REVIEW: Fall With Me by Becka Mack
Content warning: discussion of the past death of a child from an allergic reaction
Dear Becka Mack,
I loved Consider Me when it came out and have read and enjoyed the other books in the Playing For Keeps series to one degree or another, so I was happy to pick up Fall With Me.
Jaxon Riley is a player (in all senses of the word) traded to the Vancouver Vipers and “adopted” by teammates Carter, Emmett, Garrett and Adam. He’s been traded by various teams over the years and, based on his experience, he expects he will be traded again one day. He does not try to make a home in Vancouver. What would be the point? When he tried to get in touch with previous teammates they ghosted him. There are other reasons in his past too, but the upshot is that Jaxon believes he is not worth hanging around for, not worthy of love.
Lennon Hayes is a biracial woman originally from Canada but who has most recently lived in Georgia, After finally breaking up with her horrible fiance shortly before their wedding, she decides to go on the honeymoon alone in Cabo San Lucas. In the bungalow next door is Jaxon and Brielle. Jaxon decided to take off because there was a bye week and he didn’t want to be the fifth (or ninth) wheel with the gang and he picked up a girl at the gym and took her with him. Jaxon was hoping for a lot of sex and not much else on the break. Brielle sees a happy ever after apparently. Jaxon cannot be bothered to remember her name. (In fact, Jaxon is a bit of an asshole when it comes to women. He never remembers their names. Until Lennon that is. That’s a sign.) Consequently, Lennon has the joy of listening to a lot of loud sex and a lot of loud arguing, mostly from Brielle – until Brielle has enough and leaves. The next day Jaxon and Lennon have a very hot and very drunk hook up. Then Lennon leaves as her honeymoon is over.
Lennon has taken a job in another country to start fresh after the break up of her long term relationship. Guess what? She’s the new photographer/social media manager for the Vancouver Vipers. Oops.
Lennon’s romantic history with Ryne (yes, that’s his name and he’s as ridiculous as his name is) was such that she bent herself into a pretzel to make him happy and put herself last for everything. Why she was with him at all is beyond me. The Lennon of the book is not one who would put up with that nonsense for a hot second. Because of the emotional abuse Ryne subjected her to, Lennon does not have many friends (she’s close with her brother and her cousin though) and feels a bit on the unlovable side too – so she has that in common with Jaxon.
However, after Lennon is immediately adopted by the “Coochie Gang” (some of the other group names were much worse) consisting of Olivia, Cara, Jennie and Rosie, and also by their guys, Lennon quickly comes into her own.
Jaxon has been wholly adopted by the gang. They make no secret of their feelings about him (“I love you buddy” is common – do guys really talk like that? Well, I guess these guys do) but Jaxon does not believe them really. Much of the conflict in the book is regarding Jaxon realising he is enough and he is worthy of love. That is the heavier side of the story – there were parts here which were a little overwrought. Some conversations didn’t feel like things people would actually say and felt a bit like wish fulfillment – “what would this character/the reader want to have said to him?” – rather than “what would this character actually say?”
“Have you ever stopped to ask if we think you’re worth it?” Garrett looks me over, his gaze swimming with my pain. “Because for the last year and half we’ve been looking at a teammate and friend we call family, someone we can’t imagine our lives without, and you’ve had one foot out the door the entire time, waiting for things to end.”
“We’re all scared of things,” Carter murmurs. “It’s what you do with that fear that matters. You can spend your life pushing away the people who want to love you because you’re afraid one day you’ll lose them. Or you can cling to it. The love, the happiness, that full feeling that makes you realize how truly empty you were before them. Life is hard enough as it is. There’s no reason for any of us to do it alone.”
Adam meets my gaze, the emotion he holds there so palpable I feel the way it crawls over me, a hand at my back. “At the end of the day, the only person you need to be enough for is you. But for what it’s worth, you’ve always been enough for us too.”
Then again, Carter does wear his heart on his sleeve so there’s that.
