Swoony Sunday Book Review: "Fall for Him"

Andie Burke's fun rom-com is a sexy and poignant look at two young men overcoming assumptions and contending with mental health issues to find they love they both deserve.

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Welcome to the first edition of “Swoony Sunday,” where I’ll be reviewing romance in all of its forms: film, TV, books. As a Pisces, I love to love, and what better way to express that than through writing about romance, the genre that’s all about finding your heart’s desire?

Spoilers for the book follow.

For the inaugural entry of “Sappy Sunday,” I want to talk about the new romance novel Fall for Him. Written by Andie Burke, it follows the romance between Dylan and Derek, the latter of whom literally crashes into the former’s bedroom after a leak in his apartment destabilizes an already very damaged floor. He volunteers to try to fix the damage–and hide a dog that Derek has in his apartment against the rules of the HOA–and, as he does so, these two young men find that there’s a lot more to their relationship than either of them thought possible. This is very much an enemies-to-lovers story, a relationship that’s paved with all sorts of difficulties, as these two very different young men figure out how to be better both as individuals and as a couple.

On a superficial level, I want to go on record and say that this book has an absolutely gorgeous cover, one which does both of its main characters justice. In fact, it was the cover that drew me to this novel in the first place, when I saw it on the shelf at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth. I remember thinking that this was the kind of book that was just crying out to be read, and I wasn’t wrong. The book more than lives up to the promise of its cover. Its protagonists are both lovable and exasperating in equal measure (always a requirement in romance), and we come to care about and love them both as individuals and as a couple. They each bring something unique to the table, something that makes them better, something that makes them think more carefully about their actions and the way that they engage with one another.

For Dylan, much of this revolves around finally coming to terms with his ADHD and some not significant family trauma. For Derek, on the other hand, it means contending with the fact that Dylan–whom he dislikes because of the way that he treated Derek’s own love interest years ago–isn’t what he seems to be from the outside. Each of them has to learn to give a little grace and to navigate another person’s needs and desires. For two people like this, with so much baggage, this can be a bit of a tall order, but Burke expertly guides us through the many ups and downs of their dynamic.

Fall for Him, like many other contemporary M/M romances, contends with the thorny issue of mental health, and how a person’s struggles within themselves can be as much of an obstacle to romance and true love as any external pressure. This is particularly true for Dylan, who has only recently been diagnosed with ADHD and who sometimes stumbles when it comes to managing. Coupled with the fact that his family–particularly his brothers–have been less supportive of him than they could have been, this means that he has quite a system of defense mechanisms built up and can sometimes misinterpret what’s happening.

For his part, Derek also has quite a few hang-ups to overcome, most of which center on grief. There’s the deep-rootedness of his father’s death, which has cast a very long shadow over his adult life and made his relationship with his younger sister Michelle particularly fraught and difficult. There’s also his sorrow over the death of his love–the same one who went on a disastrous date with Dylan, as well as his recognition that they would never have lasted even if they’d ever managed to forge a relationship. This is all heady stuff, but Burke’s genius as an author is that she allows us to see Derek in all of his complexity.

I don’t know why, but I seem to be reading a lot of books lately about characters who are grieving the loss of their fathers (I’ve also seen a lot of friends lose their dads recently). While mine is thankfully in very good health, he’s had his fair share of struggles, particularly with prostate cancer. For this reason, Derek’s storyline really hit me the hardest, and I’m not ashamed to say that there were moments when I actually cried when he was thinking about his dad and the whole left in his young life with his passing. Obviously the romance plot is important in Fall for Him, but I appreciate its willingness to grapple with other emotional issues as well.

Burke has a keen eye for and grasp of romance narrative, and Fall for Him has a lovely momentum and pacing. It’s a bit of a slow burn at first, but once these two men finally admit that they have the hots for one another the steam starts to increase exponentially. I love it when two men get to really explore in detail what gives them pleasure and, as regular readers of this newsletter also know, I’m a passionate defender of explicit sex scenes in M/M romance (and just in romance in general). Sex isn’t something to be ashamed of or hidden away, and in his increasingly sex-negative age books like this are even more powerful and important. The fact that they mesh so well emotionally and that they will do anything for each other–Derek even stands up to Dylan’s brothers at a family gathering–makes the sex all the sweeter and more meaningful.

As much as I loved this book, I will admit that it could be a bit confusing toggling between two protagonists whose names begin with the same letter. There were times when it took me a few minutes to really figure out whose point of view I was reading. Sometimes, it really does help to have protagonists who have names that begin with different letters.

Lastly, this book was filled with delightful secondary characters. Some of these are canine, others are human. Some are delightful allies–like Dylan’s sister and his doofy jock brothers and Derek’s friends and family–and others are enemies, such as the bossy Karen in charge of the HOA, but they all have their quirks and complexities. They never take away from the central couple, of course, but they’re more than just window dressing.

Overall,I really did enjoy this book and the way that it grappled with both its central romantic couple and with the various struggles that they had in their respective lives. It’s not always finding love in this turbulent world of ours, and it’s particularly difficult when you add in the difficulties that are always inherent in dealing with one’s medical health. Fall for Him is a powerful reminder that love has a way of finding us, often when we least expect it.