“Fly With Me” was a great debut novel. Olive is scared of flying, among other things. However, her fear is overshadowed when a medical emergency occurs and Olive, an ER nurse, acts to save the passenger. This heroic act leads to her meeting pilot Stella Soriano, who is stunningly attractive, and who will help save the day for Olive by driving her overnight from Atlanta to Orlando, so Olive can run the Disney half marathon the next morning. The medical emergency had resulted in the flight to Orlando being diverted to Atlanta, and there were no flights that evening from Atlanta to Orlando.

This road trip and the time that Olive and Stella spend together in Orlando will turn into a fake relationship. Stella has long dreamed of becoming an airline captain, and should have been promoted years ago, but she keeps getting passed over for male pilots. The airline is happy to show off its few female pilots when it is beneficial, but not really interested in helping them advance their careers. However, Olive's heroic act is generating a lot of positive press, including keeping the airline's name in the news. There are some big industry social events coming up, and Stella thinks that if they fake a relationship and appear together at these events, the airline's PR department will want to take advantage of the publicity opportunities, and this will give Stella the opportunity to keep her name on the minds of the executives who will make promotion decisions.

Olive will agree to this fake relationship, but very much wants it to become a real relationship. Ever since meeting Stella, Olive has been imagining doing certain bedroom activities with Stella. And when those opportunities arise, the reader will be treated to some very enjoyable intimate scenes.

Stella is very career driven and is convinced that a successful relationship is not an option for her; her girlfriend will eventually get hurt, as has happened in past relationships. Olive has also not had much relationship success, with a toxic ex (Lindsay) who will repeatedly interfere in Olive and Stella's relationship. Also, Olive is prone to panic attacks and bouts of depression, and Lindsay made her feel very emotionally needy, breaking up with her multiple times because she could not handle Olive's messy emotions, but making Olive feel like it was her fault, and making Olive question whether she was capable of a successful relationship.

The interactions between Stella and Olive are quite good -- not only the intimate scenes when they occur, but the banter between them, as well as the everyday interactions as they get to know each other better. Stella and Olive have very different personalities, and it is fun to see how these personalities conflict at times but also mesh at times. There is also a great supporting cast with Gus (Olive's dog), Derek's (Olive's best friend and coworker), and Hector (Stella's father). Stella and Olive both have their insecurities and issues, but their time together and the situations they face will force them both to confront their issues, rethink their priorities, and realize what is truly important and meaningful.

I loved this book! Olive is a nurse and she has fear of flying and on a flight to Orlando there is a medical emergency. She manages to focus on the injured man and save his life. She gets off the plane and has a complete emotional breakdown and is crying. Stella the pilot on the plane comforts her and agrees to drive her to Orlando. This was so beautiful and touching the compassion that she showed Olive.

Olive is running a race for her brother who is paralyzed and has a brain injury. Olive hates to see her brother like that and this has torn the family apart about how to care for him and next steps.

Stella is there to take care of Olive after she finishes the race. They have a wonderful time going to Disney. Stella asks Olive to be her fake girlfriend and the witter banter they share and how they grow in love is beautiful to watch unfold.

They both have to learn to lean on each other and how to be a couple. A fake dating romance you won't want to miss.

Included Tropes and Representation: LGBT+ main characters, love interest with celiac disease, main character with mental illness (panic attacks and depressive episodes), discussion and on page scenes of end-of-life care and decisions

FLY WITH ME by ANDIE BURKE is an adult, contemporary romance following ER nurse Olive Murphy in the aftermath of her first flight. What started off as trying to survive her first flight ever without panicking or vomiting turned into her saving a man's life in an in-flight medical emergency and going viral. While that may good for all parties involved, it meant Olive was now stuck in the airport with no way to get to her destination: running in a Disney marathon in honor of her brother. Just as she has accepted defeat, one of the pilots on the plane, Stella Soriano, offers her a ride.

Olive and Stella's few days at Disney become some of the best days of their lives... that ends with a shocking question from Stella to Olive "Will you be my fake girlfriend?"Olive's life saving moment has gone viral helping to generate interest and sales in Stella's airline. Stella faking a relationship with "the woman that saved Mickey Mouse" could both further help the airlines and her own personal and professional goals. Reluctantly, Olive agrees to the fake relationship with hopes to help Stella and herself but as the pair spends more time together, Olive questions where the line between fake and real meets.

****SPOILERS AHEAD****

I went into this book somewhat blindly, choosing not to know too many details so I could be surprised and not be influenced by others while reading. The premise was intriguing and I was excited to read about how Olive and Stella would be navigating their life after the viral moment and when they decided to take advantage of the temporary fame by faking a relationship. As the story unfolded, I was becoming increasingly excited about various of the included elements: LGBT+ main and side characters, Stella's career as a pilot, Olive's mental health, both Stella and Olive being in caregiving/end-of-life care situations, Stella's celiac disease, etc. Unfortunately, I felt underwhelmed with many of these elements. Some parts such as Stella's caregiving with her father and how Olive is navigating her mental health, I would have liked to see more of. I wasn't a fan of how many scenes ended and then were recapped later due to a time skip. Some I think would've served the story if they were fleshed out for readers. Other parts like the jealous ex-girlfriend didn't feel fully resolved at the end, it just end dissolved when I wish more could've been done about it. Also, the pacing felt slow with Olive and Stella getting to know each other but quick with the romantic interactions. I just didn't feel the romance between them to believe it when Olive was in love. In the end, I gave FLY WITH ME 2 stars due to the continuous feeling of being disappointed with how the story was playing out and lack of support or rooting for the romance.

Who doesn’t love a fake-dating romance? A queer one is all the better! I thoroughly enjoyed Olive and Stella’s story. They each had individual stories of conflict and growth running along side their joint story. Themes of facing fears, overcoming mental health issues, and not letting the past define you.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC of Fly with Me in exchange for an honest review! I read this one during a flight, and I thought it was the perfect plane read. This book was so easy to read and not to mention, very spicy! We follow Olive, an ER nurse, and Stella, a pilot, and a really great fake dating adventure. The whole fake dating thing is ridiculous and the characters note that as well, and I think the book and Stella and Olive have chemistry, it feels kind of fleeting and that they coexist more than intertwine. Still thought this was a great book and thoroughly enjoyed every minute! An excellent start on my Pride month readathon as well!

I enjoyed this one. It was a bit slow to get started but once I got to the heart of the story I couldn't stop reading. I wanted to find out what was next for these love birds and their fake relationship. It was hard to read at times because of the emotional aspects. The discussion of <religious and medical decisions> was an integral part to the story and at times gave me a reaction not often had in a romance.

The inclusion of a runDisney race at the beginning of the story hooked me and the emotional connection to the story kept me reading.

I enjoyed this! I love sapphic romance particularly with a bisexual MC. I will say though that without that 2nd POC, it felt at times like Stella didn’t like Olive. So when they reconcile at the end, it was kind of difficult to believe and I found myself rooting for Olive to say no and go on with her life…. Single.

This was a dnf for me because I’m a prude. I loved the writing and the characters, but at 15% I was already put off by the constant crass references to sex. Just too horny for me, but I’m sure it will find many readers who won’t mind that and will love the storytelling. Thanks for the opportunity to review.

I had to sit on writing this review of FLY WITH ME after I finished it. On the one hand, I loved Andi Burke’s book, but then I also felt incomplete, and it frustrated me that I didn’t know how to feel.

I love a wonderful sapphic romance, especially one that starts with a fake relationship. Olive and Stella were fantastic together, but I think within their relationship (the pacing needed work) and their outside lives (way too much going on), we as readers don’t get to appreciate the beauty of what Olive and Stella could have truly been. I feel we got a glimpse.

There was so much going on, and nothing was truly flushed out. Between their jobs, family, and friends, and then adding the relationship, everything moved so quickly, and I never made genuine connections, just little sprinkles here and there. It was just too much.

I do appreciate how real Olive and Stella felt as I read them. I felt like they were my friends, and I could easily hang out with them. Scratch that, I wanted to hang out with them because I liked them.

I liked Burke’s writing, and while I think this book has room for improvement, I enjoyed it. I also look forward to seeing what she does next!

Content Warnings: medical content, panic attacks, misogyny, chronic illness, toxic relationship, grief, terminal illness, death

This was a cute sapphic romance, but I ultimately did not finish because the relationship moves quickly and the plot points sometimes seemed to move too fast for my liking. It was fun and very campy, and will likely be enjoyed by others more than by me.

A fast-paced sapphic romp with fake-dating, quick chemistry, and a whole lot of heart. Handles the themes of grief and working in a high pressure environment while mentally ill very well. If you ever wanted your romance novel to include Disney World scenes, this is for you.

