DNFed - I chose to DNF this book in the past. I am typing as a review so it doesn’t harm my %. I haven’t chose to pick the title back up.

This was a good debut but don't let the cover fool you - there are some serious topics discussed and both main characters are tackling some demons. I feel for Olive so much, I definitely thought that between her toxic ex and her family issues, she definitely had no breathing room. Stella is also dealing with a lot on her end. I always love fake dating trope and in this instance I definitely laughed out loud when Stella showed up with her binder on fake dating. That being said, I felt like the ensuing romance between the two characters was a bit superficial. Given everything they are going through, I thought there would be some real deep moments and while there was a few, I feel like them exploring the emotional side a little more would've been beneficial. In particular, I felt like we didn't get to know Stella much outside of these things that were happening to her/that she was dealing with. The third act breakup was also really brutal... I went between the ebook and audiobook for this one but enjoyed the narration so much I ended up mainly listening to the audiobook.

Rating: 3.5 rounded up to 4.

CW: death, toxic relationship, grief, illness, misogyny, panic attacks/disorders.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC/ALC. All opinions are my own.

This book was a little rough for me. There was dar too much miscommunication in it for me, but I really enjoyed the premise, but the execution fell a little flat for me.

The anxiety and grief themes were done well and I thought they were written well.

This audiobook was good though. The production was well done!

Fly with Me by Andie Burke is an enchanting audiobook that perfectly captures the essence of a feel-good romance. The story follows a heartfelt journey of love and self-discovery as the main character navigates her dreams and relationships in the vibrant world of aviation.

The narration brings the characters to life, adding warmth and emotion to the storyline. The chemistry between the leads is palpable, and the mix of humor and poignant moments keeps you engaged throughout. Burke's writing is both charming and relatable, making it easy to connect with the characters' journeys.

Overall, Fly with Me is a delightful listen that will leave you smiling. It’s a perfect choice for anyone looking for a lighthearted romance with a touch of adventure!

I will be withholding my review of this book in solidarity with the <a href="https://r4acollective.org/">St. Martin's Press boycott</a>.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

LGBTQ romance has become some of my favorite romance and this book fits right in. I loved the way the two main characters met and felt it was very unique and set the comedic tone for this book. The way the characters truly tried to understand one another was so sweet.

Olive Murphy is a traveling nurse, scared of flying. She is on her first flight, when someone has a medical emergency, and she saves his life. Unfortunately, she misses her next flight that she needed to catch in order to make a marathon she was going to run in honour of her brother. Co-pilot Stella Soriano, offers to give her a ride to the race and they spent a day together. When the video of Olive saving a life goes viral and brings big sales to the airline, Stella brings forth a proposal of fake dating to gain her Pilot wings. As the two grow closer, they can't deny their chemistry.

I loved this cute sapphic story! I loved both of these characters. They went through a lot of character development not only together, but on their own as well. We only get Olive's POV, but I enjoyed my time being in her head. At the beginning, I wasn't the biggest fan of Stella, and the things she said to Olive, but as you read on she grows on you. You see she doesn't mean to be insensitive at times, she just sometimes speaks before she thinks it all the way through. Fake-dating is one of my favourite tropes, so I ate this one up. I loved their banter, and felt that their connection was very genuine. There are some deeper topics such as mental health, anxiety, misogyny and grief, that I think were handled really well. The complicated relationship between Olive and her family in contrast to Stella and her father was also an interesting part of the story. Bring in Olive's ex, and that's a whole other complicated relationship to deal with. I wish that Lindsey would have had some consequences for the things she did to Olive, but it is what it is in the end.

I will definitely be checking out more of Andie Burke's writing in the future!

This was such an amazing debut novel! I loved the tropes in this book. There was fake dating and opposites attract. I also loved the pilot and ER nurse characters in this book. This book will have you feeling all the feels with these characters. It’s also very light steam, which I enjoyed! There is a bit of drama in this book, more than I thought was necessary. If you’re looking for just a great read, I recommend checking this book out!

Adorable and incredibly heartfelt, Fly With Me was more than your typical romance novel.

It stars Olive, a nurse who flies into internet stardom after a video of her saving a life on a plane goes viral. All she wants to do is get to the marathon she’s running in honor of her brother, and with the plane on the ground and her still hours away from the starting line, Olive accepts the help of Stella, the co-pilot who offers to drive her. After some twists and turns, the two decide a fake relationship will help solve some of their problems. Of course some awkwardness ensues along with a growing, real romance between the two.

While the main premise of this novel was sapphic romance, one of the biggest themes was healing and learning to accept help. This created some darker and more emotional moments that didn’t quite fit the rom com bubble. But, that depth made me love the book even more. Delightful tropes like a meet cute, fake dating, and an accidental sleepover (with some even more accidental cuddling) are met with a great interpretation of anxiety, toxic family, and grief. The combination made for strong character depth and growth, meaning Olive and Stella work really well as a couple and as stand alone characters.

I flew through Fly With Me and plan to pick up any future books from Andie Burke.

