Carly is trying to land a full time position in fashion consulting so she can quit her day job in accounting. Brooks is a stoic doctor who spends his days off at home gardening alone. In an effort to save their family’s magazine, Brooks’ sister and Carly’s best friend, Sasha, convinces Brooks to be a part of a Bachelor-esque dating article. Sasha brings in Carly to be the stylist for all the dates and photo shoots. Brooks is supposed to be out on dates finding love, but he might find it in the most unlikely place.

This was a fun and simultaneously heartbreaking read. The banter was great, especially loved the epistolary style writing of their text exchanges. Being from the OKC metro it was fun to read about familiar places and events. Brooks was a sweet MMC or “brunch daddy” as Allison Ashley would call him 😆. Overall, I enjoyed this story. A few aspects in the story felt a tiny bit disjointed, is the only thing making it a 4 star read for me.

✨fashion industry
✨interconnected standalone
✨best friends brother
✨forced proximity
✨friends to lovers
✨grumpy/sunshine
✨cinnamon roll MMC
✨dual pov

🛑TW: parent death, car accident, heart attack


Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

4,5 ⭐

what a quick, fun and cute read! this was my first allison ashley book, and i enjoyed soo much.

the story follows carly, a full-time accountant, who dreams of turning her side hustle as a fashion advisor into a full-time career.
brooks, a dedicated doctor, has spent the last decade buried in work, leaving his social life behind.
when his sister, sasha, asks for help reviving a magazine founded by their mother, he agrees to take part in the makeover. carly's mission is to fix his terrible fashion sense.
with each styling session, they form a deeper bond, but can't be together because of a non-dating policy.
will they be able to overcome the obstacles and be together?

first of all, i really liked the cats and cucumbers being included in the story. it was awesome.

i loved carly and brooks' journey. it was a slow burn, which i personally love.
they kind of knew each other in high school, but now that they started working together, carly and brooks truly started getting to know one another. watching their relationship grow was really sweet. they took their time, gradually building a bond and opening up about their pasts. the story struck a great balance - it was an adorable, light love story with moments that touched on deeper, emotional topics. both characters had been through difficult experiences, and i especially appreciated the insight into brooks' mental health and how he dealt with grief.

the characters were really likeable. carly was really empathetic, kind and mature. brooks was really fun and dedicated to his job as a doctor. both were really relatable, each with their own issues to work through, and i loved seeing their character development.
my personal fav character was the coach.

the writing style pulled me in right away. the banter and funny dialogues, constant teasing and inside jokes - totally my cup of tea. all of their interactions were just so cute.
i really appreciated the author's accurate (i think? idk much about the medical field but it seemed professional) descriptions of the hospital.

i'll definitely be reading more from this author!
i think the only thing i wasn't a huge fan of was the third- person pov, but it's just a personal preference.

i highly recommend this book if you enjoy the forced proximity/best friend's brother tropes.
it's definitely worth checking out!

This is my 3rd (?) Allison Ashley book and I think her writing style improves with each book. I enjoy the fact that she can throw the medical side of things into her plot while keeping it romance focused. She also has some heavy elements to her writing and this one is no different. If you like Abby Jimenez, you'll eat this book up!

A solid 2.5 star read (rounded up to 3 for goodreads purposes). It was cute but as a bedside healthcare worker, there were just parts of this book I could not look past… ie daydreaming about using a hospital bed to fuck my doctor bf?? 🥴🥴 ALSO in what world would an off duty physician fully run a code on a loved one?? Literally would never happen. For someone who doesn’t have an upfront seat to medicine this might be a fun little read but for me I just could not get over the icks.

Thank you Montlake and NetGalley for the eARC!
I’ve loved every one of Allison Ashley’s books and this one is no exception! The premise of If Tomorrow Never Comes was admittedly a hard sell for me but she pulled it off beautifully. By the end I was excited to follow Carly’s story as well. I liked that she knew exactly what she wanted. The banter was fantastic and I really enjoyed seeing Carly and Brooks’ relationship develop.
It was extra fun to see this book set in OKC! I loved seeing all the nods to my hometown and familiar places!

Set in Oklahoma City, Brooks hasn't had a life over the past decade, focused on completing his education as an ICU doctor. When his sisters need help with the family-owned magazine, his younger sister convinces him to complete a bachelor-style dating series that they will document through the magazine. Her best friend Carly steps in to help with his fashion (those jeans!) as he prepares for dating again. Carly is trying to get to be a full time stylist (currently only a part time gig around her full time CPA job). As the two become close during the styling sessions, they come up against past trauma and see if they can find a future together.

I have read several novels by the author (though I haven't read If Tomorrow Never Comes, which this is a sort of sequel to), so it is great to see her style again. The medical detail is very detailed and thoughtful as always. This one was just slow to click into place for me, though it was great to see how Carly and Brooks come together.

This romance features:
💜 Sibling's best friend
💜 Forced Proximity
💜 Grief and loss of loved one (see content warnings)
💜 Slow burn
💜 Complex family relationships
💜 Cute cats!

Closed Door / fade to black

3.5 / 5 stars

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC!

Allison Ashley always seems to do a great job of creating stories that are both fun... but also really emotional as well. This one was no exception. Brooks left his partying ways behind to become a doctor and bit of a recluse. To help their family's fashion magazine and get him out of his rut, his sister Sasha comes up with a plan to send him out on dates and share about it for the magazine. She enlists her best friend Carly to help style him... and boy, do the sparks fly between these two. Carly and Brooks had great banter that made me smile... and oh, the chemistry between them! They were such a fun duo, while the story also took on some harder topics like grief as well. Seeing the growth that both characters made throughout the story was fantastic and I just found this one to be a very enjoyable read.

