About the book:
A grumpy lobster fisherman tosses a fashion influencer’s impeccably curated life overboard in the next romantic comedy from international bestselling author Amy Lea.
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?
This is book 3 in the Influencer Series from Amy Lea, and because I haven’t read the first two I almost passed up this review opportunity but I’m sure glad I didn’t. Being a full-time content creator myself, I could really relate to the struggles Melanie is dealing with. I’ve said in past reviews I appreciate more fiction novels having creators or influencers as the lead, and not just portrayed as the lazy friends who take pictures of themselves for the internet like when they were first being introduced into the writing scene. Melanie shares about her mental health struggles of what your thoughts are like when it suddenly feels like no one cares about you anymore, when you lose followers and brand deals and don’t know why – essentially – people don’t like you anymore. The book made me think about how much this career puts a focus on what other people think of us and how over the 10 years I’ve been doing this, how much it has affected my self-esteem and self-worth.
The book is also a spot-on small town romance, with two intelligent yet stubborn characters in Melanie and Evan. We have a fake dating angle, plenty of comedic moments, and an underlying theme of accepting yourself and willing to be open to change in life. I have to say reading this one made me want to go back and read the first two in the series – highly recommend!
