I LOVED this book. The first thing that grabbed me was how accurate the description of the medical scene was and how accurate the main character’s nursing life was like. As a nurse myself I notice these things and it all made sense when I found out this author is also a nurse. I haven’t been this captivated by a sapphic love story in a long time. This would be a book I would give someone who is venturing into the sapphic genre for the first time as it would have them hooked.

I am currently supporting the boycott against St. Martin’s Press until they respond to influencer’s concerns about safety, inequality, systemic issues at hand and also meet the demands of the boycott. I am looking forward to leaving an updated review for this book once the demands are met ❤️

This is an interesting Sapphic romance between a pilot and a flying-phobic nurse. While they each have their demons to battle, they find love in the most expected romance. It was moving, entertaining and interesting.

Flying-phobic ER nurse Olive Murphy is still gripping the armrest from her first-ever take-off when the pilot announces an in-flight medical emergency. Olive leaps into action and saves a life, but ends up getting stuck in the airport hours away from the marathon she's running in honor of her brother. Luckily for her, Stella Soriano, the stunning type A copilot, offers to give her a ride. After the two spend a magical day together, Stella makes a surprising Will Olive be her fake girlfriend?

This was a really sweet sapphic romance that I really enjoyed.

Thanks so NetGalley for the digital arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Netgalley for the early review copy, even if I am super late to reviewing!

This book was a super cute sapphic romance between a pilot and an ER Nurse. The first thing I enjoyed the most was their careers and learning more about them. We also get a glimpse of Olive’s struggle with anxiety in the beginning and it was very well done. As someone with anxiety, I very much appreciated that, as it made her a relatable character instantly!

I really enjoyed the plot of this story in general. Not only did it have one of my favorite tropes of fake dating, it also had other things going on in the background that made the story that much better and not just focused on this romance.

Derek was hands down my favorite character. He is the gay best friend of Olive, and we all need one of those! He was so loyal, funny, and a great asset to the story.

The third act breakup didn’t annoy me as much as I thought it might because it was realistic. I really enjoyed watching Olive and Stella fall for one another and how it felt natural as the reader as opposed to being forced or rushed.

This was a debut and I’ll be interested to read what Andie Burke releases next!

I really think this was a great book to end 2023 with!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the way it combined a somewhat quirky romance with two complex and different characters who are growing as they fall for each other. The personal aspects of both Olive and Stella’s lives really resonated with me and I think that Burke does a good job of balancing realistically gray and hurting people within a romance while still making it feel that little bit of fantasy that you find in a good romance. Sitting with this book for about two weeks after finishing it, I can’t say that there are a lot of elements of the romance that specifically stand out to me. In some ways, the fake dating element ends up working in a different way than a lot of other romances that use that trope, and I think it serves more as exposition for the characters and how they approach things rather than a romantic trope that had me giggling and kicking my feet. I think if you’re interested in a romance that is a little bit heavier content wise and has characters dealing with some serious real-life things while still being enjoyable to read, this is one to check out!

As a whole, I think the book flows pretty nicely, making it readable if not something that you breeze through. From the jump it leans on heavier and more human topics, death, grief, burnout, misogyny, etc. while still having the sparks of a romance. Sometimes when a romance book has a lot of character-growth elements it feels less like a romance and more like a contemporary novel. I think FLY WITH ME balances those elements well, although the separate elements of the characters' lives certainly feel a little bit more solid after finishing the book. The singular POV works well with the story being told, although I do think it led to some mixed feelings about Stella throughout the book. In some ways, I think this is a romance that I’ll enjoy more when I’m older and have had more life experiences, even if it was still enjoyable to read now.

Some random elements I enjoyed were of course, Olive’s dog, her being an art history major in college, and Stella’s father and their relationship. There wasn’t anything in particular that I disliked, just some elements that didn’t personally click for me as much as I might have hoped/as they might for other people. All in all though, I would recommend checking this out!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this read. This book was off the wall for me. It was way too much. I felt it had too many things going on and hardly any focus on the characters. It was not for me .

This captivating sapphic read not only explores a sweet love story, but also delves into important themes such as anxiety, grief, sexism, and toxic relationships. The blossoming romance between Olive and Stella is heartwarming and endearing, but the numerous subplots can sometimes overshadow the main plot and the romance itself. The introduction of the "crazy ex-girlfriend" adds unnecessary drama, and the rushed resolution of Olive's family issues leaves a bit to be desired. However, overall, this book is a delightful read that I would recommend to fans of sapphic romances.

