Fall for Him

by Andie Burke

Dylan Gallagher’s extremely hot downstairs neighbour seemed to loathe him from the second he moved in, and given that Dylan just caused a flood, fell through the floor, landed directly onto that same neighbor’s bed, and made the worst timed “It’s Raining Men” joke ever, that seems unlikely to change.

Meanwhile, when rains it pours for ER Nurse Derek Chang. The timing of the astronomically expensive deluge couldn’t be worse. Paying off his sister’s debts emptied Derek’s bank account, and the underlying root cause of the collapsed ceiling came from his own unit. Also, the local HOA tyrant has been sniffing around trying to fine him for the illicit, extended visit of his best friend’s dog.

Dylan has his own reasons to keep the catastrophe quiet. He offers to fix the damage himself and help keep Derek’s dog-sitting secret. The two men have to squeeze all their emotional baggage and the 130lb dog into a tiny one-bedroom apartment. Dylan knows he’s not Derek’s type, so he's intent on getting the repair job done as quickly as possible so he doesn’t do anything stupid like acting on his inconvenient attraction. Meanwhile Derek’s trying to ignore the fact that the surprisingly funny, tattooed nerd sleeping on the couch is growing on him more and more, despite his determination to hate him.

• ISBN10: 1250886392
• ISBN13: 9781250886392
• Publish Date: 14 October 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Saint Martin's Griffin,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[chymerra]

When I got the invite for Fall for Him, I was excited to read it. I had read Fly with Me and enjoyed Olive and Stella’s romance, so I was giddy when I realized that this was Derek’s romance. Derek was one of my favorite secondary characters in Fly with Me, and I was hoping he would get his own book.

While these books are technically not in a series, I recommend reading Fly with Me before reading Fall for Him. That first book gives a lot of background about Derek (which should have been my first clue there would be a book 2). The author goes over everything rather quickly in Fall for Him. However, the nuances and relationships are fully explained in Fly with Me.

The main storyline of Fall for Him centers around Dylan and Derek and their romance. The book literally begins with Dylan falling through the floor onto Derek’s bed and taking off from there. I found the storyline to be well-written, funny, and often sad.

The romance angle of Fall for Him was slow. While Dylan and Derek had feelings for each other, some major misunderstandings kept popping up. The most major one (and the one that broke my heart) was Dylan and Derek’s relationship with Olive’s deceased brother. That relationship and what Derek thought he knew about it almost derailed Dylan and Derek’s romance. Besides that, it was fun to see a relationship that was true to life.

Dylan’s mental health issues were also a considerable part of the book. As the mother of a daughter who has severe ADHD, I applaud the author for her true-to-life depiction of ADHD. Everything that Dylan experienced in the book mirrored things that my daughter has experienced. It was refreshing to read a book where ADHD wasn’t demonized or put down.

A secondary storyline runs throughout the book involving a nosey HOA president. I couldn’t believe her audacity and the power trip she was on because of that title. I will give a small snippet of what Carol did:

• Tried to tell Derek that renovating an apartment was against HOA rules (it wasn’t)
• Broke into Derek’s apartment with a spare key given to her (it was in case of an emergency)
• Tried to have Dylan’s younger sister arrested for breaking and entering.
• And my favorite
• Accused Dylan of making porn in his apartment.

And that isn’t even all of it. Carol made me mad and even more determined not to end up in a building or house with an HOA.

The author also touches upon workplace violence (Dylan is an ER nurse) and sibling bullying (his father and brothers mercilessly bully Dylan). It is essential to understand that both happen, but only workplace violence gets any attention if brought up. Seeing how Dylan was treated by his father and brothers was heartbreaking.

The end of Fall for Him was perfect, and the epilogue had me laughing and crying. I will never hear “Death to the Patriarchy” again without picturing Dylan’s niece. I am also looking forward to seeing if there will be another book.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley, and Andie Burke for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Fall for Him. All opinions stated in this review are mine.