Review: "Crossing Paths" by Katie Ruggle

Crossing Paths by Katie Ruggle
Published May 2025 via Sourcebooks Casablanca
★★★

Mm. I enjoyed Fish Out of Water (same author but not in the same series) and The Scenic Route (same author, same series) quite a bit: playful, energetic, a bit over the top. Crossing Paths takes place pretty much immediately after the events of The Scenic Route, and Norah—the heroine du jour (or du livre, as it were)—and her sisters are still trying to track down their mother while also avoiding getting killed by the various baddies who populate their small town.

I struggled a bit with this one, though. Partly it is just a trope thing that is not specific to this book—I am so terribly tired of the "she is so smol and he is so huge and protective, swoonity swoon swoon swoon" sense of a bunch of recent romance that I've read. Big/athletic, terse, and protective is the sum total of Dash's personality in this book, and while it's nice that that makes Norah happy, it does not add up to an interesting hero. Ditto the constant reminders of how Norah's sisters who have already starred in their own books are madly in love with "their guys" and prone to foisting PDA on everyone around them.

The sisters' constant clashes with the local police are entertaining, but I would have liked a bit more conclusion there. Technically this can be read as a standalone, but it's clearly meant to be read as part of the series (or as part of two connected series). I'm left thinking that 1) possibly I should pick up some of the earlier books, which are not technically in this series (why, I'm not sure—new publisher?) but are mentioned nonetheless, because I'd like to know more about this whole being-wrapped-in-explosives thing, and 2) the way the plot elements line up here, or don't, isn't always satisfying, partly because there are so many moving parts across the series. (Did Norah need three different stalkers in this book? Probably not, considering that she routinely manages to forget that some of them are threats.)

Norah is sweet, and in a lot of ways relatable, but I also kind of...wanted to shake her? Spoiler alert for this paragraph. She's smart enough to reject a cocktail from someone she doesn't trust, but not smart enough to reject an opened bottle of water from the same person. Smart enough to cover the camera on her computer, but not smart enough to check her home for cameras after multiple break-ins and one of her stalkers seemingly knowing her every move. (End spoilers!)

So...has its moments, but not the one for me. This'll probably work better for readers who aren't quite so over the whole "but look how LITTLE she is!" thing (again, it's not a problem specific to this book) and who don't mind if their heroes stop at strong and silent. I know that sounds snarky, but I'm not joking! The writing's fine, and it's definitely a series you can tear through—would be better than reading the books with big gaps between, in fact—and I'm pretty sure I'm more bothered by some recent romance trends than the majority of readers. Do with that what you will.