The cover of this book, followed by the title given I'm a PNW native, immediately pulled me in. The synopsis had me chuckling: rom/com with an adventure reality tv show twist between two very opposite people.

Easton is so desperate for cash, he decided to compete on an outrageous action-adventure reality tv show. In pure luck, he's right in his element: a series of outdoor challenges in the mountains.

On the flip side of that luck: his partner is completely out of place showing up in the middle of nowhere in formal attire & heels.

Amity wants an adventure, despite not showing up in the correct attire. She may hate being cold, tents, and campfires, but she is there for the adventure. And potentially maybe to fall in love. Just not with Easton.

And of course, in the first challenge, Easton & Amity are thrown together. What could possibly go wrong?

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this one.

What I loved:
- the PNW location in the Oregon Cascades
- the constant twists & turns of the reality show, leaving you constantly guessing what would happen
- Amity's slow-build friendship with Bria

What I didn't love:
- the insta-love trope
- how fast they got physical, knowing they were being filmed for national tv the whole time
- lack of communication / refusal to communicate basic ish parts of their past
- the stereotyping of nearly everyone involved
- Easton's actions & words constantly clashed; his mood swings from judgmental to "in love" were frequent; he regularly insulted Amity and then didn't understand why she was upset; he made judgmental assumptions about Amity and proceeded to hold those over her for the entire book
- the cringey sex scenes paired with their overall lack of communication and lack of emotional connection

Overall, I don't think I'd recommend this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was provided a ARC copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever had a book smack you straight in the gizzard without absolutely joy? Well, now I can say I have. I am relatively new to the "romcom" contemporary romance genre and always preconceived notions about how these types of books were supposed to go or how I would be perceived reading them, I am happily over that nonsense now but every time I pick up a book like Crush in the Cascades I am reminded why its so rewarding to read this genre. First and foremost, this book was just cute. Maybe that isn't high on the list for most readers but honestly the older I get the more I look forward to what we used to call in the old days "a good squee" and squee I did. Constantly giggling and shrieking out loud from being unable to handle the cuteness. Amity and Easton are charming, capable, selfless, and complex, feeling like real people that could enrich your life by knowing them. The plot line was what first drew me to wanting to read the book a romance set in a reality show competition sounded like the recipe for either a fun adventure or a catty/ dramatic mess and well I am happy to say the book is the former rather than the latter. The plot line was riveting (I could not put it down), I sometimes felt so enthralled by the actual competition I forgot we were also here for a romance, and the resolution brought me such joy. If you are a fan of enemies to lovers, opposites attract romance or just want to feel good than Crush in the Cascades is for you.

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
I actually quite enjoyed this book, and would give it a 3.5/5. I wasn’t sure I was going to like the reality tv aspect of it and the miscommunication trope but I thought it helped add to the story. A couple things that I did not enjoy: I would have liked more background as to why Easton and Amity joined the show at the beginning of the book as there were times I felt very confused as to why they were acting in certain ways. As well, it felt that almost every chapter it was going back and forth between the two main characters loving and hating each other. I think that part of the story could have been cut down a bit but otherwise I quite enjoyed this read!

Crush in the Cascades is a cute read centered around the contestants of a reality TV adventure show 'The Race to Riches or Romance'. Set in the Cascades region of central Oregon, the story follows Amity Rose and Easton Cooper as the compete for a prize of one million dollars in a series of outdoor challenges. The setting and the premise of a reality TV competition are not one that I have seen much in other books.

Cooper and Amity are paired in the first challenge, giving major forced proximity and enemies-to-lovers vibes as the story progresses. Cooper harshly judges Amity from the beginning based on her appearance and arrival attire, jumping to several conclusions about Amity and why she may have entered the competition.

The relationship buildup throughout the competition was believable, however the scene in which Amity and Cooper decide to become a couple and the half-closed door romance scenes felt a bit rushed.

Gayle does a wonderful job describing the region in which the story takes place as well as the challenges in which the participants are competing. There is also great backstory on several of the other contestants as they are paired with Amity and Cooper.

Overall I enjoyed the story. I think the scene in which they decide to become a couple was a little quick and could have been better discussed/described. The general premise of the book was great and I look forward to see how the next book in the series will turn out.

A highly entertaining read. This book is about a reality show in which they compete for 2 million dollars for the winning couple. Amity and Cooper's interaction were funny. I liked both of them. Amity showed that first impression is important. People were very wrong about her. It's a fast paced quick read with a lot of action. It's probably not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.

