This was such a cute sapphic book!

The preface of how Stella and Olive met is quite entertaining and definitely worth the appeal. Stella being a pilot while Olive having a fear of planes and flying in general was such a great contrast between them!

Now if you were to ask me if this book had a plot? I would say No.

I think there was in intended plot with the whole fake dating trope being brought into the story but I just don't think it provided the story with any actual plot. The same thing honestly could be said for Olives fear of flying, it's strongly mentioned throughout the book but it never really impacts the story in any serious way. (I could go on and on and on about other conflicts introduced to the story that didn't provide any plot *cough *cough Lindsey)

As for Olive, I did really feel terrible for her. She really had terrible circumstances with both her ex girlfriend and her family. And as someone who had been in her place in her grief my heart really hurt for her. Something I really wish we could've seen was a more confident version of Olive, it seemed like throughout the entire book she let herself get walked on which might be a part of her characters personality but honestly I would've liked to see that change towards the end.

Stella had me cheering as a Latina Bisexual myself, and honestly I could see myself a lot in her. And although I love her, I just do not agree with the way the book ended. In fact, I just felt like Stella didn't have any growth throughout the whole book and although her and Olive were cute, I just didn't see much chemistry between them.

Also Lindsey was just so annoying, what was the whole point of even having her a part of the story? she was like a continuous fruit fly that couldn't be squashed away.

but overall the book was cute!

Olive is afraid of planes so naturally her soulmate is a pilot. Perfect rom com math in this book if you ask me. The characters are fully fleshed out in so many ways, albeit unrealistic in some of their decisions, like driving cross country with a stranger. The charm of this book wins out though. From family dynamics to toxic exes this has the whole cast for you to love. Olive doesn't want public attention after saving a man on a plane because of a past trauma, but Stella is a pilot searching for her captain spot and convinces her to do some fake dating.

Burke does wlw the way I love, she allows them to be fully fleshed out people with problems and toxicity. She allows them to hold thins back. The problems I have with this book that knock it down to 4 stars is the length and the toxic ex. If this was trimmed down about 60 pages, it wouldn't feel like so much filler. Onto Lindsay the annoying ex, she is so unnecessary. Her existence is vital to Olive's insecurities with Stella, but past the beginning and the texts she does not need to be in this book. Especially in the end with her 'climax' it was unnecessary to the plot. The stresses of their families, the death, and own relationship traumas would have been enough to get the same result without her contribution. Olive's family hurt me so much, but I think that's because I see too much of my own in them. As for Stella, her taking care of her father hit so close to home, and was handled so well. I felt seen in each dialogue she had.

Overall, this is a full and emotional book. The relationship is realistic, but to the point where you are rooting for them. Who needs a heroine to sweep you off your feet when you can both save eachother.

This was a pretty great sapphic romance, and I'm not sure why I haven't seen more people talk about it, but maybe that's because this is a September release, and it's currently March.

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this! This felt like a fairly long read, but in a good way, because I just felt like a lot happened over the course of this book. This could have felt like too much, but it just made me feel like the characters had full, complex lives, which was really nice to read about. There are some harder storylines too, like Olive dealing with her brother being on life support and her family being angry with her for wanting to honour his wishes, and Stella's father having Parkinson's. This all added to a fully fleshed out story and never made the book feel too heavy, just realistically human.

And there were lots and lots of cute moments, because the characters spent a lot of time together in different situations. There's even a road trip!

I love this book for so many reasons. One of them is the author. Another is that it tells such a full and realistic love story between two messy people that make each other better. I really love the banter, as well. Andie writes emotions so well; the feelings leap off the page and rip my heart out while simultaneously reminding me to laugh through it all. Her writing speaks to me so easily. I hope you get to have the same experience when this book debuts in September.

Summary:
Olive Murphy is terrified of flying, but this is a flight to Disney World she can’t avoid. While on board, a medical emergency happens and her ER nurse training is required. She saves a man's life - a man that happens to play Mickey Mouse. Pretty soon she is a viral sensation, but she didn’t end up at her final destination thanks to the plane being rerouted. A grateful, and very sexy, pilot offers to drive Olive the rest of the way so she can run in a half-marathon to honor a loved one.

