DNFed - I chose to DNF this book in the past. I am typing as a review so it doesn’t harm my %. I haven’t chose to pick the title back up.

“Anxiety is real and challenging, and I’m not going to pretend I know how to handle it for everyone. But for Margaret we had one particular technique that helped. We started by acknowledging her fears and how fear can be a blessing and a curse. Fear at its most basic is a way of protecting ourselves. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.”

At its core, this is a really sweet sapphic love story. Olive is an ER nurse who is afraid of flying. When she is forced to get on a plane to get to a race at DisneyWorld in honor of her late brother, she never anticipated becoming the nation’s next hero. There’s a medical emergency on board and Olive is the only medical professional who can help out. The plane is diverted and Olive isn’t sure how she will reach Florida in time. Enter Stella, the co-pilot of the flight Olive was on. She witnessed Olive’s heroic act on the plane and offers to take Olive to Florida because she can. As Olive and Stella spend more time together, they realize they like each other and they would be perfect to fake date each other. It’s perfect: Olive is in the news a lot now and Stella can charm the heck out of anyone. And Stella? She’s up for a promotion at work and having a partner might make her look better to her boss.

Things I Liked:
-Fake dating is a trope I typically enjoy. This certainly didn’t disappoint.
-Stella is so dang organized. Like Leslie Knope level of organized. And I loved every second of it. While I often lack the motivation to make binders for every aspect of my life, I can definitely stand behind a character who goes all out thinking through every scenario and organizing it into one binder. Perfect, really.
-The banter between Olive and Stella was *chef’s kiss* Fucking fantastic.
-Stella caring for her dad? 🥹
-A realistic portrayal of anxiety and how it manifests. Facing your anxieties is so dang hard and I’m so proud of Olive for her work on facing her fear of flying head on.

Things That Didn’t Work for Me:
-I swear, if I had to hear the phrase “Murphy’s Law” one more time… we get it. Olive has bad luck. I don’t think that play on her last name needed to be stated every single time something that didn’t work out for Olive.
-Olive had a super toxic ex. I’m sorry, but if Olive was seeing a good therapist, there is no way she wouldn’t have gotten her apartment key back or had the locks changed. In fact, she wouldn’t even be in any sort of communication with her ex. I can’t think of a single therapist I’ve had in my life that would allow me to maintain contact with/about an ex that was as toxic as she was. It just didn’t make sense.
-Why oh why could Olive not make her feelings towards Stella known? I know the formula of romance novels but I will never understand characters in today’s day and age who won’t communicate with each other. Clear communication is a staple in relationships and I just feel like this relationship was one that was built on lies - “we’re just friends” - and I don’t know if I can believe in the longevity of it. Maybe I’m too old to read about characters playing games with their love interests?!

**Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

This was a good debut but don't let the cover fool you - there are some serious topics discussed and both main characters are tackling some demons. I feel for Olive so much, I definitely thought that between her toxic ex and her family issues, she definitely had no breathing room. Stella is also dealing with a lot on her end. I always love fake dating trope and in this instance I definitely laughed out loud when Stella showed up with her binder on fake dating. That being said, I felt like the ensuing romance between the two characters was a bit superficial. Given everything they are going through, I thought there would be some real deep moments and while there was a few, I feel like them exploring the emotional side a little more would've been beneficial. In particular, I felt like we didn't get to know Stella much outside of these things that were happening to her/that she was dealing with. The third act breakup was also really brutal... I went between the ebook and audiobook for this one but enjoyed the narration so much I ended up mainly listening to the audiobook.

Rating: 3.5 rounded up to 4.

CW: death, toxic relationship, grief, illness, misogyny, panic attacks/disorders.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC/ALC. All opinions are my own.

I read this one a while ago but I never reviewed it on Netgalley (sorry!). I loved this one. The characters are dealing with real life issues (anxiety, PTSD, taking care of ailing relatives) and I really liked how that was talked about openly rather than the characters just being picture perfect. Another great queer romcom!

This book was a little rough for me. There was dar too much miscommunication in it for me, but I really enjoyed the premise, but the execution fell a little flat for me.

The anxiety and grief themes were done well and I thought they were written well.

An adorable fake dating romance for a quick and enjoyable read. ER nurse Olive, and stunning co-pilot Stella, have a chance meeting that they decide to take advantage of to help themselves out. While I’ve never heard of an in real life fake dating scenario, I love reading about them on the page. Why not?! It introduces some fun absurdity from the beginning and takes us for a fun ride, or flight, in this case.

