What an absolute delight!

There’s not much more to say about the meet cute in this book other than the fact that Dylan falls through the roof of his apartment and ends up on top of his neighbor Derek then awkwardly makes an “It’s Raining Men” joke.

I’ll back up.

Derek moves into a building owned by his uncle when his job forces relocation and his own house is occupied by renters. Inadvertently causing a flood that damages the floor, it collapses into his hot and generally annoyed with him neighbor, Derek’s apartment.

The repairs are going to be extensive and both guys want to keep it on the down low from the suspicious and nosy HOA neighbor, so Dylan, being quite the fixer upper, offers to handle the repairs. And so the two are thrust into each other’s lives. Tensions build, lines are crossed, and shoulders are rubbed.

And this all sounds very typical romcom-y but there’s so much more here. The book focuses on the effect Dylan’s severe ADHD has on him, his life, and his relationships, while conversely addressing Derek’s struggle with a savior complex that, instead of fixing things, only drives people away.

There is grief and buried feelings, communication, banter, spice, and real heart in this story. It’s such a refreshing queer romance that reminded me often of The Prospects in tone and feeling.

Don’t sleep on this one!

Stellar dual POV narration.

Thanks to @netgalley, @macmillanaudio, and @stmartinspress for the audioARC/ eARC in exchange for an honest review. This one comes out September 3, 2024.

Fall for Him is an incredibly sweet novel that's perfect for when you're in the mood for a comfort read. The narrators, Kyle Omori and Liam DiCosimo, do an outstanding job of bringing their respective characters to life. I would happily listen to any book they narrated. I especially appreciated having two male narrators given this is an M/M romance where the characters both have D names.. The dual narration assisted in making the different POVs distinct.

I am a sucker for forced proximity and this is no exception. The stakes are never too high, which can be nice, but might frustrate those looking for more drama. This is the second book in a series, but having not read the first one I feel comfortable saying this can act as a standalone.

Pros:
ADHD rep
Asian male lead
They're cute as hell
Depiction of grief/loss

Cons:
A few subplots could have easily been removed without losing the heart of the story (looking at you, mom)

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to SMP and Macmillan audio for the review copies. I really enjoyed Andie Burke's debut last year and was excited to read this next book. For me though the sexy slow burn mood in her earlier book was missing in this one, I found I just could not quite get into the rhythm of this book, perhaps because the characters were not 100% likable, and I felt as a reader I landed in the middle of a story with the immediate "crash into each other" start to the story, and I didn't have a good sense as to who was who, esp with similar names and some lack of clarity about which voice was which character, though the audiobook handled this better and the voice actors did a good job even if I didn't like the book as much as I hoped I would.

I was confused from the first few paragraphs of this book and unfortunately, I was still getting confused near the end of the book. The biggest issue is that the two main characters both have D- names and we are never actually properly introduced to them; literally it’s a crash introduction. I needed some pause in the story to say this is Derek and what he looks like and this is Dylan and what he looks like. Their families also being thrown in and them having a mutual connection to Jake - even more confusion! AND they were both dealing with grief (I think so - I’m still confused). The author really needed to reorganize this story. Additionally, it was just way too long! There were so many unimportant things that occurred and made the storyline more convoluted. I’m also convinced neither main character was actually ready for a relationship. They both had some work to do and one really needed some maturity. Their chemistry was fine, the neighbor was too much and too weird, and the ending was forced. Honestly, this would’ve been so much better with more serious editing. 3⭐️, 2🌶

Daryl falls through the ceiling and lands on Derek’s bed on page one. Love a book that gets to the point right away more room for the couple to, in this case, get to know each other because they have a different perspective of the other. They are forced to spend time together in Daryl’s apartment while Dereks’ is being fixed.
My only negative would be giving the two MCs a D-name, my brain had a confusing time trying to place who was who in the beginning. The different narrators for each MC helped when listening to the audiobook.

[alc review]
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Fall for Him releases September 3, 2024

In all honesty, I was ready to DNF this after reading the first page. Meet-cute disaster aside, I find it very hard to believe that an apartment building would have a kitchen directly above a bedroom instead of mirroring the same layout of the unit below with the same square footage.

