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liligilsoul's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Dementia, Death, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Homophobia, and Grief
booksdogsandcoffee's review
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
Overall I think the premise of Fly With Me is wonderful, but the execution and the romance wasn’t there for me.
Olive, an ER nurse who hates flying, is tasked with saving a life mid flight on her way to a Run Disney Marathon. As the plane gets re directed one of the flight attendants, Stella, offers to drive her the rest of the way to Orlando to make it to the Marathon in time. Insert and adorable date at Disney World! Once Stella’s airline gets wind of Olive’s heroics, Stella sees this as her chance to make her way up in the company. So they devise a plan to fake date and help each other out.
The book does a wonderful job discussing grief and loosing a family member to both dementia and fatal accidents. As well as anxiety, and toxic family relationships.
Where I think the book actually fell short for me was the romance. Olive and Stella, to me didn’t feel like they actually had chemistry or even a likable relationship. It seemed more like the book was trying to hit the tropes and (fake dating and miscommunication) some really good spice. Which the spice was quiet well done.
Cw
Gaslighting
Toxic family
Toil relationship
Grief
Death
Olive, an ER nurse who hates flying, is tasked with saving a life mid flight on her way to a Run Disney Marathon. As the plane gets re directed one of the flight attendants, Stella, offers to drive her the rest of the way to Orlando to make it to the Marathon in time. Insert and adorable date at Disney World! Once Stella’s airline gets wind of Olive’s heroics, Stella sees this as her chance to make her way up in the company. So they devise a plan to fake date and help each other out.
The book does a wonderful job discussing grief and loosing a family member to both dementia and fatal accidents. As well as anxiety, and toxic family relationships.
Where I think the book actually fell short for me was the romance. Olive and Stella, to me didn’t feel like they actually had chemistry or even a likable relationship. It seemed more like the book was trying to hit the tropes and (fake dating and miscommunication) some really good spice. Which the spice was quiet well done.
Cw
Gaslighting
Toxic family
Toil relationship
Grief
Death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia
lololovesthings's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75 stars!
"Fly with Me" by Andie Burke is the kind of book that hooks you from the very first chapter. From moment one, I was enraptured with Olive and Stella's story, obsessed with finding out whether their fake dating scenario would pay off for them. I *love* a good fake dating scenario, and this story really handles the situation well! This book has a lot of heart, some drama, some tears, and some laughs. The connection between Stella and Olive starts out slow but ramps up as the story heads towards its conclusion. Personally, I think it veered on the side of lust more than the side of love, but it didn't turn me off or away from the story. Some of the miscommunications between Olive and Stella bothered me, but not so much that it hindered my enjoyment of the book. I loved the side characters, including Olive's best friend and Stella's dad. There are also some truly deplorable characters here, like Olive's ex-girlfriend and Olive's awful mother. All of these characters are extremely well-written and fully flushed out. They all feel lived-in as characters, and I appreciate that they feel realistic. Also, this is not just a surface-level story. It also deals with some very heavy, very deep subject matters, including sexism, misogyny, homophobia, car accidents, traumatic brain injuries, a fear of flying, panic attacks, long-term illnesses like Parkinson's, and death. The storyline involving Olive's brother broke my heart. It even made me tear up. My heart broke for Olive as she's torn between doing what's best for her brother and letting her mom have her final goodbye the way she wants it (even though she's totally in the wrong). As someone with an intense fear of flying, I related to this story on a deep, deep level! All in all, this is a cute story that is deceptively deep. It has wonderful characters and contains terrific chemistry and banter. Chelsea Stephens brings these characters to life with her excellent audiobook narration.
Thank you to NetGalley, Andie Burke, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
"Fly with Me" by Andie Burke is the kind of book that hooks you from the very first chapter. From moment one, I was enraptured with Olive and Stella's story, obsessed with finding out whether their fake dating scenario would pay off for them. I *love* a good fake dating scenario, and this story really handles the situation well! This book has a lot of heart, some drama, some tears, and some laughs. The connection between Stella and Olive starts out slow but ramps up as the story heads towards its conclusion. Personally, I think it veered on the side of lust more than the side of love, but it didn't turn me off or away from the story. Some of the miscommunications between Olive and Stella bothered me, but not so much that it hindered my enjoyment of the book. I loved the side characters, including Olive's best friend and Stella's dad. There are also some truly deplorable characters here, like Olive's ex-girlfriend and Olive's awful mother. All of these characters are extremely well-written and fully flushed out. They all feel lived-in as characters, and I appreciate that they feel realistic. Also, this is not just a surface-level story. It also deals with some very heavy, very deep subject matters, including sexism, misogyny, homophobia, car accidents, traumatic brain injuries, a fear of flying, panic attacks, long-term illnesses like Parkinson's, and death. The storyline involving Olive's brother broke my heart. It even made me tear up. My heart broke for Olive as she's torn between doing what's best for her brother and letting her mom have her final goodbye the way she wants it (even though she's totally in the wrong). As someone with an intense fear of flying, I related to this story on a deep, deep level! All in all, this is a cute story that is deceptively deep. It has wonderful characters and contains terrific chemistry and banter. Chelsea Stephens brings these characters to life with her excellent audiobook narration.
