This is such a great debut! I love a good sapphic romance.

Typically I tend to struggle when stories are written in third person, but I had no issues reading Fly With Me. I was hooked from the beginning after Olive experiences such a traumatic first flight on a plane. The story from this point is filled with Olive taking risks, facing her fears, standing up for her brother, and being honest about her feelings. Olive is a strong, versatile character who has faced tremendous stress in her life, and it's very clear that Stella complements her in the best ways. The way these two support each other in their career and emotional endeavors is refreshing to read, and the side characters provide additional support with their witty jokes and undying love for Olive and her happiness. The dialogue, the banter, and the emotional reactions to certain events was all very realistic and only made the characters seem more human.

This book was funnier than I expected it would be! Olive's dialogue with Stella and her friends is excellent, I love how Andie Burke writes conversations. I also appreciated all of text messages - I always love to see characters communicate this way, it's so fun and it makes things more personal. Olive's inner dialogue was hilarious too, especially when it came to things getting heated with Stella. The spice in this book is so well written and I love Andie's attention to detail, focusing on the aspects of the spice that enhances the emotional relationship between Olive and Stella as well as the details that make it fun and steamy.

I really enjoyed this. Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and Andie Burke for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Olive is afraid of flying, but she is determined to make it to Orlando. And then an emergency happens on her flight, and she has to use her nursing skills to save a man's life. Other passengers film it, and the videos go viral. And through it, she meets Stella, the co-pilot of the flight.

The book starts with such a great meet cute and really awesome scenes. But it has an awful lot going on. There's fake dating, social media trolls, secrets, toxic exes, misogyny, terminal illnesses, and more. I was able to keep track of all the characters which is a strong testament to powerful writing.

Both Olive and Stella are dealing with major family issues that make this book quite emotionally heavy. I appreciated the author's note at the start of the book that included content warnings. Even with those, I found I needed to put the book down for a couple days and come back to it.

This book is for those who like their contemporary romances more on the heavy drama side than comedy. At times, it felt it was trying to tackle too much to focus on the developing romance.

Thank you to SMP Romance for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

Rounded up to 4 stars

I ADORED Fly With Me written by debut author Andie Burke and cannot wait to read whatever she has up her sleeve next.

ER nurse Olive Murphy is on her first plane ride, anxious as ever. Hearing there is a medical emergency on board, she immediately jumps in and helps the man. Which leaves her in Atlanta, when she is supposed to be in Disney running the half marathon in honor of her brother. Feeling lost, Olive doesn't expect cute pilot Stella Soriano to offer to drive her to Disney. She also doesn't expect Stella to ask her to be her fake girlfriend when Olive's rescue went viral. Yet, here she is now, with a family hating her and a relationship she truly wants to be real still be fake. She's set to make Stella realize she wants to "fly with her."

I couldn't stop turning the pages of my Kindle while reading Fly with Me. The short, quick paced chapters and fun cast of side characters (especially Derek) made this novel a fun read for me. While I wish this was a dual point of view so I could get inside Stella's head, I found the text exchanges and dates to semi make up for it. Readers looking for a fun, LGBTQ romance read will LOVE Andie Burke's debut novel, Fly With Me!

Such a deep story! I was not expecting that at all. Olive and Stella are just precious. I love that Olive basically is so full of love she can’t quite contain it and Stella is very buttoned up and doesn’t want to let her emotions show. They were so different and similar all at the same time. Olive resonated with me as a nurse and I enjoyed that portrayal and (I know Andie is a nurse) this nurse character felt genuinely authentic.

Fly With Me is Andie Burke's debut novel and, excuse me while I fangirl, my favourite contemporary romance I've read in a while. It's a sapphic fake dating based romance, but it also weaves in many diverse characters and touching plot lines. While I did find the end a bit too dramatic, I loved the sweet, earnest love this book depicted and ended up reading it in one sitting. I highly urge you to pick this novel up. I'm already awaiting the author's next story.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Read if you like:
💋 Fake Dating
🤝 Stangers to More
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ Rep
✈️ First Flights

This one was so cute!! I love fake dating so much and this one did it sooo well!!!

I loved how Olive was afraid of flying but even with her fear saved a life on her first plane ride. I really loved how impressed Stella the pilot was and how from this a narrative was spun and the two were assumed to be dating by the media and thus they jumped into fake dating in hopes of getting a promotion for Stella using the media coverage.

I loved how they fell in love while fake dating and was just so swoony!

I highly recommend this one if you love the above tropes and are looking for a sweet romance to add to your TBR!

Thanks so much to SMP and St Martin Griffin for my ARC of this one!

FLY WITH ME is a debut romance novel that makes me excited to read more from author Andie Burke. I was hooked immediately by MC Olive, an ER nurse who’s terrified of flying but also steps in and saves a life while on the plan, which leads to her meet cute with LI Stella, a sexy and impressive pilot. There is some heavy stuff in this romcom, which Burke does a great job of providing a content warning at the start of the book, but it never brings down the atmosphere and tone of the romance—it only enhances the characters and the storytelling. For anyone who has worked or works in a medical setting, a lot of this book will ring true. As a former rehab speech therapist, I found Olive’s take on life, death, and relationships very relatable.

