This was such a lovely read! And it begins with probably one of my favorite meet-cutes ever between leads.

Although our lead Lexi may not think it was too cute with how frazzled her life was going at that moment! Faced with a seemingly lose-lose situation in which an off-kilter Lexi sees her old school friends at her new job, Lexi looks to run away, as she is ashamed of seeing her classmates blossoming while she remains stagnant in life. But instead of running away to avoid an ever-impending conversation with those friends, she is rescued by Will, who she had been clumsily tending to as a waitress. They quickly weave a tale that eventually implodes into the promised fake dating relationship, that of course leads to a sweet, sweet love story!

Their connection is so immediate and electrifying, without it ever delving into insta-lust or love. The narrative walks a fine tightrope along that insta-something, and it does it beautifully that while you can feel their chemistry ignited from the onset, there is still the promise to build more from it.

I will say everything between the leads is just so very lovely and pleasant and drama-free for almost/over half way of the book that I must admit my attention waned, I wanted more motivation comprised of hurdles and angst to get through. I suppose I am weak for drama, haha! However, this feels like a delightful of a slice of life romance and if you’re in the mood for very low stakes drama and low angst, I so truly recommend this read. Because above all else, it’s a comfort read. And I think we all need those in our lives. I loved seeing these two leads constantly have each other's backs, I love how their communication was always open and sincere, and I love how they never denied their feelings-- in fact they embraced them from the start.

There's a lot to fall in love with in this one. I'm glad to have been part of its journey!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins for providing me a complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.

3.5/5 ⭐️. I didn’t have faith in it but it was so cuteeee, super fast and easy to read, definitely worth a try.

This book is like a cute Hallmark movie. No real stress or threats. People fall in love and put up with behavior that would have real adults thinking twice. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I appreciate that this book seemed like a love letter to romance novels (great name dropping of Alexa Martin and Helen Huang), but I don't know of it stands as tall as those. Thanks to St. Martin's Giffin and Net Galley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.25 stars

This is a very sweet romance. You can tell from the get go that Will is just smitten with Lexi and I couldn't get enough of that.
Lexi's fears of intimacy is very relatable. I admired her work ethic and determination.
I would recommend this for sure.

New troupes I haven't read before! I thought it turned out really good having fake engagement but real dating! The setting of the Pacific Northwest and it being fall was giving such cozy vibes for me! Definitely a Fall Romance read! I would totally recommend this book for a fun fall time read!

I liked this book. There were some parts that I felt a little bored in. Like especially during the beginning. I overall like fake dating and this definitely checked all those boxes I look for in a fake dating story. I really likee Lexi and Will's relationship. I would say if this book sounds appealing to you, you should definitely check it out. Tha ks NetGalley and Publisher!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of Sophie Sullivan’s Can’t Help Falling In Love in exchange for an honest review. I requested the book knowing nothing about the author or what the book was about. I saw the title and the cover of the book and it caught my attention so I decided to give it a shot, I’m so glad I was chosen for the book!

This book hooked me from the start. Lexi and her mom have been struggling since her father’s sudden death, especially her mother. Lexi is doing everything in her power to make things easy for her mother, including working 2 jobs while also finishing school. One of her jobs is being a waitress, which she is HORRIBLE at. While at that job, she meets will who is seated in her section. Will is a wealthy, well-known businessman from a successful family. He has problems of his own, overbearing parents, and a merger in the family business that he is against. They meet, instantly click, and end up in a fake engagement, which, of course, becomes more.

For me, this book was everything. It was relatable, funny, and sad. It explored friendships, family, generational relationships, spousal relationships and work relationships. The characters all grew and learned from each other and learned that it was ok to be scared of the future. There were many wise quotes throughout the book including: “We judge ourselves through pretty harsh lenses” and “You can’t predict the future. It’d be boring if you could. You Take the moment you’re in and make the most of it, honey. If it doesn’t work out or something happens, you fall down, let yourself hurt, and then get back up.“

I think more could have been done with the storyline between Will’s mom and the woman she kept trying to set Will up with. Then again, it wasn’t necessary since I did enjoy this book so much.

This is a hallmark movie in book form and I loved every minute of it. There is something about reading when the guy falls first and falls hard. This book is a bit cheesy but I couldn’t stop reading it. It’s very fall so pick this up in September/October. I also really want to visit Seattle now.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

Fake engagement while real dating! I haven't seen that one before, and thoroughly enjoyed Sophie Sullivan's account of it. This closed door romance had me swooning and laughing in equal measure. Loved the PNW setting and fall theme: take me for autumnal beer flights anytime! Appreciated the careful treatment of a grief journey. Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for this review copy!

I felt like this book fit all the tropes I typically enjoy! I loved Wills character, and as someone who has lost a parent, there were incredibly relatable aspects that tugged on the heart strings.

I DNFed this book around 40% through. The characters fell a bit flat to me, they liked each other way too quick and it didn’t have many stakes or risks to keep me engaged.

3 stars

I generally enjoy Sophie Sullivan's books. They're light and fun, and good "palate cleansers" between heavier books. However, this one just didn't do it for me. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot. I didn't buy the "insta-love" Will, the main male character, felt for this "amazing" woman. What about a woman with the self-esteem of a tissue made her so awe-inspiring. The main female character, Lexi, was equally frustrating. Completely unable to see herself in a positive light, refusing to seek love because she was so afraid of it ending.

There were some continuity issue - yes I know this is an uncorrected advance copy - hopefully, they get fixed. In chapter 8, Lexi is described as wearing jeans and a sweater, and a few pages later "fidgeted with her dress". In chapter 9, Will's mother is described as having her hair pulled back into a bun, Shortly thereafter, it's pulled into a tight ponytail.

I will continue to read Sophie Sullivan's books - I have another on my shelf - so I am thankful to have had the opportunity to read this one. Thank you to St. Martin's Press Griffin and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review,

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Sophie Sullivan is a sweet treat read! A very wholesome book set in Seattle during fall. This book has some of my favorite tropes including meet cute, fake dating, he falls first and a rich MMC.

As a PNW native, I really felt like the fall vibe was captured so nicely. Will is such a dreamy MMC. From the physical and emotional connection, his love for Lexi was delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter and romance between these two.

Even though this is a sweet Rom Com, I really enjoyed the mental health aspect of this book. As someone who has lost their father, watching Lexi navigate not only her grief, her mother’s and codependency was very relatable. The healing journey for Lexi that Will allowed space for while encouraging and supporting her was swoon worthy. There were times when Will was building up Lexi that I swore her was talking directly to me.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

Clean, closed door romance with a fake engagement. I liked our MMC, Will, he has been tired of his mom trying to control his love life and finds himself in a bit of a pickle. Our FMC, Lexie, definitely had some growth in the book even though it took awhile. I felt the book was a little on the slow side. The last 10% of the book though, was honestly my favorite. I really enjoyed Lexie finding herself and seeing what Will saw in her.

Such a cute little romance! I was a little wary about the insta-love right at the start of the book, but I am a sucker for fake dating and really enjoyed seeing the chemistry between these two characters. Despite both of them having incredible attraction from the get go, their feelings really do change and evolve throughout the story, and it was easy to se these two are meant to be together.

This book is not all hearts and rainbows though! It also deals with the very real grief of losing someone you love. Lexi lost her father, and her mom lost the man she was married to for over 20 years. Both of them were stuck in this grief and not really trying to move forward, taking the path of least resistance if you will, and this did shape a lot of Lexi's decisions throughout the story.

The grief changes throughout the story too. It never really went away, but both Lexi and her mom found a way to start moving forward and acknowledge what the grief has done to them for the last few years. I really loved seeing the attention to detail when it comes to mom, it was very heartwarming to see her start to get out of her shell toward the end of the book. I was rooting for her happiness!

This means that not just the main characters had good detail, but the side characters all did too! I loved learning about each one of them, and each one had a little thing that they were known for. That little thing played a part in the story too, so every character was written intentionally!

Overall, this story was very heartwarming and I enjoyed it from start to finish. There is a little third act breakup, more so for final conflict than anything, but the situation resolves quickly and our characters have a happy ending. Grief and family are huge themes in this book, on both points of view, so there is more depth than an insta-love, fake dating romance. I am grateful for a chance to have read this one, it is just what I needed!

*This book has kissing on page, but no on-page sex scenes.
Content warnings: grief, loss of a loved one, gaslighting

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars for a funny, adorable, and raw love story.

I loved Lex and Will, and adored their relationship. There were moments I almost was annoyed at Lexi but then realized that she's young, and has had to grow up so fast.

I also have the softest spot for Gwen and her journey. Sequel material with Maisie or Gwen - they both need love stories.

Adorable.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! This book felt promising at first and seemed really sweet. I also tend to like the fake dating trope, so I was hopeful for this fall-themed romance book. First, I will say that I really liked Maisie and Ethan as characters and how the author touched on subjects of grief and depression. However, in the end it ended up falling really flat for me and things didn’t seem to flow well/make sense to me. I could not understand how Lexi’s old high school friends made the assumption that they were engaged out of no where? There was literally no reason for them to assume that so it seemed like a big leap. I also didn’t feel like Lexi and Will had very much chemistry. Everything felt so forced and like it was happening at lightening speed. They both mention being in love with the other at only 3 weeks to a month into fake-and-then-kinda-real dating each other. Then all of the sudden he wants to get married for real to her after only a month? That feels so unrealistic to me. Lastly, I didn’t love how the third-act break up occurred only a few chapters from the end and the makeup occurred in the very last chapter which didn’t give much time to tie things up nicely. Unfortunately, this just missed the mark for me.

Lexi is a struggling waitress and Will is a successful CFO in his family's company. They have an adorable meet-cute and end up pretending to be engaged. There's a lot of discussion of her mom's grief and struggles since her dad passed away. It seemed a bit odd that there wasn't much discussion of Lexi's grief. The side characters were great. Overall, it was a cute story, although some parts felt slow and Lexi's negative self-talk started to get old by the end and didn't seem completely believable.

I love fake dating trope! I'm a sucker for that because it gets me excited every time they start falling for each other. It gets me every time. This book made me want to read more by the author!

This was an all around adorable read. The characters are lovable and I liked fake engagement vibes. It was a bit slow for me but kept me entertained. ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.