Can’t Help Falling in Love is such a sweet Autumnal read. It just felt so cozy, like being wrapped up in a flannel blanket, and falling in love ♡︎ I look forward to everyone else getting to read it soon! Lexi and Will are so sweet & pure and I am down bad for anything set in my homeland, the PNW

This was the most unique fake-dating/engagement trope that I have read thus far. I love that instead of hiding their attraction to each other, they were honest about their feelings and actively wanted to pursue a real relationship within the fake one. It was such a refreshing approach. I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it because I don't normally like instalove, but the author was able to make it feel like a slowburn, which I really loved.

This book also had the cutest scenes that made me giggle and kick my feet. I wasn't expecting such a cute and fluffy romance. It doesn't focus on lust to build the relationship but rather on a real and cute connection between the characters. I'll be honest, the beginning was a little slow in terms of the chemistry, but I loved seeing it slowly build up throughout the book. It made it feel more authentic.

This was a good old fashioned rom-com book. It was a classic fake dating trope and worth the read. Very Hallmark movie-esque.

3.5 stars

This book made me seek out the rest of Sophie Sullivan's catalog. Her writing is engaging and her characters are three-dimensional.

I love Will and Lexi's chemistry and I appreciate a zillionaire who's down-to-earth.

Honestly, there hasn't been a Sophia Sullivan book that I haven't loved, and I am happy to inform yall that is still the case!

Can't Help Falling in Love's vibes were immaculate, the banter was top notch, and I loved both Will and Lexi so much and thought their 'meet cute' was great. Plus I'm a total sucker for fake dating and he falls first, so this was right up my alley!

I loved this story. I did from the moment I started reading it. Will and Lexi captured my attention. Will seemed like the perfect book boyfriend. I enjoy reading a story when the guy falls first and Will sure did. Lexi was shortly behind him but we knew it was it for Will. He was so sweet and kind to Lexi and her mom Gwen. After losing her dad a couple years ago, Lexi's mom had a really rough time getting over the grief. That had an effect on Lexi and made her hesitant to love as well. But Will was able to break down those walls. His family was another story but they did come around. You could feel the love on the pages for Will and Lexi and I just loved it. Make sure to pick this story up. Plus in the story the season is FALL and how can we not love that!

4.5 stars.

This book.. CHEFS KISS! It was the perfect fall meet cute book! Bonus part? It’s based in Seattle. As a PNW native I am the biggest sucker for a Washington based story. Especially when it’s well told.

From the very beginning I was sucked in. Lexi’s series of unfortunate events in a single work shift leading up to her meeting Will stole my heart! This is such a sweet fast paced book, it’s easy to finish in one sitting. I could honestly read more of Will and Lexi.

The supporting characters aren’t annoying and you’ll feel like you’re a part of Lexi’s small friend group. I will have to admit, Lexi’s internal dilemma of feeling like she’s not where she needs to be in life was an added bonus for me. It was relatable as heck.

Almost perfect read. Highly recommend.

Thanks so much NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.

I really really wanted to love this book! I mean Fall time love story?!? But goodness it just fell so flat for me. I struggled to finish this one so much it took me a good four tries to get through it. It is closed door, but honestly I've read some amazing closed door romances I've fallen in love with! This one just missed the mark for me.

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sophie Sullivan. ❤️

ARC BOOK REVIEW: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Emojis: 💍📈💰🍲🎓

As always, firstly thank you to @netgalley for granting me an #ARC of #CantHelpFallingInLove by @authorsophiesullivan from @stmartinspress

This book follows young, “fake” couple Lexi and Will as they collide (literally) and try to make the most of a tangled web of lies situation. What neither of them plans for is how fast and how hard they’ll fall for each other.

I really enjoyed the main characters of this book because they genuinely loved each other. This is a classic Cinderella story, Prince & the Pauper vibes. However, class and money doesn’t stop Will from being the ultimate golden retriever beau. This was a closed door romance but it really felt like the heat got turned up slightly in some spots (that bath tub scene was so intimate, without being smutty!)

I also loved the setting up of characters for future stories and the representation (Wills sister and her wife were perf!)

If you like:
🩷 fake dating
🩵 he falls first
💙 found family (to an extent)
💜 love at first sight

This book is just for you! I really enjoyed this read. It’s out September 17, 2024 and it will be one I’m recommending to my romance friends. Thanks again for the advanced copy! #boldsbooks #bookreview #bookrecommendations #romancebooks #fakedating

Thank you NetGalley for this arc! a very sweet book about a fake engagement with the twist that they are actually dating. A surprisingly tender book about families, trauma and grief. The actual relationship is very lovely and the conflict is mostly the heroines fears of turning out like her mother who is mired in her own grief for her late husband and her own imposter syndrome and disappointment with the turns her life took.