I really did not like Burke’s debut novel, but wanted to give them a second chance, mostly because my interest was piqued when I saw this included an Asian lead.
Turns out, Burke is just not for me!
It probably didn’t help that her sophomore novel was pretty much a companion novel instead of a true standalone, given how extensive a role Olive and her brother played in Derek and Dylan’s lives.

With a dual pov MM romance, featuring two characters with <I>very</I> similar names, it would have been extremely helpful to have labelled the chapters accordingly in order to minimize confusion as there was little distinction between their two voices.

I found that the tone of their dialogue and interactions were laced with a lot of judgment and hostility rather than it being a feel-good, swoon-worthy romance. For that reason, it was hard to become invested or find enjoyment in a relationship between two people that appeared to have little to no compatibility or chemistry.

Much like Burke’s debut, the plot was so cluttered with multiple components that none had the time to really shine. Not only was there the development of a romantic relationship, but also familial drama with Derek’s sister’s debt, his mother’s elopement, Dylan’s siblings and his ADHD, the busy-body HOA “Karen” and her hyperfixation with the dog, home renovations, and Derek’s unresolved issues with Jake who ended up feeling like a third wheel from beyond the grave.

If I have to read the word “kay” one more time, I might actually bleach my eyes.

This was a fun listen! I enjoyed getting to know Dylan and Derek individually before seeing them as a couple, and the spice was really nice. The ending felt a bit sudden, but it was just because I wanted to see more of their happy ending. I also loved the interactions with their families, and it was great seeing these relationships evolve and change!

𝐌𝐂𝐬: Derek + Dylan
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Liam DiCosimo + Kyle Omori
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭:
🌻 Neighbor Shenanigans
🌻 Badly Timed Jokes
🌻 ADHD Rep
🌻 Wrong First Impressions
🌻 Grief & Acceptance
🌻 3rd Act Youknowwhat

Call me surprised…

I’m not usually one to enjoy traditionally published books compared to indie books, but I really ended up enjoying this one.

The negative: like others have mentioned, the first third or so of the book (and periodically) I would confuse the POV because the names are Dylan and Derek and it got jumbled sometimes. I also thought the 3rd act youknowwhat was a bit forced and not necessarily needed. Not for the length of time. I also felt like a few scenes jumped around or were a bit abrupt, like maybe the author had a thought but couldn’t quite pen it in time before a new scene was written.

The positive: the ADHD rep was handled so well as was the grief. I adored the romance. Dylan was a bit scatterbrained and Derek was a bit of a stiff, but when they started letting down their guards, they were just perfect for each other.

I got the ebook and audio. The narrators were very good for what they were given even if they also meshed together and confused me a bit. A solid 4 stars though.

𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦: September 3, 2024
𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣.

This was absolutely adorable! If you are looking to laugh and get a little emotional, this is your story. I really enjoyed the characters. I am going to go back and listen to the first book. They are interconnected standalone (which I found from some digging). I hope we get more from these side characters!

I don't really know how to rate this one. I had high hopes for it as it sounds like such a cute story but at first I was just so confused as to who was who. Both MC names started with D and the beginning of the chapters didn't say which character it was. This could be just me but it was hard to connect with them at first. I also felt like they went from fighting to loving so quickly that it felt like I missed something.

I did like the Main Characters but I just wish it was executed a little better

The Vibes: dislike for Secret Reasons, family baggage, and serious home renos

Heat Index: 6/10

The Basics:

Derek Chang and Dylan Gallagher have disliked each other from the start. Or rather, Derek has disliked Dylan and Dylan has responded in kind. But when Dylan falls through the floor and into Derek's bed, they're thrown together in a big way. Dylan wants to fix the damage himself—and Derek wants to avoid being caught with the dog he's really not supposed to have there (thanks to a breed ban). So... they're stuck in the same one-bedroom apartment for now. And can't seem to keep their eyes off each other.

The Review:

This was going super well for me in a lot of ways. I really love the premise, the meet cute is adorable, Dylan and Derek have great chemistry off the bat, and I appreciate their respective backstories receiving an equal amount of attention. Something I critiqued regarding Burke's last book, Fly with Me, was the fact that the story felt like it belonged significantly more to one heroine than the other. Here, we got POVs from Dylan and Derek, and they came to the table with their own baggage.

