Book Review - Don't Fall in Love With Me by Paige Toon

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Title: Don't Fall In Love With Me

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 23rd April 2026

Rating: 5 Stars

What if the person you love the most is the one you can’t have?

Grace has loved Jackson since she was fifteen – when they spent every childhood summer exploring France's breathtaking Ardèche region together. They were best friends, until life took its course and Jackson married someone else.

Years later, Jackson re-enters Grace’s life with an irresistible offer: her dream job in the very town where their story began. And he’s newly single.

As memories from those idyllic summers flood back, Grace encounters an old friend Étienne, who proposes a plan to help make Jackson jealous. But as their scheme unfolds, Grace finds herself questioning if the sparks between them might not be so pretend after all…

Unbeknownst to Grace, Étienne is harbouring a secret that could shatter her world.

Will learning the truth finally set her heart free?

Or is this the beginning of a love story bigger than she ever imagined?

How I loved this book, I couldn't read it fast enough. 

I am always a fan of Paige Toons' books, and this is another excellent addition to her body of work.

I loved the setting of the Ardeche in France, and getting to know the two men that feature prominently within this story.  I was never completely sure which way Grace would lean in the end. 

We have Jackson who Grace has been in love with for most of her life, who has offered her a dream job, and she is determined not to let him back into her heart.  Confusing things is Etienne, a man she met one summer when she was 17 and never seen since until she runs into him in a bar. 

And well Etienne seems to have some beef with Jackson and is competitive and so the games begin, with Grace seemingly at the centre. 

But as we get to know everyone better, it becomes apparent there are other factors at play and I knew who I wanted her to be with, but wasn't sure, as it could have swung either way. 

Add in getting to know Grace's gran Mellie, and also Jackson's grandpa Albert, as well as various other people in the town, and you have a beautifully written, lovely summery story,  that takes in summers past and present and was just a pleasure to read. 

I thoroughly enjoyed every moment I spent between the pages of this novel. 

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.