Catch and Release Groom by Cindi Madsen

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Title: Catch and Release Groom
Author: Cindi Madsen
Series: Getting Hitched #3
Published by: Entangled: Amara
Release Date: June 12, 2023
Format: eARC
Pages: 261
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: the author
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 2
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

A runaway bride is on her honeymoon—and hilariously off-the-hook—in this irresistible romantic comedy from USA Today bestselling author Cindi Madsen…

Imogen Kaplan may be a runaway bride, but she’s determined to take her “honeymoon” at a luxury wilderness resort, even if she is surrounded by annoyingly mushy couples. No husband. No happily-ever-after. Just trees, bugs, and one very grouchy, mouthwateringly fit, and—let’s just admit it—unfairly gorgeous guide who’s shown up to take her fishing at Nope O’Clock in the morning…

Easton Reeves is pretty sure that Hell looks a lot like Honeymoon Week. It’s over-the-top romantic crap as far as the eye can see—everything a guy who’s been dumped at the altar wants to avoid. And now he’s supposed to teach this cute, smart-mouthed little city pixie how to fly fish? I’ll be lucky to escape without a hook in my ear.

Now it’s like fate keeps throwing them—the two people least interested in romance—together at a resort that’s all about the love. Sparks are not supposed to happen, let alone the temptation to kiss each other senseless. But it’s one thing to get hooked on sizzling chemistry…and quite another to turn a sexy little fling into real life.

My Review:

I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — I can always count on Ms. Madsen to deliver fun characters, with a good amount of sass and just enough depth to keep me interested and invested.

Easton was pretty grumpy to begin with, but at least I could somewhat understand how he’d become jaded, and how the circumstances around Imogen just hit some painful buttons.  It was interesting to watch him let himself have fun with her, and when he let his guard down you could see a bit of a softy underneath…just someone who was wary about having his dreams taken away again.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like Imogen, because we get her story a little bit in pieces at the beginning.  It doesn’t drag out too long, but I kind of would have appreciated the whole story earlier so I could understand how she got to where she was…and I could invest in her more, especially given she’s only a month from the end of a long relationship.  Otherwise it just feels…like how can I trust her feelings you know?  She had her own set of scars from her relationship, and having let herself make more of the compromises on who she was.  Sometimes I felt like she was jumbled enough in her thoughts that I couldn’t always get a good read on who she was and what she wanted in life.  Like, I understood her hurts, but what did she want out of life?  We get hints of her passions, but I wish we’d gotten a bit more depth from that.

It was fun to watch them sass each other right from the start.  It definitely had an almost enemies to lovers feel, b/c they did not start off enamoured by one another.  Maybe intrigued, but definitely rubbing each other the wrong way.  But it was pretty satisfying when they started to play at togetherness, and to see them become more and more intrigued by the other.  I definitely felt their chemistry, right down to the steam.  I think the set up for the story was all just a bit fast…but sometimes that happens.  It’s a personal taste thing.

It was nice to see the gang again, and there were some other fun secondary characters (hello Margot and Constance).  And I can’t not mention Gator…what a good girl.

I might not have loved it as much as the first 2 books, but I’m in a weird mood so it’ll definitely be a series I come back to sometime in the future when I need a guaranteed mood booster.