Rating: 4.75/5
Trigger Warnings: family issues, panic attacks
About the Book:
Author: Janisha Boswell
Published: September 17th, 2024
Genre: Sports Romance
Description:
WREN HACKERLY refuses to quit. Figure skating has always been her life, but when her ex humiliates her on the ice and her career is on the line, she needs a comeback. With her college team's morale and donations plummeting, 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. After a team tragedy, he’s the only one still struggling to bounce back, making it hard to even think about hockey when it used to be the only thing on his mind.
After an eventful meet-cute and a bet-turned-date, Wren and Miles form the perfect partnership. His popularity could revive her star status and team support, while her workouts might get him back on the ice. But their fake dating pact reveals more than they expected. Miles’s kind side starts to thaw Wren’s frozen heart, and she finds herself falling for him more each day.
When the line between what’s real and what’s fake begins to blur, will either of them admit to feelings that aren’t just pretend?
This book was originally self-published by the author in 2023 under the title 'Fake Dates & Ice Skates.' Since then, the author has made minor and some major tweaks to the story, but the overall themes are the same.
Review:
Before I start this review I want to thank Jan and her team for this Advanced Reader Copy! I received the e-book version of ‘Falling’ earlier this summer and was able to enjoy reading it on my Kobo. However, I must also note that although I received this book as an ARC, ‘Falling’ was most definitely already on my TBR. The author (Janisha Boswell) re-made the original book ‘Fake Dates and Ice Skates’ into the new and improved version called ‘Falling’ which will officially come out September 17th (mark your calendars, or else)!! Applying for this ARC simply made so much sense to me as fake dating is my all-time favourite trope and sports romances have been some of my best readers ever as well (especially when hot hockey players are involved) ;)
‘Falling’ follows the main characters Wren and Miles as they’re going through a year at North University. As soon as I picked up the book I was immediately into it and I think this was due to two things: 1) the author’s writing style and 2) knowing that they were going to fake date eventually. Now, there’s a lot of talk online about whether authors announcing or even promoting tropes count as spoilers…And though I respect both sides of the argument, knowing a little taste of what I’m going to have to look forward to in a book is never a problem with me personally. Needless to say, this knowledge of the main trope paired with the author’s engaging writing style was exactly what I needed from ‘Falling’ as it created an instant sense of anticipation. In other words, I was on the edge of my seat!
As I continued to read ‘Falling’, I only fell (no pun intended) further in love with the main characters and their friends. As always, I appreciate a good group of side characters in a romance novel and both Wren and Miles had fun and engaging friends to follow along with (especially Wren, no shade to the boys though). Her relationship with Scarlett and Kennedy not only had me excited for their future books but also served to keep Wren grounded throughout the story like any good girl group should! Friends aside, I really did love Wren and Miles individually as well. Wren’s perfectionism and people-pleasing tendencies struck me right in the heart, not to mention Miles and his authentic grief and family struggles. If I can tell you one thing about this book (in order to make you fall in love with it as much as I did) it’s that these characters are so unapologetically human.
Now, onto the romance! Not only is this book figure skater x hockey player (the god-tier trope of hockey romances) it also has a good girl x good boy vibe which always makes me mushy inside. The main comment I have about their pairing in this book was that as I read Wren and Miles slowly fall for each other it simply made so much sense. This is the highest compliment I can ever give a romance novel because we all know that feeling when two characters don’t match or don’t have enough chemistry for the romantic plot to actually engage you as a reader. With Wren and Miles, this was not a problem…Their banter was impeccable and realistic, plus their other more serious communication was heartfelt and full of trust, something (I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again) is the foundation of any good couple!
To wrap up, when I think of the other romance novels I’ve rated this highly over the last couple of years and which qualities define them a couple of things come to mind: engaging writing/dialogue, palpable chemistry, and most importantly, respect between the main characters! In my opinion, ‘Falling’ had all of this and more. I’m so glad to have gotten the chance to review an ARC of this book (so a big thank you again to Jan and her team!!).
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