I’m not sure if it was the writing style or editing but this was a rough read. Good idea for a plot but executed poorly. At times hard to follow and certainly hard to relate to or identify with.

This was so sexy. I loved the MMC, and the atmosphere. I got bored in the middle but still enjoyed. The fake dating trope isn’t my favorite, but it was well done.

I liked this wild romance between two opposites who truly care for each other and see them for who they are and love them. I liked their relationship, even if it was a little slow going at first and wasn’t sure about the initial chemistry. I also loved the growth and development we see in Stellar as she learns to love and trust not only McHuge, but her sister and the others in the camp. The only negative about this book is that both main characters seem to be stuck on their one night hookup from a year ago, which was repeatedly brought up throughout the book.

I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand I found the writing to be a bit too flowery/descriptive for my taste in romances. On the other hand these characters and their story worked their way into my heart and I found myself thinking about them when I wasn’t reading it.

The descriptive writing did work for me in the sense that I could absolute picture every scene and setting Stellar and Lyle traveled too.

While the trope is fake dating - the connection and relationship between these two was raw and real.

I think I’ll still give this author another chance, but this wasn’t a huge fave for me.

McHuge and Stellar made a great couple, but this book what such a whirlwind and not always in a good way. I felt like there were components that were so rushed and then others that dragged on and on. I would have preferred a tighter structure but I still enjoyed the story!

The Ripple Effect by Maggie North is a heartwarming romance packed with humor, vulnerability, and just the right splash of chaos. Think grumpy/sunshine meets fake engagement, with a canoe.

Stellar J. Byrd, a sharp-edged, burnt-out ER doc, is doing everything she can to keep her life from sinking, including taking a job she definitely doesn’t want at a relationship therapy camp. Enter Lyle “McHuge” McHugh, the infuriatingly cheerful psychologist she once hooked up with (and has been avoiding ever since). Thrown together at "summer camp" with little privacy, a PR disaster forces them into a fake engagement agreement.

Unpacking a history of baggage, Stellar and McHuge's journey has chemistry, vulnerability and cutting banter. I appreciated the nod to being overworked in the medical field (especially 2020) and the lasting effects of burnout and trauma, particularly in how it complicates forming and maintaining relationships.

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity!

Oh, the drama! And the SETTING!!!

This book is about Stellar and Lyle "McHuge." Now Stellar has been burned before and prefers her life to be as independent as possible. However, she finds a special connection with the too-nice-for-his-own-good McHuge. They end up back together as they work as co-leaders for an outdoor relationship retreat.

At first, (as is obviously seen in my dates read) I was slow getting into this. I think the reason why was a combination of the start of a reading slump, trying to hit quite a few bookish deadlines, and a bit too much prose in the first chapters. Don't get me wrong, once I got used to the writing style, I liked it much more, but I still felt slowed down by some of the unnecessarily long descriptions. Maggie, though, certainly hooked me though. The setting was beautiful, the drama was juicy, and the final chapter was heartwarming!!! I really enjoyed these characters (although some of the descriptions of McHuge were...let's say...unrealistic or maybe heavy handed) I thought the character arcs, and their love was great!

This was a cute one to revisit some of the characters met in Rules For Second Chances. McHuge and Tobin started to put together an adventure camp for couples to explore and evolve together but as Tobin has to pull back (stopping that storyline review for spoilers), Liz pulls in Stellar to fill in the gap and run their first group outing. What she doesn't know is that Stellar and McHuge have a bit of history. What they don't know is that that history is going to be the pivot point for whether or not they can make this company work. Add in some hefty trauma, some hidden pasts, some academic espionage and it's a recipe for a wild ride.

#arc
#netgalley
#therippleeffect

This was a fun, adventurous story to read.

White water rafting is not something I'm personally familiar with. Nor is it something I'm particularly interested in doing myself. That said, the author does a great job describing the different aspects of it, and makes it feel almost accessible.

The love story just adds to the fun of it all.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was unfortunately not for me. The writing style didn’t flow for me, and made it difficult to want to read. While the MMC was likeable enough, I had a lot of trouble enjoying the FMC. It just took me too long to get into the book, and never felt like the book truly sucked me in.