Derek is dealing with the long ago death of his father and the impact it still has, having been thrown into this "man of the house" role far too young. Especially with regards to his freewheeling younger sister, as we discover. Although I have some mixed feelings about how this ended up coming to a head, I really appreciated Derek as a character. He was my favorite of the two, and I totally got where he came from, even if he didn't always make the best choices. He was refreshingly real in that sense.

There was a point towards the end wherein I kind of felt like... a lot of things got pushed onto Derek in a way that he didn't really deserve? And it felt like the story wanted me to agree that this was an important part of his development, he deserved this critique, so on. I just wasn't really there. Team Derek.

Dylan, on the other hand, has ADHD and sort of... struggles to be taken seriously by his family. Which was really touching to me, as someone who received an ADHD diagnosis not super long ago. While I wasn't as drawn in to Dylan, I still liked him, wanted to read more about him, appreciated his bond with Derek. Did it sometimes feel like Derek had to step up to the plate for Dylan when Dylan kind of should have taken care of his own shit as an adult? Yeah, at points. But that could be my own inherent oldest sibling energy coming into play.

There were some pacing issues, for sure. While I liked that these two started falling for each other fairly quickly, we kind of went from "was physically into" to "using pet names" a bit too son. It's not that we needed to brake on the physical intimacy—the emotional component was where I got confused.

More troubling for me was a scene in which a neighbor calls the cops on Derek and Dylan. This... was handled in a way I found really tone deaf. Jokes about cops dunking on a wrongful call just don't play correctly to me—not when people die due to how poorly cops handle wrongful calls. And this whole time, the cops are being antagonized by Dylan's sister (who I just didn't like—she took up way too much space in general). It just left a bad taste in my mouth.

So while this was in some ways a step forward from Fly with Me, the issues just made it less enjoyable for me overall.

The Sex:

I did love the sex in this one! It's not a super sex-heavy book, but you get several good scenes, including a particularly excellent incident with knee pads. I mean, they're renovating a house, right? I also really liked the discussion surrounding why one character could be more hesitant about sex.

That said... we taper off left in the middle of a major scene, and I didn't love that. FINISH HIM!

Fall for Him had a strong start, and I wish it didn't have the problems that kept it from hitting the finish line in the same shape. There is a lot of good stuff here. But the flaws are pretty distracting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

i think this author's books are officially not for me. this dragged & felt really overwritten, and i honestly just didn't care about the relationship or the plot??? idk why i finished this tbh.

A leaking roof and faulty apartment forces the two neighbors Dylan and Derek to at least try to long for the time being. For some reason Derek seemed to loathe Dylan ever since he moved in and that probably won’t change now that he literally fell trough the roof and almost landed on his dog. Dylan wants to keep this disaster under wraps and offers to fix the damage himself as fast as possible. Meanwhile they will cohabitate in the upstairs apartment. Squeezing all their emotional baggage into a tiny one bedroom apartment probably isn’t a wise choice. It’ll likely be a major disaster but just maybe they’ll be able to sort out their differences, only time will tell.

There are so many things I really enjoyed in this one. Starting off with the characters, the mcs are well developed, have a compelling backstory and bring a lot of representation to the book. It mentions ADHD quite heavily as well as mental health. And if you didn’t get it from the blurb and cover its a MM romance. I really enjoyed them together, they’re so different yet fit perfectly together in so many ways.

The reason its not 5 stars is mainly the third act breakup. It’s so unnecessary when the book is nearly over and there is already other drama going on. And did the mcs have to have such similar names? The audiobook narration made it easier to follow but if if only had the ebook I think it could’ve caused unnecessary confusion.

I would sum this up as a really sweet read with tons of representation and unique characters. Derek and Dylans story stands out among the sea of romcoms and thats what makes it such a good read.

