"Her former boyfriend broke up with her by bringing his new girlfriend home for a visit."
I hit pause. I literally had to hit pause, take my headphones off, and stare at the wall for a solid minute. (Frida, my calico, stared back like, "You think your dating life is tragic?"). That is the level of mess we are dealing with in Catch of the Day, and honestly? I am here for it.
I picked this one up because I needed a break from a heavy memoir that wrecked me last week. (Though honestly, after the emotional gauntlet of Ember in the Ashes, even a grumpy lobster fisherman felt like light reading.). I wanted something funny, maybe a little swoony, something that felt like a warm blanket. Kristan Higgins usually delivers that mix of "haha" and "oh god, my heart," so I dove in while vectoring a logo for a client who thinks "beige" is a mood.
The Voice of a Maine Morning
Let's talk about Xe Sands. If you haven't listened to her before, her voice has this incredible texture—it's raspy, warm, grounded. It's not the polished, high-pitched narrator voice you sometimes get in rom-coms. It sounds like a woman who drinks black coffee and actually lives in the real world.
For a book set in a fishing town with a surly lobster fisherman as the love interest, her voice is basically perfect. She does the distinct voices well without doing that weird thing where female narrators sound like cartoons when they do men. She made Maggie sound relatable (and slightly frantic, which fits), and she gave Malone this gravelly, deep tone that… well, it worked for me.
(Though, to be fair, Malone doesn't say much, so she didn't have to do heavy lifting there. More on that in a second.)
The Strong, Silent (Maybe Too Silent?) Type
Okay, so here's the tea. I read some reviews before starting this (I know, I know, I shouldn't spoil myself), and a lot of people complained that Malone—the love interest—was too quiet. Hard to connect with.
And look, I get it. The man is a clam. A barnacle. He is the definition of "emotionally constipated." If you need your romance heroes to be reciting poetry or communicating their feelings in chapter three, you are going to want to throw your phone across the room.
But for me? I kind of loved the slow burn of it. There's something about a guy who just does things—fixes the sink, shows up—instead of talking about it. It felt very old-school. My Abuela would have called him "un hombre serio."
That said, there were moments where I was screaming internally, "JUST TELL HER YOU LIKE HER, YOU STUBBORN MAN." The pacing drags a little in the middle because of this. You're just waiting for the shell to crack. When it finally does, it's satisfying, but you really have to work for it.
The Feels
Is this a perfect book? No. The ending felt a little rushed—like we spent 9 hours getting Malone to open up and then bam, happily ever after, roll credits. I wanted five more minutes of them actually being happy together.
But did I enjoy it? Absolutely. It's funny (the priest crush subplot? Hilarious. Messy, but hilarious), the town feels cozy, and Maggie is the kind of character you want to get margaritas with.
Who should listen: Anyone craving a cozy small-town rom-com with a slow-burn grump and a narrator who sounds like velvet and sea salt. Who should skip: If you need instant sparks and heroes who actually use their words, this one will test your patience.
(Now back to this beige logo. Pray for me.)
