Fly with Me is an endearing and heartwarming debut! I cannot wait to read what Andie Burke has instore next!

I really liked this one! Super cute fake dating story. It did get a tad slow in the middle, but I really liked seeing how much Stella and Olive grew throughout the book. As a fellow victim of murphy’s law😅 I found Olive super relatable.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A lovely debut novel by Andie Burke. Filled with lovable and relatable characters. It might be odd but I love reading airport romances. It soubds silly but, there’s something about connecting with strangers in one of the most serendipitous place on earth. Our heroine, Olive is actually deathly afraid of flying and how opportune it is that her future love of her life, Stella, is a pilot. You’d think that they’d spend at least 50% of the book Stella helping Olive overcome her fear of flying, but no. And I say that as a good thing too because we see Olive and Stella connect in a deeper level… by fake dating, of course! There’s a lot of characters connected to Olive I deeply hate right now, you’ll understand when you read the book. We can even start a hate club. Anyways, for a debut novel, this was amazing. The pacing was just a bit slow for me but other than that, I enjoyed it.

Fly With Me by Andre Burke

Ok, first let me say that I could relate to this book 100%. This is a wonderful, sweet, funny, loving and romantic rom com that will have you laughing in no time. I absolutely love newcomer Andre Burke’s way of storytelling. I must say that the first couple of chapters were a tad hard to get through but it took off after that. This is a very easy to read book with a premise that is something that we do not see alot of in books so it was refreshing to say the least. Throw in some romance and it melts your heart. The characters are well developed, heartwarming and lovable and the author leaves room for growth throughout. I must say that September 5th will be a great day for this book.


5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

3.75/5 ⭐️

When I read the premise of this book, it immediately checked off a lot of my boxes of what would get me to pick a book off a shelf or table and want to bring it home with me. Olive and Stella were both enjoyable characters and them together made for a fun read. Their personal stories and traumas felt very relatable for the most part. I appreciated the authors focus on mental illness, chronic illness, and family trauma manifesting in many different ways. The characterizations of both Olive and Stella complimented each other really well, and it was very believable that they would be a great couple (and I thought they were adorable when they were really in their elements).

The story felt both rushed and too slow at the same time. I wasn’t fully sure on how the timeline worked in the story. It jumped around a lot and times I thought days had passed had been hours, and then suddenly there was a more major time jump of weeks. I think more clarification to time passage (maybe some more indicators of what time of year it is) could help with this. I also feel like the ending rushed itself slightly, and I was kinda waiting for a grand gesture from the both of them to end the story, because they both had insecurities that they needed to work on in their own time. I also never fully understood the motives of Olive’s ex, and while interesting, without there being a full wrap up to that subplot it felt distracting at times.

Otherwise, it was an enjoyable read from a debut author. I’m excited to see where else Andie Burke goes in her career and I know we’ll for sure be seeing more from her.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC copy of the book. My review was made voluntarily.

4.5 Stars

Fly with Me is a sexy heartfelt romance. Olive's life changes when she steps foot on her first ever flight. She's terrified of flying and has avoided it her whole life. When there's an in-flight emergency Olive uses her skills as an ER nurse to saves the other passenger. Unfortunately for her she's now stuck at and airport with no way to get where she needs to go. Stella the co-pilot comes along and offers her a ride to her marathon at Disney. As the the two spend time together they realize they could be friends, or more, that's until Stella asks Olive to be her fake girlfriend to help her get promoted to captain. Sparks fly as these two spend more time together and soon they realize they have real chemistry but will it all blow up in their faces? Fly with Me is full of emotional moment as well lots of laughs. It's filled with interesting characters and witty writing. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Tropes & Rep: fake dating, one bed, miscommunication, bisexual MC, sapphic Latina love interest, MC with mental illness, queer characters besides the main couple, characters with celiac disease

CW/TW: medical content, sexual content, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, grief, sexism, lesbophobia, sexual harassment, toxic ex, gaslighting, religious bigotry

The story begins with Olive, an ER nurse on her way to race in a half-marathon to honor her brother. Following the aftermath of her first flight, Olive meets Stella, the copilot, who offers to drive her the rest of the way.

