Lexi is a server at a popular restaurant in town, and she it bad at it. One day, serving tables a comedy of errors results in her leaving with a man she was serving to save face in front of old friends. How that leads to a fake engagement, she may never know, but now it seems like her and Will should give it a shot to date, while being fake engaged.

Lexi was likeable and relatable without being a too over the top “I’m not like the other girls” caricature I dislike in romcoms. Will was dreamy and swoon worthy. I enjoyed the complex family relationships on each side, giving h the characters and the story more depth.

Cute, exactly what was needed for a fun and simple rom com.

Sullivan does it again!
Can't Help Falling in Love by Sophie Sullivan was a beautifully written story.
So I’m a big time fan of her writing and she just proved again why that is!
A wholesome rom-com with a swoony romance full of heart and humor!
The author has a very smooth way of telling the story. I liked the way that the story was presented.
Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it.
An absolute delight to read!

This was such a cute, swoon-worthy rom-com! I loved the main characters (I am now a Will stan!), the fall setting, the plot, the everything! Lexi and Will’s chemistry was undeniable and the way it was Will’s mission to build her up just made me fall even more in love with him. Also, if you love some good banter like I do that makes you giggle, kick and blush? This is the book for you!

It does touch on dealing with spouse/parent grief so please keep that in mind, but I definitely recommend checking this out!

4.5 ⭐️

Can't Help Falling in Love was so much more than I was expecting! This fake dating, friends-to-lovers story was so heartwarming!

Lexi Danby's life has not gone the way she wanted. She had to drop out of college, leaving behind a track scholarship and her dreams, when her father passes away and a mountain of debt is left for his family. Lexi puts her life on hold to help keep money in the bank and food on the table for her grieving mother.

While working as a waitress, a job she isn't the best at, but it puts money in the bank, she meets a handsome stranger that takes her lack of waitressing skills in stride. He rolls with it when she messes up his order and spills a drink on him. Not only that, but he steps in and helps her save face with her high school friends when she's put in a tough position. Lexi identifies Will as her boyfriend during the exchange and this ends up leading to an invitation to an engagement party.

Unbeknownst to Lexi, Will is a sought after bachelor and a member of Seattle's elite. When a misunderstanding at the party ends up in a gossip column saying the two are engaged, things take a very different turn! Pretending to be engaged is a win-win for both of them; it gets Will's matchmaking mother off his back and for Lexi, it saves her reputation with her friends. Will these two end up feeling more than friendship as they spend time together? Will it end up being anything but fake?

I enjoyed this and how it played out. It showed that just because you are from different walks of life, love and chemistry know no bounds and it is possible to find your person when you least expect it. I'd highly recommend this one!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

This was the perfect fall romance to start my Fall TBR with! I really enjoy her writing. This was my first time reading a book written by this author and I loved it. I already added more of her books to my TBR. I found Lexi and Will’s love story to be so endearing. They were both relatable characters. I love fake dating in my romance books but the way this was written was different from the other ones that I’ve read in the past, but in a good way. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I think if you love fall and fake dating that this is a MUST read. Sophie’s character was so independent, caring and genuine. One of my favorite female MC characters I’ve read in a while. The part of the story that dealt with grief (especially her mother) was written so well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I was looking forward to reading Can’t Help Falling in Love due to the promise of a cute plot that reminded me of another romance I really loved. And while it was a charming story, I was left feeling like I continued to read something in between a plot blurb and a book. While Lexi, our female main character, was both someone to admire for her strength and want to root for as she learns to trust her heart again, and Will, our male main character was charming and a good guy, it seemed all the things we would want to know about them were explored at a high level. This also extended to their quick fall into love relationship.

Please don’t mistake me, this is adorable. But it didn’t hit the chords I was looking for which is so disappointing because if it had spent just a bit more time going deeper in certain areas, this could easily have become a classic in the romantic comedy genre.

I wanted to love it!! It just felt rushed to me! 🤷🏼‍♀️ it was a cute premise, I just wanted more!

Thank you for allowing me to read and review!

