I really enjoyed this read! All my favorite tropes! Second chance romance? Sign me up!! The MMC had me salivating.. idc.
I hope to read more from Maggie North.

The Ripple Effect is a heart-tugging, slow-burn romance set at a quirky whitewater therapy camp in Canada. Burned-out ER doc Stellar Byrd reluctantly joins as camp physician—only to be roped into a fake engagement with Lyle McHugh, the emotionally in-touch ex she never forgot.

With humor, healing, and off-the-charts chemistry, this story explores burnout, vulnerability, and the courage to love again. Think Emily Henry meets a canoe trip—with a cinnamon-roll hero you’ll swoon over.

The writing was great!
For me, it easily makes this a 4 star read.

The banter Maggie captures between the characters is good. There were a few things I didn't personally like (something cheesy, or that made me cringe), but overall I was pleased.

Did not finish. I was not vibing with the story or the MMC being called McHuge. Writing style was good though so I'll try something else from the author.

Spicy, male female, 1st person single point of view, contemporary romance. Black cat + golden retriever second chance story that was a bit spicy without being explicit. Well written quirky yet believable relationship and plot.

Stellar is at loose ends - she's a ER doctor who's left her job, not voluntarily and she had a one night stand with Lyle who's a kind person to everyone he meets, he's also a doctor of psychology. He's quite the of opposite of Stellar who feels every action is transactional. She's been avoiding Lyle for a whole year and now he offers her a job at his adult camp as the camp doctor and river guide. She accepts the job mostly to help out her best friend Liz who's husband is part owner of the camp. We follow the first ten day session of the camp and all that happens with the campers and between Stellar and Lyle. Good book - enjoyed the wrap up provided in chapter 27.

The Ripple Effect is a fantastic quasi-second chance romance set in the Canadian wilderness, and it is everything I needed and more. Stellar and McHuge's relationship is the perfect example of healthy communication. Additionally, Stellar's relationships with friends and family add to her character development, which complements the romance aspect. The hint of spice was a nice addition in between the emotional conversations.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked this book. I read the previous book about Liz and Tobin when it first came out and I was happy to see the story move on with their friends McHuge and Stellar.

McHuge is a psychologist who wrote a best selling relationship book and Stellar is a doctor (although she has not practiced in a year). McHuge and Tobin start a wilderness marriage/relationship counseling retreat for people to work on their relationships. Before the retreat even has it's first week a big sponsor pulls out, Tobin is out for paternity leave, and the entire thing is criticized for occurring far from medical care without a doctor onsite as most of the people attending will be novices at whitewater canoeing.

Stellar had been avoiding McHuge since a hook up that happened one year before after a concert. She was going to say no to being a camp doctor but then her friend Liz had her baby which she felt she needed to say yes as Tobin and McHuge wouldn't have time to find someone else before Tobin's paternity leave.

The summer is full of twists and turns. Love all the characters and the story line. I am hoping there is a book three and Stellar's sister Sloane is the main character (fingers crossed!).

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC in trade for an honest review. This book was not for me. I could not get into it and I could not bring myself to continue and finish it.

This book was simply not for me. It may be a great read for you!

🆃🅷🅴 🆁🅸🅿︎🅿︎🅻🅴 🅴🅵🅵🅴🅲🆃
𝚋𝚢: 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚎 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦 🫶🏻 St Martin’s Press for the free book! #SMPPartner #SMPRomance #TheRippleEffect All opinions are my own.

𝔽𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖 💕
“I proposed to you because I couldn’t stop thinking about you for a whole year. I asked you to marry me because you’re the best, kindest, most selfless person I know”

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪 ✏️
Stellar is a grumpy former ER doc who does not believe that she is destined for a happily ever after. When financial prospects dwindle and the ground starts shifting underneath her she is forced to take a job as the camp physician at The Love Boat, a relationship retreat that offers whitewater rafting with a side of self help. The sunshine to her grumpy, McHuge, is generous to a fault and while he has been graciously giving Stellar space since their hookup last year, when his credibility is questioned he must do whatever it takes to save his business, even agree to a fake engagement.

𝕄𝕪 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤 💭
This story is such a delight! The wilderness setting is perfect for a summer romance and the cast of characters is so endearing. There are tons of sweet moments, lots of hijinx and more than a hint of corporate espionage but my favorite thing about the story is Stellar’s transformation. At the start of the book she is extremely jaded (with good reason) and cautious with her feelings but by the end she truly opens herself up to love and starts to see the kindness all around her.

If you are looking for a sweet summer romance then this is one you should definitely add to your list!

ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 📖
✩ Fake Engagement
✩ Found Family
✩ One Night Stand
✩ Forced Proximity
✩ One Tent
✩ Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine
✩ Character Growth
✩ A hint of mystery

Ripple Effect is so beautifully written I found myself having to stop reading sometimes in order to appreciate the language! I loved the tension and the pining between these two characters and I really enjoyed watching Stellar not just accept love, but accept herself. An absolutely gorgeous romance!

