I wouldn’t quite characterize her as a “sunshine”, but she is hopeful and funny and witty. Her mind goes a mile a minute in so many interesting directions. On the other hand, Winston is steady and thinks long and hard before he speaks…if he even speaks at all. Their chemistry is amazing and I couldn’t get enough of them together.

Honestly, Winston is the star of this show. He is the biggest cinnamon roll but, as Dahlia notes, he’s a stealth cinnamon roll. He cannot help but press stealth kisses to Dahlia’s head, blurt out compliments when he didn’t even mean to speak, and do anything to see Dahlia smile. He’s growly and bossy and a natural alpha while also being tenderhearted and intuitive to Dahlia’s needs. Seriously, this man made me swoon.

I’m so happy to see this author publishing again.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

Loved everything, EVERYTHING, about this title. My biggest complaint would be that I wanted to read more! I appreciate the difficulty of writing a cozy rom-com set in a high stress situation, and I think the author achieves that balance pretty well. Really, if you like the grumpy x sunshine trope, this is solid gold. It hits the tropes, and hits them well. I also really appreciate the author's expression of what it means to be a make-up artist for Dahlia (and others), as it is respectful and insightful..

For sensitive readers, there is some violence, graphic sexuality (I found this content to be more minimal than I expected, in all honesty, but there are descriptions of sexual acts), an off-screen reference to an incident of police violence, drugs, and some depictions of misogynistic behavior,

City meets Country in a Rocky Mountains backcountry setting and a missing person is at stake.

It has been a few years since Katie Ruggle released a book and I was over the moon excited when I got the word Fish Out of Water was releasing. While it is released as a standalone and a contemporary romance, I could see this being the beginning of a new series and it felt more like a mash-up of romcom and suspense harkening back to her earlier books.

Fish Out of Water has a funny start which drew me in quickly. The heroine, Dahlia, who is city pretty to her core coming to the rescue of a sister who sends her a coded text that something went wrong on a simple hike. There’s no way Dahlia can go up into those mountains alone for a rescue so she breaks into Mr. Crabby’s compound and coerces silent and reserved Winston Dane to lead her in.

Dahlia got on my nerves a great deal with her personality of constant chatter and pushiness which stood out particularly because Winston’s response was a grunt or silence. I couldn’t blame him because she roped him in. Dahlia gets the narration so Winston is something of an enigma especially since he’s the big and silent type. But, on the other hand, there was chemistry. They were funny in a grumpy-sunshine way and the forced proximity of sharing a tent led to the reclusive virgin showing he still had game that steamed up Dahlia’s world.

The sexual attraction and building romance definitely has the forefront and I did have the urge to tap them on the shoulder and remind them they were looking for a missing person out there in the sticks. I was curious to know what was up with Dahlia’s sister.

The end was something of a rush when the romance, the suspense, and the happily ever after came together right in a row. I forgot how her books did that. I would have wanted a bit more relationship development and felt that two weeks was fast for some of the decisions they were making, but fiction, right?

And so, in summary, I am happy as a bug that Katie Ruggle is back in the writer’s chair and I look forward to her quirky rustic romantic suspenses. I’d recommend this one for those who like a blending of romcom with suspense in a wilderness setting.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC. I really enjoyed this book. It was short and fun to read. Winston Dane is so loveable as the grumpy hermit in the mountains. He helps Dahlila to search for her missing sister, but they fall in love along the way. I did feel the ending of the book was rushed. The romance is the main plot of the story. I would have liked to know the sister a little more. I plan to read more books by Katie Ruggle, her writing was fun to read.

🌟: 4.25/5
This book was exactly the kind of humor-filled, swoony romance mixed with just a dash of suspense that I needed.

I was flying through the pages of this one because it was just pure fun, and I was hooked from the start. The banter between Dahlia and Winston was absolutely everything, and I loved the "grumpy hermit meets sunshine city girl" dynamic that they had. Their chemistry was completely believable, and I was living for each and every one of their interactions.

Something I really appreciated about this one was how, despite being completely out of her element, Dahlia was an incredibly competent leading lady. The author was able to present Dahlia as a fashionable, makeover-obsessed city girl, without ever having her be construed as over the top or annoying. I mean, come on, my girl was (spoiler alert) picking the padlock on the fence outside of Winston's compound with tweezers and proceeded to avoid ALL of his booby traps (I consider myself a fairly competent and intelligent person, and I don't think I would have been able to do that) and BLACKMAIL him into helping her and for that I will forever love her.

