*I was given an ARC of Falling in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Little Brown Book Group and Janisha Boswell for my copy of the book*

Synopsis:

Welcome to North University!

Wren Hackerly refuses to quit. Figure skating has always been her life, but after her ex humiliates her on the ice and her career hangs in the balance, she needs a comeback. With her college team’s morale – and funding – crumbling, she has to find a way to keep people interested.

Miles Davis is North University’s golden boy, famed for his hockey skills and movie-star looks. But after a team tragedy, he’s the only one still struggling to bounce back, making it hard to care about the sport that once defined him.

When a bet-turned-date throws them together, they realise they might just be the perfect pair. A fake-dating pact could help Wren rebuild her reputation and Miles find his way back to the ice. But as Miles’ kindness thaws Wren’s frozen heart, and the line between real and fake begins to blur, will either of them admit to feelings that aren’t just for show?

Review:

I’ve become somewhat of a sports romance fan recently, so when Falling popped up I knew I had to check it out. There are plenty of hockey romance books out there but this one appealed to me as the female main character is a figure skater and skating was something I did when I was a tween. So you can imagine just how much I loved the skating scenes, they took me right back to my childhood.

I really struggled to get into Falling at first. I found the writing to be a little clunky and cringeworthy, but it got so much better after a few chapters. There were definitely still a few moments that made me cringe, but once I really got into it I was hooked. I read about 70% of the book in one sitting and spent most of that time slowly falling in love with Miles.

I love a man that’s pathetically in love and that’s exactly what Miles is. From the very first second we met him I knew he was going to fall first and harder. There was no miscommunication about his feelings for Wren and I love that. You could see him agreeing to the fake dating to be a little gross as he clearly liked her already, but he was a pure gentleman and never pushed her to do anything she didn’t want to.

Wren was often a little too indecisive for my liking (rich coming from a Libra), She knew from the get-go that she was actually interested in Miles romantically but she kept talking them both out of going further than the fake stuff. I get her reasons why and I did really like the mental health representation, but when you find a guy as good as Miles, you need to take that opportunity. He was pretty much perfect, almost like he was written for a romance book or something.

I do think more time could have been taken to build their friendship and the fake dating stunt. I’m the type of person that really enjoys fake dating when the characters don’t like each other very much, which is what I thought would happen here a little. Instead Miles tells Wren almost instantly that he’s attracted to her and she kind of does the same. So the intensity of the situation didn’t feel too high. I like the stakes to be fairly high (or as high as they can be in contemporary novels) and having the characters know from the very beginning of the fake dating scenario that they do like each other romantically, even if it’s just a little bit, took away some of the fun.

However, I did really like them together. They seemed to bring the best versions of the other person out and their chemistry was undeniable. It’s just a shame that the fake dating element feels like it was used purely to draw readers in rather than be an integral part of the story. Don’t get me wrong, it did serve a purpose. Fake dating Miles helped Wren out massively, but it never really felt fake.

One of the best parts of Falling was that the book wasn’t just about sports romance. There were much heavier themes that were handled really well and the characters felt real. You could feel the pressure on Wren to perform well otherwise she’d face the disappointment of her mother. Miles dealing with the loss of his best friend and not even being able to step onto the ice was heartbreaking. There was a surprising amount of depth to most of the characters really and I am actually interested in checking out the other books in this series.

Although the fake dating wasn’t as intense as I’d hoped, Falling will be making its way onto my favourite fake dating books list. There were still great will-they-won’t-they moments and I do think their romantic relationship was built well, the instant friendship was a little jarring though.

I would highly recommend Falling if you’re a big fan of hockey romances. This is only the second one I’ve read (I think) but it was really great. I don’t know if I’d consider myself a ‘hockey romance girl’ as I still know absolutely nothing about the sport, but this was fun and I’ll likely check out more in the future.

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