There is some drama that gets a bit repetitive (Olive’s toxic ex Lindsay), but it didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the book. I love Olive and Stella and, I was yelling at my Kindle, rooting for them to figure out their sh*t and get it together in the best way possible.

I recommend this sapphic romcom for readers who enjoy the fake dating trope with plenty of steam.

Thank you to St Martin’s Publishing for sending an eARC.

Fly With Me takes readers on an enthralling immersive read throughout. The portrayal of Stella and Olive's characters was a source of immense pleasure. Olive's character emerged as a beautifully imperfect, albeit untidy, individual. The author seemed to rely on repetition of certain phrases occasionally garners more attention than intended.

Starting on a high note, the book gradually waned in impact around its midpoint. The chemistry between Stella and Olive crackled with electricity right from their initial encounter—a scene that profoundly engaged my interest and drew me into their narrative. Subsequently crossing paths only intensified my eagerness to delve deeper into their shared journey.

Oh Gus! He is the best!

Fly With Me, from the start, hints at its sizzling potential. While the novel leans towards the lengthier side, this does not POP until around the 70% mark. I think the slow burn of this romance did more damage than help. It absolutely has the "Trad pub" sheen on it. The chemistry was there I wish they had acted on it soon.

This book was a great sapphic romance! I really enjoyed it. It did hit a little close to home as I also have a father who also has Parkinson's. Everything did seem to wrap up a little too nicely, There was no real resolution of the Lindsay post and I I feel Stella should been at Jake's funeral. But over all enjoyable!

This story is definitely one of a kind and it's such an easy read and the pages just turn and then you are done. You love the characters and smile throughout though it's not all roses and champagne...a very cute fake dating story

Stella and Olive meet when Olive (an ER nurse) saves the life of a passenger mid-flight (Stella is a pilot). Talk about a meet cute!! These two women are extremely lovable characters (with GREAT CHEMISTRY) and I really enjoyed their love story.

Fun fact about me: I used to run races at Disney all the time. I can’t say I ever expected to read about a character in a Romance novel running a Disney race and so when that happened here I was sooo excited!! I loved that Olive & Stella had a magical day at Disney World! As a runner and a Disney fan it was so fun for me to read.

I also need a moment to mention how much I LOVED Olive’s best friend Derek! The scenes with him truly shined.

Read this for the sapphic romance, bisexual MC, fake dating, opposites attract, slow burn and caretaking (seriously, I LOVE when we get this one)!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fly With Me will be out 9/5. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Mildly spoilery: Heads up, there are a number of content warnings to be aware of such as anxiety, panic attacks, depression, family members who are ill/fatally injured, toxic family relationships, toxic ex-gf to name a few.

ER nurse Olive Murphy is afraid of flying, but when there's a medical emergency on her flight, she jumps in to help. She gets stuck at the airport, and pilot Stella Soriano offers her a ride. The two spend a lovely day together, and then a video of Olive saving someone goes viral. The two devise a plan to help Stella get a promotion and they start fake dating.

Fake dating always leads to someone catching feelings, though! 😂 I really enjoyed this book, the characters were fun together, both the banter and the deeper feelings. I really enjoyed Burke's writing. If you enjoy fake dating sapphic romances, you will love this one! ❤️

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

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.

At first, I was completely obsessed with this book but unfortunately, it did start to drag throughout the 50-80% mark. I found myself skimming because the same things kept happening over and over. This is an example of a book that relies heavily on miscommunication and characters not being clear with what they need and want from each other. Which I can understand sometimes but our MC was in her 30's. I will continue to read from this author though as long as she continues to release sapphic romances. I didn't hate it by any means and I genuinely thought this would be a 5 star for awhile so I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next.

This book was super cute and also so angsty in the best way. I loved watching Stella and Olive not only find their way to each other, but also find their way back to themselves. The trauma is heavy in this one, but it is handled so well. Overall, an amazing read!

I really enjoyed this and I’m surprised it’s a debut! From their meet cute moment, I was sucked into Olive and Stella’s story. I love fake dating and this was well done. I also loved the cast of characters who surrounded Olive and Stella.

I loved that despite being “fake” girlfriends, they obviously cared for each other from showing up when Olive had pneumonia to helping to care/visit Stella’s dad.

There were parts that broke my heart, particularly anything Olive had to do with caring for her brother to her relationship with the rest of her family. I mostly listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narration. I can’t wait for more books from Andie Burke!

Thank you netgalley and SMP for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review. I knew I was going to love it before picking it up. I pre-ordered the book and looking forward to reading it again and tabbing. Great debut

✔️ Fake Dating
✔️ Opposites Attract
✔️ Hurt/Comfort

Fake Dating is one of my favorite tropes and I liked the set-up: Olive agreeing to fake-date Stella in order to help secure S a well-deserved promotion. It will also hopefully help Olive in getting a toxic ex off her back.