This book was provided by Netgally and Lisa S. Gayle for an honest review. All of the thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you loved it happened one summer by Tessa Bailey you will absolutely love this book too.
Enemies to reluctant teammates to lovers grumpy /sunshine set in a competition that is a cross between The bachelor and Bear Grylls.
Easton Cooper is a rugged mountain man grump pared up with Aimty Rose who everyone believes is a spoiled rich girl from Hollywood ( even going so far as to give her the nickname Hollywood). She thinks he is a rude brute and in the series of unfortunate foot in mouth moments that proves to be true until they start seeing other sides of each other.
Amity is here to have the adventure in the memory of her late father and Cooper is here to save his friends life by getting that much needed money for his heart surgery.
The premise is can you win money and romance and..... I'm going to let you find that out on your own.
4 stars all around and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the sequel when it's Cooper's sister Hannah's turn at love and adventure.

Thank you NetGalley and Lisa S. Gayle for letting me read this book.
A romantic and peppy version of The Hunger Games+ Instant unexplainable chemistry= Binge worthy book you can finish in less than a day!!!
I've got to say that although Instant Chemistry is not my type, I did enjoy this book a lot. Smart, funny and beautiful- Amity has it all. Mountain man, sleek, and slightly rugged, Easton ends up a million dollars richer than before with a Fiancé to brag about! I recommend this book to those facing a book slump.

First time reading this author, and a fairly straightforward enemies-to-lovers story that was a breezy read.
The thing I really appreciated in this story was the use of the reality show setting and how that crimped the "simple conversation" response to why the two protagonists were withholding information from each other. I mean, obfuscation is the name of the game in these settings after all!
Also appreciated the FMC being a smart & strong competitor & how she just carried on while the others misjudged her. Go, girl!

ok... I tried to get through this book. really, I did. However, I found the characters immature and the book as a whole was moving too slowly. conversations went from hot to cold too fast, and the back and forth gave me whiplash. the only saving grace of this book was the setting of the cascades. I love the cascades. that was the best part.

Story
1 Plot, 1.5 chili pepper

Amity and Easton star in this enemies-to-lovers survival reality T.V. show competition.

Pros
I'm not really sure. Bria was pretty cool. Amity had her moments as well. She could be spunky and spirited at times.

Cons
Where to begin? I didn't really care for any part of this book. The characters and story played into every basic male/female stereotype into the dating world from the commitment-phobe guy, to the girl who gets mad but won't tell you why. It was eye-roll inducing and unimaginative.

While Amity could be spunky and spirited, she was also dramatic and dishonest. Easton was a nonstop pendulum of mood swings, ranging from emotionally unavailable to not being able to live without her, and back again. I do not think this irritating behavior was counteracted by his occasional acts of sweetness. Too little, too late.

Amity & Easton's entire relationship could be summarized as a roller coaster along a miscommunication track. It was awful, completely shallow and superficial, and constantly in a dramatic flux. They did not communicate at all, or really get to know each other before they were suddenly, madly, desperately in love with one another. I have genuinely no idea why this couple even liked each other. I don't think they did either, other than the sexual chemistry the author kept insisting existed, but never really landed. They didn't know anything about each other and they had zero emotional connection. I was not invested in their relationship at all. Definitely a couple that breaks up after the epilogue.

The writing was often times cringey and tried to hard to be cool by incorporating (dated) slang. And for the love of god, "his privates" and "his personals" should NEVER be used as descriptors in a spicy scene!

Conclusion
Would I recommend this book? No, absolutely not.

<i>"Dealing with Easton was like swinging on a pendulum. His actions never really made sense with his words. Why did he save her if he didn't truly believe she could help him win?"</i>

Crush in the Cascades is a romance set in the Cascades of Oregon. Written like a game show we follow Amity and Easton and their task of taking out the one million dollar prize money. Both MC start off on the wrong foot, then have a back and forth relationship before the end.

The beginning part of the read was okay. It was mostly believable, except for a few moments like Easton wanting to get Amity naked within a few pages of the book starting. Once we hit towards the middle and we met more of the contestants and enjoyed a little more backstory, it became more enjoyable.

It was light and cheerful most of the read and we did get some character growth towards the end. There was a tiny bit of spice added in too, if that is something that you enjoy but it wasn't there to progress the story. If you're after a quick one day read and love romances that give a happily ever after then this would be great read for you.

Take a romantic adventure by picking up this book! It was a slow start, but towards the end I could not put it down. This is the first romcom I have read that felt distinctly unique. I can’t wait for the series to continue!

im sorry but i had to dnf this book. i didn’t want to since it was an arc, but i really wasn’t enjoying myself whatsoever while reading this. since i can’t abstain from rating this on NetGalley, im going to give it two stars since i feel like that’s the rating i would have given it had i finished this— it didn’t deserve three stars since my usual three star reads are enjoyable and i would recommend others to read.

this book, im sorry to say, i don’t recommend. and the hero, Easton, is why.

from the get-go, Easton rubbed me the wrong way. his stereotyping and casual misogyny were eye-roll inducing. he was incredibly snooty and judgmental, and it was immediately off-putting. he’s constantly annoyed by her attitude but all he did was insult her.

if i was Amity, he’d be getting way more than just a bad attitude.

so the beginning of their enemies to lovers arc wasn’t intense and juicy. it was just irritating and kinda sad. i felt really bad for Amity bcos Easton was just so uncalled for. she didn’t do a damn thing to warrant his rudeness that publicly embarrassed her, other than just being a bit of a girly girl. you’d think she had murdered Easton’s dog with the way he acted towards her, when in actuality she was oblivious to his existence before he’d purposefully targeted her. at lease that Miles guy fully acknowledged he was a jerk. i can respect you a whole lot more when you own up to your behaviour— Easton had faux-good-guy schtick i just couldn’t vibe with.

versus “the tough girl” Bria🙄 the fact he called her that was so obnoxious. the stereotyping got worse and worse and by the first 10% it was already unbearable. it just seemed to play into putting different types of femininity against one another and i really didn’t like that sentiment.

ultimately, bcos of how awfully everyone treated Amity, this book was just me rooting so hard for her to prove everyone else wrong. i truly wasn’t rooting for the romance in the slightest. i was honestly dreading that i still had 70% left to read... so knew i had to bow out even if this was an arc and part of me felt inclined to finish it.

***edited a few hours later: i felt guilty for dnfing this, so i skimmed the rest of the book and then read the last few chapters. and my original sentiments still stand— Easton was still treating Amity awfully and it was pretty horrible to read honestly. the fact he claims to be in love with her but is still so callously rude is beyond staggering. so i don’t feel as guilty for dnfing this now.

thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. If you’re a fan of light hearted romance, then this is the book for you. We have our grumpy action man paired up with a supposed spoilt rich girl, thrown together on a reality tv programme. The cameras follow their every move, including hilarious challenges they have to face. The book hooked me straight in. I felt a small lull mid way through, but stick with it!
Overall I really enjoyed it and would recommend . A video review will also be posted to: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLpTsfWs/

This book is told in alternating points of view between Amity and Cooper, two reality show contestants in an amazing race style competition show with a romantic element.

I liked Amity but didn’t really care for the chapters written from Cooper’s POV. Phrases like “man card” and “because she was a woman she was still thinking about…” really turned me off. I can’t stand the use of outdated gendered throwaway phrases like this in writing. Besides that, it was a fun fast-paced read. A little cheesy at times because of the love/timeline but the competition element was a lot of fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for making this book available for early review!

3.5/5 Stars

Easton Cooper is a mountain trail guide competing in an action-adventure reality show for the chance at a million-dollar prize that could save his best friend’s life. The last person he wants to be paired with is a Hollywood princess who doesn’t even know what flint is.

This was a quick and fund read. I enjoyed the challenges and the different characters competing. I thought it was a little too insta-love. Even so, I was all in until about halfway through the book. Then I felt like someone else was writing it. Some of the descriptions felt awkward and the sex scenes felt a little cringy. I think the general premise was a great idea and I really wanted to love it. I’m looking forward to seeing how the second book in the series turns out.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this ARC and the opportunity to review it.

This was a cute, enjoyable read! I liked the contrasting yet complementary personalities between Easton and Amity, and I liked the buildup of their relationship. This was also the first "reality tv" plot I've read about in a romance book, so I was very interested in the concept and how it was written out. It was a very fun and entertaining book to read!

Having recently read a book with the "high-mantience girl vs rugged boy" trope, this one just fell really short in comparison. I don't like how Amity is portrayed, or the relationship between the two. I thought I'd really like the idea of a game show esque setting. I figured it would be really fast paced, and funny but I just didn't get that from this book.
The writing was easy to follow, and it was a very lighthearted book which I enjoyed but overall it just fell short for me.
I could defintely see others reading, and really enjoying this but alas, it wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pre-reading:
Seems like standard smooth brain fare.

