In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.”
After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake their engagement for one week in exchange for Evan’s help with her social media content.
Amid long hikes and campfire chats, reeling in their budding feelings for each other proves more difficult by the day. But is Mel willing to sacrifice her picture-perfect life in the city for a chance at a true, unfiltered love in the wild?
- Title: The Catch
- Author: Amy Lea
- Publisher: Berkley
- Publication Date: February 13, 2024
- Genre: Contemporary, Romance
- Targeted Age Range: Adult
- Content Warnings: grief, death, hospitalization, depression, child abandonment, estranged relationships
- Rating: ★★★.5
I’d read Amy Lea’s Exes and O’s last year and found it to be an enjoyable enough read, but didn’t particularly love it the way I wanted to. So when I was gifted a copy of her newest novel, The Catch, I was hoping that it’d be everything I wanted from Exes and O’s. While it wasn’t the five star read I hoped it’d be, I still found The Catch to be more enjoyable than Exes and O’s. And don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate Exes and O’s — I just wasn’t wowed by it. The Catch is the third book in Lea’s The Influencer series, and follows Boston fashion influencer, Melanie, as she finds herself in a rural fishing village in Canada. When we first meet her, Melanie’s Instagram account is slowly getting stagnant — she’s not bringing in as much engagement, or collaborations as much as she used to. Which is why, when she’s approached for a collaboration with Seaside Resorts in Nova Scotia, Canada for a week, with her flights paid, she decides to go for it, despite the fact that her brother has just moved into her Boston townhome. When she arrives, she’s informed that she has the wrong dates, and is in fact, expected next week and the resort is booked. The only available lodging is an airbnb in a remote fishing town, with grumpy lobster fisherman, Evan Whaler, and his charming cousin.
If you like the film While You Were Sleeping, you’ll likely enjoy this one. After an unfortunate boating incident, Evan is taken into the hospital. Not wanting to leave his unconscious self alone, Melanie pretends to be his fiancé, not knowing that this would open up a new can of worms with his family. While the Whalers are welcoming and quickly take to accepting Melanie as one of their own, they’re also in a long-standing feud over the airbnb. The only time they’re not arguing is over Evan and Melanie’s wedding plans, and while they’re trying to get to know Melanie. Before long, Evan and Melanie settle on a mutually beneficial agreement: Evan and Melanie will fake a relationship for a week, and in exchange, Evan will help Melanie take photos for her Instagram, while also showing her some picturesque areas. The two of them quickly discover that their fake feelings might not be that fake, but will Melanie sacrifice her perfect life in Boston and move to a tiny Canadian town?
One of the highlights of this book was Evan’s family — I loved all their meddlesome antics, quirks, and it was really heartwarming to see how quickly they took to Melanie. In particular, I loved how they were able to set their differences aside for what they perceived to be Evan’s happiness. They were a perfect contrast in comparison to Melanie’s much smaller, much quieter family — Melanie’s father passed away prior to the events of the book, and her mother had left them when she was little. Melanie’s family mostly consists of her tight-knit group of friends, and her younger brother, who she often feels responsible for. Much of Melanie’s character arc is learning how to put herself and her own happiness first, and I loved that for her, although I wish it would’ve been deeper.
Which I think, leads me into my qualms with this book — It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it, because I did! I thought Evan and Melanie were cute, and I loved the premise of it. I just wish that Lea had gone deeper into every aspect: I wanted more time spent between Evan and Melanie (Honestly, expecting someone to drop their entire life and move after two weeks is quite absurd), I wanted more character development, and well, I just wanted more of everything. I think The Catch was better in concept than in execution, but it was still an enjoyable, lighthearted read.
Links for The Catch: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop.org
Amy Lea is the international bestselling author of romantic comedies for adults and teens, including Set on You, Exes and O’s, and Mindy Kaling’s Book Studio selection Woke Up Like This.
Her acclaimed works have been featured in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Elle Magazine and has been long listed as a CBC Canada Reads finalist. They have also been optioned for film and sold to over a dozen foreign territories.
When Amy is not writing, she can be found fan-girling over other romance books on Instagram (@amyleabooks), eating potato chips with reckless abandon, and snuggling with her husband and two goldendoodles in Ottawa, Canada.
