The Fastest Way to Fall — Books, Beauty, & Buys

By: Denise Williams
Published Year: 2021
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Pages: 384

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape of form influenced my opinion of this novel.

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Britta didn’t plan on falling for her personal trainer, and Wes didn’t plan on Britta. Plans change and it’s unclear if love, career, or both will meet them at the finish line.

Britta Colby works for a lifestyle website, and when tasked to write about her experience with a hot new body-positive fitness app that includes personal coaching, she knows it’s a major opportunity to prove she should write for the site full-time.

As CEO of the FitMe app, Wes Lawson finally has the financial security he grew up without, but despite his success, his floundering love life and complicated family situation leaves him feeling isolated and unfulfilled. He decides to get back to what he loves—coaching. Britta’s his first new client and they click immediately.

As weeks pass, she’s surprised at how much she enjoys experimenting with her exercise routine. He’s surprised at how much he looks forward to talking to her every day. They convince themselves their attraction is harmless, but when they start working out in person, Wes and Britta find it increasingly challenging to deny their chemistry and maintain a professional distance.

Wes isn’t supposed to be training clients, much less meeting with them, and Britta’s credibility will be sunk if the lifestyle site finds out she’s practically dating the fitness coach she’s reviewing. Walking away from each other is the smartest thing to do, but running side by side feels like the start of something big.

First Impressions

Cute cartoon-y covers will get me every time. I also love a good unforbidden romance so I was sucked in by the summary. I was excited to get a chance to read this one.

What I thought

Britta is a journalist and she is writing a column about her journey with the FitMe app. Wes is the owner of the app and when looking for a distraction, he decides to get back into the coaching side and ends up being Britta’s coach. Their chemistry is undeniable from the minute they start talking while they both deal with the potential ethical dilemmas they both face.

I really did love Britta and Wes as well as their chemistry. The first half of the book had me completely sucked in. Britta was a lot flirtier with her coach than I probably would’ve been, but I appreciated his responses. He didn’t immediately flirt back, but tried to keep things professional by joking back and giving coaching advice. But you could still feel that he wanted to flirt back which I appreciated it.

I don’t know what it was exactly about the second half of the book but it slowed down a bit for me. Maybe it was because I was waiting for the conflicts I knew were coming and it seemed like it took a while to get there? I do feel like 400 pages was a bit long for this story and some parts could’ve been trimmed to keep the pace going strong.

This book dealt a lot with body image and acceptance as well as eating disorders and exercising. I felt like the author dealt with these problems very well, even if they aren’t things I can completely speak to. Not to say I haven’t had issues with body image and acceptance, but I’m an average size person and I would say I’ve had average size problems. Britta is plus size and she talks about the struggles of being a fat woman going to the gym, joining a fitness app, dating, shopping, and so much more. Her written pieces are done so well and I wish that her column had been a real thing.