The Ripple Effect

Author: Maggie North Title: The Ripple Effect Publisher: St. Martins Griffin Date Published: 06/17/2025

Read Dates: 05/25/2025- 05/26/2025
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

 📖 I received a gifted e-book ARC. The following is my honest review✍🏻

The Ripple Effect is a single POV fake engagement romance. Grumpy physician Stellar, who reluctantly left hospital work on bad terms, has a chance to return to medicine after a year long absence in the form of camp physician for The Love Boat. It would mean working with a one-night-stand she ghosted, perpetually cheery psychologist Lyle “McHuge” McHugh. When his single status calls into question the efficacy of his wilderness relationship retreat the two fake an engagement.

I was pleased to get an ARC of this book because I loved Maggie North’s debut, where both characters were introduced as side-characters. This was very much an opposites attract romance, with Stellar being wound tight with anger and disappointment, while McHuge is very even-tempered and a deliberately calming presence. The two worked well together and their journey was relatable. Not my usual light Rom-Com but Maggie North is definitely one I’ll continue reading!

Burned-out former ER doc Stellar J Byrd can solve any crisis except her own life. But with her financial prospects dwindling, she’d do anything to stay in her beloved, pricey wilderness town—even take a job as a camp physician at The Love Boat, an unspeakably touchy-feely whitewater canoeing/ relationship therapy startup. If there are sing-alongs, she’s calling in sick.

What’s worse? The founder is Lyle “McHuge” McHugh, the sunshiny psychologist she’s masterfully avoided since their disastrous hookup last year. Hardheaded relationship bean-counter Stellar plans to dodge his pathological generosity from now until September, but after a scathing article puts McHuge's credibility into question, the two are forced into a fake engagement to salvage the camp’s crumbling public image. It’s strictly business . . . but the more closely they work together, the more Stellar realizes her feelings for Lyle are anything but professional.

This summer is nothing like Stellar expected, but could it be exactly what she needed? With a colorful cast of camp-goers, including a journalist intent on bringing The Love Boat down and an estranged celebrity sibling, plus a dash of corporate espionage, Maggie North’s signature heart and heat shine in The Ripple Effect.