Book Reviews

Book Blurb

That’s it. My neighbor has to die. There’s no other way around it. The man must be killed—and I’ll even find a way to do it gently, but this cannot go on.

Okay, maybe I’m a bit dramatic, but living next to my brother’s best friend who decided to befriend the crows that spend all week spreading garbage across my lawn is not what I signed up for.

I wanted quiet.
I wanted peace.
I wanted to stop fantasizing about the gorgeous man I couldn’t stand.

Unfortunately for me, North is a big presence with an annoyingly sunny smile and a way of making life sound like it’s worth living. And as a widower who wants to spend the rest of my life wallowing, the last person I want around is one who makes me question my new life’s purpose.

But these feelings can’t be real, can they? I had my great love, and I lost him. So that’s supposed to be it for me.
Isn’t that the way things go?

I can’t seem to stay away from North, even when I know I should. And when he starts to make me feel like maybe there’s another happily ever after out there, I find that as cautious as I’ve taken each step, I’m on the verge of falling once more.

Don’t Fall is the first book in the small town, enemies to lovers, heavy yearning, MM romance series, Storm Season. It features a virgin EMT whose smile is hiding a lot of things, a disgruntled, grieving writer who just wants solid sleep and a good meal, neighborhood crows wreaking havoc, cooking lessons, hurt/comfort, and a toe-curling happily ever after.

 

Book Review

“You are not afraid to love; you’re just afraid of not being loved back.” ~  unknown

 

Leo of 'Don't Fall' by E.M. Lindsay is exhausted. He wants nothing more than to be left alone. He's too far gone; he doesn't think he can handle anything else. The accident that took his husband's life left him with a traumatic brain injury. His whole world was turned upside down. He went from a historian and writer to hardly being able to care for himself. With his brother's help, Leo is learning to manage most things, but because of his injury, there are some things he'll never be able to do again.

 

North is a complex person. His only close friend, Easton, Leo's older brother, knows everything about his troubled past. He has physical and emotional issues he tries hard to hide, which become overwhelming at times. To most people, he is an affable, generous, happy guy, but not to Leo. For some unknown reason, he and Leo irritate each other but are also fiercely attracted to one another.

 

To gain more independence, Leo buys a charming little house in a quiet neighborhood. Or so he thought. His idyllic paradise is crushed when the neighbor's pet crow (Russell Crow) starts wreaking havoc in his yard by constantly cawing, getting into the trash, and spreading it all over the yard. Leo is upset by the crow's misbehavior, but when he learns it belongs to North, he's upset with North and his brother as well. Even though Easton knew about the animosity between North and Leo, he still encouraged Leo to buy a house near North.

 

North is the unofficial station chef; when Easton gives Leo someone else's food, North loses it. He's had a bad day, but that's no excuse for how he treated Leo. In retaliation, Leo decides to replace the meal even though he can't cook and makes a total mess of the food, the kitchen, and himself. He stumbles over to North's house to deliver the food. North is confused, but when he realizes what Leo has done and why, he feels bad. He tries to eat the pasta, so Leo won't feel bad, but when Leo tastes it, it makes him even angrier because North lied and told him it was good.

 

While Leo is there, he has a seizure, and North slips into his professional self. Because of their toxic relationship, he can't imagine why North is being so nice to him, so he keeps resisting his help. With no one else around, vulnerability surfaces, and they begin to share stories from their past, which surprises North even more than Leo. This surprising intimacy confuses both men and leaves them questioning what lies behind their past reactions to each other.

 

'Don't Fall' included one of the most befuddling romances I've ever read. With all the unexplained actions and feelings between them, there had to be something more than miscommunication, not just between them, but within themselves. Thanks, E.M., not only for bringing Noah and Leo together, but also for shedding light on the debilitating condition of TBI.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book was purchased by the reviewer.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 326 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-July-2026
Price	$5.99 ebook, $16.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FRYD2282