Fly with Me

July 3, 2023
Burke skillfully balances sweetness and heat in her delightful sapphic romance debut. When flight-phobic emergency room nurse Olive Murphy braves her first plane ride in order to run a marathon at Disney World to honor her comatose brother, Jake, medical disaster strikes and she ends up saving the life of a fellow passenger mid-flight. The plane makes an emergency landing in Atlanta, where grateful pilot Stella Soriano offers to drive Olive to Orlando herself—and then asks Olive to pose as her girlfriend so she can use the positive press about the incident to force the airline into the long overdue promotion they’ve been squeamish to offer a gay Latina woman. Olive and Stella’s quirks are both lovingly depicted, sex scenes have a refreshing mix of playfulness and intensity, and the tension between the couple’s insistence on their relationship being for show and their clear joy in being together drives the story forward at a brisk clip. Subplots about familial relationships as Olive visits Jake and Stella helps out her father, who has Parkinson’s, add heart, but the external stressor of Olive’s sabotaging ex, Lindsay, feels like an irksome plot device to add some late-stage conflict. Still, readers will eagerly cheer on the charming central couple. Burke is a writer to watch. Agent: Mariah Nichols, D4EO. (Sept.)Correction: An earlier version of this review mislabeled the book as a lesbian romance.

July 1, 2023

DEBUT An in-flight medical emergency and a viral video send two women on a collision course to love in Burke's first novel. Olive Murphy, an emergency-room nurse with a fear of flying, is on her very first flight across the country when she saves a life on board, which forces the plane to land shy of its Florida destination. The event goes viral while Olive is stuck in a strange airport, miles from where she needs to be. Then beautiful pilot Stella Soriano steps in and offers to drive them both to the Sunshine State. After one day together, sparks are flying, but it takes an idea from Stella to get them together: take advantage of their momentary fame by faking a relationship. As challenges mount for the two, it's not clear whether they can take the relationship from fantasy to reality. The characters deal with serious issues, including anxiety, caregiving, end-of-life decisions, workplace sexism, manipulative exes, and family conflict. VERDICT Burke crafts a heartfelt, emotional novel about two women who must learn to trust themselves enough to fall in love. Recommend to fans of Helen Hoang and Abby Jimenez.--Sierra Wilson

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2023
In this adorable yet heart-wrenching story of overcoming limiting beliefs, Burke weaves a classic romantic tale of fake dating while diving into the naked truth of trauma and mental illness. Olive Murphy is an ER nurse grappling with the pain of being estranged from her family after her brother's devastating accident. When she gets up the courage to board a plane (her biggest fear) to travel to a half-marathon she was supposed to run with her brother, Olive finds herself pulled into a medical emergency on board. Quick to fly into action, Olive saves a life and becomes an internet darling when a video of the incident goes viral. Which is when Olive's new friend and crush, copilot Stella Soriano, asks if Olive's willing to pose as her girlfriend; Stella is sure this will finally land her the promotion she's been dreaming of. Burke's masterful handling of Olive's depression and anxiety along with the depth of emotion in her writing will be appreciated by all romance fans.

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