E-galley Review: Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Catch and Keep by Erin Hahn
Published by St. Martin's Griffin on October 15, 2024
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
Source: the publisher
Format: E-galley
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My Rating:

Blurb:

In Erin Hahn’s latest cozy, swoony romance, Maren Laughlin has been fishing her whole life, but she’s finally ready to be caught.

At thirty-three, Maren Laughlin’s just turned down her boyfriend’s proposal, walked away from her decade-long position as a park ranger, and returned to her childhood playground in Northern Wisconsin to accept her inheritance: a decrepit waterfront bait shop. After a lifetime of letting things happen to her, she’s ready to start making her own moves, even if everyone else thinks she’s making the wrong ones. Well, not everyone—at least the local heartstopper and resort owner is on her side.

Josiah Cole has made some missteps in his life, but he’s proud of what he has: two awesome kids and the keys to the kind of getaway spot that has families coming back every summer– their up north home away from home. After his marriage dissolved, leaving him a single dad, he feels he’s the last person to judge Maren for her recent transformation (even if his best friend, her brother, wants him to feel otherwise). Besides, he genuinely likes having her around. She’s a breath of fresh air, his kids adore her (not to mention her dog, Rogers), and it doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful.

Things between Maren and Joe are easy. So easy, they’re fully immersed in the middle before they even decide to begin. It’s not a question of should they, but rather can they make it last? Are things too easy, or is this just how real love works? In Erin Hahn’s heartwarmingly sexy Catch and Keep, Maren and Joe have to be brave enough to find out.

My Review

I have been wanting to read this author for so long, and finally got approved for an egalley last year. And, I have to hang my head in shame, because I FORGOT to write it on my blog review calendar and didn’t get to it before it was published! Then I didn’t think about it for some reason until recently and so I immediately put it on my review calendar in between books being published this month so I could get it read. I’m so glad I did, because I really enjoyed it!

I have to say this story “hooked” me, had to go to a play on words with the theme of fishing in the story, lol. I loved all the characters, both Maren and Joe, their families, their friends, and even the townspeople. Joe’s kids, oh my gosh, I adored them so much. That added aspect of the story was so good, so much emotion, and so sweet as well. Little Lucy’s autism was something that totally proved Maren was perfect for Joe. I wanted to punch Anders and Lucy’s mom so much at the end! Maren’s brother, another person I wanted to punch. However, I feel like his behavior was definitely realistic for a brother. Although when Anders called him out for how he picked on his sister, oh my gosh, another bit of perfection, from the mouth of babes!

I liked Maren’s friends too, and know that I have their books on my TBR on Goodreads already, so now I really want to go back and read those books! I don’t think her brother Liam has a book? Although I would have read that too! But maybe he doesn’t have one because if he had his own HEA and had done his emotional growth already, he wouldn’t have treated Maren like he did. In the end he did figure it out though, and I liked the way the author filled in that part of the story.

The creepy stalkerish guy, well I thought that was going to go in a bit of a different direction, maybe add more of a dangerous bit of drama to the story. But it didn’t, so in a way I wasn’t completely satisfied with how that played out? Although I like how Maren decided to handle him at the end, that was perfect, even if I wonder if a guy like that would have taken all that as easily as he did. But I guess being in a public place may have helped too.

My first book by this author, and now I know why I wanted so badly to read a book by her, as well as why others highly recommended her books. I think I have one of the YA titles in my school library, and I will definitely want to make sure I get them all for my students who are romance readers!