The beginning of the book worked best for me, from their meeting to their early days of getting to know each other. Unfortunately, the rest of the book lagged and felt clunky; too much time on storylines that were not as interesting to me. I love found family, but I didn't feel that either character had fun characters who had their back. Their B storylines were also super angsty and not what I was particularly in the mood for (Olive's family just sucksssss and all the scenes with them just dragged me down.).

I also wish the romance was stronger. I didn't really feel strong chemistry from either MC and the forces keeping them apart felt flimsy.

Steam 🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an e-arc, and to Macmillan Audio for an alc in exchange for an honest review.
Fly with Me releases September 5, 2023

I know this is meant to be fiction and all, but this was too outrageously ridiculous to take seriously.

Olive, our sole narrator of this story, is taking her first flight to Orlando to participate in a Disney marathon run in honour of her brother who is currently paralyzed and in a critical state.
On her flight, a medical emergency occurs, and a passenger has a severe allergic reaction. Since Olive is a nurse, and the only medical personnel on board, she steps in to save the day.

Since the flight obviously had to divert to a closer state, Olive finds herself left without any other flights to get her to her final destination.
The only way to make it on time to the run is by driving non-stop, but since she’s already coming off of a shift at work, it just doesn’t seem plausible with the depletion of her energy.
But no worries, because Stella, the pilot of the flight, offers to drive Olive 6+ hours to Orlando.

All of the characters were insufferable to me. From the main character, who I just couldn’t stand, to the flight captain who was sexist and slimy af, to the love interest Stella who kept belittling Olive’s achievements as a nurse as well as other female flight attendants.
Stella gets mad that people underestimate her as a woman and think of her as a flight attendant instead of a pilot, but then does the exact same thing to Olive and underestimates her degree because she’s just a nurse and not a full-fledged doctor.
The way she kept putting her foot in her mouth was grating on me.

What I can’t understand is how videos of the medical emergency on the flight went viral in what — an hour tops? Olive hadn’t even had the chance to leave the airport yet and it was already viral?? And the fact that press was already waiting for her at the marathon run just 6-ish hours later? What about her is so special?? It was an allergic reaction where she administered an epi pen… it’s not like she performed emergency surgery. It’s just so contrived.

AND THEN, for Stella to propose the idea of fake dating Olive because her viral video is gaining traction for the airline and it would help her get a promotion… Be for real right now. What a fucking cash grab and personal gain. What about the man that suffered from the allergic reaction? We never hear a word from him, but sure, go ahead and fake date.
If I was the individual that had the medical emergency and found out that the pilot was using my experience in a glorified way to gain a promotion, I’d feel pretty shitty.

Here’s what Stella has to say: <I>“I could quit and start over, or I could do something that makes me stand out. Something they can’t ignore. Basically, if people find out that we fell in love after you saved a man’s life on one of my flights, it might be what I need for the right people to finally remember my name.”</I>

It’s the way she wasn’t even directly involved in the medical emergency, but is milking it so hard to her advantage that’s giving me the ick.
It’s giving fake feminism and her character as a queer Latina woman was only used as token diversity.
It feels so scammy and disingenuous.
I get that she wants to shine in a "boy's world" but there's better ways of going about it.

Their whole connection felt forced, and there was too much going on between this and both of their families and the mental health and end of life discussions, as well as the stupid ex-girlfriend that kept bringing in unnecessary drama and added no value to the story.

Olive and Stella hadn’t even known each other for a full 24 hours and Olive was already having so many sexual thoughts like “maybe Stella would casually mention how much she liked pussy during the next conversation, and then rip Olive’s clothes off” and saying that she’d be an appropriate person to sit on top of Stella’s face. Like, calm down.
Maybe if this wasn’t a singular pov and we got to see if Stella was equally interested at such an accelerated rate, it wouldn’t have felt so off, but as it was, I just couldn’t get invested.

So much of this story, to me, felt like it was inadvertently taking jabs at women and I didn’t like it.
There was also multiple instances of homophobia and transphobia that didn’t need to be added.

And what was the purpose of always referring to the man with the allergic reaction as Mickey Mouse? Why were they incapable of using his name?


*To note: I read/listened to the digital and audio arc in tandem, and there were variations between the two in terms of certain word choices (like swapping a “her” for “their”, or “gay” for “lesbian” and other details pertaining to whether the battery of a cellphone was dead, etc.) so I can’t comment on which version most accurately reflects the final copy.


<b>SPOILER</b>
Are you kidding me with that ending??? Did I seriously read 95% of a book where they fake date in order for her to get a promotion, just for her to quit? That completely negates the whole basis of the plot and feels like such a slap in the face and a waste of my time.

This was a sweet story but it lacked the spark I look for in romance novels. I still recommend this but it wasn't one of my favorites.