This was such a lovely, sapphic romance, with endearing and funny moments. I liked the progression of Olive and Stella’s relationship. With fake dating, I get a bit wary on whether it will be done well, and for the most part, I think it was. It would’ve helped if the reader was given a better understanding of how much time had passed.

The book was very deep as well. I went into this somewhat blindly and was surprised by that. I think that topics depicted in the story were handled and addressed pretty well. The MC deals with familial issues in this book. Without giving too much away, they’ve kind of isolated Olive from them, and so it was quite refreshing to see how there wasn’t a forced forgiveness plotline. I also loved how casual the representation in this book was.

The ending, I will say, felt a little bit rushed. I think there were events that could’ve been added instead of mentioned. There were also characters I wish we would’ve seen more of, like Stella’s father and Olive’s sister.

Overall, this was a nice read and I definitely recommend.

Olive- an ER nurse with a phobia of flying, jumps into action when a medical emergency is announced on her first flight. The flight gets redirected, and Olive ends up hours away from the destination of the marathon she's running in honor of her brother. But then the hot pilot- Stella- offers to drive her, and Olive feels a spark on the journey. Only to be thrown off when Stella asks her to be a fake date.

I loved the concept of this book so much! Burke has valuable insights into the themes of mental health, sexism, and the dynamics of family relationships. This isn't one of the books that give trigger warnings, only to lightly skim the topics. Fly With Me is a beautiful, character-driven novel, with characters so well crafted that they aren't just likable but relatable on every level. It isn't a HEA, but a bittersweet ending, depending on how you interpret it.

I can't say too much, but I promise you will love the journey it takes you on. From misunderstandings to realizations, confusion to clarity, easy banter to difficult conversations, this book does everything so well! Please just read this book and relish all of its goodness<3

This book was so amazing. If I was able to binge this book in one sitting, I absolutely would have taken that opportunity but unfortunately life happens. So when I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about this book, the characters and what I hoped would happen next.
I loved every aspect of this book, the main plot points as well as the side plots. Every character was written amazingly from the beginning and the development that each of them had made them so much better.
If I could read this for the first time all over again right now, I absolutely would.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Griffin for an eARC of this book.

Overall Fly with Me was cute and had a great storyline, but was too drawn out and slow for my liking. I did like that it touched on mental health/anxiety though!

Sapphic romance with Celiac rep!

Olive is an ER nurse who is on her way to run a half marathon at Disney to check off her & her brother's bucket list. There is a medical event on the plane and she saves the passenger, and the video goes viral. The backstory on her brother is so sad and relatable for those with medical POA for a loved one.

Stella is a perfectionist pilot who offers to drive Olive the rest of the way to Orlando when their flight is diverted. They hit it off and Stella asks Olive to be her fake girlfriend.

They want to use the viral video and publicity to their advantage - Stella to secure the promotion she's been chasing and Olive to raise money for the hospital she works at.

Loved the premise but there are a few triggering scenes: Disney world, loved one in a coma, toxic family, toxic Ex

This is a great book about overcoming fears and finding love in the process. The main characters both have their own fears and preconceived notions of the shortcomings in life to work through and overcome. While dealing with outside obstacles and grief both woman learn what it means to move forward and love in the process.

The writing was excellent and the author did a brilliant job of dealing with the subject of grief in two different ways. One can appreciate the writers real world approach to troubling times, everything may seem wrong in the process but the end result is what truly matters. This was a stay up all night and finish reading to the end novel. Looking forward to the next work from this author.

Overall I really enjoyed this book - it was a fantastic debut! I loved the premise of the story with Stella and Olive and how they met. I also really enjoyed the mental health rep and it was great to see the slow progression of two characters who are so different fall in love with each other. The humor was also very well done and added a nice balance to the story which did have some heavier topics like grief, terminal illness of family members, disownment, and mental health challenges.

Both Stella and Olive were complex, well developed characters and I loved seeing their journeys individually and as a couple. The side characters were also great (aside from the one who is supposed to be terrible) and the whole cast of characters was done really well.

I would highly recommend this book and it was one of the best sapphic books I've read this year!

