Such a cute story! Sophie Sullivan never disappoints! For a story that feels so sweet and lighthearted it did teach some pretty important lessons. The biggest one being love is the most important thing in the world! I definitely recommend this very happy happily-ever-after!

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for access to this E-ARC! This was so cute! Loved the characters & the setting. Also really enjoyed the writing style. New favorite.

I enjoyed the writing and the plot and characters. More than I’d expected to. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted arc.

Dual POV, Closed Door Romance, Fake Engagement, He Falls First & Harder, Rich MMC x POOR FMC

Lexi and Will have a wild cute meet which transforms into a fake engagement. Lexi having her life plan altered after the death of her father is trying to put the pieces of her life back together while still caring for her grief stricken/depressed mother. Will one of Seattle's most eligible bachelor's is tired of his mother's match making can't wrap his mind around the strong pull he feels towards Lexi. While this book has plenty of light hearted moments, Sullivan has skillfully intertwined the themes of grief, depression, self confidence, and the way we often compare ourselves to our peers. Laugh out loud funny, tender, emotional, and full of yearning Can't Help But Falling is the ultimate romcom.

“Can't Help Falling in Love” by Sophie Sullivan
When things get tough, dig a little deeper
I fell in love with this story. If you like a really good emotion filled love story then you definitely want to read this story. And, be sure to read the author’s acknowledgements. I did, and yes, she for certain sure did achieve her goal for this story. Thank you Sophie for the chuckles and the tears and the HOPE for tomorrows when today is way too tough. Happy Reading ! !

I don't know what Sophie Sullivan has been doing with her most recent books because I am absolutely obsessed with them. This book was so much fun to read about and I loved that our MMC had such healthy emotional intelligence. I thought that the whole story was so much fun and of course unrealistic, but that's what makes the best romance book in my humble opinion. I love that her books are closed door romance, as I find it adds an element of tension and sweetness to all of her books. Easiest 5 stars I've given this year!

Can’t Help Falling in Love, the latest from Sophie Sullivan, is a fake engagement tale that hinges on the slimmest of pretexts. If you can get past the fact that there is no reason why Will (Grand) and Lexi (Danby) could not have cleared up the misunderstanding about their relationship as soon as it happened, you’ll find an enjoyable story with a blend of humorous and serious moments.

Lexi is a former high school track star who feels like she has fallen behind since her father died a few years ago and left her and her mother, Gwen, in a financially challenging situation. Lexi lost her track scholarship and left school before finishing her degree. She’s working several jobs while taking online classes part-time. She’s back home living with her mother, who is depressed and still working through the grieving process.

Will is the CFO and public face of Grand’s Babies, a successful local family business started by his grandfather (who remains CEO). Despite his mother’s attempts to find him a wife from “the right kind of family,” he’s focused on work, and, to a lesser degree, his family, which also includes his grandmother, his father, two sisters, a sister-in-law and a couple of nephews.

Will and Lexi meet when Will steps in to help Lexi out of an embarrassing situation at the restaurant where she’s an inexpert waitress. When they go to a party given by former friends of Lexi’s from high school on their first date, their relationship status is misinterpreted as engaged, and after that they are caught in an ever-widening net of lies. Despite this shaky start, they are both actually interested in seeing each other, and agree to maintain the engagement fiction while they see where the relationship goes.

Will and Lexi are both sweet, caring people so, in spite of their different backgrounds, it’s easy to believe them as a couple. It’s a cute story, and although there are some conflicts to be worked out, it’s a fairly light read.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the ARC.

This cover is so cute! The writing style was hard for me to follow. I can see how people would enjoy this story though! A sweet romance. The writing style and characters just weren’t my favorite.

I loved the way the fake-dating trope was given a fresh twist in this sweet, fun and emotional romance. The chemistry between the main characters is there from the get go and the way it builds as they spend more time together gave me all the warm, fuzzy feelings. There are plenty of cosy autumn vibes and a lovely bunch of supporting characters too, who help the MC’s learn more about themselves alongside their deepening feelings for each other. I think the emotional journey Lexi goes on with her mother as they face the depth of her grief and the way it’s impacted them both is threaded alongside the romance really well, so it is heartfelt without becoming too heavy or maudlin. I will definitely check out more by this author in the future!

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me read this ARC.

THIS MEET CUTE.... IM SPEECHLESS. The quick glances. The flirting. And it turns into fake dating right away?! Tell me more, Miss sophie. I'm begging on my hands and knees.

Will was the perfect book boyfriend. He's sweet. He's a family man. He gets along with your mom. He helps you find a job that's actually fulfilling and not soul sucking. He's supportive of your choices. He encourages positive self-talk. Literally, what more could you ask for in a man?

Lexi was... how do I say this? I don't think we would be friends. She's giving self-fulfilling prophecy and perchance some self-destructive tendencies. I get that you've had some rough patches in life, but isolation just ain't the answer, girly pop. Also, homeboy was basically in love with you on page 7 and you just want to use him for his body. Ick.

If you're looking for meet CUTE, fake engagement that turns into real dating, and a large helping of 'he falls first', this book is for you!