Stella Soriano is a Latina pilot who has been playing the Good Old Boys game to try to get a seat at the captain’s table for as long as she can remember. Hard working and diligent, she still hasn’t been able to quite crack the code and make her dream come true. Enter the lovely and chaotic Olive Murphy and a few dozen news outlets, and she gets an idea. Fake dating the woman who saved Mickey Mouse might finally be the clencher she needs to seal the deal.

Olive readily agrees because, hot pilot.

With all of the messiness of real life seeping into their carefully constructed agreement, their relationship grows up through the cracks - determined and promising.

I received an eARC of this book through St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was so so lovely and definitely one I’ll want to come back to. Olive and Stella were the perfect fake dating *but is it really fake* trope and I loved them with my whole heart. Andie did an incredible job or portraying different types of grief and the way grief can influence our relationships. I cried a lot (in a good way) and cannot recommend this one enough.

Note: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley, and I also know the author personally, but all assessments here are my own.

Andie Burke’s debut sapphic romance Fly with Me is a captivating read in its own right. It also opens the door to representation I haven’t yet seen in the romance genre. In other words, it succeeds in two very different goals: being deeply important, and being straight-up fun to read.

Fly with Me opens with flying-phobic Olive talking herself down from a panic attack as a passenger on her first-ever flight. We quickly learn there’s more to Olive than her flight anxiety when she springs into action to save a fellow passenger experiencing a medical emergency. Unfortunately, this diversion strands Olive hundreds of miles from a race she’s supposed to run in honor of her brother.

Olive’s plans are salvaged when Stella, the flight’s copilot, offers her a ride to their destination. The two of them spend an enchanting day together after Olive’s race before parting ways.

However, when a video of Olive’s heroism — and a photo of her and Stella together after the race — goes viral, Stella suggests they fake a romantic relationship to capitalize on the positive press. This visibility could finally put a long-overdue promotion within Stella’s reach. Olive agrees to the ruse. She tells herself it’ll be fun. However, each passing week blurs the line between their fun act and an explosive reality.

One of the most striking aspects of Fly with Me is its representation of neurodivergent characters. This reveals a small speculation on my part, as Burke identifies neither Olive nor Stella explicitly as such on the page. I have almost a decade of experience reading and writing about the adult ADHD and autistic experience. From the first chapter, I felt completely at home in this book. I felt seen. Fly with Me opened my eyes to the possibility of seeing someone like me on the page of a romance novel. This means a lot.

While we meet Olive in a moment of hyperfocused competence on the plane, we also see her internal struggles to feel worthy of love and admiration. In both Stella and Olive, we see how neurological differences can shape our life experience and self-perception. Both, at times, demonstrate anxiety around how the others might misperceive their actions. They fear core elements of themselves will cause pain and rejection. They feel a need to mask these vulnerabilities from others.

Representation aside, Fly with Me is simply a great book. The supporting cast is well-developed and lovable, and the story strikes a perfect balance between heavy and light. Olive’s family struggles and her loyalty to her critically-ill brother are heartbreaking. Yet, those heavy emotional moments are offset by sparkling humor and warmth. Olive’s best friend Derek is a perfect foil to her anxiety and mental chaos, and their banter adds a layer of depth to the story as well.

The romance between Olive and Stella is a slow burn with a few teasers early on. I loved how the fake-dating trope played delightfully on Olive and Stella’s quirks and insecurities. The story is both funny and heartwarming, with great chemistry throughout.

Overall, Fly with Me is a must-read and a true gift for romance readers, especially those who struggle to fit in and long to see someone more like themselves on the page. This is an incredibly strong debut, and I can’t wait to read whatever Andie Burke writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This book was an absolute joy. I was completely in love with Olive and Stella. The act 3 breakdown in romance fiction here was solid but I wasn't entirely believing that they both gave up on each other. And Olive facing her fear of flying felt like it would be realised further if Stella was in this scene - either as Olive gets off the plane or just before. The delay lost steam for me.