Thank you to NetGalley, Andie Burke, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
jazzyjbox's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Fly With Me is a romance that hits on hard topics with grace.
Olive is a nurse who is terrified of flying. On her first flight, a passenger has a major allergic reaction, and Olive saves him, but the flight is diverted. The co-pilot, Stella, then offers to drive Olive to the original flight destination. They spend the day together and have a wonderful time. The video of Olive saving the passenger goes viral, and Stella gets the idea for her and Olive to fake date while they're featured in interviews and such. Olive wants more, but she's terrified her anxiety disorder will push Stella away, a fear fueled by Olive's jealous and toxic ex. Meanwhile, Olive's brother is in a coma and she's fighting with her family to honor his wishes. Stella's dad has Parkinson's and she's trying to achieve Captain before he gets worse.
Olive's anxiety and struggles were so well-portrayed. As someone who struggles with similar things, she was really relatable. I loved her support network but couldn't stand her family. I'm not usually a big fan of single-perspective romance, but this was done pretty well.
Olive is a nurse who is terrified of flying. On her first flight, a passenger has a major allergic reaction, and Olive saves him, but the flight is diverted. The co-pilot, Stella, then offers to drive Olive to the original flight destination. They spend the day together and have a wonderful time. The video of Olive saving the passenger goes viral, and Stella gets the idea for her and Olive to fake date while they're featured in interviews and such. Olive wants more, but she's terrified her anxiety disorder will push Stella away, a fear fueled by Olive's jealous and toxic ex. Meanwhile, Olive's brother is in a coma and she's fighting with her family to honor his wishes. Stella's dad has Parkinson's and she's trying to achieve Captain before he gets worse.
Olive's anxiety and struggles were so well-portrayed. As someone who struggles with similar things, she was really relatable. I loved her support network but couldn't stand her family. I'm not usually a big fan of single-perspective romance, but this was done pretty well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Terminal illness
Minor: Death
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thanks to St. Martins Press for the free copy of this book.
- FLY WITH ME has such a silly premise, and yet it's fairly serious for a romance novel. This book deals with everything from workplace sexism to end of life care for relative in a coma.
- As much as I loved the opposites-attract dynamic between Olive and Stella (and we know how much I love fake dating!), this book went around in circles, having the same conversation a few too many times for me. There was also a third act breakup a literal 20 pages from the end of the book, which felt totally unnecessary after all the previous back and forth.
- FLY WITH ME has such a silly premise, and yet it's fairly serious for a romance novel. This book deals with everything from workplace sexism to end of life care for relative in a coma.
- As much as I loved the opposites-attract dynamic between Olive and Stella (and we know how much I love fake dating!), this book went around in circles, having the same conversation a few too many times for me. There was also a third act breakup a literal 20 pages from the end of the book, which felt totally unnecessary after all the previous back and forth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Terminal illness, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Dementia and Homophobia
womanwill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
FLY WITH ME is a sweet, faking dating sapphic dream!
Olive is making the motions of life, but not truly living after a tragic accident leaves her brother in a coma. When she is thrust into the spotlight after pulling a Super Nurse and saving a man on her flight, sexy pilot Stella Soriano proposes a fake dating scheme to get her long fought for promotion to captain.
This love story is chock full of tender and silly moments, set against a backdrop of family turmoil, grief, and caregiving. Burke does a deft job of balancing the heavy and light moments and letting her characters lean on each other while they work through their own stuff.
The basics:
- fake dating
- sapphic love
- bi rep & lesbian rep
- sexy pilot x ER nurse
- GLUTEN FREE COOKING SEDUCTION
- panic disorder & depression rep
- Parkinson's & caregiving rep
- Disney
- love letter to nursing
I really enjoyed this debut romance and can't wait to see what Burke puts out next!