A modern day Cinderella story featuring a struggling waitress who begins a fake engagement with Seattle's most eligible wealthy man all the while trying not to fall in love. Lexi Danby is not where she thought she'd be in life by now, her great athletic career is over and she never finished school, now she's just struggling to even be a good waitress. When her terrible waitressing lands her in the path of a charming and handsome stranger named Will the last thing she expects is that she'd have him fake being her boyfriend because her old highschool friends came to her cafe and she was too embarrassed to admit she's a waitress. Will is the heir to a large company and considered Seattle royalty. He's single and by far one of the most eligible bachelors. Will needs to land an important merger with a company that values family above all and to put on a good show of faith he needs the perfect fake engagement to convince his business partners he's the man for them. Yet the more time Will and Lexi spend together the more they begin a casual relationship... yet as fall is in season so is the fact that they are both falling for one another in real life. Unfortunately this book just didn't feel work for me, while it had a cute fake dating trope I just didn't feel the chemistry at all between the two characters. The romance just didn't feel allt hat much there for me and I didn't really connect with it. I really wanted to love it because it was fall themed and i adore fall, but I just felt like the characters were just so immature for their ages. Lexi was so concerned about high school people when she's in her late 20s and is a literal working woman, come on now. Maybe it's a case of "its me not you" but I just didn't really enjoy this and wanted to DNF it so much. I do think that maybe it'll be a great read for someone else who enjoys simple romances with a touch of fall!

Release Date: September 17,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I couldn't help falling in love with Lexi and Will

A big thanks to NetGalley for giving me the experience, because that's what it was an opportunity to AR this book.

This was such a fun fall read and fake engagement story. I seriously recommend you add for when it comes out September 17th!

Lexi down on her luck working multiple jobs to finally finish her business degree meets Will why serving him at one of her many jobs (she is self proclaimed worst waitress ever)

Will always doing what is expected of him by his family is hard working and focused on his family's super successful business (Dubbed the Price and Most Eligible bachelor of Seattle), when he's not pushing back on his mother to stop trying to set him up. He is instantly interested in a beautiful but clumsy and forgetful waitress at his favorite lunch spot. Who knew that it would turn out to help both of them when something funny happens and Lexi is his fake fiancee later that day.

I loved Will and Lexi's ups and downs and how the relationship developed. How they helped each other deal with the struggles they had emotionally and with family members. Experiencing many firsts. It was a flip where the MMC is all in and fall first and MFC is anti commitment and afraid to fall in love.

3.5

I must say I really liked this story. Will is a walking green flag and I really liked his character ! I also liked Lexi and related to her on some points. The themes underneath the romance are great and really added depth to the story.

This is a close door romance and I didn’t mind it.

I know I was reading an uncorrected copy so I hope it will be changed but 2 things really bothered me and took me out of the story.

1. A the beginning of the book Lexi says that her favorite colo is amaranth. She even specifies that it’s a reddish pink. Later on, while talking to Will she tells him that it’s blue. But those two colors aren’t even close !

2. At an other moment, the author wrote “ Danielle had e-transferred her this morning after picking up her father’s tools. She said they’d make a great gift for her husband and had even given Lexi a bit extra as neither of them had change and she said it was such a great deal.” But if you e-transfer money, you can send the exact amount you want, you don’t need change ?!

Thank you to the author, the publishing House and Net Galley for this ARC.

This is honestly just such a sweet book about falling in love and learning to love oneself, whatever life’s journey looks like.

THOUGHTS 💭
🍁 The meet cute was… well, cute! A terrible waitress and the cute customer who saves her.
🍁 Lexi is charmingly persistent. She keeps pushing forward, even though life hasn’t been easy for her the last few years.
🍁 Will starts out as a methodical and seemingly unromantic character, but Lexi changes him; he turns into the sweetest MMC. 🥹
🍁 The characters are quick-witted and funny! They had so many good one-liners that I found myself giggling throughout the book.
🍁 What starts as a fake engagement between strangers turns into a real relationship. I love a good fake dating/engagement/marriage scheme!

Thanks so much to Sophie Sullivan and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

3.5/5.

I really enjoyed reading this story and the pace of the story felt fast. While it wasn't rushed, I think I definitely would have enjoyed more of a slow-burn. I didn't pick up that vibe as the main characters had an instant attraction to each other and fell right into the romance - which was a nice change from all the books I typically read. This book brings a lot of tropes into play, the biggest obviously being fake-dating but it has many others such as the rich guy/poor girl (Pretty Woman) trope.

Ultimately, what brings me to the rating I gave this book, was just my selfish want for more drama or even bringing in little more of the longing for each other/angsty vibes. I think that would have seasoned this story and would have made it more of a four or five star rating. This is just a personal opinion, of course, and other readers might not want that and find it perfect the way it is!

Definitely a nice beach read kinda book and would recommend it to others!

I wanted so badly to like this book because it sounded so cute. But I wanted to dnf so many times. It felt very rushed, the writing and story were all over the place. The main characters didn’t have good chemistry. Also it was weird how obsessed with high school the MFC was. I’m giving it 2 stars because I didn’t dnf and I liked the mom and daughter relationship.

Yes! Fake engagement turns real. Grief turns to amazing strength. Picking yourself up after life hits you again and again, that resilience makes finding yourself and true love worth it.