I absolutely adore this book. The love story just makes me swoon. And I really appreciate the care in which the author took in handling the topic of mental illness

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 was a really cute sapphic romance with anxiety rep. I found the two main characters, Stella and Olive, to be incredibly sweet and complicated in their own ways.
Olive’s ex, Lindsay, was the worst kind of person though. But it just made everything with Stella that much sweeter.

A steamy sapphic romance between an ER nurse with a fear of flying and a charismatic pilot. I really enjoyed the witty banter and unexpected romantic connection.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley & MacMillan Audio for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love, loved this book. However - don’t let the blurb fool you - it deals with very heavy topics including end-of-life care of a sibling. It’s an emotional story of our FMCs conquering trauma, fear, and patriarchy.

I really enjoyed the narration! Chelsea Stephens does a great job at bringing the characters to life.

Recommended if you enjoy:
-fake dating
-sapphic romance
-slow burn
-pilot/flying-phobic couple
-regular person going viral
-open door steam
-mental health rep
-family drama
-banter
-women working in a male-dominated industry

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ALC. Fly with Me is out now!

This was my first book by this author and I enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading more books from her.

I really liked both Olive and Stella's characters. It took me a little while to get invested in the story since I don't read books in third person POV very often, but once I got the hang of it again, I was interested in seeing where their story would go.

This was my first time listening to a book narrated by Chelsea Stephens. She did a great job voicing all of the characters and making sure that they all had a unique voice. I would listen to more books narrated by her in the future.

The narrators were fabulous in this story. I loved the Disney World love in the beginning and it really brought me back there. Like one of the characters I did wonder why they had to fake date instead of actually talk about their feelings. I think that is one reason why I don't enjoy this trope as much in adult novels. I would definitely still recommend this story as over all it is good and has a nice pace.

Fly With Me
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Andie Burke

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: A one-way ticket to love or a bumpy ride ahead?

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?

A video of Olive saving a life has gone viral and started generating big sales for Stella's airline. Stella sees their union as the perfect opportunity to get to the boys' club executives at her company who keep overlooking her for a long-deserved promotion. Realizing this arrangement could help her too, Olive dives into memorizing Stella’s comically comprehensive three-ring-binder guide to fake dating. As the two grow closer, what’s supposed to be a ruse feels more and more real. Could this be the romantic ride of their lives, or an epic crash and burn?

My Thoughts: On the surface, this seems like the perfect meet cute. Olive is having a hard time over the last year. On a flight, she ends up saving a life and with today’s world, the video goes viral. On this flight, Olive meets the co-pilot Stella, and the video also brings positive PR to Stella’s airline. In saving the life, Olive gets stuck at the airport and Stella offers her a ride, while on this road trip to Orlando, they decide to enter into a fake dating relationship for differing reasons. Along the way, does love conquer all? While this seems like a light read, it does deal with some heavy topics which adds a layer of depth that I love. This follows the tropes of fake dating, queer romance, and viral video.

This storyline contains some heavier topics of grief, loss, sexism (pilots being a boys club), terminal illness, and toxicity in relationships. Both of our MCs are flawed, struggle with standing in their truth, faced their share of diversity, have persevered through the diversity, and have complex family relationships. The MCs are relatable, likable, and easy to connect with. The story is narrated by Olive, in her perspective, through her lenses. I did not care for Oliver’s family or Stella’s ex, which can be expected. The characters were fleshed out well, especially Olive, with depth, witty banter, chemistry (so much chemistry), authentic, and creatively woven. The author’s writing style was complex, humorous, even poignant at times, swoon-perfect, steamy, and engaging. The characters kept me invested and I rooted for them the entire story. One of the things that I loved about this story is not only do you get see the relationship develop between Olive and Stella, you also get to witness them as individuals and the growth across the pages.

I had the pleasure of receiving both the digital and audio ARCs. The narrator was amazing, had great voice variation, and really brought to life the characters of Olive and Stella. This was a sweet, endearing sapphic romance. The emotional rollercoaster was cleansing. Sometimes I laughed, sometimes I cried, and sometimes I just shook my head. For a debut book, this was amazing. It is a little on the longer side at almost 400 pages, but it is necessary to build the relationship between these two women, iron out the plot and subplots, and give them a HEA that is truly deserving. I think the story would have been elevated if we had Stella’s POV mixed in, although do not get me wrong, Olive did a fantastic job creating Stella through her eyes. Another thing I would have like to see is more resolution into Olive and her family’s relationship. I highly recommend picking up this book.

I enjoyed this book but I found myself thinking the fake dating trope felt forced. When they had an actual genuine connection, I just wanted to read their love story unfold, not this fake relationship resulting in fake drama for no reason - not everything has to be shoved into a trope! That being said, I liked the characters, the relationship, and I thought it was well written.

I really wanted to like this one but I honestly just didn’t feel engaged with the characters and didn’t feel like I picked up on any of the characters’ chemistry with one another!

This was a lot of fun and just what I was in the mood for. I was able to listen to it all in one go while I worked