Review: Single in Sitka by Katy Regnery (Odds-Are-Good #1)


Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Wildfire Marketing Solutions.

My mind breaks it down into small bursts of thought: 
Luke likes Amanda. 
Amanda likes Luke. 
Luke and Amanda are exclusive. 
But Luke lives in Sitka, and Amanda lives in Seattle. 
And neither one is especially fond of the other person's hometown. 
Hmm.

I'd originally read Single in Sitka when it was a novella that was part of the multi-authored One Hot Summer anthology which was released early last month and it was my favorite among the stories that I was able to read. Because it ended at a point in the story that left the main characters--and me--hanging. Katy Regnery did make a note mentioning that this was only the beginning--that the book would be released as a full-length novel. So, I waited as patiently as I possibly could, and when I finally had my grubby hands on it, I dove in and devoured every single chapter like a I was starving for it. Not only did Regnery make the wait worthwhile, but now she's given readers like me not only a wonderful romance about love, family, and home, but also an exciting brand new series!

When thirty-two-year-old Amanda McKendrick heads to Sitka, Alaska, it's to research and write a story on the plight of bears in the small town for the Seattle Sentinel...and to hopefully meet a certain state trooper who may or may not have posted a personal ad in a magazine called Odds Are Good. Luke Kingston is thirty-six and has a lot on his plate--he's a widower with three children (Charles, thirteen, Gillian, ten, and Meghan, five, aka Chad, Gilly, and Meg) and he's an instructor at the Trooper Academy--so writing a personal ad isn't on his list of priorities. His sister, however, thinks it's time for him to meet someone, and when Manda sees his ad on Odds Are Good, her curiosity--and her best friend--push her in Luke's direction. But her stay in Alaska is temporary, so even with a connection as strong as the one they share, could there be any sort of future between Luke from Sitka and Manda from Seattle?

Smitten! I was absolutely SMITTEN with this story! Manda and Luke's romance began with a personal ad and while all it seemed like was a temporary fling while she was in Sitka, it was pretty clear from the get-go that the feelings that they had developed over a short period of time were worth exploring. Now, relationships in general aren't easy one hundred percent of the time, but when two people happen to live hundreds of miles apart, it becomes exponentially more complicated. Add in the fact that Luke has three kids, and well, that equates more feelings to take into consideration. I loved that while the burgeoning emotions between Luke and Manda came easily, everything else required some additional figuring out. These two needed to figure out if they really wanted to put in the effort or not and reminded me of Theodore Roosevelt's quote: "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty." Gah! Single in Sitka was a swoon-worthy five-plus-starred read. ♥

Date Read: 06 October 2019

Learn more about Katy Regnery.

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