Cute book with some funny moments and good friendships. Some of the conflict didn't make sense to me. Overall, a decent book. *I received an ARC of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.

This is the story of Lexi and Will. Lexi is a less than awesome waitress trying to make ends meet while supporting her grieving mother and finish her degree. When her high school friends come into the restaurant, she sits down with Will who plays along with her pretending they are dating...or engaged. Will has his own struggles and they lean into their fake relationship. When it turns to more, everything they are hiding comes to light in ways that break your heart and come back together perfectly.

I love how Sophie writes smart banter and her relationships are light and easy to love. She writes the depth in her stories with a loving hand that makes them easy to read but also give it a little weight. Her heart for love stories and romance shine in this new series.

Lexi does not want to be seen by old high school friends as a waitress so she asks Will, a stranger, to be her fake boyfriend. It does kick off the whole book.

To me, this was delightful. The fake relationship felt so nice. Even when they decided to actually date, it was just done so well. I loved that it touched on harder subjects too, grief and how we compare ourselves to others.

This book did make me cry in the best way and I cannot wait for more.

A very successful company’s heir and a waitress trying to stay on her feet meet and end up in a fake relationship. It ends up turning into a fake engagement but the feelings that blossom are not fake at all. Very cute and I loved it!

Will first lands his eyes on Lexi, as she was struggling to waitress - but when old friends of Lexi's showed up to her work, she say down pretending to be on a date with Will. They were invited to an engagement party together, and their fake date turned into a fake engagement. But the scariest part of it all, is the real feelings that start to emerge.


Lexi is a struggling, down on her luck waitress, and Will is the heir to a major company and Seattle's most eligible bachelor. Their lives couldn't be any more different.


This book was cute - touches on some topics like grief - but still held a light fluffy feel throughout.


Lexi may have been struggling and barely making ends meet, but she was still strong and resilient. She cared for others, but struggled with seeing herself in a positive light- making her real, and a character that others can relate to.
Will was sick of his mom trying to set him on dates and marry him off. And something about Lexi drew him in. They made each other laugh, and they liked spending time with each other. The engagement may have been fake, but the feelings they began to develop was real.


I really enjoyed these characters, and this book. It made me giddy and want to keep picking up this book to read it. It was an adorable read, with perfect fall-vibes. It was a little cheesy, but in a good way. And while it was mostly light & fluffy, it did have some real emotion behind it too, rounding it out. So if you love meet-cutes, and adorable light fall reads, I definitely recommend this book.
4⭐ out of 5⭐.
1🌶️ out of 5🌶️. There was chemistry & tension but no ful detailed scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sophie Sullivan, and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

4.5 stars

I loved their relationship. It just felt so real even when they were fake engaged. Lexi’s character was so raw. The grief of losing her father and feeling like she hasn’t accomplished what she thought she would have by now. That was personally relatable to me. Life sometimes just moves you off course and there isn’t much we can do about it. I’m so glad that Will was a down-to-earth guy. He wasn’t an annoying billionaire. All of the side characters were also great. I look forward to reading more from Sophie Sullivan.

I highly recommend it!

This book was a delightful read, offering multiple perspectives that, while not aligned with the chapters, were easy to follow. It was a quick and engaging read, featuring lovable and charismatic characters. The multidimensional story touched on real-life challenges, adding depth to the narrative.

The dynamic of the fake engagement between Lexi and Will was particularly enjoyable, even though it wasn't exactly a fake dating trope. Lexi's unintentional involvement of Will in her web of lies, meant to hide her personal struggles, revealed that everyone has their own issues despite appearances. This added a layer of authenticity to the story.

Overall, this book was super cute and easy to read, with an enticing storyline and enjoyable characters. I would love to see a sequel focusing on the best friends, Maisie and Ethan—I'm really rooting for them to get together.

* I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. *

If you want a cute, feel-good, rom-com that’s steamy without being explicit.. this is IT. Seriously, this whole book was like a warm hug. Even though it doesn’t shy away from the really hard parts of life and how life can be a struggle, it still feels light and feel-good. I loved Lexi & Will. This book has one of my favorite tropes and I loved seeing those two walk that path. Everyone (mostly) had great growth and you grow to love almost the entire group. Overall, I’d read this again. I loved it.

loved it more than I can handle. My little Fall heart was just smiling and swooning the entire time I read. This is what a book is supposed to do to you.

For fans of: Fake relationship, Opposites attract romance tropes

I'm a first time reader to Sophie Sullivan and am delighted to have discovered her. I took to the world she created and the love story of Lexi and Will immediately. That's rare for me with a new author. I found Lexi's back story and her meet cute with Will to be immensely satisfying and believable I'm not super familiar with Seattle so getting to travel there and be in that locale was fun. I liked that Will knew immediately that Lexi was not in need of "saving" and also that she was the real deal. It's everything you want in a romance.

The fact that Will was an incredibly wealthy heir and Lexi not so, didn't bother me. Also, as I generally gravitate toward books with forced proximity lovers' tropes or fake relationships, Lexi and Will's pretending to be a couple worked for me perfectly.

A wonderful Summer addition for your beach read.











Opinions are all my own. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC!