I loved the characters, I loved the chemistry between Olive and Stella but it took far too long for the two to get together. I also did not like the b-story about Olive & her family.

This book is an easy read & perfect for a plane ride where you’re in one place for an extended amount of time with nothing to do. But ultimately it’s not the type of book to keep me coming back again & again.

I thought the idea behind this book was interesting, but ultimately, it just didn’t go in a way I enjoyed.

Fly With Me tells the story of Olive and Stella. Olive is afraid of flying, but needs to in order to make it to Disney to participate in a race for her brother. After a medical emergency has her saving the life of another passenger, she meets Stella, the pilot of the plane, and the two end up fake dating in order to get Stella the promotion she deserves.

I really enjoyed the humor of Olive and Stella’s relationship from an outside perspective, but that’s also where this book lost me a bit. Olive and Stella’s entire relationship is based on fake dating, but there are real feelings both women are hiding from the other. While it was fun to see these two torture themselves with having what they wanted just out of reach, there was also no development of the two falling in love with each other to keep me caring for their relationship. The combination of insta-love and fake dating just wasn’t one I enjoyed seeing.

I also wasn’t a fan of the outside conflicts in Olive’s side of the story. While struggling with her feelings for the woman she is fake dating, Olive also has to deal with fighting with her family over end-of-life care for her brother, who is in a coma and will not recover, and a crazy-ex-girlfriend who wants her back, yet does not actually care for her. All of these conflicts together made for a very overwhelming story where it felt like readers weren’t allowed to have a break.

But the villains of each of these conflicts also weren’t developed enough for me to care for them. While I can understand a mother fighting for the life of her son, we are also told both early on and over and over throughout the text that the son will not make it. This paints the mother as the villain, of course, but also doesn’t leave enough room for readers to see her as anything other than an annoying roadblock in our main character’s way. Similarly, the crazy-ex-girlfriend puts herself in the way of our main character in the hopes they can get back together but doesn’t show sufficient reason for why she would want to get back together. She is just a roadblock in the way.

And these are both just conflicts on Olive’s side of the story!

Ultimately, I think this book just didn’t do enough to make me care for anything that was happening. The concept was interesting, and I wanted to see where this story would go enough to stick with it until the end, but I can’t say that I liked it.

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Fly with Me, and it totally exceeded my (already sky-high) expectations. I had to force myself to put the book down more than once because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to the characters—if I delayed reaching "the end," I could spend more time with them.

Ambitious, driven Olive and Stella had such a touching build-up to their relationship—starting with an unexpected meeting that morphed into fake dating before turning into Real Feelings™. That's the stuff I absolutely live for. This satisfying romance arc was complemented by each character's own journey, which touched on topics of anxiety, fear, loss, growth, goals, friendships, family connections, and making your own seat at the table. Fly with Me will live in my head and heart forever.

I loved this so much! Stella and Olive were some of my favorite characters I've read in awhile and I couldn't get enough of their story. I think my favorite part of this story though was the rep and the diversity that was shown both in the storyline and through the characters. There was bisexual rep, anxiety and depression rep, trans rep, I loved it all SO much. The tension was perfect between the two, and I loved that even though there was some miscommunication trope, they were still open with their struggles with things in their lives. I think the only thing that would've made me like it more would've been having a dual POV between Olive and Stella's. It didn't necessarily take away from the story by not having Stella's point of view, but I think it would've just made the story that much better! This was an amazing debut novel, and I'd definitely love to read more of hers when she has it!

olive hates flying, but when a passenger has a medical emergency on an airplane, she goes viral for saving his life. the pilot of the plane, stella, takes a liking to olive, and helps her get to her destination after the plane makes an emergency landing. when stella needs help advancing in her career at her company, she propositions olive with a fake dating scheme to put them in the press, piggybacking off of olive’s viral video.

this was so stinking cute. fly with me is a feel-good rom com that had me literally laughing out loud at points. there are some heavy topics that both stella and olive have to deal with (sibling sickness, parental sickness, sexism), but the character growth that is seen from the beginning to the end of the novel is beautiful. stella is such a relatable character to me, as i am a female engineer and know how hard it can be in a male-dominated field. olive is also very relatable to me as i am a bisexual ball of anxiety, just like her!

recommend to anyone who loves seeing themselves represented in books (anxious bisexuals, i’m looking at all of you). also to anyone who loves fake dating, and opposites attract romances!

What an amazing debut from a talented new voice - Andie Burke's Fly with Me. A fake-dating sapphic romance between a Olive, an incredibly anxious flyer, and Stella, a pilot. What could possibly go wrong?! FwM was so heartfelt and touched on some really important topics. I loved every page!

An absolutely 10/10 read. I finished this book in under 24 hours. Sella is who I wish I was and Olive is who I am. It was so easy to connect to these characters and the mental health representation was so terrific. I can’t wait to revisit this story over and over.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Fly with Me is a sweet debut sapphic romance. It’s definitely more on the slow-burn side with a lot going on, but Andie Burke manages the balance of the execution of the tropes included and the weightier issues, to create a romance that emotionally resonates without losing its light touch.
Olive and Stella are both compelling characters who both complement and complicate each other’s lives. I loved the initial setup between them with Olive being flight-phobic, and yet being called on to use her nurse’s training on a flight, and being a bit snubbed by Stella…that’s a fun meet-cute! They each have their respective sources of baggage, from Olive reckoning with the wounds from a previous toxic relationship, and Stella dealing with the intense sexism within the “boys’-club” that is the airline pilot profession. These things serve as undertones throughout their fake relationship as it becomes something real, and become sources of conflict for them. While I was disappointed that there was a fairly standard third-act breakup/makeup, there was still some emotional punch that made it work.
I enjoyed this book, and I am excited to read more from Andie Burke in the future. I’d recommend this to fans of sapphic contemporary romance.

When I saw that this sapphic romance was about a character named Olive Murphy and had to do with planes, I knew I had to request it because I am a lesbian named Olivia Murphy who was about to have a few long flights and layovers. I am SO glad I was approved and got to read this book during one of said layovers!

"Fly With Me" is a F/F fake dating romance novel with the greatest meet cute of all time: ER nurse Olive is terrified of flying, but on her first ever flight she saves a man's life and soon meets the gorgeous and fast-talking pilot Stella.

The fake dating part comes in because it just so happens that Olive saved an important Disney employee's life and went viral doing so. Stella believes that the good publicity surrounding the story, plus the respect a relationship might give her in the boy's club piloting world, will help her get a promotion to captain. Olive agrees because she has a major crush on Stella, of course.

Although this book is at times funny, I would not call it a rom com. There are major subplots surrounding health issues for both characters' families which are frankly devastating. Olive's relationship with her mom and sister is especially painful. However, these aspects were very compelling (honestly more so than the fake dating ruse). I almost wish this had been a regular romance (no fake dating) prompted by the meet cute.

Both characters' careers are interesting to read about. There's a significant focus on Stella as a pilot due to her career ambitions, but I wish we saw Olive at work more often because I really enjoyed when we did!

Unfortunately I thought the silliness inherent to fake dating conflicted with the otherwise rather dark aspects of the book. I've only read a few fake dating romances before, though, and I'm just not sure they're for me. If that's your jam you probably won't mind it as much.

This was a sweet, sexy, and often sad romance. I liked both characters and many of their friends (and family, but just for Stella). Olive's insecurity due to her past relationship felt so believable and I enjoyed seeing how the consequences played out even when it was hard.

