The Hardest Fall by Ella Maise is a standalone romance. This review will be spoiler-free!
The first time you meet someone, you make eye contact. You smile, say hello. Should be simple, if you’re anyone but me. The first time I met Dylan Reed, I found myself making eye contact with a different part of his body. You see, I’m very good at being shy, not to mention extremely well-versed in rambling nonsense and, unfortunately, rather highly skilled at making a fool of myself in front of a guy I’m attracted to.
At the time, I knew nothing about him and thought none of what I said would matter since I’d never speak to him again. Turns out, I was very wrong. He was the star wide receiver of the football team, one of the few players expected to make it into the NFL, and I ended up seeing him all over campus. I might have also propositioned him, run away from him, attacked him with a cooking utensil…and…uh, maybe I shouldn’t tell you all of it. It’s pretty normal stuff, things you’d expect…from me. Eventually, the time came when I couldn’t hide anymore—not that he’d have let me even if I tried.
Before now, he never knew I was secretly watching him. Now that we see each other every day, he knows when I have a hard time looking away. It doesn’t help that I’m not the most subtle person in the world either.
He smiles at me and tells me he finds me fascinating because of my quirks. I can’t even tell him that I think my heart beats differently whenever he’s around. He thinks we’re going to be best friends. I think I have a big thing for him, and the more I get to know him, the more I don’t care that I’m not allowed to be his friend, let alone fall for him. The thing is, that’s exactly what I’m doing—what we’re doing, I think.
Falling. Hard. (Synopsis from Goodreads)
A hot, tense, slow-burn roommates to lovers that kept me turning the pages.
From the very first page, this book had me laughing and I kept laughing until the very end. There were some heartbreaking parts and a few parts that made me want to scream, but more often than not I was laughing.
Dylan and Zoey were such an odd couple. Zoey was sweet and shy, but she also had this spark to her that made me root for her to win. Dylan was the hot athlete with a heart of gold that makes girls swoon. They were a very unlikely couple, but life kept throwing them together.
I was already a fan of Maise when I picked up this book, but this one has to be my favorite. I DEVOURED this book. I am weak for a good romance and this was exactly what I wanted it to be.
I had two problems with this book.
The first one was that I saw all the twists and turns coming. I wasn’t surprised by anything that happened. I like when I can make theories about what is about to happen and I even like when some of them come true, but this book was just a little too predictable, even for a romance.
The second thing about this book that disappointed me was that Zoey seemed to loose her voice throughout the book. This was really disappointing because I loved Zoey. She was unique and quirky. She has a very specific voice at the beginning of the book and I loved it. But somewhere towards the middle she lost it. She felt very monotone and some of her quirkiness disappeared.
Other than those two aspects, I loved this book. I do think it could have been better, but still I loved it. I think the drama with the side characters added a lot to the story. Each character had a thorough background and personality that made them feel very real.
As I said, I am a fan of Maise. I have read most of her books, including her debut. It is easy to see her progression as a writer. She has improved with each books she wrote. The writing is clear and flows nicely. I never felt lost or confused about how a certain set of events happened. There were no typos or inconsistencies that pulled me out of the story.
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I recommend this book to all the romance lovers out there. It is a hot roommates to lovers story that will make you swoon.
K.J. White Reads 