Overall this book had a cute story, and I appreciated how it talked about discrimination, mental health, and self confidence throughout. I liked how both main characters learned more about themselves and became more confident throughout the story. However, this story felt slow-paced and drawn out, and I thought it could have been shortened in some places. Also a lot of the situations felt over the top and required a suspension of disbelief in a way that felt more extreme than other books in the romance genre. Thank you to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Both Olive and Stella are going through tough medical situations with family. While Stella feels alone in taking care of her father since his diagnosis, Olive is shunned by her family for trying to make the choice that her sibling would have wanted. I appreciated that both characters seem real--they are not perfect nor lightning rods for misunderstandings and clumsy mistakes.

"Fly with Me" is a step above a rom-com in the emotional content that the main characters are dealing with. I do not tend to read "serious" fiction, but the purely fluffy rom-coms can get old. The addition of medical decisions and difficult family relationships elevated the story and made it one that I will remember and think back to.

I am a sucker for a Sapphic bisexual romance and this one was no exception. This book is about an ER nurse with a fear of flying, who falls in love with an airline pilot. Of course, it was more complicated than that, involving a fake dating scheme for to help with networking and career advancement- and neither woman was aware the other was *actually* in love with them.

In terms of fake dating books, the premise was realistic and well done. The book was well written and drew me in quickly- I'm the type of person that if it's difficult to get into the book within the first chapter, it's hard to continue.

This book is rather deep for a fluffy romance, dealing with loss, grief, toxic family systems, anxiety, and workplace harassment. Triggers include death of a family member (off page), homophobia, and biphobia.

I do feel that some of hte plots at the end weren't fully wrapped up. I felt that the conflict with Olive's family was unfinished and could have been played out more- what happens after the funeral? Does she reconnect with her sister? Do her parents eventually forgive her?

This book had me HOOKED! Fake dating, coincidences, and a hot main character, SIGN ME UP! This book was everything you want in a good book. The characters were lovable, the romance was swoon worthy, and the pacing was incredible.

The only qualm that I have with this book is the conversations that happen between the main character and her love interest. The conversations they have are quite drawn out and pages long. And most of them are heavy conversations, as the fun bickering happens over text. I wish we could have seen more Olive and Stella in their truest form, rather than just discussing their trauma in the conversations.

Ending on a high note, I think the mental illness rep in this book is phenomenal. There is lots of conversation about depression, and it really opens the readers eyes to how the MC is feeling. I think it was portrayed in a wonderful and respectful way.

PS: If you love Top Gun, you will love this book!

What a fun debut! Fake dating to romance is always fun and the characters had wonderfully complex lives and dynamics. Very realistically human.

Fly with Me was a perfect early read for me during Pride month (and yet I am glad it will be out later this year, read queer all year folks!). I love fake dating plots and this one really worked, I am so glad to see favorite tropes being expanded into all types of identities and relationships. This will sound funny but I also love the travel theme in this book... I have an odd love for airports and travel settings, they are for me such spaces (most of the time) for optimism, vacations, new opportunities, and just are often filled with a sense of "what's next" and this book capitalizes nicely on that theme with the romance/fake dating plot. It just made the read extra fun for me. Though some of the background of how the MCs meet is tinged with sadness and emergency, there is still that sense of anticipation woven into the the story along with great banter and some spicy scenes that make this a most welcome sapphic read for many. I also appreciated that Andie Burke gave Olive and Stella well developed identities and backgrounds, they stood out as real characters and not just generic romcom characters, it was clear that the author respected the voices she was writing (and the reading audience).

Thank you St Martin's for supporting an inclusive romance for readers and for the early ebook copy on NetGalley. Great debut, I look forward to what is next!

Fly with Me is a light and joyful read that dealt well with some heavy topics.
Sure, it wasn’t exactly a slow burn, but the main character still had a lot to fight for and work towards to finally be on the same page. I started reading this on a long day of plane travel, which I thought fitting, and continued to read during my vacation. I did like that the story wasn’t a wam bam boom the end allowing for growth between the characters.

This is a wonderful story, and I definitely will be looking for what’s to come from the author.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.