Lastly, I loved the Drama(TM) when shit hit the fan towards the end. One of Olive's jokes is that she is the definition of Murphy's Law, which comes to fruition perfectly. When everything that could go wrong did go wrong all at once, I was at the edge of my seat and loving (okay, not loving, it was really unfortunate, but you know what I mean) every second.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I apologize for any typos - I had to write this on my phone because my laptop is currently broken :(

Olive is terrified of flying, but she promised her brother she'd run a half-marathon with him, and even though he can't make it, she's determined to make good on that promise. But on her flight to Disney for the marathon, a man has a medical emergency and Olive (who's a nurse) steps in. The plan gets rerouted, and it's looking like she'll miss the marathon after all... until the pilot offers to drive her the rest of the way. Stella is helpful, and kind, and beautiful, and after spending a few days together, Olive can't stop thinking about her.
So when Stella shows up at her workplace a few days later and proposes that they pretend to date, Olive agrees. Together, they navigate tough familial situations-- Olive's brother is in a coma, and her family opposes her using her medical power of attorney to uphold his wishes. Stella's father has Parkinson's. The two women help each other out, and get closer, and all the while Olive grows less and less certain that she can keep pretending her feelings are fake.

Fly with Me is at times heavy, but also very sweet. The prose is very straightforward in a way I found I really liked. Stella and Olive both kind of read at autistic to me (and Stella with ADHD, too) though it's never actually stated in the book.

Trigger warnings for family estrangement, end of life decisions for a family member, and death of a close family member.

I can’t believe this was a debut novel for Andie Burke! Fantastic.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ 2/5 perfection

Our MCs - Olive & Stella. Olive Murphy is an ER nurse, and Stella Soriano is a pilot. They are total opposites - Olive is a mess, and Stella is very type-A, organized and neat.

I enjoyed Olive & Stella’s story so much. What starts as a fun day together, leads to fake dating for publicity to help their careers. Olive’s feelings are never fake, but she’s unsure about how Stella feels. Stella is terrified of commitment, of being a “bad girlfriend,” and letting people down.

I love how their relationship just naturally progressed, as they got to know each other better and better. I found this story to be incredible sweet, adorable, HILARIOUS, and all around lovely.

I tandem read with the audiobook and LOVED the narrator - the voices for both Olive & Stella were perfectly matched to their characters.

What you’ll find in Fly with Me:
✈️ FF Romance
✈️ Opposites attract
✈️ Fake dating
✈️ Insta-Love
✈️ Nurse & Pilot
✈️ Anxiety/depression rep
✈️ Grief
✈️ Hilarious
✈️ Single POV/3rd person

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin & MacMillan Audio for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

So alas, I just could not get into this book. It might be because I read it over a really extended period of time – but part of the reason for that is because I just wasn’t compelled to pick it up. It was fine, there wasn’t anything actively wrong with it really, but there was also nothing special. So basically it’s about Olive, a nurse who’s terrified of flying, and Stella, an airline pilot. On Olive’s first flight ever she ends up saving the life of a man who works at Disney World and goes viral. She ends up getting a ride from Stella to Disney World so that she can run their half marathon like she promised her brother, but then Stella disappears from her life – or so she thinks. Later, Stella turns up to ask Olive to be her fake girlfriend so that she can get the attention she needs to finally get the promotion she’s been working for. And then all of the classic fake relationship drama ensues. A couple of things were generally missing that I think might have helped this book get to the next level. First, almost all of the reader’s time is spent with Olive and Stella. In my opinion, the best romances also emphasize the other relationships in a character’s life. I would have liked to see more of Olive’s relationships with her best friend, her estranged family, and Stella’s father Hector, who she has a really sweet relationship with but only actually gets I think two scenes. Sort of on the same topic, it also didn’t seem like a lot of the subplots really got the wrap-up they deserved. In particular, I didn’t feel like Olive’s relationship with her family really reached any kind of progress or culmination. This was really annoying because it was definitely exploring a really interesting dynamic, but it sort of just got abandoned at the end of the book. There’s also a subplot where Olive’s toxic ex is trying to uncover the relationship as fake, which she is able to do, but then that just…disappears? And isn’t really mentioned again? Which really bothered me because then what even was the point of that storyline. Finally, there were just several odd syntax things in the writing that just made it hard for me to feel immersed in the story. I’d be reading along and then suddenly be confused by the way something was worded or described and be completely distracted. So overall, it’s not like this was an awful book, but in my opinion there are much better sapphic fake dating books out there.

