Mels fashion instgram is growing stagnant when she's invited to visit a spa in Halifax in Canada she jumps at the chance to get new content. Unfortunately, they've mixed up the booking and she's arrived a week early. With nowhere to stay, she finds a b&b to stay in at Coras Cove. But she gets off to a rough start with the owner, Evan Whaler. When a boating accident lands him in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancee by his welcoming family, who up until that point were in a massive feud. In exchange for content, she agrees to be fake engaged to him in order for his family to get along long enough for them to figure out what to do with the inn. But soon, they begin to develop real feelings for each other. Will everything come crashing down?

This was a fast-paced quick romance book. Mel was quite a good character and watching her change and grow as a person and realise that she actually had interests outside of clothes was good. The romance was good in this too I liked watching them slowly come to realise they actually liked each other and then them trying to figure out how they're going to work a long term relationship. I liked the family aspect in this and how Evans family realised they needed each other and how Mel and her brother Julian didn't need each other as much anymore. Overall a decent enough read.

Amy Lea has a romcom formula that just works. Her writing is so fun, so witty, so heartwarming and heartfelt... I just love it.

The Catch is the 3rd in her influencer series, and it works perfectly as a standalone (whilst also being a standout in the series!). The plot is like a mix of 'While You're Sleeping' and 'The Proposal' (Sandra Bullock fans, gather round), with a whole bunch of tropes chucked in: grumpy meets sunshine, opposites attract, forced proximity, and the absolute classic, 'fake-dating'. Like I said - it's a winning formula.

I'll definitely be recommending this one!

Thank you to NetGalley & Amy Lea for a copy of this.
Honest review…

This was a bittersweet conclusion to the influencer series. I’ve enjoyed every single Amy Lea book I’ve read so far and this is no exception.

We’re talking city girl in a small town, forced proximity & fake engagement with a sprinkle of grumpy x sunshine - so all the good stuff. The characters are always charming & fun and you can’t go wrong. Whilst this is an interconnecting standalone you can absolutely read this without reading the others (but I recommend you do).

The premise of this book took place over a short period of time and usually I don’t click with these kind of stories I didn’t feel like the time was an issue. I do think the “conflict” could have been dramatised a little more but it’s nothing to really complain about.

My additional point is the grief rep was incredibly well done and the way it was done throughout the book wasn’t overwhelming either!

The catch was an enjoyable end to the influencer series! I didn’t enjoy it as much as the other two, but I love Amy’s writing style and the vivid characters that she creates. I think this book would be a perfect spring or summer read for small town romance and grumpy sunshine fans!

I look forward to continuing to read Amy’s other books!

(Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

I loved the atmosphere and outdoorsy, small-town vibe of this book, it created a really good setting for a cute romance. The big family and how close but also kinda crazy they were was fun and made for some feel-good moments. The characters were fun but there wasn’t a huge amount of development (apart from maybe Melanie but it was kinda predictable).

My biggest annoyance though was how quickly the two main characters caught feelings for each other. It had barely been two weeks since they first met and already they were pulling out the L-bomb and this insta-love is just something that always bothers me in romance books (though it could be other people’s cup of tea).

Overall, the plot wasn’t anything too special and was a little predictable, but it was a fun and cute, classic small-town romance.

This was such a fun book and it reminded me of a Sandra Bullock Romcom. I enjoyed the premise of the book and I really liked the setting. Evan was the typical love interest, moody and grumpy but actually sweet and kind, so obviously, I loved him. Mel was different and it took me a while to get into her but when I did I found myself really liking her a lot. Overall this book was super fun and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who loves While you were sleeping and the Proposal.

In The Catch by Amy Lea, Melanie Karlsen, a Boston fashion influencer, ventures into a rural Canadian fishing village to revive her brand. Unexpectedly, she becomes entangled with Evan Whaler, a grumpy lobster fisherman, in a fake engagement scheme.
Amidst family feuds and wilderness adventures, their animosity evolves into a tender romance. Lea skillfully weaves humor and heart, immersing readers in the charm of small-town life.
The Catch is a delightful enemies-to-lovers tale, brimming with witty banter and genuine emotion, making it a standout in Amy Lea's repertoire.

Thank you to Viking for the early arc!
If you loved Tessa Bailey's 'It Happened One Summer', you will eat this up.

The Catch is the third in an interconnected standalone series. I thought this book was adorable, a little spicy and genuine. I'm a sucker for small town romances so I was excited that this was taking place in one. Mel is a really likable FMC and I appreciated that she had such a strong backbone with Evan. They reminded me a little of Jonah and Calla from the simple wild, but Evan is much sweeter!

- grumpy / sunshine
- city girl / small town guy
- small town
- forced proximity

The Catch was the perfect small town romance for anyone who misses the magic of It Happened One Summer, and loves Amy Lea’s work.

This was a cute little romcom and a fun way to
pass an afternoon!

I loved every minute of reading this book 😭 Mel is a social media influencer and life long city girl. She accidentally ends up at a run down inn in Nova Scotia and is stuck there for the week with the grumpy owner. Obvs, she ends up falling for him. I don’t care how predictable it was, the journey was super swoony. I felt like I was smiling every time Mel and Evan interacted. I loved his family, I loved the setting - it felt so vivid and cozy. I loved that it wasn’t an all or nothing ending. I also appreciated the While You Were Sleeping Vibes 🩷

What to expect:

- opposites attract
- enemies to lovers
- forced proximity
- third, and final, in series but can be read as a standalone
- found family
- small town vibes
- lil spicy

A new author for me but one I will be looking out for the future. This well written rom com, has me hunting for the previous books in this influencer series.