Olive and Stella were such a cute couple and I enjoyed reading their love story. As most of us can relate to trying to hiding the fact we have feelings for someone I found this to be a fun perspective as I wanted to yell at both of the main characters to just tell each other how they felt and then I realized I understand why my bestfriend always yells at me for keeping my feelings in. So I have to go apologize to her but I’m definitely not sharing my feelings still because it’s SCARY. Olive and Stella both were two sides of the same coin with their fears and I love that they conquered them together!

*I received a free ARC from Netgalley*

This was a wonderful romantic dramady that took a queer spin to the fake dating trope. I really enjoyed the humanity of the characters, and felt that the author handled a lot of sensitive subjects with care, whle also making sure the story had some humor and light heartedness. This was a predictable story line, but when I want to sit down with a comfort read, I'm totally fine with predictable. I appreciated the queer rep in the book and that this was representative.

I really liked this book! For many different reasons! I love how both Olive and Stella have their own baggage and issues that are addressed through out the story! It is a very sweet love story and spicy as well.

I went into this book not knowing what to expect. And was very pleasantly surprised. Olive was so relatable. Actually, both main characters were well-developed and realistic. They had a strong chemistry from their first meeting. And the story was complex, taking on several difficult themes with grace. Yet also creating fun and intriguing storylines. This book tugged on my heartstrings the way any good romance should.

This was cute! I enjoyed the romance, and the mental health representation (especially as a person with ADHD and anxiety myself).

The whole fake relationship aspect was a little over the top at times, but overall it worked. One thing that stuck out that I really liked was a scene where Olive’s es tried to make Stella jealous. I was ready for the big fight and all that, but was pleasantly surprised that the author did not follow the predictable setup, but rather showed that Stella understood exactly what was going on and stood by Olive.

Overall - very enjoyable! Thank you to NetGalley for the advance reader cope (ARC)!

I‘m usually a big fan of fake dating but it has to br executed perfectly. I feel like this book uses that trope pretty well and it wasn’t too unbelievable.
However, I am very big with communication and this book was sadly lacking that.

It was a good book but not for me.

Fly with Me by Andie Burke is a delightful rom-com with a little bit of spice thrown in for good measure. The love story between Olive & Stella can be a bit unbelievable at times, but it is heartwarming and made me want more of their relationship after the final page.

This was a super cute fake-dating romance with some heavier themes (Stella's father has Parkinson's and is declining and Olive's brother is in a coma and not expected to wake up and her family has turned against her.)

Olive and Stella were such sympathetic characters and I was rooting for them from the beginning. The fake-dating scheme was well-executed with appropriate levels of angst. Their growing relationship was perfect and such fun to read.

Olive's ex-girlfriend was terrible, as was her mom. Really, everyone in her life except Derek was terrible. Stella's male coworkers were terrible. There were a lot more terrible people here than nice ones overall.

The audiobook narrator did a great job bringing the characters and story to life.

*Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for providing an early copy for review.

This book is a charming tale of unexpected love. The setting is vibrant and enchanting, making it easy to get lost in the story. The protagonists start off as unlikely pairings, but their journey together is filled with sweet moments and growth. It’s a lovely reminder that love can blossom in the most surprising situations!

Burka’s sapphic fake-dating debut romance was a smooth flight. This book was a delightful romance and I was deeply invested in the characters!

the bi girl in me is happy whenever i find a sapphic romance that i can devour. fake dating can be such a hit or miss and this was definitely a hit for me. i loved how the author touched on some darker aspects in this book, it deals with anxiety and depression, i really appreciated how fleshed out these characters felt. defintiyl a book i would reccomend to anyone wanting to dip their toes into sapphic romances.

DNF @ 15% - perhaps this is my own misguidings here but there was a lot more plane trauma in this story than I anticipated, and while I had been putting it off for quite some time due to the plane setting, after reading HERE ONE MOMENT, and loving it, I decided to give this one a go … instead, I had a full blown panic attack, although I wanted to keep going because the characters were so adorable and fresh! if it had a different setting, I would have devoured this one!

- Sapphic romance
- Pilot & Nurse
- Fake Dating
- Grief
- Found Family
- Mental Health Rep

Don’t let this cute cover fool you, this book is such an emotional rollercoaster. While it is a relatively “cute” romance the author also dives into tougher topics such as: grief, loss and family drama. I was both overwhelmingly angry and sad on Olive’s behalf in regards to her family situation and everything with her ex. I honestly wasn’t happy with the lack of resolution on either subject. I really wanted Olive to stand up to her parents and for Lindsey to face consequences. The ending was rough for me with the miscommunication between Olive and Stella. I wish we would have gotten Stella’s POV, I feel like the added insight would have added a lot more to the story.

"Fly with Me" was a delightful little love story that covered some heavy topics including end of life decisions, mental health and workplace discrimination. I really enjoyed the characters and their story and was rooting for them the whole way.

Thank you to Griffin and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest review.