Fly with Me: A Novel

Written by Andie Burke

Narrated by Chelsea Stephens

A sparkling and steamy Sapphic romance, Fly with Me by Andie Burke is filled with sharp banter and that sweet, swooping feeling of finding “the one” when and where you least expect it.

A one-way ticket to love or a bumpy ride ahead?

Flying-phobic ER nurse Olive Murphy is still gripping the armrest from her first-ever take-off when the pilot announces an in-flight medical emergency. Olive leaps into action and saves a life, but ends up getting stuck in the airport hours away from the marathon she's running in honor of her brother. Luckily for her, Stella Soriano, the stunning type A copilot, offers to give her a ride.

After the two spend a magical day together, Stella makes a surprising request: Will Olive be her fake girlfriend?

A video of Olive saving a life has gone viral and started generating big sales for Stella's airline. Stella sees their union as the perfect opportunity to get to the boys' club executives at her company who keep overlooking her for a long-deserved promotion. Realizing this arrangement could help her too, Olive dives into memorizing Stella’s comically comprehensive three-ring-binder guide to fake dating. As the two grow closer, what’s supposed to be a ruse feels more and more real. Could this be the romantic ride of their lives, or an epic crash and burn?

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Sep 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781250325051

Andie Burke

Andie Burke writes books with queer kissing and happily ever afters. She was originally an English major who decided to jump into a pediatric nursing career. Her writing is inspired by over a decade spent working in hospitals with patients of all ages. After the last couple years spent in the pandemic ER, she escaped to an outpatient pediatric sedation unit. Andie lives in a blue house in Maryland with an alarming number of books and an embarrassing number of ultra-fine point pens. When she’s not writing, she’s probably feeding snacks to the two small human creatures who live with her or trying not to kill her chaotic houseplants. You can find her on Bookstagram adding to her ever-expanding TBR or letting her ADHD brain happily dissociate while listening to Taylor Swift.

Reviews for Fly with Me

[Jude · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Olive’s afraid of flying, but she needs to get to Disneyworld in order to check an item off her brother’s bucket list. As fate would have it, on her very first flight, a medical emergency requires her to intervene. An ER nurse with ten years of experience, she efficiently cares for the passenger in need of help, filmed by several phones. In the process, she catches the eye of Stella, one of the pilots. And of the world, as the video goes viral. A few days later, Olive and Stella being the adorable useless sapphics that they are, they agree to act as fake girlfriends to their mutual benefit.

Olive, who benefits from the author’s knowledge as a nurse herself, is passionate, driven, but her panic attacks and a nasty ex make her question her worth. Add to that an inextricably difficult family situation and it’s no wonder her heart isn’t into dating. She’s aware fake dating a woman she has a crush on is probably stupid but she’s also trying to get out of her comfort zone. Stella, on the other hand, seems to know exactly who she is and what she wants: an excellent pilot who keeps being overlooked for promotion because she’s a woman, and a Latina. On the personal front, said woman is bad at relationships and keeping to friendships or a bit of fun is safer. Yeah, right.

Yes, it’s another fake romance. Once again, it’s sweet and funny, with characters I couldn’t resist. Despite some very heavy themes, Burke keeps the tone mostly light, which allows her to explore topics such as grief or the weight of expectations, the one others impose upon us as well as those we hold ourselves to, while maintaining a sense of hope throughout. I enjoyed the banter and the tenderness, the badass scenes, Olive’s best friend, Stella’s dad…

I also loved the narration. Chelsea Stephens’ name rang a bell but not her voice(s). It turns out that I’ve listened to her narrate The Heart of the Banshee by Carolyn Elizabeth, but it’s such a different genre that I didn’t recognize her. I always find that kind of versatility amazing. I was unsure about Stella’s voice at the beginning but it really suits her personality. I don’t think it’s stated at any point, but I wondered several times whether she had ADHD. She has that unstoppable tornado energy. Olive seems to settle her, just as being with her makes Olive forget about her anxiety. My wife and I have the same kind of dynamics, so of course I enjoyed it!

My friend Carrie recommended this book to me a few months ago and it took me some time to finally listen to it, but I had a really good time with it.

Read all my reviews on my website (and please get your books from the affiliation links!): JudeintheStars.com

[Veronica Costas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing novel. I loved the writing and the story. It gave me all the feels