Falling Into Place is a fade-to-black romance, but it does get pretty steamy before it fades out (heated kisses, clothes coming off, innuendo, etc.). It does also have heavy language.

**ARC received via Netgalley for consideration. All opinions are my own.

Falling Into Place is a delightful, light-hearted read that offers a perfect escape from the everyday. The storyline flows smoothly with just the right amount of drama and romance, making it an easy book to get lost in. The characters are engaging and relatable, and while the plot isn’t overly complex, its simplicity is part of the charm. It’s the kind of book that keeps you smiling and turning pages without feeling weighed down. A solid 4-star read for anyone looking for something sweet, breezy, and uplifting.

Thank you to Montlake for the advance reader copy of Falling into Place by Allison Ashley!

Brooks, a former high school party boy, now an antisocial, work obsessed physician, is asked by his sister, Sasha, to be the main subject in a magazine series to help boost sales. Sasha is the publisher of their family’s fashion magazine which is currently struggling. Sasha’s proposal if for Brooks to go on dates as part of a series. Sasha recruits her best friend, Carly, who is an accountant but also a freelance personal stylist. Carly helps style Brooks during the series. As Carly helps Brooks, the two begin to form a connection.

I loved the setup for this book! The forced proximity between Carly and Brooks is done so well and I simply melted reading these two grow mutually unspoken feelings for the other as they did this series. Of course, due to the series for the magazine, this adds a difficult element the two have to navigate as they both strive to be professional despite their growing feelings. This story has signature Allison Ashley vibes throughout and does not disappoint! I enjoyed the personal growth for both of the MCs. The last act pulled at my heart and wrapped up so wonderfully!

If you enjoy a friends to lovers, forced proximity, best friend’s brother, this is a romance to check out!

I throughly enjoyed this book and would love to read more from this author. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

What a surprising five-star read. The slow burn, the duel pov, the man having the make over and realising what is important and just creating his true self. A self that dealt with the grief of the loss of his parents and makes him able to cope with what happens and become an even better doctor. This is a sweet story, with some heavy storylines, but those storylines are done beautifully and create such joy in you in the end. This author has created some great emotional stories and this one is simply great.

Lovely story! Enjoyed the character growth in all the main characters, and Jamie was a delightful cinnamon roll MMC. Sweet and touching.

I really enjoyed this one! I actually read it all in one sitting session. it was very sweet and cute. the concept of the story was different to this authors previous works, it didnt dive in as deep, but overall it was really fun!

Grateful to have received the ARC of Falling into Place, as Allison Ashley is one of my auto-buy authors! Her smart writing and well-developed characters make her books easy to love. Some of my favorite tropes, like best friend's brother and friends to lovers, are the icing on the cake. I love an intelligent, sensitive MMC, and Brooks fits the bill!

Another great read by Allison Ashley! Thank you NetGalley for this arc. Carly & Brooks had a perfect friends to lovers story and I really enjoyed all the side characters as well. Can we get a book for Sasha next!?

This book was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more. Allison Ashley has an amazing way of bringing depth and real life topics to her rom-coms. I always walk away from one of her books more satisfied than expected. So far I have read three of her books and I think I would go as far as to say this one was my favorite. The emotions that the author is able to pull from her reader shows just how talented she really is. I laughed, I cried, I gasped and I swooned. I simply could not get enough of Carly and Brooks.

The pacing was just right and held my attention from start to finish. I absolutely adored this sweet love story and can’t wait to get a physical copy for my own bookshelf.

Carly, a driven CPA with her sights set on a stylist position at the chic fashion company Mode, teams up with her savvy magazine-editor best friend Sasha. Their plan? A unique bachelor event for Oklahoma City, designed to land Carly her dream job and boost the magazine's profile. Enter Brooks, Sasha's older brother, a recently freed-from-residency doctor in desperate need of a style upgrade (and perhaps something more).

The transformation of Brooks' wardrobe, guided by Carly, is just the beginning of their unexpected connection. What starts as a professional collaboration sparks into a slow-burn attraction that simmers beautifully. The authors navigate the potential pitfalls of their burgeoning feelings – Brooks' past with his sister's friends and Carly's professional boundaries – with a delicate touch, making their eventual surrender feel earned and satisfying.

While the initial plot is light and fun, the story delves into deeper emotional territory as Brooks grapples with past trauma. This vulnerability adds a layer of complexity to the relationship and provides a genuine test for Carly and Brooks' newfound connection.

This is the first book I've read by Allison Ashley and It won't be my last. She had a fast-paced writing style that draws you in right away.

This book was amazing! The romance was so sweet and the banter was so fun. And the story was very well paced. I would highly recommend!

I really wanted to like Falling into Place because I liked the FMC, Carly in If Tomorrow Never Comes and wasn’t a fan of how the main characters in that novel treated her after she’d been kind enough to donate her stem cells to the FMC so I was really happy to discover Carly was going to get her own HEA in Falling into Place.

After I’d finished reading though, I still like Carly as a character and there wasn’t anything particularly off-putting about the MMC, Brooks but Falling into Place was just OK. I’ve been thinking about it over the last couple of days to try to figure out what it was that stopped it from being a 4 or 5 x Star Read and I still don’t know. I just didn’t engage with it.

I've read several of Allison Ashley's books before and this is my favorite so far. Could not put it down. Loved the banter between Carly and Brooks. Pacing was great. What a sweet, story!