Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle [Review]

Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle
Format: ebook
Source: provided through NetGalley
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: November 10, 2023

Purchase Links: Paperback | Kindle

Katie Ruggle
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Why date a mountain man? Because he knows how to pitch a tent.

When Dahlia Weathersby's sister disappears on what should have been a simple day hike, Dahlia immediately heads deep into the Colorado Rockies to find her. Knowing she'll never survive the mountains alone, she convinces the local hermit—adorably grouchy survival expert Winston Dane—to be her guide. All it takes is a good helping of Dahlia's charm…and just the teeniest bit of blackmail…before she's got all six-foot-something of him wrapped around her finger. But even with her very own mountain man in tow, things aren't going to be easy. There are:

• Long hikes through gorgeous wilderness? Check.
• Bears? Check.
• A single shared sleeping bag? Check.
• Enough sparks to set the Rockies ablaze? Check, check, check.

With everything the wilderness has to throw at them, it'll take more than charm and some city girl ingenuity to make this trek anything but a disaster waiting to happen…and an adventure she'll never forget.

Thoughts on Fish Out of Water: This book had be at a single shared sleeping bag. A great big survivalist bear of a man and a city girl out of her element and they HAD TO SHARE A SLEEPING BAG. I'm IN!

So. Dahlia and Winston. She's a concerned sister who doesn't have a whole lot of wilderness know-how, but she's willing to pull her weight and learn whatever needs to be learned if it means making sure her sister is okay. He's a big cinnamon roll loner who isn't about to let Dahlia head out into the mountains alone when she went to so much trouble to break into his house to find him. Okay, it wasn't quite like that, but Dahlia's sunny personality and her determination to do what needs to be done to help her sister sort of wins Winston over.

Or maybe it was just that the two of them sparked off one another from the first.

Regardless, soon the two are heading into the wilds and getting to know one another. Frankly, they both like what they see. Dahlia likes Winston's grunts and almost-smiles. Winston is comfortable in Dahlia's presence. One cold night has them sharing a sleeping bag and one chilly blizzard has them sharing even more than that.

A little danger, a bear, a sweet makeover for a sweet guy, long looks, steamy kisses, a man who can't help falling for his charming companion, and a lady who is utterly smitten with her big silent guide. BIG HEART EYES ALL AROUND!