Just as full of laughs and love as any other Amy Lea book!! The characters were entirely loveable, and I had so much fun with the cute little romcom!

Who doesn’t love an enemies to lovers rom com? They’re my favourite and this is one of the best! I was completely hooked by the story and the characters, can’t wait for Amy Leas next book.

Fantastic romance story, I enjoyed the fmc I thought she was fun. The writing was good and kept me interested until the end. I highly recommend.

I love all of Amy Lea’s books and The Catch is no exception !

It’s full of the things I love in a book. Tension, the amazing characters which amy is brilliant at writing. Such a lovely book which is a perfect spring/summer read and makes you feel warm inside reading.

I ADORE ALL of Amy Lea's romances and The Catch was absolutely no different! If you are after a grumpy x sunshine with a BIG fake fiances plot... you need to read this.

The Catch is so full of tension, yearning and will have you simultaneously giggling, kicking your feet and screaming! I loved the characters within this ~ one of the biggest things I find I adore with Amy Lea's books is her characterisation. To connect with romance characters as individuals aswell as them together, is one of the best ways to see how incredible a romance book is. Would HIGHLY recommend!

What an amazing read!

I absolutely loved these two characters, Evan and Melanie were so fun to follow, their banter was so cute and I really enjoyed them travelling around and helping each other out.

The chats by the campfire and the hiking was adorable. Definitely a feel good, funny and comforting read for all this romance lovers!

@currentlyreading__
Book 17 of 2024

Thank you to @NetGalley for sending a copy of Amy Lea’s latest rom-com. I have all of Lea’s books on my Kindle but went into this blindly and was so pleased I did. I expected a frothy tale of grumpy-sunshine but it was so much more than this!

From the synopsis: In a last ditch attempt to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? Burly fisherman Evan Whaler - who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are 'nice'.

After a boating incident lands Evan in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancee by his welcoming yet quirky family. And, in exchange for Evan's help with her social media content, Mel agrees to fake their engagement for just one week.

But reeling in their budding feelings for each other proves more difficult than expected.

Is Mel willing to sacrifice her picture-perfect life in the city for a chance at true love in the wild?

I absolutely loved the setting of Nova Scotia, Cora’s Cove and the descriptions of the location had me thinking of Anne Heche’s ‘Men in Trees’ (even though that was Alaska!).

I loved Evan and how he makes Melanie feel beautiful when she is feeling anything but minus her eyelashes and insta-perfect life. And there was an epilogue to swoon at.

The perfect palette cleanser from the dark books I have read of late but I had no idea this was a series. Just shows that this could be seen as a standalone read but I am intrigued about the earlier books in the series now.


#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle

Last year I read Amy Lea's first two books I enjoyed them a lot. I liked the fun style and the banter between the main characters, and I especially loved the positive body image message they focused on. So, when I saw the author's third book was the story from one of the secondary characters in the previous stories, I jumped at the chance of reading it.

And what a great decision, as I enjoyed The Catch even more! It tells the story of an influencer that ends up in a remote bed and breakfast that needs some love. We soon realise that not only the building needs some love but its owner and his family do too. It was real fun to see how different this world was for our main character and how she learned so much about herself in this new location.

I was also happy to have a catch up with the characters from the previous books. All in all, this trilogy (although each book has its own stand alone story, so completely fine to read this one before having read the previous ones) is a lot of fun, with real characters with flaws but that know their worth and with lots of chemistry and banter!

After really enjoying the previous two books in this standalone series, I had high hopes for the final instalment. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the romance entirely convincing and I felt like there was so much untapped potential. Still, it was a lighthearted, easy read.

The premise of the fake engagement to family trap Evan’s mum and aunt into reconciling was a fun idea, but I thought it was rather neglected. More emphasis should have been put on Mel and Evan working as a team to bring the two headstrong ladies together. Through this, the fake engagement would have made more sense to the plot, and not just a way to push Mel and Evan into close quarters. Similarly, I wanted there to be more scenes of Evan’s family taking Mel under their wing. There were a few, but I didn’t think this bond was built up enough.

Despite Mel’s financial insecurities and familial troubles, the romance was definitely the core of the story. There were a few shining moments, but these were undermined by how unfounded the relationship between Mel and Evan seemed. Evan immediately was mad at her as soon as they met. While his reasonings were later cleared up, it still felt contrived in order to fulfil the ‘enemies-to-lovers’ trope. The pair’s bickering came across as childish and petty. Only when Evan finally had grounds to be annoyed at Mel – she was the sole reason for the accident that sent him to hospital – did he start to cut her some slack. The incident was entirely her fault, so frankly, the least she could have done was try and mend his family’s relationship.

From there, Mel and Evan became increasingly flirty. Their tentative friendship quickly developed into a full-blown romance. This transition from adolescent annoyance to absolute adoration only took a couple days. I know romcoms tend to demand that you suspend your disbelief, but this was too unrealistic for my liking. From such a rough beginning, I didn’t understand how either could have been charmed by the other. At least by the time the third act came around, the novel seemed to mature. I was glad that they eventually solved their dilemma, and were able to find a sense of home in each other.

While I thought the premise was fun, I wasn’t entirely convinced by the whirlwind romance due to its blistering speed and lack of development. Still, it was an easy, lighthearted read.