Thick of it:
Bestie, you're the one using the cooler. If you don’t want it, don’t use it. Oh, everything’s a brand name drop. Okay then. I read Alec Baldwin. This book has super awkward phrasing. Not just harm in general? We are on page 21, and he already wants her naked. She just cut her hair off. Honey, you’re not Mulan. This man is instantly in love with her just because she’s wearing some dry-fit T-shirt. Is she describing spidery arms as an attractive thing? What? I feel like she’s not using riveting correctly. Isn’t running in new shoes bad for you or something? Would you really call a Christmas tree a floral scent? “Bulge in his zipper compartment pants” I honestly can’t tell if she’s trolling. I don’t like her calling it personals. This man is a raging misogynist. She did not just say mad skills. Every comment this man makes is disparaging women. This book is not good, but it is entertaining. I think it would drift into solid two star territory if this man wasn’t so awful, but I just cannot buy him as a viable romantic interest when he’s this awful to women. Amity deserves better. “Of course, being a woman” I gasped. This book is hateful. Why do they call this man a people person? He actively hates people. Have these people showered once? He’s described as having octopus arms, and we’re supposed to be attracted to him? I’m confused. Clits aren’t really soft or inside. Poor typo or is she genuinely confused about personals? No one’s fainting over this. No one in romance books ever knows how to communicate, oh my lord. Yeah, wait a minute, how does he still have a goatee? None of them are shaving. All the girls should have like hairy legs and armpits. Also, how does he wear contacts in the wilderness and then he dives underwater and had to open his eyes? Can you do that with contacts? Wouldn’t they be all gross and filthy? What about like dust behind the contacts? Do Olympics people compete in contacts or do they have like extreme sports glasses? Google says they all get Lasik. An orangutan is not what pops into my head to compare people to. Yeah, I don’t buy them getting together. They both could’ve had 1 million dollars. Maybe like 10K you could let it go but 1 million. Also, I like how a 1 million dollar medical procedure is completely plausible. Fucking America. Oh yeah, she wears lipgloss she must be loaded. What the fuck is this book? This guy is so rude. Oh, she’s not rich so now he doesn’t have to feel guilty about not wanting to give her nice things. 0/10. That’s how it ends what the hell? I feel like it’s hard to live interchangeably at a Homestead because like don’t you have cows and stuff to take care of?

Post-reading:
This book annoys me. Reading about the competition was genuinely interesting. It’s a decent concept of an extreme survivalist reality show romance. The smut is bad. Easton is incredibly unlikable. He’s a misogynistic asshole. Hard to come back from that if it’s supposed to be a romance book. By no means is this book good, but I would’ve given this two stars if they had different inner monologuing for Easton. I feel like it needs a heavy, heavy edit.

Who should read this:
Easy read romance lovers

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

Crush in the Cascades is a cute, mostly open door romance based in (you guessed it) the Cascades in Oregon where a new reality action-adventure TV show is busy pushing contestants to their limits in the great outdoors. Will the contestants win it all? Or give it all up for love?

While I definitely enjoyed the story overall there were a few things that left me wanting a bit more.

Let's start with what I loved:
1. A unique story that was a little bit The Amazing Race meets Survivor. I've never read a book that centered around a reality TV show. It was a fun plot that kept me engaged.
2. I actually really enjoyed the main Characters: Amity and Connor. They had personality and I enjoyed getting to know them better. I did have a few issues with Cooper (see below) but I felt like those issues were anomalies and not his actual persona.
3. The challenges they encountered through the show were a lot of fun. I wished I was actually watching them unfold on TV.

Things I didn't love:
1. The attraction between Connor and Amity felt a little too forced/intense at the beginning. It really didn't make sense to me to go from "Yeah, she's attractive, but I can't stand her" to ... the woodcutting challenge. I feel like that scene would make more sense after some forced proximity relationship building instead of the way it actually came to fruition.
2. The sex was a bit cringy for me. For me it would have been better with some fade to black and call it good.
3. Some of the plot fillers or the devices to move the plot forward felt too forced. I felt like I mostly understood Cooper but his bizarre efeelings and erratic actions toward Amity hindered the plot. It was just awkward to read those.

I feel like a bit more editing might find a way to smooth out these edges and make it an even more enjoyable read.

OVERALL I liked it.