Very entertaining fake dating romance. The classic it could all be resolved if they’d just TALK isn’t my favorite but this was highly enjoyable.

This is a very sweet sapphic romance! Olive is on her way to run a Disney marathon when, on her very first flight, she has to save someone’s life. Through that experience, she meets Stella, one of the pilots. Stella thinks that if her and Olive fake a relationship, it will help her get a promotion. Drama obviously ensues. I loved this book because the characters and experiences felt so realistic. There were moments where I was laughing and other moments where I was having a panic attack right next to Olive. The side characters and personal growth stories for both characters were also very meaningful. I highly recommend this one!

I love the fake dating trope, so I had an excellent time with Fly with Me. Olive is an ER nurse who is afraid of flying, and she ends up saving someone’s life during a medical emergency on a flight to Florida. Stella is the plane’s pilot. They meet when the flight is diverted due to the medical emergency. When Olive’s good deed goes viral, Stella proposes fake dating in an arrangement that will benefit both their careers.

This book has a fun setup, but it also deals with some heavier themes I thought were handled well. Overall, this is a wonderful debut romance — a sweet sapphic story with some spice.

Big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for this ARC. It was truly a pleasure. I’ll be picking up a print copy as soon as it drops (hopefully a hardcover?! 🤞)

Ahhhhh! This book was soooo good! I really enjoyed Olive and Stella’s story (even if it was a bit of a slow burn at times).

Also, can you say spicy?! 🥵🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ If you’re looking for an LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 book with extra spice, babe you’ve found it.

I found myself laughing, crying, cringing, pissed, and in love throughout this beautiful story. Andie Burke is an automatic buy for me going forward. Can’t wait to see what she does next!

The fake dating trope is in full swing in this fun romance novel. Whether you are an experienced flyer or someone who has never even been an airport, this book will give you all the feels.

I tried several times to pick up and continue this book, but I just couldn't get into it. It's too bad because I felt the characters and their family relationships had the potential to be very real and relatable, but I just found the romance and the whole fake dating situation to be too ridiculous in what is otherwise attempting to be a serious book. Even the characters kept repeating how ridiculous it is, which for me kind of takes away from the fun romp aspect of a fake dating romance.

On the real romance side, the sparks didn't fly for me. Stella and Olive spend a day together at the beginning of the book which I feel should've had a lot more chemistry, and instead they just kind of hang out, have an awkward kiss, and take a nap in each other's vicinity.

(Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC)

This book was very sweet, and I liked the main characters! But definitely a classic case of “but if they just talked about their feelings then there would be no conflict” which gets on my nerves sometimes lmao. But good discussions of grief and mental health in this one too!

Olive is terrified of flying - so when she flies to Florida to run in a marathon for her brother, it would just so happen that someone on her flight has a medical emergency. She saves him (he just so happens to be Mickey Mouse at Disney) and she becomes a hero. She also meets the co-pilot Stella and the two quickly become friends. Their story gets out and they start faking dating in an attempt to help Stella get a much deserved promotion.

I will admit that the story at times felt slow - I struggled with some of the chemistry between the two that I felt could have been resolved by having a dual POV.

The story seemed to pick up once the two really hit it off. It was full of emotions due to Olive's struggle with her mental health, grief, and toxic ex-girlfriend.

Overall, I liked this debut and I look forward to more books from this author.

DNF @ 15%. I was really excited about this book but I think it just caught me at the wrong time and it was also heavier than I thought it would be based on the summary. Other reviews talk about it being a fun romcom (even with it having some deeper themes), but even if it does get lighter there are certain storylines that look like they’ll be sustained throughout the book.
- Flying anxiety
- Medical emergency

***SPOILERS----->
- Brother currently(?) on life support with the main character having medical power of attorney and her family being upset with (and actively opposing) her decision. (Based on the summary I thought he had already died, but this just made the grief a lot more present, especially not having the support of her family)
- Hinted internet pile-on/harassment/homomisia
- A toxic ex (possible stalking behaviour)
<-------SPOILERS***

I am definitely keeping my eyes open for the author’s next book and I loved how she weaved in the appreciation for nurses, but unfortunately this one wasn’t for me, at least at this time.

"Fly with Me" is a sweet, sapphic contemporary romance with a heartwarming message of overcoming your fears--and it has celiac disease rep! Extra stars just for that!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!