My only minor complaint is that I would have liked more build-up to the mystery surrounding Dahlia's sister's disappearance. The catalyst to the story is that she received an "SOS" text from her sister, and now has taken it upon herself to track her sister down, with the help of Winston. While there are some mysterious clues, namely the map with the strange location marked on it, most of the story focuses on the fun vibes of the romance between Dahlia and Winston, until they get to the location on the map (which is when the suspense comes in). Don't get me wrong, I am here for all the fun vibes, but I would have liked some of the suspenseful element to have been threaded more effectively throughout the story.

That being said, this book was such a good time to read. It was a fun romance with just a touch of suspense that was super easy to fly through, and I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you're in need of a palate cleanser in between denser reads.

I had a good time reading this book, even though it wasn't anything mindblowing, and that's okay. Not every book is going to be a 5 star read, but that doesn't mean that anything less than that is bad.

This book was simple and straightforward, her sister goes missing and she elicits the help from the broodiest guy there is. She slowly manages to chip away at the walls of ice that he has put up, and they fall for each other.

The spice was great, the banter was fun, each and every one of the characters lovable, but it just wasn't as gripping as I'd hoped it would be.

And that's my only gripe with this book. It felt like it couldn't choose between being an action/thriller, or a romance book, and because of that it sort of floated somewhere in the middle. I think if it had leaned more into one of those sides, I would've found the storyline a lot more interesting, but sadly in the end I just couldn't get a 100% into either the romance or the action storyline.

Still, this was a really fun, simple book, and a definite easy read, and I will be trying out other books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Fish Out of Water is about Dahlia, who finds herself in the middle of “the wilderness” trying to find her sister, Rose. Rose apparently has been unreachable since sending out her secret sister code for help. Eliciting the help of a recluse, who may or may not be hiding serial killer tendencies but is really a nice guy according to the local bartender, Dahlia starts the mission to find her sister. Winston Dane aka recluse has reluctantly extended his help. And the adventure begins! If you’re familiar with Katie Ruggles’ books you know that this is forte, the difference being Fish Out of Water is a more lighthearted and often times dips in the romcom genre and a little bit of action romance. Fish Out of Water will have you falling in love with the quirkiness of Dahlia and the befuddlement of Winston all the while keeping your curiosity in finding out what really happened to Rose! Guaranteed keeper!

Okay I loved this one so much from Katie! This was such a fun one for me to read as a new to me author. And can we talk about how STUNNING the cover is?! I am obsessed! I loved the banter and chemistry of Dahlia and Winston. it was a fun, fast paced book for sure. Between the suspense and laughter that it gave me what I was wanting! I cant wait to read more of Katie's books!

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle is a forced proximity/grumpy vs. sunshine romance set in the picturesque town of Howling Falls.

Dahlia, an LA based makeover consultant, has come to town in search of her sister, who sent an emergency text. Winston, a hermit lumberjack author, gets roped into the rescue mission.

A quick paced and over the top wilderness adventure.

This is a story all about the banter. This dialogue is quick and witty throughout. Dahlia's sister is missing, so she decides to track her down from her last known location, a small Colorado town. When she arrives in town, she ends up working with Winston, the turn hermit to find her sister. Together they go out with one tent to find her.

Along with the great banter, there is a lot of discussion about self acceptance and finding your person out there.

This was a very fast moving romance set against a search for a missing woman. I am not sure it totally worked, but the setting was interesting and the characters were intriguing.

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle is an adventure romance and the story of Dahlia and Winston.
 
Dahlia isn’t very keen on nature, but when her sister disappears on a hike, she heads to a small Colorado town to find her. She is a very bossy and confident person who isn’t afraid to ask for help. I really liked her and her positive outlook on life.
 
Winston is the local hermit, and he is an author and survival expert. He keeps to himself and is very grumpy. I liked how you get to know him better with each page and he is such an attractive mountain man.
 
Dahlia is definitely good at wrapping Winston around her finger to help her. However, the beginning felt very forced and Dahlia blackmails him and that leaves a bit of a sour taste. My favorite part was when they stayed together in nature and there was only one sleeping bag. But once they got a lot closer, the plot line with the missing sister went flying out the window and it was resolved very fast and left me wanting more. I liked the romance, but this book was trying to incorporate too many things at once and I wish it would have focused on one aspect more in depth.
 
Overall, if you’re looking for a fun romance read, give this one a go. 3,5 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)