I really wanted to love this book and the bones of this story had so much potential. The author’s voice is strong but the lack of chemistry between the characters did not make up for the amount of toxicity in this story.

There was such a heavy focus on adding ‘trendy’ topics and tropes that the actual story suffered. This issues isn’t isolated to this author but it doesn’t make it easier to get through.

I needed less outside conflict and a stronger building of a positive and healthy relationship between the main characters.

Fly with Me is a fun fake-dating romance about two women with one of the more unique meet-cutes I've seen. When Olive saves the life of a fellow passenger on a flight (that she's terrified to be on), the ensuing diversion means she might not get to the Disney marathon she is determined to run. Enter Stella, the stern-seeming co-pilot who offers to drive Olive to Florida.
After they're both back home, Stella approaches Olive with a proposition: pretend to be her girlfriend for long enough to ride the wave of publicity and secure Stella's promotion. The two must navigate becoming more honest with each other, family difficulties and tragedies, and the sexism rife at Stella's company.
And then they start sleeping together, "as friends," which only adds to Olive's pining for her fake-girlfriend. The chemistry between the two is sizzling, and the sex scenes are very good.
With a hefty dose of angst in the form of wishing their relationship wasn't just pretend, Burke had me rooting for the couple the whole time and applauding their personal growth by the end of the novel.

Ahhh, I loved Fly with Me! What an incredible debut novel! Olive and Stella's fake dating story was well done, and I kept rooting for them. The spicy scenes were steamy! I'm also an adult Disney fan, so I loved that piece of the story, too! I appreciated how this book also addressed the terminal illness of a loved one (Alzheimer's) and a sibling with a brain injury. They were both handled with care!

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmillian.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

This is a sweet, sapphic romance that also has a focus on grieving and letting go of a loved one. The meet cute is one I have not encountered before. I also enjoyed the opposites attract and fake dating tropes included.

I enjoyed reading and listening to this story. My only complaint is that there were time the story moved a bit too slow. Also the ex-girlfriend coming back was annoying.

4 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #stmartinspress #macmillianaudio #ltbreaderteam #flywithme #andieburke #smpinfluencers

This book was so so sweet! The genuine care the characters had for each other was heartwarming and refreshing. Can we please continue getting happy sapphics in books!

Unique premise, and interesting story line! I really enjoyed the differences in the MCs personalities, and the writing was lovely.

I went into this book with no expectations, fully expecting just a standard romance book. However, what I got was not only an incredibly fun, sweet, sapphic romance, but a powerful story about the struggles of letting go of a loved one.

Right off the bat I felt very connected to all of the characters in the story. They made me laugh and cry and I was incredibly invested in them and their lives. I’m also a huge sucker for a Grumpy/cynical x Sunshine trope and this author absolutely delivered on that with Stella and Olive.

I don’t think I fully have the words to do this book justice but what I can say is that I think everyone should read it. I loved everything about this book and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

I wish more books were this well written. Characters were witty and the setting fantastic.

Cute story with strong themes of mental health and grief but still told in a way that is tremendously moving. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

I truly enjoyed this book and how it connected emotional/mental health to not just one, but both our main characters. You get fake dating, you get different reasons of being afraid of things in life, you get revelations. You also get misogyny in a heavily male lead industry and it’s extremely relatable. I loved that we got to really go on a journey with Stella and Olive. Nothing ever seemed forced.

I read this one in a day. I could not put it down. Loved this opposites attract couple and the one day in Disney was enough to win the entire novel for me! This one isn’t all sunshine and roses as there are real issues but I really loved these characters.
Thank you #griffin and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This is a delight of a book, by a gem of a human, and if it's not on your TBR yet you need to change that ASAP.

The meet-cute is completely original, with flying-phobic ER nurse Olive Murphy meeting pilot, Stella Soriano, while helping a passenger with a medical emergency. The event goes viral and Olive is thrust into the spotlight. Combine all that with some fake dating (my favorite trope), opposites attract, a trip to Disney, and family drama, and you've got yourself a steamy, swoony romance in the making.

Seriously, this book gave me all the feels. It had me chuckling one moment and tearing up the next. I can't wait to read more from Andie!