Solid Romance. This really has everything most people want to see in a MF romance novel. Lead characters with interesting jobs (bar owner/ search and rescue dog trainer, adventure tour operator), simple yet meaningful backstories (kid, daddy issues), hot sex, awesome scenery, several sub plots, even a hint or two of danger. All in a best friends to lovers trope series romance. If romance novels are your thing, you're going to like this one. If they're not, this is a fun one to take a chance on. Very much recommended. ( )

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

Where was my romance? Seriously. It took a good 3/4 to even get to any scenes between Tank and Cassie. This book was way too hyper focused on Cassie's business and Tank's ex. I think since Snow is setting up Tank's ex as the main heroine in the next book, she had to give her some weight here, but it ended up being about 50 percent Cassie's story I felt and 50 percent Tank's ex's story. It's a shame too since I loved the first book in the series. I thought Snow did a great job of setting up the residents of Wild River. I wish she had stayed mostly focused on Cassie and Tank. I also thought that Erica and Cassie's brother stuck out in this one (not in a good way).

"Under an Alaskan Sky" follows Cassie Reynolds and Tank Wheeler. They have been best friends for years, with a great deal of heat underneath. Cassie wants more than friendship, however, Tank is reluctant to get involved with another woman after having his heart broken by his daughter's mother, Montana Banks. Tank wants to make sure any woman he gets involved with understands his daughter is his priority. When Montana returns to Wild River to become a mother to her daughter, and to rekindle her relationship with Tank, Cassie has to decide to let things lay or fight for him.

I think I got tired of everyone telling Cassie to fight for Tank. The dude was back and forth about what he wanted. I think she should have kicked his nonsense to the curb eons ago. The whole friendship read as damaging. She had been his daughter's stand in mother for years at this point in the story and there are pictures of her all over his place. And then Tank even goes well Montana will have to get used to them. Get used to what? You two are not dating.

When these two eventually get together I was just over the whole thing. Snow focused way too much on Tank and Montana's shared past and then on Montana for my liking in this story. I felt like Cassie and Tank's romance got lost.

Also you can tell the third book will be about [redacted] and Montana. I felt annoyed since I think that Snow wanted to play it both ways. Montana was an absentee mother and does at times seem manipulative in this story, but then seems vulnerable and you want to root for her. Eh. The whole thing just felt off.

Also the rush to have Cassie's dad and mom back together was headache inducing. I think that Snow skipped over a lot in this story. We had some comments made about it in book #1, but it just felt like everything was glossed over what is a serious issue (addiction).

The writing was good, I just felt bored. The flow was off though. I think that in the last book going between Erica and Reed worked. I think it worked though because neither of them was caught up in another person from their past you know? You got why they were
attracted to each other and the sex scenes were good. This one just felt meh to me after a while.

The setting of Wild River didn't feel as special in this one either. We have the Search and Rescue people out and about, but things get drowned out a bit by Cassie having angst over a new adventure business opening up across the street from her. It reads as this very big thing that somehow was not a very big thing after a bit.

The ending was probably the least romantic thing ever. Snow included an excerpt of the next book, "A Sweet Alaskan Fall" which I am probably going to read. It's Montana's story. Montana read as more interesting to me than Cassie did in her own story so there you go. ( )

Cassie owns an adventure sports business in Wild River. She's been in love with Tank for years while helping him care for his 11 year old daughter, Kaia. Tank has been a single parent for nearly the entirety of Kaia's life after her mother (Montana) left both of them when she was practically a newborn. Cassie and Tank are desperately in love with one another. Cassie is ready to make their relationship official but Tank is afraid to make that leap. He hesitates because of the dangerous nature of both of their jobs. Tank owns the local bar and he's a big part of the Wild River Search and Rescue team. Both he and Cassie put their lives on the line nearly every day, and he doesn't want Kaia to grow up having lost both of her parents.

Things I liked: the Alaskan setting, the outdoor sports, the scenes involving the Search and Rescue, the secondary characters, Tank's daughter Kaia, and Diva the dog

So basically I liked the same things about this book that I liked about the previous book, An Alaskan Christmas. I think the author has done a great job in creating a setting and friend group that is interesting, and the little details (like Diva the dog!) are also great. Still, I find myself feeling fairly middle-of-the-road about the Wild River books so far.

I really like Cassie and Tank and this book has a great ending, but it is really frustrating to watch Tank's indecision about taking that leap with Cassie. For as big and tough as he is, he's straight-out afraid of having a real romantic relationship with her because he thinks the risks are just too high. There is so much back and forth in this story. I would have loved to see the romantic relationship begin early in the book so I could spend some time observing Cassie and Tank as a couple. As it stands, they spend the majority of the book in limbo.

Sidenote: Tank's ex Montana shows up early on in what I thought would be a love triangle situation. After finishing the book, though, I hesitate to call all of their drama a triangle. Montana has her reasons for being away from her daughter for 10 years, and she has reasons for showing up out of nowhere. It's a little bit strange that Montana befriends Cassie and they have a whole side-plot thing going on involving Cassie's business. I appreciate the author's ability to write Montana into the story without making her the big reason things are complicated with Cassie and Tank. I think Montana has way more page time than she really needs in this installment, but I think Montana is to be the focus of the next full-length book in this series. So I can see the reason for all of Montana's story set-up. Still, I feel like she took precious page-time away from Cassie and Tank.

Both Cassie and Tank have a close connection with Reid from the previous book in this series. Cassie is Reid's sister, Tank is Reid's best friend. Having read the first book, I was pretty familiar with both Cassie and Tank, but I think this one would also be fine as a standalone. I like the way things ended for Cassie, Tank, and Montana and I'm curious about Montana's place in Wild River. Tank's daughter Kaia and Cassie's dog Diva were my favorite things about this story.

Thank you to Harlequin publishing for sending me a free digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my thoughts in the form of a review! ( )