Book Review — The Fall Up by Aly Martinez

“Don’t let go. No matter what, okay?”

“Never.”

• Buy THE FALL UP (Kindle)
• Buy THE FALL UP (Paperback)

WOW WOW WOW!!! I loved everything about this book!!! From the moment I started reading, I was hooked. It had the perfect balance of a gorgeous romance, heart-melting swoon, sexy hotness, hilarious banter, and incredibly deep emotions, that all came together in a unique love story loaded with feels!!

I couldn’t put it down, can’t stop thinking about it, and highly recommend it to every romance reader!! This is easily one of my favorite books of 2015!!

This is one of those books that grabbed my attention right from the very first page. I was immediately drawn into the story and captivated by these characters who each had their own secret, but painful, reasons that brought them to the bridge each night… teetering on that knife’s edge between life and death. I instantly wanted to know more about them and what had brought them there, and I loved the way their connection bound them together even before either of them knew who the other person really was.

At first, their concern for each other was more just one human being reaching out a hand to help another, but the more they got to know each other, the deeper that connection grew. And given where they’d met — on the edge of a bridge, on the very edge of life — suddenly they both had so much more to lose.

Given her fame and how badly she could be hurt if the real reason she was on that bridge were to ever be made public, she was naturally wary about allowing him, a total stranger, into her life but luckily, he was the kind of guy who didn’t care at all about her fame. He just wanted to make sure she was okay, safe, happy, protected. He cared about her — the real girl inside, not the pop princess the world idolized. And OMG, his line to get her to go home with him literally made me squee right out loud!!!!!! I loved how he was the kind of guy who bypassed ALL the bullshit most people would get stuck in and got straight to the point. I absolutely adore it when characters are direct and don’t hide their feeling. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!

Palming each side of her face, I dropped my forehead to hers. “I’m going to make things awkward. It’s kinda what I do. Just bear with me.”

She licked her lips, and I was forced to kiss her again. When I finally came back up for air, I continued.

“My name is Samuel Nathan Rivers. I’m twenty-seven. Aquarius. No criminal history. I have a clean bill of health. I’m a democrat, but for God’s sake, do not tell my mom. I own a furniture shop and clear six figures a year. I’m not interested in your money. I’ll show you my tax return if need be. I’m also not a super-fan interested in your fame. But, for the love of all that’s holy, I need you to come home with me.”

SQUEEE!!! SWOOOOOOON!!! *thud*

And that whole point above really leads into the element which I ultimately loved most about this book as whole, which was that there was NO unreasonable drama at all. Yes, each of the characters respectively made their own mistakes (nobody is perfect, after all) but one way or another, they’d always find a logical way to work through their issues and ground each other… and I FREAKING LOVED THAT!!!!

While this book does certainly deal with some very serious themes, in true Aly Martinez style, it is also  perfectly balanced out by incredibly sexy steam and downright hilarious laugh-out-loud banter. I read a lot of books in general and I’ve read several of hers (this is my 6th) and I have to say that she does one of the best jobs as an author of maintaining that delicate balance between emotions, humor, and hotness.

More than once, I choked on my tea because some random line from either the banter between Sam and Levee, or her gay best friend (and fellow pop star) Henry caught me off guard and literally made me LOL.

Henry groaned, finally dragging his eyes off Sam. “This is so not fair. Why would you flaunt this fine specimen of a straight man in front of my and not even let me nibble. Do you not love me at all?” He pouts.

“No one is nibbling anything,” Sam quickly added.

Henry winked. “Yet.”

Sam stepped away and dug into his pocket. “Jesus, I need a cigarette.”

And for those of you who love steamy romance, I can almost guarantee that Sam Rivers will have you fanning yourself in no time. This man was rugged, sexy, tattooed and pierced in all the right places (*waggles eyebrows*)… not to mention that he was incredibly protective and had a heart of gold.

My breath caught in my chest. God, he was gorgeous.

I cupped his strong jaw. “There must be a million women throwing themselves at you. How are you not married with a boatload of kids by now?”

His smile spread impossibly wide. “I hadn’t met you yet.”

Pure swoon material, I’m telling you!!!

Going back for a minute to the more serious subject of suicide which is a theme surrounding the way Sam and Levee met. I first want to reassure you that no one dies in this book — it’s a Romance and as such has a suitably gorgeous ending that filled my heart to the very brim with happy feels. But I also wanted to say that the whole subject of suicide in general is approached with incredible respect and care. It is dealt with very openly as both the characters’ lives have been affected by it, but the direction in which that storyline was taken was one that I had a lot of respect for. Kudos to the author for presenting it so well.

I’ve had a few readers ask how much Levee’s fame played into the book so I wanted to reassure you that while her fame did naturally affect their lives in some ways, it was not the central focus of the book, nor was there any annoying drama regarding it. In fact, I was actually extraordinarily pleased by how much Sam and Levee defied the ‘norm’ in the way they handled this aspect of their relationship. They didn’t let anything stupid come between them and I absolutely LOVED them for it!! In the end this is a story about a boy who saves a girl who ends up saving him. In their own ways, they saved each other.

I kissed her hair and whispered, “There isn’t a woman in the world who doesn’t have demons of some sort… it’s always going to be a struggle.” I kissed her hair again, letting it linger as if my lips were able to transfer the truth of my words. “Levee, I’d like to struggle with you.”

… She laughed then leaned her head back to my shoulder. “Sam, you have no idea what you’re getting into.”

“No one ever does. It’s the beauty of taking risks.”

Aly Martinez’ books always have that absolutely perfect blend of sexy romance, deep emotions, light hearted fun, and unique storylines. They are the very best kind of love story! Oh and also, this is easily one of my favorite covers of 2015 and I promise you that the story inside is every bit as beautiful as the cover.

I highly recommend it!!

Rating: 4.5 — 5 stars! Standalone Adult Romance.

• Buy THE FALL UP (Kindle)
• Buy THE FALL UP (Paperback)