This is a small book where the stakes aren’t super high but there is a lot of heart to it and that really spoke to me.
CW: grief, family conflict, mental heath

This book has my heart. It started off with such a sweet "meet cute" that brought Lexi and Will into each other's lives. I loved how they both seemed to bring out the best in the other throughout the course of the book. Their initial meeting turned into fake dating turned into a fake engagement to real love is the type of story I fall in love with. One thing I love about Sophie Sullivan's writing is the special moments she creates through her words. There are so many parts of the story that I wanted to highlight and annotate as I read. There are moments toward the end of the book where Lexi was realizing some things about her life and the advice her mom gave her were words I needed to hear myself. At times, I felt a connection to Lexi with feeling a little sad about not being where I had wanted to be by a certain age but, like Lexi, learning it is okay to be where you are. I cannot wait for this book to come out so I can mark all my favorite parts of the story and then add it to my bookshelves.

Loooove Sophie Sullivan and I was looking forward to her newest novel. The characters were spot on and I lol’d numerous times through the book. It kept my interest until the end!

I absolutely ate this book up! Fake dating/fake engagement troupe. It's a quick, clean read!

Lexi is waitressing as a second job trying to pay for tuition. She's not very good at it by any means. When a young man sits in her section reading a book, she has no idea the path that it would take her down. But will the loss of her dad prevent her from finding love?!?!

A story about accepting yourself and embracing what scares you.

I loved the fall vibes, the banter, the portrayal of grief, family dynamics, and the chemistry between the two main characters.

Can't Help Falling in Love is like a cozy hug on the perfect fall day. What happens when you put down the weight of the burdens you've been carrying? As someone who doesn't always trust when things go well, Can't Help Falling in Love is a reminder that life can only be great if you are living it and not if you are terrified of it.

While this book holds tropes you would typically see in a romance novel, it does it in a way that doesn't seem trivial or like another book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a sweet, cozy romance with a side of the power of friendships and believing in yourself.

Thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for this free ARC for my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had high hopes for this book, but it felt slow from the start and didn't engage me. The characters, especially Lexi and Will, explore deep emotions like insecurity and family expectations. There are nods to other romance novels, which was nice. It's a cozy read with light banter, but the insta-love between Lexi and Will didn't work for me. Despite liking the cover, I couldn't finish it.

I usually love a fake fiance situation, but this one didn't quite hit for me (as much as I wanted it to). I cared about the characters and was committed enough to find out how everything ended, but it wasn't very compelling and I didn't find myself dying to read it. Overall, still was worth my time and I liked the characters. The setup didn't feel very plausible.

This is such an extremely adorable romance! I love how Lexi and Will click in the beginning of the book it was beautiful. I enjoyed reading about their relationship blossoming throughout the book.

If I'm being completely honest.. this book made me cry. The mom's trauma, the pure rawness of love, and how messy it can be. Expectations and how high society views people. Let's not forget the judgment we place on ourselves at the end of the day. I'm glad this book shows that normal people regardless of how successful they are.. aren't always perfect, and we all have bad days and rough starts.

DNF

Wanted to love this one but couldn't force myself to keep going.
Found this to be incredibly slow and the characters to be half baked. Didn't buy into the chemistry and their fake engagement made no sense.

I read Sophie Sullivan's book: "How to Love your Neighbor" and since then I always wanted to read more from her. I think that her writing is stunning, it flows easily and her characters have been pretty relatable to me.

"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a cozy, friends to lovers with one of the most adorable meet cute I have ever read about. That whole sequence at the beginning was so fun and made it even more easy to connect and care for both of our main characters.

I also appreciate the attention to detail when it came to the setting because I was able to picture almost every single description. This was a great fall romance read with a mix of humor, friends to lovers, marriage of convenience and kind of "insta-love" but not in a bad way. I think that Sullivan did a wonderful job balancing that initial spark between Lexi and Will, without making it seem like it was just attraction between them but rather genuinely care and love for each other. It was so sweet seeing them taking the time to know each other.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this!! It was very cute.

“You can’t become who you’re meant to be if you stand still.”

Can’t Help Falling In Love was a fun, sweetly emotional story with well-developed characters and an original storyline. Lexi and Will’s meet-cute was absolutely adorable and I loved watching them fall for each other. I loved the interesting twist on the fake dating trope and how this author made it completely her own.

“I think you’re so much more than you see yourself as.”

Lexi was such a relatable character. Her life fell apart after her dad’s death and it sent her on an unexpected life path. She’s struggling to pull her life together and without even realizing it, she’s stuck in the past and too focused on other people’s expectations and thoughts about her. I loved how being with Will slowly brought her back to life and had her facing her fears.

“He hadn’t realized he was missing anything in his life until she sat down with him. Maybe the best things in life weren’t planned down to the minute.”

I loved Will. He was so funny and encouraging. Basically, an all-around good guy who was all about his family. His kindness and heart was absolutely swoonworthy.

“Us. I want it all to be real. The engagement. A life together. It’s not pretend for me. Any of it. It’s not a misunderstanding. It’s the most real thing I’ve ever known.”

Can’t Help Falling In Love was a beautiful, emotional story that was full of humor and heart. The character growth was stunning and it gave me all the feels. Sweet, funny and heartfelt, it is definitely worth a read.