This was a great read, there was a small hiccup in the love story but it was well done! Closed door (fade to black) too. Sophie knows how to hook someone in. Couldn't put it down and definitely would recommend to romance readers. I loved how she dropped some titles and authors in there, put new books in my TBR!

Based on the description, I expected it to remind me of It Happened One Summer but that is very not accurate and I think it’s because the financial insecurity of the FMC in present day was not well contrasted with what was some modicum of security before her dad’s passing?

Some parts were a bit slow but I really fell for the side characters in this book! One of my favorite meet cutes in recent memory but oh my god how bad at waitressing can a girl be hahahaha I normally love the fake dating/engagement trope but paired with the insta-love, it was a bit much for me. Overall a cute read that surprised me with how emotional it made me!

*An ARC was kindly gifted to me on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*

3.5 rounded down!

This was such a sweet, heartfelt romance!!

The low down:
+ opposites attract
+ fake engagement
+ he falls first
+ healing from grief

Synopsis: Lexi and Will could not be more different in their opposite upbringings to their current situations in life. So when, in a split second decision to impress old friends, Lexi infers that Will is her significant other, Lexi and Will go from complete strangers to accidentally engaged in the blink of an eye. Not wanting to disregard the potential they are feeling, they figure it can’t hurt to let everyone continue to think they’re engaged while they date, right?

Will as the mmc was an absolute sweetheart. You could tell he had a good head on his shoulders and made such thoughtful and caring choices all throughout the story. Lexi was a *little* harder to love, as she was fiercely independent and so sure falling in love was not her kind of thing. But alls well that ends well and their journey to a HEA was a fun one!!

I thought the dynamic with Lexi’s mom and her grief was so well done and added so much depth to the story.

This is the kind of romance that gives hallmark movie vibes, but in a good way! I can’t wait to read my next Sophie Sullivan book!!

Thanks to @StMartinsPress and @NetGalley for the advanced copy! 🫶🏼

Lexi and Will were so sweet together, and I truly could not get enough of them! "Can't Help Falling in Love" is the sweetest fall romance that will tug on your heartstrings and leave you laughing all the same. This was such a good take on the classic meet-cute, fake engagement trope—one of the best I’ve read in a long time! It was so refreshing to read about a fake engagement where the couple wasn’t at odds with each other, but instead focused on getting to know one another and letting their love grow naturally.

This story follows Lexi Danby, a former track star whose dreams were cut short by her father’s passing. Juggling two jobs along with caring for her grieving mother doesn’t give Lexi any time for love, let alone to think about it, until she meets Will. A mishap at an untimely high school reunion/engagement party lands her in a relationship with Seattle’s most eligible bachelor, and as Lexi and Will continue the ruse, their relationship evolves—maybe even into something like love?

I loved this book. It had such a refreshing storyline and was just honestly so sweet. The portrayal of both romance, along with grief and healing from losing someone you love, was so beautiful. I also absolutely adored all the side friendships throughout the story, as well as Will’s dynamic with his sisters. I found myself rooting for Lexi and Will the entire time, and I wholeheartedly recommend this book for a good laugh (and cry) as well as to get yourself in the mood for fall!

This was my first Sophie Sullivan book, but definitely not my last! "Can't Help Falling in Love" comes out in just a few days, and I highly, highly recommend checking it out! A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cute romance. I think most of us could relate to Lexie. Portrayal of her mom dealing with grief is not unusual. Loved her BF Maisie. Would love more about her story. On negative was the lack of sex scenes.

As this book opens, we meet Alexandria 'Lexi' Danby as she's at her second job waitressing. She's not very good at it, but she's getting better. She's been working two jobs and going to school. She's paying off the debt her father left her mother with when he died unexpectedly.

We also meet Will at this point he's having lunch alone and seems amused by her.

When old school mates come in, she's can't seem to admit she works here, and Will helps her out.

The invitation to Jackie's engagement party is the beginning of a fun and flirty journey for Lexi and Will. Will insists he take her, and she agrees to meet him there. It's Jackie who assumes they're engaged and that sets off a whole sequence of events. Starting with Will's family and then trickling down.

As these two play a game they actual find themselves enjoying the relationship they are unknowingly building.

Every page of this book was full of laughter and fun, even the family squabbles were enjoyable.

I can't wait to read the next book this author puts out!

I adore a fake engagement and this one was so cute! Will and Lexi had the BEST meet cute.

Both Will and Lexi were great characters. He is an excellent book boyfriend and I loved how he treated her. Lexi was very independent, but I love when she started to cave and allow him to care for her. It was so much fun watching their relationship grow!

A perfect fall romance!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC.