Member Reviews

The premise of this book caught my attention to read it. A reality tv show of outdoor challenges? Enemies to lovers? Forced proximity? Yes yes yes. But it took me a few tries to finally get through the book; it was difficult for me to get into, particularly because of Cooper's first impression of Amity. That girl did nothing wrong, she wore a dress and high heels because she doesn't get the actual dresscode memo and that isn't her fault, but he misjudged her in a misogynistic way. Let a girl be girly.

The characters were bland, I wanted to like them because (I assumed) they'd be getting their own books, but they were all annoyingly alike to me. However, the characters of Amity and Cooper remind me of Piper and Brendan from It Happened One Summer, especially in terms of appearance and the nature guy x high maintenance girl dynamic. Cooper also reminds me of Ryke Meadows as a rock climber, I'm expecting the author highlights that aspect of him more.

Now, I'm not sure what Easton really wants. One time he hates Amity and constantly insults her, then he becomes infatuated with her as if he's been in love with her for a long time and wonders why she doesn't reciprocate his feelings. Man, try to figure out what you actually want first. And Amity needs to let the man grovel before she actually forgive him, she deserves better.

I can deal with third-person POV, but this book has a lot more tell than show. The story is flat since it uses repetitious descriptions and too many details. I still enjoy the adventure portion of the book; it's entertaining to read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

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Received and reviewed a copy of Crush in the Cascades by Lisa Gayle. Thanks to NetGalley & BooksGoSocial. All views are my own

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A romance set against a reality competition show - sign me up! Crush in the Cascades is a delightful romcom that had me wishing to go a on reality show but without the desire to run 13 miles or start a fire 😉 I adored Amity because I too would’ve dressed for the occasion; Cooper took a bit longer for me to warm up to but he got there in the end. Was a great escapist read & look forward to Tangle in the Tropics and the next installment from Lisa 🏕💫

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Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to get the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Crush in the Cascades follows a story of Easton Cooper and Amity in an adventure/survivor TV show in nature wildlife. Exchanging a not so nice first impression of each other, and it turned quickly into an attraction and develop feelings towards each other as they went through all of stages of the game while guessing everyone's motive for joining the show. Was it for money, romance, or fame?

First of all, I like the challenges in the competition. Combining the outdoor skills and brain squeeze one, showing us the glimpse O the characters' way of thinking and solving problem. The author did a good job for describing the background of the woods, mountain, and all the nature setting this story takes in. It's a fun show, and give us a glimpse of behind the scenes of the TV show in general.

About the characters, I really like how Amity keep proving other contestants' perception or prejudice against her wrong! She have been through a lot, and I do really think she deserves to win than anyone! Though I must say, sometimes I'm not a big fan of Easton Cooper's decision or opinion (the one that judge Amity would survive or not based on her looks), but I'm glad to get his way of thoughts from his POV and understand him better. Love how the author provides us with dual pov! I love how they relationship grows and although it's not all about honesty yet, but they way they act like a lovesick teenagers made me giggle. And I absolutely love their banters

Overall, it's a fun book to read for me, I like some of the lines between Easton Cooper and Amity when they opened up to each other. Though the ending was sort of a it rushed for me. I can't wait for the season 2 of the show and how Hannah Cooper would handle the show!

This a book for those who enjoyed an enemies to lovers and forced proximity trope!

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Crush in the Cascades follows Easton and Amity who joined a Reality TV show called The Race for Riches or Romance. Will they will a million dollars or will they win each other’s hearts?

At first I thought that the romance was a little too fast, and it could’ve used a little slow burn. But I guess the romance, all the fluff really made up for it. I’m not used to 3rd Person POV so it was hard to read at first but It was easier to read as it goes. The book would’ve been shorter if they just communicated. lol.

All in all, the fluff and intense yearning was what did it for me.

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This book showed real promise, and if you like the enemies to lovers, reality tv show, instalove type of books, this is right up your alley.

That being said, it didn't do it for me. I struggled to get started, I stopped every couple of pages and finally I forced myself through it.

The banter is good, characters are well built, I just feel like if I wanted instalove I'd read a novella.

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A super cute, fun, summer read. I enjoyed the different challenges and the scenery. The characters were great and so fun. I can’t wait to read the second installment in this series.

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A book based on Easton Cooper and Amity Rose during a competition where team needs to complete challenge in the nature, use their muscles and brains. If Easton is a nature guy, Amity is far from it. But she has other asset. The winner take one million dollars home. If they find romance along the way? Great, it makes better drama for television! I was immediately hooked. A fast paced, effortlessly quick read where the pages just turned themselves and I was engaged throughout.

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As soon as I saw that this book was set in a reality TV show I knew I had to read it, and it did not disappoint! I loved that aspect of it, and if you're a fan of Love Island, Love is blind, and other reality shows I'm sure you will love it too. The adventure challenges and TV show aspect of this book makes it so unique and unlike anything I have ever read. I also enjoyed the setting of the book and all of the outdoor elements, and the challenges were fun. I think this is a great idea for a book and it was fun to read.

I really enjoyed the characters, although I would have liked to have learnt about their backstory a bit quicker, as it's all kept quite secretive for the first half of the book. I also enjoyed the side characters (Bria was great) so I would have liked to see more of them and maybe had them a bit more integrated into the plot. As this is based on a reality TV show, I thought there would be more drama between the participants, and I would have enjoyed that. A bit of romantic rivalry might not have hurt too, but even without these extra points the book was still great, I just think it would have padded out the plot a bit more. Amity is a great character, I love how strong and determined she is and I was happy every single time she proved everyone wrong and did well in a challenge. I must admit I didn't love Easton much at first because of how he acted in the beginning, especially towards Amity. Everyone was very judgy towards Amity just because she was a bit girly. Because of this, I was mostly rooting for Amity and not necessarily Amity and Easton together. They also fell for each other very fast, but I think they're cute together and Easton grew on me throughout the book.