All that being said, however, I devoured the book and wanted more and more from them. I love the premise and love airport lesfic storylines. I'd love for this world to develop.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. It was a slow burn with a slow pace. I felt like it was too long, but I couldn’t identify where specifically it felt too long.

Some additional thoughts:
- The reveal of what happened to Jake felt too soon. There was also too much “hype.” I would have liked a bit more mystery and focus.
- We get it. Olive is afraid of flying.
- I wasn’t here for the Lindsay nonsense. There was enough going on without it. Cutting that would probably have helped a lot with the length and overall plot pacing. We really didn’t have to meet Lindsay to see the impact she had.
- During dialogue scenes, it was difficult to tell who was speaking on multiple occasions. I wish there were more dialogue tags or more distinct voices.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I’m giving Fly With Me 3.5 stars. There was plenty to enjoy about the book. Especially the beginning. Loved the plane scene and the marathon at Disney. The characters were lovable and I definitely was rooting for them. There were just a few things that took away from my experience. It was rather slow paced with a lot of dialogue which was hard for me to feel pulled into. Just too slow burn for me, but that’s a to each their own kind of situation. And then just a few points in the plot that didn’t work for me. But I would definitely read whatever Andie writes next.

This was such a great debut, and I loved it! There's all the good parts about rom coms but with a ton of emotional depth. There are good conversations about mental health, anxiety, and toxic relationships/situations (I'd say definitely pay heed to the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book though). All of that emotional depth is expertly mixed with great characters, witty banter, and a love you route for. I definitely can't wait to read anything else Andie Burke writes!

"Fly with Me" by Andie Burke is a heartwarming and uplifting novel that explores the themes of love, loss, and finding oneself. Burke does a great job of balancing the heavy topics dealing with family/ death and the sweet/romantic parts. I would recommend this book to libraries looking to grow its LGBTQIA+ collection.

Okay, where do I start. From the moment I saw that the author was a nurse and the main character was as well I was so excited to read this book. The descriptions she gave and the detail with both Olive's job and her family trauma was so real and emotional for me as a critical care nurse myself.

I really enjoyed how Olive and Stella were brought together after Olive rescued a man on a plane. I liked how they kept finding their way back to each other and the honest narrative of Olive sorting through her feelings. I loved how her friends rallied around her and supported her. I could see my own friend group in them. I really enjoyed the natural chemistry between Olive and Stella and I was rooting for them both throughout the book. The slow burn was definitely real in this book but it also payed off.

I felt so much of Olive's emotion's, anxiety and panic attacks as I have also been there. I have been witness to the situations that her family was going through and felt emotionally drained when I finished the book. Any one of the situations that Olive dealt with could be difficult, but together would be absolutely overwhelming. I commend the author on how she wrote about them in such an honest way and I feel represented the fragile nature of all involved.

My biggest issue was the whole storyline regarding Olive's ex. I didn't feel that it needed to go as far as it did, especially since that was also left unresolved. I struggle with the fact that there were zero repercussions for Lindsay (Olive's ex) both at work (harassment) and otherwise (theft, trespassing).

Struggles aside, I really did enjoy this book and really appreciated such an honest voice showcasing both the highs and lows of healthcare. I have already been recommending this book to all my front-line friends.

One of the best debut novels I’ve read in a while. A sweet romance that shows how finding the right person can make even the hardest situations easier.

At first glance Olive and Stella couldn’t be more different. Stella is a pilot whose goal has always been to become a captain while Olive is an ER nurse who is afraid of flying. On her first ever flight, Olive is called on to help during a medical emergency. After the plane was diverted Stella offers to drive a distressed Olive to Disney World and the two end up spending a wonderful day together. Stella comes up with a wild idea that just might get them both what they want and asks Olive to be her fake girlfriend.

