Every Time I Fall by Lexi Ryan

Posted April 13, 2021 in review Tags: 4 stars, best friend's sibling

Every Time I Fall by Lexi Ryan
Pages: 281

Series: Orchid Valley #3
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC

He’s my brother’s best friend.

The hot guy with the heart of gold I’ve never let myself want.

Guys like Dean don’t go for girls like me.

Curvy. Thick. A big girl. Whatever label you put on me, I know who I am and what it means. And that’s fine. I’m content to be Dean’s buddy and nothing more.

Or so I thought. When Dean finds out about my bedroom issues and decides to help me fix them, everything changes.

He swears there’s no such thing as “bad in bed” and pleasure is all about chemistry. I’m not convinced, but he intends to prove it. With his mouth. With his body. With his dirty texts and whispered promises.

I know from the first kiss that I’m going to fall hard. That this can’t last, and the end might break me. But, for these days with Dean, all the hurt might be worth it.

Every Time I Fall had tears streaming down my face from early on-I just empathized with Abbi so much. The hurtful comments from others, the severe lack of self esteem, and the self loathing all resonated. Any “thick” girls out there will feel like they can commiserate with Abbi’s struggles.

My biggest struggle with the story was the whole “fake relationship” type trope. Dean wanted to help Abbi, but he also wanted her help in staying away from his ex. After all Abbi has dealt with in relationships, I wanted her hero to love her!! Yes, Dean eventually figures out he does, but I wanted Abbi to never have to doubt that love.

There is a lot of angst in Every Time I Fall because both Abbi and Dean are hesitant to trust and dealing with past rejections. There is plenty of heat in the story as well, which was great! Abbi begins to discover herself again after others have tore her down, thanks to Dean’s (sexy) help. While I wanted a more devoted hero for Abbi from the beginning, I think Dean was great for her. He effortlessly boosted her self esteem because he really saw her as a beautiful, smart, sexy woman.