Don't Fall in Love With Me
-
- Pre-Order
-
- Expected Apr 14, 2026
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
“Paige Toon warms your heart, shatters it in pieces, then puts it back together again and again.” —Abby Jimenez
Sometimes the heart wants what the heart can’t have.
Grace has loved Jackson since she was fifteen. Spending every summer together exploring his grandfather’s chateau and the tumbling rivers of the gorgeous Ardèche region of France, they were best friends. Until he married someone else.
Three years later, a newly single Jackson re-enters Grace’s life with an irresistible offer: her dream job in the very town where their story began. As memories from those idyllic summers flood back, Grace encounters another old friend Étienne, who proposes a plan to make Jackson jealous. Their scheme begins to work just as Grace finds herself questioning if the sparks between them might not be so pretend after all.
But games can be dangerous, and Étienne is harboring a secret that could shatter Grace’s heart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Toon (What If I Never Get Over You) makes the most of the French countryside setting of this transporting destination romance. Londoner Grace and New Yorker Jackson grew up spending summers together in Ardèche, where Grace would visit her grandmother, a ceramicist, and Jackson would stay with his grandfather, the owner of prestige spring water company Eau de Sainte Églantine. Grace loved Jackson in secret for much of that time and is devastated when he marries someone else. Three years after the wedding, Jackson is freshly divorced and tempts Grace, now a marketing professional, to return to Ardèche to work with him on rebranding Eau de Sainte Églantine. Once there, she also reunites with French car restorer Étienne, whom she first met at 17 when he was caring for his terminally ill mother. Étienne offers to flirt with Grace to help spur Jackson to action through jealousy. As this scheme plays out, however, Grace questions which man is really her endgame. Toon plays fair with the love triangle, skillfully building out each character's backstory. The real star here, though, is the dazzling scenery, from quaint small towns to caves bedecked with prehistoric art. Armchair travelers are sure to be pleased.
