REVIEW: Make Me Fall by Sara Rider

In Make Me Fall by Sara Rider, Nora Pitts has moved to Shadow Creek to start over after a divorce left her without a job or any friends. She joins a book club, but the members are more interested in coming to her place to see her sexy neighbor, Eli Hardin. When Eli hears the other women making fun of her, he goes over to ask her on a date. What starts out as a pity date between neighbor’s who can’t stand each other turns into a friendship, then onto something more. Both of them have pasts that hold them back from fully committing to a relationship, but will they be able to put their pasts behind them to give their relationship a chance?

Nora and Eli start off disliking each other. Eli, renovating his house, often works on it late at night, leading Nora to constantly complain about the noise. Once they get to know each other though, they realize that they aren’t so bad. I loved how Eli took it upon himself to get Nora into a book club with other women, including his sister, who would be the genuine friends Nora desperately wanted, instead of the other book club who only used her to spy on him.

Eli carries around a lot of guilt for his mother’s death, and Nora is afraid of being in a relationship after watching her parents’ marriage fall apart. The two find themselves helping one another work past their issues.

“The only thing I can ask you all is to remember that nothing lasts forever. You can’t waste time because you’re scared. You have to hold on to the people you love now because you never know what will happen tomorrow.” His voice had grown raw, words tumbling out of him in a rushed jumble.

Readers who enjoy enemies to lovers stories will enjoy this one. The characters are well-written and relatable, the secondary characters are just as great as the main characters, and the storyline is enjoyable. I’m looking forward to reading more in the series.

Book Info:

Publication: September 24, 2018 | Sara Rider | Books & Brews #2

After losing her job, her home, and her friends in her divorce, Nora Pitts is determined not to make the same mistakes when she starts over in the small town of Shadow Creek, Washington. No more slaving away in the lab at the expense of her social life, and definitely no more men. Ever. But making friends in her thirties is so much harder than she anticipated. And when it comes to her gorgeous yet obnoxious neighbor, it’s a whole lot easier to make enemies.

Eli Hardin doesn’t have a lot of sympathy for his uptight neighbor, until he overhears her so-called new friends making fun of her un-datable status. Suddenly he finds himself volunteering for a date with a woman who’s been leaving angry hate-notes in his mailbox, and in way over his head. Because all it takes is one disastrous date with Nora for Eli to fall hard.

But falling for Eli isn’t something Nora’s ready for—not when he’s her complete opposite, and especially not when he turns out to be the best friend she’s made in Shadow Creek. But as her attraction and her feelings for Eli grow hotter, resisting him might just lead to heartbreak anyway.