A charming romance read. I enjoyed the characters and their repartee, as well as the storyline.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a sweet read! It is for sure a slowwww burn but once we get to the spice it's there! Olive and Stella are a mess lol. Both are dealing with a lot in their family lives and have a lot of baggage when it comes to past relationships. After Olive saves "Mickey Mouse" on a flight Tessa is copilot of and goes viral, they begin fake dating to help Stella finally get Captain. I do wish we got Stella's perspective because I would've enjoyed hearing both of their perspectives. This was definitely a book where I was armchair psychoanalyzing them throughout it all and was glad when they finally saw how they were both self sabotaging! Overall this was a really sweet fake dating romance, where we all know the "fake" is the fakest part of the dating lolol.

This book was such a delight to read. It was such a sweet love story, but with a whole lot of other things going on to add complexity to it. I absolutely loved Olive and Stella as individual characters, also as friends and eventually a couple. I loved how from the get go, they really took care of each other and had patience and understanding for one another. One of the better fake dating stories I’ve read in a while, you really root for both to not only get together but thrive as their own person. I loved the look at the way female pilots are treated and also the different medical issues each girl faces in their families. Also, Derek was an AMAZING side character who was just a blast. I found myself thinking about this book anytime I wasn’t able to sit and read. I would have liked a little more closure with Olive’s family at the end, but that’s my only complaint. I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC!

This is a book with so much heart and depth admist the romance that it's hard to put down! Andie does an incredible job writing really relatable FMCs and I thought both the friendship and romance were really well done. Fly with Me shows that life throws us all hardships and curveballs and tough relationships, but having someone to learn on to go through it all makes all the difference.

This book was the perfect sapphic fake dating romance! Olive is a flying-phobic ER nurse who is navigating her life via a list of goals set my her brother. She ends up saving a Mickey Mouse character actor’s life mid-flight, which thrusts her I to the (unwanted) limelight. Stella is the perfectionist pilot who was on the flight. She wants to make captain and is dealing with her own internalized struggles. They hatch up a fake dating plan that ends up being mutually beneficial and their tension is EXQUISITE. The number of times I found myself screaming JUST BANG ALREADY was a true testament to the chemistry between this couple.

I loved how Andie Burke so deftly handled anxiety and depression as well as loss and family trauma. It gave this story the depth needed to really root for both women, while not bogging down the plot. It felt so spot on, as someone who has self with a lot of similar issues, and I found myself relating to both women!

Fly With Me is a wonderful debut and I cannot wait to read Andie’s future books!

I really enjoyed this story about Olive and Stella. This story had so many unique elements to it that really captured your attention. I didn't like that better communication could have helped avoid problems, but I guess there needed to be conflict. Olive's family and medical situations were really interesting. Overall, I thought this was a great read.

Andie Burke did so great with this book! It is so nice to see more queer romance novels being written without awful plots of *complete* misunderstandings the entire time. Olive and Stella quickly became one of my favorite love stories of the year! For anyone looking for a WLW romance novel with sustenance, I will always recommend this as one of the first ones.
Thanks so much to NetGalley for this ARC ebook copy!

FLY WITH ME is a sweet, faking dating sapphic dream!

Olive is making the motions of life, but not truly living after a tragic accident leaves her brother in a coma. When she is thrust into the spotlight after pulling a Super Nurse and saving a man on her flight, sexy pilot Stella Soriano proposes a fake dating scheme to get her long fought for promotion to captain.

This love story is chock full of tender and silly moments, set against a backdrop of family turmoil, grief, and caregiving. Burke does a deft job of balancing the heavy and light moments and letting her characters lean on each other while they work through their own stuff.

The basics:
- fake dating
- sapphic love
- bi rep & lesbian rep
- sexy pilot x ER nurse
- GLUTEN FREE COOKING SEDUCTION
- panic disorder & depression rep
- Parkinson's & caregiving rep
- Disney
- love letter to nursing

I really enjoyed this debut romance and can't wait to see what Burke puts out next!