Jaxon was amusing in the previous book, Unravel Me; he went to an animal shelter with Garrett, both wearing a fake moustache in a ludicrous attempt at a disguise while scoping out Adam’s love interest who volunteered there. Jaxon ended up falling in love with a chonky orange polydactyl cat – Mittens – and adopting him. Mittens features strongly in Fall With Me. He is spoiled rotten by Jaxon, who sings a made-up song to him to the tune of “Soft Kitty” (which I know from The Big Bang Theory). Mittens regularly attacks Jaxon’s balls because Jaxon insists on sleeping naked (and Mittens generally sleeps around Jaxon’s head) and Mitts likes to batt dangly things. This is a source of constant hilarity to his friends. Mostly I was amused and charmed by Jaxon and Mittens’ love story. At times it was a little too over the top for me – but that is also largely my reaction to the book as a whole.
Lennon has a peanut and tree nut allergy and because of Jaxon’s history, he is extremely sensitive to her needs. His best childhood friend died as a result of anaphylaxis and he holds himself responsible. Lennon will be safe on his watch, no matter what.
Lennon and Jaxon circle around each other for a while but when Lennon’s apartment is rendered unlivable by a water leak, he offers her his spare room and, after that, it’s not long before they give into their chemistry and are boning nonstop. (I think I said in my review of Consider Me that there is a kind of Kristen Ashley-esque vibe to Becka Mack’s writing. It’s not identical of course, but there are similarities with the feel – particularly with the Rock Chick stories. One love interest moving in with the other at the beginning and basically never leaving is one of those similarities.)
Jaxon ping pongs from being an arrogant cocky asshole to being super sweet and thoughtful.
He rambles on while he cooks, talking more than I’ve ever heard him speak, but I can’t focus on a thing other than the fact that this man who everything in my entire body tells me to hate
remembered what I’m allergic to even though I’ve never actually told him. That he recognized the signs of anaphylactic shock and rushed to my side. That he stayed there for four hours while I slept in the hospital. That he brought me home, gave me a bed, threw out all his nut products, and fucking sanitized his kitchen. That in a single day he’s done more for me, cared more for me, than my fiancé ever did.
and
He turned the heating up two degrees to 72 without me asking, because I was walking around wrapped in a blanket. I made an offhand remark about the single shelf in the shower not being big enough for all my products, and even though he said maybe that’s a sign to use fewer products, when I came home from lunch with the girls, there were brand-new floor-to-ceiling shelves in one corner of the shower. A step stool magically appeared in the pantry a day after he walked into the kitchen to see me scaling the counters so I could reach the mugs on the top shelf, and even though he explicitly said Mittens wasn’t allowed to sleep with me, when my emotions got the best of me one night, the door creaked open, Mittens was tossed inside, and then the door was promptly shut again.
While Jaxon was definitely a complete jerk to every woman he’s ever been involved with before Lennon, his devotion to her and to her the girls in his found family more than made up for it to me.
Fall With Me is also the hottest book of the series so far. Jaxon and Lennon have a lot of sex and the scenes are plentiful throughout the book. This would not be a book to listen to in the car on the school run is what I’m saying.
Carter continues to be his completely over the top self – his daughter celebrates her first birthday during this book and the party is ridonkulous.
May I just say that I do not believe these guys actually are professional athletes? They eat far too much sugar for it to be possible. And Carter is barely ever serious – it’s hard to see him as the captain of a successful hockey team, motivating his teammates. I can’t help but love him but realism is definitely not what’s being served here.
As much as this friend group scares me with their out-there antics, I can see the attraction of being so completely accepted by a friend circle that never lets you down and is always ready to ride or die for you. (Again, there are similarities to the Rock Chick books – although the guys in those stories are lot more circumspect in their regular behaviour. Imagine Indy and Ally rolled together in one and you kind of have Carter – except there’s no kidnapping or tasers in the Playing For Keeps series).
There’s a certain headspace I needed to get myself into for Fall With Me. I had to accept the over-the-top-ness and just go with it. Having decided to do that, I found a lot to like in the story. It kept me engaged (even if I did roll my eyes from time to time), it made me laugh out loud from time to time –
I march over to them, disgusted by the sight. “Are you kidding me right now?” I gesture at Mittens when Lennon startles, rolling over to look at me. “He needs a hat, Lennon. It’s a summer photoshoot, the sun is shining, and he’s in a bikini! He’s fair-furred! Make it make sense!”
– and I did believe in Jaxon and Lennon’s love story. They really are perfect for one another.
Fall With Me is a feels book and it delivers.
Grade: B
Regards,
Kaetrin
