Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

Steam Rating: 🍆/5

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for gifting me a review copy of Enjoy the View by Sarah Morgenthaler.

This is the third in the Moose Springs, Alaska series and honestly, I’ve loved them all so far. You can read my review for the first book The Tourist Attraction here, or the second book Mistletoe and Mr Right here.

River Lane is an actress in Hollywood, but as she approaches the big 3-0 she’s finding the good roles are dwindling. So she tries her hand at producing and accepts a job making a documentary for the Alaskan Tourism Board to try and increase visitors. She ropes in two of her friends and off they go. The problem is, no-one in Moose Springs will talk to them…or give them a permit to film. They decide to try and film outside the actual town, including on Mount Veil, the fifteen-thousand-foot mountain outside of town, but they need a guide to take them. Enter Easton—or SH (Sexy Hagrid) as they end up nicknaming him. He’s huge, sexy, and a man of very few words. And he does not like tourists.

Almost immediately River and. Easton realize they have chemistry, despite finding each other irritating. I would have liked a little more build-up and banter between the two but they all but admit they’re going to hook up at some point soon from about the second time they talk. This is a closed-door romance though, so there will be lots of interruptions every time they’re about to kiss, and then ultimately you won’t get any steam when things do finally happen. The chemistry between the two for at least the first half of the book is why it lost a point from me, I just didn’t buy it. There didn’t seem to be any lead up really, other than they each thought the other one was hot, and then suddenly they’re in love? It was refreshing to read a romance about two people who were at least closer to thirty than twenty though. I get so frustrated with the life choices of twenty-somethings in books, lol.

There were parts of this book though where I felt like the author was speaking directly to me. Her descriptions of what it feels like to be on top of a mountain like that, how you gain perspective, feel humbled but also feel capable of anything, all at once. I’ve felt those feelings, those emotions. They’re the reason I’d drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park every chance I got when we lived in Colorado, and why I loved every minute of my last, insane Alaska trip and wouldn’t trade it for anything, despite coming face-to-face with death more than once. I’m curious to hear from others, who maybe don’t have mountains in their blood the way I do, if they were as moved as I was reading those parts of the book—because I was right there on the side of the cliff with them the whole way.

Also, I can’t talk about this book without mentioning the adorable marmot love triangle. You heard me. Marmot. Love. Triangle. An adorable fluffball falls in love with Easton and starts following them up the mountain. Plus she gets all ticked off whenever River comes near him and has little Marmot tantrums, which I was 100% here for.

I really, really hope the next book is about Easton’s sister Ash. She is a hot, grumpy, bad-ass, tattooed helicopter pilot that I would absolutely read a book about!

You can grab your own copy of Enjoy the View, while supporting an independent bookstore, via the button below.

Synopsis:

A grouchy mountaineer, a Hollywood starlet
And miles of untamed wilderness...
What could possibly go wrong?

Former Hollywood darling River Lane's acting career is tanking fast. Determined to start fresh behind the camera, she agrees to film a documentary about the picturesque small town of Moose Springs, Alaska. The assignment should have been easy, but the quirky locals want nothing to do with River. Well, too bad: River's going to make this film and prove herself, no matter what it takes.

Or what (literal) mountain she has to climb.

Easton Lockett may be a gentle giant, but he knows a thing or two about survival. If he can keep everyone in line, he should be able to get River and her crew up and down Mount Veil in one piece. Turns out that's a big if. The wildlife's wilder than usual, the camera crew's determined to wander off a cliff, and the gorgeous actress is fearless. Falling for River only makes Easton's job tougher, but there's only so long he can hold out against her brilliant smile. When bad weather strikes, putting everyone at risk, it'll take all of Easton's skill to get them back home safely...and convince River she should stay in his arms for good.