Olive is making the motions of life, but not truly living after a tragic accident leaves her brother in a coma. When she is thrust into the spotlight after pulling a Super Nurse and saving a man on her flight, sexy pilot Stella Soriano proposes a fake dating scheme to get her long fought for promotion to captain.
This love story is chock full of tender and silly moments, set against a backdrop of family turmoil, grief, and caregiving. Burke does a deft job of balancing the heavy and light moments and letting her characters lean on each other while they work through their own stuff.
The basics:
- fake dating
- sapphic love
- bi rep & lesbian rep
- sexy pilot x ER nurse
- GLUTEN FREE COOKING SEDUCTION
- panic disorder & depression rep
- Parkinson's & caregiving rep
- Disney
- love letter to nursing
I really enjoyed this debut romance and can't wait to see what Burke puts out next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual harassment, Death, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia
applejacksbooks's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I received a copy from NetGalley for review.
So I'm writing this review at 69% because honestly I think I'm going to DNF. Not because I don't like the story, but simply because the writing was super repetitive. The story starts off with Olive on a plane ride to Orlando and she helps with a medical emergency and it sets off the plot once she meets Stella, the co-pilot of the airplane she was riding along. Stella offers to drive Olive the rest of the way to Disney so she can run in the half marathon in remembrance of her brother (who is brain dead, but Olive's mother won't take him off life support), well Stella stays and then they proceed to have a wonderful couple of days until Stella bails. Once back in DC Stella finds Olive while she's at work and asks her if she could be her fake girlfriend so that Stella can advance to captain at work (it's a big deal as that level of aviation is a boys club). Olive agrees and they start "dating."
Here's where my issues with the story arise. The women go on a series of dates and in between EVERY SINGLE ONE the two (mostly Stella trying to talk herself out of a commitment "because she'd be a bad girlfriend") go back and forth with whether or not they should continue lying to everyone about them dating. The first couple of times I think is fine to have second thoughts, but by like the third or fourth time they hang out and do stuff they should just accept that they're doing this and it's so painstakingly obvious to everyone except Stella's dumb ass that they're actually dating for realisies.
Honestly at this point, I'm really just waiting to see what happens with Olive's mother. That situation seems more interesting than the love story that's clearly happening front and center. Idk if I finish this I'll update but I think I'm just going to skim the rest to see how it ends.
So I'm writing this review at 69% because honestly I think I'm going to DNF. Not because I don't like the story, but simply because the writing was super repetitive. The story starts off with Olive on a plane ride to Orlando and she helps with a medical emergency and it sets off the plot once she meets Stella, the co-pilot of the airplane she was riding along. Stella offers to drive Olive the rest of the way to Disney so she can run in the half marathon in remembrance of her brother (who is brain dead, but Olive's mother won't take him off life support), well Stella stays and then they proceed to have a wonderful couple of days until Stella bails. Once back in DC Stella finds Olive while she's at work and asks her if she could be her fake girlfriend so that Stella can advance to captain at work (it's a big deal as that level of aviation is a boys club). Olive agrees and they start "dating."
Here's where my issues with the story arise. The women go on a series of dates and in between EVERY SINGLE ONE the two (mostly Stella trying to talk herself out of a commitment "because she'd be a bad girlfriend") go back and forth with whether or not they should continue lying to everyone about them dating. The first couple of times I think is fine to have second thoughts, but by like the third or fourth time they hang out and do stuff they should just accept that they're doing this and it's so painstakingly obvious to everyone except Stella's dumb ass that they're actually dating for realisies.
Honestly at this point, I'm really just waiting to see what happens with Olive's mother. That situation seems more interesting than the love story that's clearly happening front and center. Idk if I finish this I'll update but I think I'm just going to skim the rest to see how it ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical content, and Car accident
Moderate: Misogyny
beesneysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was lucky to receive an e-ARC of this book, and when I say lucky, i mean LUCKY. This book had everything you need in a book: fake dating, queer characters, family drama, miscommunication that resolves itself rather quickly, found-family, a funny start-to-end joke that keeps popping up. Everything about this book was written with care, including an authors note at the beginning with triggers written in a way that makes the reader feel connected with the author. Would definitely recommend to anyone and everyone! (as always, check the triggers before you read and take care of yourself!)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexism, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
alexfromistemor's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Emotional abuse
theoceanrose's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Grief