Stella and Olive have great chemistry and there’s just the right amount of teasing to make how quickly they fall into a sweet routine believable, even if they won’t admit they’re doing more than fake dating. I liked the parallels in how each character is letting past relationships dictate how they approach their romance. While they each were dealing with health issues of a family member the situations were different enough to draw connections but not feel repetitive.

I also really enjoyed the storyline of Olive trying to live out her brother’s bucket list and it was the perfect way to wrap up the novel.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the letting me read this arc!

Where to start… this book was exactly what I needed to get over my very intense reading slump. This was the first book I’ve finished in months and that is because it was AMAZING. This queer romance was everything I needed to re-spark my love for reading. Olive and Stella’s relationship is fast-paced in the best way possible. I never felt like the book was dragging and it was action packed from the very beginning. The emotions in this book felt very raw and helped me connect with the characters. Everyone that is looking for a wlw romance needs to pre-order this book asap.

This was sooo good. Fake dating excellence. I loved Stella and Olive a whole bunch. It was slow burn and had all the right components a.k.a. Tension, chemistry and longing.

Olive Murphy is a nurse who has a fear of flying. Stella Soriano is a workaholic pilot. These two women meet during a flight to Orlando and their lives are changed forever. Even from their first interaction, Olive is drawn to Stella and their chemistry throughout the novel speaks for itself. Olive and Stella embark on a fake-dating journey, but the lines between real and fake quickly become blurred.

The romance was definitely on-spot in this book. The chemistry felt so real, the interactions weren’t cringy, and the characters really grew together. Stella and Olive are such unique and interesting women that were such a pleasure to read about. The side characters like Joni & Derek were also fun and they fit into the story nicely.

Olive’s family dynamic is painful to read about, and ultimately feels unresolved by the end. The story line with Olive’s brother and her family going against her feels like it should have had more of an emotional “punch” to it, but it just didn’t. The storyline with Olive’s ex-girlfriend Lindsay also felt unresolved.

One thing that did work really well in this book was the discourse around mental illness. It made Olive’s character feel so realistic and relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC!

This was a good read! I was so surprised to see that it was a debut novel but I really enjoyed it. Olive and Stella had a beautiful relationship and I enjoyed learning about themselves and their romance.

I’m not quite sure if this book was self-aware, because some of the tropes that were played with were classic. The hotel room with one room, the fake dating, and the toxic “ex”.

It is a cute enough story, though I have to say that Olive had low self esteem, which was a little annoying, but made perfect sense, given the circumstances. Olive is a nurse, that saves the life of a man on the first flight she ever takes, as she has a fear of flying. It turns out that a) the man plays Micky Mouse at Disney World, and b) Disney World, and the Airline she was on want to make a big deal about this, even though she doesn’t.

And that is where she meets Stella, who is a pilot on the flight. When Olive is bombarded with the mead, Stella steps in and guides the media around, with skill. Olive crushes on her from the start, and they decide, for publicities sake, to say they are girlfriends. Stella even comes out with a three ring binder to help her know what she has to do.

In the background, are all the family issues, such as the toxic “ex” who wants back into her life, or perhaps just wants to ruin this new romance. She is a bit of a thorn in Olive’s side, popping up where she doesn’t need her too.

I did like that it was a slow burn, although there was a little touching, and even a kiss early on, it wasn’t until 70% into the book that we actually saw some action.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. It comes out Sept. 5, 2023.

This book was a sweet, steamy, completely bingeable read!! I love seeing the relationship between the characters grow and seeing their struggles with their families as well as Olive’a internal struggles with anxiety. The anxiety rep was very well done, it could be overwhleming at times near the end, but I think it worked over all.

I do wish we could have gotten a dual POV. I would have loved to see Stella’s POV and read her thoughts. I think having her internal dialogue would have been amazing.

Overall, I genuinely loved this book and can’t wait to read more by this author!

A sweet and simple sapphic rom-com full of idiotic longing and undeniable tension. Although this book is a very cute and quite an easy read, it does tackle grief of a sibling and of a parent. It covers all the messy and good parts of life while keeping the reader hopeful.