DNFed at 16%
I’ll say that it felt like the environment is so catastrophic that to save her/his life they need to fake and engagement… it makes me uncomfortable

Okay, I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. The Ripple Effect is such a fun surprise. Grumpy doctor heroine meets absolute sunshine therapist at a wilderness couples’ retreat, and it’s just chaos. (But the kind we love to read about!) Stellar is prickly and guarded, totally not here for emotions. Lyle is this giant, soft, emotionally intelligent man who wears crocs and says things like “let’s unpack that.” 😂 He had me immediately. There’s fake dating, forced proximity, and emotional trauma. It’s weird and warm and spicy in just the right doses. The side characters are unhinged but in a supportive way.

I hadn't read anything by Maggie North and this was so cute. I will definitely read more from her in the future.

This is my second book by Maggie North. While I really enjoyed the first one this one just wasn’t for me. It was difficult to become engaged with the characters. The story had a good premise but I felt after 25% it got a little boring. The whole giant man thing went a little too far for me, it started to feel unrealistic. I really appreciate the depth put into the book but unfortunately it didn’t work for me.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

this was so cute and funny, i couldn’t put it down. very refreshing romance read and i would recommend it

This was such a unique storyline. Overall, the storyline kept me interested and wanting to finish. I think Maggie has an interesting and quirky style of writing that made me feel a rollercoaster of things--between stopping and continuing.

Thank you #netgalley and St. Martin's press for the ARC.

Stellar Byrd, a burned-out ER doc, takes a gig as a camp medic at a weirdly emotional canoeing/relationship therapy camp just to stay in her favorite (but expensive) mountain town. Things get awkward fast when she’s forced into a fake engagement with the camp’s overly cheerful founder—who also happens to be her ex-hookup. Between sing-alongs, sabotage, and unexpected sparks, this summer might be just what the doctor needed.

This was such a cute read, and I adored McHuge and his emotional maturity and vulnerability. He was the perfect sunshine to Stellar's grumpy. Stellar's emotional growth throughout this book was done so well, and Maggie North did an excellent job at letting us see inside the character's heads. This made the characters so real and relatable to the readers and that can be hard to do, especially when including the amount of banter and humor that this book did.

I really enjoyed the camp setting of this book, and how well that played into the character's growth and the plot. I expected this to be another easy going romance book, and it was in a lot of ways, but there were also so many complexities that added to the depth of the story- and I loved that. This book was healing in a way, and I want to go through life with the attitude of McHuge. Overall, highly recommend this super cute story!

Rating: 4/5
Spice: 2/5

Tropes:
Cinnamon Roll MMC
Grumpy/Sunshine
One Tent
Fake Engagement
One Night Stand
Self Healing
Marriage Counselling
Found Family

Thank you so much Maggie North, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this eARC. All thoughts are my own.

*Thank you to You Had Me at HEA and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

I swear, Maggie North can make any hobby hot! I really enjoyed this one night stand turned fake dating romance and learned a lot about whitewater canoeing. Stellar and McHuge were such opposites, yet grew together to make The Love Boat a success and fell in love themselves in the process. The corporate espionage subplot was hilarious and I loved getting to know all of the couples at the retreat. There is one particular subplot that I could've done without, but overall I really liked the book.

The Ripple Effect had everything I thought I wanted—grumpy sunshine, fake engagement, wilderness vibes—but the execution? A full-blown disaster. 🫠 It dragged like a canoe stuck in mud, the chemistry was MIA, and the plot holes were big enough to paddle through. Stellar was more rage than romance, Lyle was soft-spoken to a fault, and somehow these two went from one awkward one-night stand (a year ago) to lifelong commitment in 10 days flat. Make it make sense.

The setting was… fine. But nothing could distract from the box-check energy this story gave off. I’m all for queer representation, but the way it was handled here felt disjointed—like a last-minute pitch to appeal to everyone without doing any one storyline justice. Never in my life have I encountered a group where nearly every character casually flips between identities without it being meaningful to the plot. The only thing keeping me from setting this book adrift? Mitch and Lori. Everyone else felt like background noise in an overstuffed romance that forgot to bring the heart.

Save yourself the whiplash. There are better reads out there. 🚫

Loved how the Stellar was portrayed as strong and capable physically, but mentally very soft and unsure. At times, it was a big grating to read time and time again about huge “McHuge” was. Like we get it- he’s big and muscular and kind and strong.