Overall, this was a nice read and the reality TV show aspect was so interesting. However, the plot was not very strong and did not have any major plot twists, except for a small one at the end which I guessed. I prefer romance books where the conflict comes from an external source rather than internal, especially as I dislike the miscommunication trope and this is one of the most common internal sources of conflict in romance books. The ending was still nice though and I would recommend reading this if you enjoy a bit of reality TV or outdoor adventures, as this has both.

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I love reality TV...the drama, the stupidity, the hype. The premise of a reality TV show done in a book format intrigued me. Especially since the show is a crossover of reality TV genres. Think the bachelor meets survivor. I thought the book did a good job living up to reality TV drama/hype but I would have liked to see more of the romance aspect played out in the show. It is called The Race to Romance or Riches but whatever romance occurred happened organically as no aspect of the show promoted romance.

Amity and Easton have to compete with and against each other in a competition to win a million dollars. They get off on the wrong foot but are undeniably attracted to each other in spite of that. Their relationship is definitely insta-romance, which I am not a fan of, especially in an enemies to lovers trope. Their relationship starts out with some healthy boundaries. Easton tells Amity he can't change for her because he would not be happy in the long run but those boundaries quickly dissolve when he fears he might lose her. The ending was off putting to me. I didn't feel like they resolved their conflict in a healthy way.

The spice in this book was practically nonexistent, and probably should have been for how quick and poorly executed their one interaction was.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my review.

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Crush in the Cascades is a light-hearted, cheesy story about enemies-to-lovers who fall for one another while filming a reality TV show. The idea of the story, set on a reality TV show, is fresh and exciting but I found Amity and Easton's whole love story to be a bit lackluster. Either way, this story would be a fun and breezy beach read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the BooksGoSocial for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

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This was an adorable rom-com. I love a good enemies to lovers story. I thought the setting was really creative and the characters were a hoot. I can’t wait for book 2!

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I dnf’d around 40% in, I’m sorry but it wasn’t for me at all. The insta love was unbelievable and just went from 0-1000 too fast & on camera. Sorry, thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of this book regardless.

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I loved this book! It was a quick and enjoyable read. I genuinely enjoyed getting to know the main characters and the Amazing Race-esque premise was unlike any other romance novel I've read before. I would absolutely recommend this to any romance lover, or anyone in need of a book to break them out of a reading slump.

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Personally I think this is a fun and quick read if you need a book for a holiday spent relaxing on the beach.
While not the most complex or surprising read it was definitely an entertaining romance with an interesting new setting.
The banter between Cooper and Amity was a lot of fun to read.
While I truly love a good enemies to lovers story, which at the beginning this promised to be, Coopers constant misogyny made it very hard for me to really like him as a love interest. The speed of how they went from enemies to lovers was also a bit too unrealistic for me and I’m not the biggest fan of these super sappy endings, but that is just a personal preference.
Overall this book was still a fun read for relaxing summer times.

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Amity Rose and Easton Cooper join a reality TV show for a chance to win a million dollars. What they don’t realize is that they’ll be partnered up to compete in an Amazing Race-style competition that also includes a romance factor. The two contestants couldn’t be more different.

I had high hopes for this one because I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers and gruff mountain men. The reality tv competition also sounded interesting. I suppose it was a unique way to bring two very different characters together, but I just did not feel any chemistry between Amity and Easton. Also, Easton is a giant judgmental jerk, but I don’t feel there was enough groveling to overcome his bad attitude in the beginning. I am a verbose person, but the descriptions in this book really seemed to drag. I feel like there wasn’t enough dialogue. Just 3 stars for me.

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I loved the concept of this book - a reality TV competition where the two main characters go from being enemies to falling in love. I also really enjoyed the book being written from both perspectives. However, this book needs some good editing. There is no real chemistry or build up of the relationship. Easton is misogynistic and his character changes too much for us to really feel invested in him. I did like Amnity's character though.
I wouldn't rush to read the sequel.

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Thanks for letting me read this one it was really good and has you captive from the first chapter of the book and I liked the reality TV aspect of the book too you can't go wrong with that kind of thing in a book

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I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a laid back read with some funny plot lines. Easy enough to guess the series of events but still enjoyable.

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It was a good book, I really liked it! I like the concept of a reality tv competition as well as enemies to lovers. The only that would have made it better is if there was more of a build up with the romance and it felt too quick. A little more drama and excitement would have made it better.

Overall I enjoyed the book, it was a very easy read and will definitely read the 2nd book of the series when it comes out.

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A reality tv show with a kick of romance? Sign me up for it! I was attracted to the blurb and really loved the first few chapters into the story. However, the pacing became somewhat slowed down and there are too much details that i wish wasn't there since it makes the story a bit bland. The characters confuses me at times as i couldnt decipher their personality but thankfully they became a lot relatable towards the end. I actually enjoyed the almost-ending chapters, it's such a shame that the middle of the book drags the plot somehow and i found myself pulling away from the book. Overall, it was a nice fictional reality tv show in a book. If i were in a different mood, i might actually love this book.

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