Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 It's taken me a while to put my tangled, jumbled thoughts on How Not to Fall into a somewhat coherent string of words. But I did it! Hopefully! When I first heard about this book after doing a podcast with Sarah and Emily (truly a highlight of my SBTB career, I must say), I lost my mind. It sounded smart and sexy, and if you know me, smart people doing sexy sex things is my jam. 
 However, after finishing the book (and while reading), I felt such a weird conflicted range of emotions. Did I enjoy it? Yes, absolutely. Was it without its flaws? No, of course not. But where did my enjoyment eclipse my complaints? Did they? 
 I love how earnest and honest Annie is. She's in touch with her emotions, even if they may be dorky or inconvenient or a little naive. She feels them fully. And I think that's in part due to the way the book is written. It's technically first person, but it felt more like I was Annie's best friend and she was recounting all these details, rather than feeling like I was temporarily inside her head, as with most first person POVs. 
 But both Annie and Charles' intelligence made me feel kind of dumb at times. When Annie is struggling with her research and Charles has her look up "reptilian vagus," and it's further explained in the text, I had to read the description several times before I understood the implications of the term. The depth of the science stuff made reading the romance feel like work and then I'd get irritated at myself BECAUSE LEARNING NEW THINGS IS NEVER WORK, AMANDA. 
 Once Annie and Charles get going physically, though, my earlier complaint of it not being sex-filled right out of the gate quickly disappeared. The exploration of sex or rather...sexploration was fun and smart and sexy and kinky. And it's definitely a romance that shows how sex can be awkward at times, and that above all, you're supposed to have a good time doing it. It doesn't always have to be confessions of love, where you're left misty-eyed and dumbfounded by the realization that this is your true wuv. It felt real to me. 
 That being said, there's a bit of a tonal shift halfway-ish through the book. Annie and Charles both go into this friends-with-benefits scenario knowing that it's only temporary. And as romance readers, we all know how that goes. But the book starts out a little goofy and light-hearted. There's a lightness to it even as Annie is dealing with adult decisions like deciding her future and contemplating sexual relationships. 
 I would recommend this book, honestly. The smart characters and Annie's earnestness as a heroine are so refreshing, despite the emotional shift in the narrative. I'm glad I read it and I'm going to scramble for the continuation because I want to know what Emily Foster will do with these characters. What tropes will she use? Which ones will she tweak? What new things will I learn? And while I struggled with various aspects of How Not to Fall, I think it's always a good sign when I still want to know what an author is going to do next. 
 - Amanda