I went into this book with pretty minimal expectations. I think I requested it solely based on the cover and that one of the characters is a psychologist (for context, I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and I have a pretty decent understanding of the role psychologists play and the steps to achieve that role). I did think the conversation around burn out among medical providers was important, as well as healing. I also found it funny how this was clearly supposed to be located in the Whistler area, but the towns were given names as someone who livers nearby. It made sense then, given the setting, why the MMC spoke like such a hippie. That is about the extent of the things I enjoyed about this book unfortunately. The most grating part for me was the way the characters spoke, it felt so incredibly unnatural. Romance books are usually a bit over the top and campy, which I really like. But combining the odd way of speaking with the zany events, it made the over the top effect a negative rather than a positive, and I found myself rolling my eyes and not really caring what happened. Also, I know it's kind of a cliche for the MMC to be giant tall men, but this one was too muge. His nickname is McHuge, and people genuinely call him that throughout most of the novel.

Overall, there really wasn't much in this one for me. I didn't feel invested in the relationship or the plot, I felt none of the chemistry, and it just felt too unnatural and unrealistic. The important themes in the end were overshadowed by my lack of enjoyment

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Ripple Effect was a really nice read. I had a little trouble getting invested in the story at the beginning, mostly because I felt like the exposition didn't give me a lot of information, and it seemed like I had to make a lot of connections on my own. It took me a while to finish this, but I'm glad I did! Lyle and Stellar's love story was a rocky one, but it was based in deep connection.

Thank you again for the ARC!

I loved Maggie's first book Rules for Second Chances but this one kind of fell flat. My main thing was I just did not care the characters. I loved the premise but I just couldn't get passed not liking the main characters.

I wanted to like this book but it feel flat to me. Stellar was a truly unlikable character and not in a fun redemption arc way. Mchuge was fine but I literally couldn’t get over the name choice and the description of the character at all. I never once bought the chemistry of these two. Just wasn’t for me.

This was my first Maggie North novel, so I'm not sure what the first one was like. This book wasn't for me. I couldn't relate to the characters as I felt like they gave up easily in the beginning. The premise of the story was interesting, and I did enjoy the growth of the main and secondary characters by the end of the retreat. There is also a little mystery happening. Overall, not a bad book, just not really for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and Maggie North for the eARC.

Maggie North has done it again! This book is heartfelt, adventurous, and just downright lovely. We follow characters that first appeared in Rules for Second Chances but both books can be read on their own if you wanted.

Stellar and Lyle fit the grumpy x sunshine dynamic and the book does a great job of showing just how different the 2 of them are while also convincing you that they are perfect for each other.

The book also explores some messy family dynamics for both characters but particularly between Stellar and her older half sister.

I do wish we had gotten Lyle's POV but not badly enough to have ruined the reading experience in anyway.

Solid Sophomore Effort. This book picks up shortly after Rules For Second Chances, the author's debut, ends - even though even two weeks after release it isn't listed or marketed (that I've seen) as a sequel or series. Which is critical information, because both of our leads here actually debuted there, with one of them (the male) having a decent sized role in that book that helps explain some of his actions in this book.

Here, North shows growth as a storyteller in that she is breaking away from what she knows as an Autistic and is exploring things from neurotypical perspectives... yet still in manners that are all too real for just how messy things can get. From physically messy - mud in a river camp - to emotionally messy (most everything going on with both of our leads and their relationship prior to the beginning of this book, explained briefly in the book's opening sequences).

Overall this is a solid romance/ women's fiction tale of healing from various traumas and maybe finding love along the way... with a fair amount of laughs and a touch of spice - let's call it jalapeno level - along the way. Read the first book first, but then you'll absolutely be ready for this one, and while it won't be "I MUST HAVE THE SEQUEL RIGHT THIS SECOND", I do believe you'll both enjoy having this book on hand ready to read immediately after and that this book will make more sense for more readers who have read the two books in close succession. I personally read the books a year nearly to the day apart, with 201 books between them, but fortunately I was still able to follow along reasonably well. This may not be a talent/ ability all readers enjoy though as like North, I too am Autistic, so I'm confident that my recommendation to read them closer together than I did will hold more true for more readers than not.

Very much recommended.

This book was EVERYTHING. Just absolutely breathtaking.

Maggie North is an auto-buy author for me & this is her best yet. It’s poignant and soul-reaching, and the tension is out of this world.

Stellar & McHuge are just 😍😍😍😍

First of all, I was immediately intrigued by this book from the cover and the synopsis. One of my favorite things about books like these are they make you want to become something random, like a whitewater rafter or visit a place that only exists in a book. I also love the idea of fate, that if two people are meant to be together, the universe will find a way to bring them together, no matter the circumstances. This book was funny and entertaining, and at times, emotional and tender. I loved the chemistry and relationship between the two main characters. Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early digital copy of this book!