Read this of you like
🏳️‍🌈LGBTQ rep
🧡Opposites attract
💫ADHD rep
🫶🏼Forced proximity
🐶Dogs

Oh my goodness. I love this story! The queer romance between these two beautifully flawed men was all the things; funny, emotional, and spicy. The stupid, lovesick, radiant joy in this story was just right. I loved the complexity of the ADHD representation, thorough exploration into the character’s grief, accurate representations of emotional growth, and bearing witness to the reality of breaking cycles of generational trauma. Despite this book covering very heavy topics— it didn’t feel too heavy. The comedy balance was perfect and the banter was impeccable. I also loved how this tied into the author’s previous work. This is a fully independent work of fiction so it just adds a little depth for those who also read that book. The audiobook production was marvelous and I will be adding it to my collection permanently.

I absolutely loved Fly With Me so I was super excited for this book but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I had a hard time keeping up with whose chapter I was reading from. I even listened to the audio and was still confused. The narrators were great but the way this is written made it difficult to remember who was who. I’m happy I got to see Olive for a bit and this cover is gorgeous though.

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffith, and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy. You can pick up Fall For Him on September 3, 2024.

I did not expect to get so emotional while reading this book, but it really surprised me in the best way! I love the forced proximity with these two neighbors forced to live together, and the tension between them played out really nicely. Both characters experienced SO MUCH growth throughout the trials of their relationships, and Andie Burke seemed to approach living with ADHD or a partner with ADHD really well. A bunch of the side characters really leaped off the page, and overall I just really enjoyed myself while reading this one!

Definitely pick it up if you're looking for an MLM romance with hate-to-love, forced proximity, and ADHD rep!

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me - I struggled with the level of "enemies" they were in the beginning - particularly how mean Derek was to Dylan. Once they started to gain an understanding and got together, I was really enjoying the book! I thought that their communication with each other was really good and mature. Then....the third act breakup happened. All that work on communication and understanding each other in their relationship? All thrown out the window. It was honestly so shocking to me that I had to rewind a bit. It just did not feel like it matched the growth I feel like they experience throughout their relationship.

It was also just really hard to tell which POV I was in with the audiobook, even despite having dual narration. Having characters with the names Dylan and Derek is certainly...a choice. I liked one of the narrators better than the other, but truthfully I couldn't tell you which one.

What I liked:
- Dual narration
- ADHD Rep
- the Communication (most of the time)

Andie Burke’s Fall for Him is a contemporary romance that captures the heart with its well-crafted enemies-to-lovers dynamic and sharp, witty banter. From the very start, the tension between the characters is palpable, making their journey from adversaries to lovers all the more satisfying.

One of the standout aspects of this book is the way the author describes Dylan's ADHD. The portrayal is not only accurate but also deeply empathetic, giving readers insight into his experiences without reducing him to a stereotype. This layer of complexity adds depth to his character and makes his story all the more engaging.

The family drama woven into the narrative is another strong point. Burke skillfully navigates the complexities of familial relationships, creating a rich backdrop that enhances the main storyline. The dynamics between the characters feel real and relatable, adding an extra dimension to the book that makes it more than just a romance.

My only complaint is that it was hard to keep the two characters straight at the start since they had very similar names (Dylan vs Derek)

Overall, Fall for Him is a great contemporary read. It’s a perfect blend of humor, heart, and heat, making it a must-read for fans of romance that tackles real-life issues while delivering a satisfying love story.

Thanks NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the ARC!

This is such a sweet and warm MM romance book. I couldn't get enough of Dylan and Derek. They were two characters I just loved to pieces. During the whole book, you can't help but root for them in all their little struggles. I though the author did a lovely job handling Dylan's ADHD side. And diving into Derek on drama. The pair beautifully complimented each other flaws and made sure the other knew they were worthy of everything even if they weren't what the world saw as perfect. I did feel the ending rushed a little but maybe that was because I wasn't ready to let these two characters go just yet. If you want a fast, fun, cute queer romance book, I would recommend adding this one to you TBR

I loved every minute of this book! Dylan was so sweet. Derek was kind of an ass at first but he makes up for it! I thought the book broached the topics of ADHD and bullying from family well. I do wish there had been more resolution from some of Derek's family issues. But overall, it was a really enjoyable listen. Loved the narration.