Breaking up is hard to do.It’s even harder when you’re not expecting it.Brooke Jensen is a planner. Not only in her personal life but also professionally as one of the most sought after event planners in Chicago. But, when the ideal life she built for herself, complete with handsome, long-term boyfriend and perfect apartment crumbles, she realizes there are some things you just can’t plan for. … things you just can’t plan for.
While trying to start anew from her best friend’s guest room and discovering the best doughnuts in the city, an idea sparks to life when she meets Levi. He’s intriguing, funny, and shockingly good-looking, and what had been a few stray thoughts becomes a new passion for Brooke, a blog detailing learning how to be single. The project introduces Brooke to new people and experiences, and keeps returning her back to Levi.
But, Brooke learns kismet may have been wrong when she learns Levi is the last person she should be interested in.
Falling for the wrong guy once has Brooke hesitant to start a new relationship, but Levi is quickly proving that The Fallback might be even better.
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I really love this romance read from Mariah Dietz.
I savor this fun sweet journey of Brooke to move on and to find her happiness. Lots of ups and downs, lots of frustrations and laughters. I know it’s all about Brooke but what I really love most in this book is the friendship between Brooke and Felicity, their closeness and how they support each others makes me want a Felicity in my life, they’re just so click together, their banter always put a big smile on my face. There’s also love sweet moments between Brooke and Levi, it’s sweet and adorable, but I found Brooke really take Levi’s patient for granted, I understand her hesitation, but it’s a bit annoying for me, but in the end I can’t not cheering her for everything she’s been through and how determined she is to pursue her happiness.
This book might be on a slow pace side, but again I enjoy every moment of it.
If you’re looking for a romance read, this one is definitely for you.
*I voluntarily received a review copy of this book
5 STAR Review by Jodi for Ruby Red Romance Review
I loved The Fallback. I loved the heart of this story. I loved that when faced with a difficult situation, Brooke handled herself with class and dignity. It takes a strong woman to handle the situations Brooke found herself in, but she was amazing. For me, that shows that there is a strong author behind the words of an amazing story. Mariah Dietz is a new to me author, but this story made me want more. Her writing kept me craving more of Brooke and Levi.
I’ve told you a little about Brooke, but there really is so much to her. I love that she loves her job. That she puts up with things that are not her responsibility because, well, she’s good at what she does. I also love that she didn’t want to blur the lines of professionalism. I can’t say there was anything I didn’t love about her character. Levi was awesome. While he was a little more willing to mix the lines, he was good for Brooke. He brought things out in her that I’m afraid would have been trapped if not for him. He made her see that she could have it all and with him.
I every second of this amazing story. I can’t wait to read more from Mariah Dietz. Please check out The Fallback.
“It’s difficult to always strive for perfection and then accept that sometimes perfection isn’t what we’d originally thought it was. Sometimes perfection is what we didn’t see. What we didn’t know. Sometimes, perfection is the fallback.”
Mariah Dietz has given her readers a story packed with emotions, a beautiful romance, some twists I didn’t see coming, and most importantly, an important life lesson.
Brooke has some serious trust issues, and she has every right to have them. She has grown to expect people to hurt her and eventually abandon her. That impacts all aspects of her relationships. Her only friend is Felicity, and she has a good relationship with her Grammy. She has never been able to give her heart freely or completely to anyone. However, when Levi enters her life, she will have to face her issues. Will Levi finally be the one whom Brooke gives her heart to?
Levi is the whole package. He is intelligent, sexy, and has a heart of gold. He, like Brooke, has had his heart broken, but he realizes she is the one for him. He is incredibly patient with her. He isn’t perfect as readers will discover, but neither is Brooke. Every decision he makes, he does it with her heart in mind.
The story was well-written, and as I mentioned earlier, Dietz has some surprises in store. Those added more depth to the romance between Brooke and Levi. While this is a romance, it’s also a story about a young woman discovering who she is and loving herself despite her imperfections.
I love when a writer has a deeper meaning within the pages of a book, and Dietz is one of those writers who has a talent for this. She has left me with a precious little gem. People aren’t perfect, and life isn’t perfect. It can be painful at times. As she showed me through her secondary characters, such as Felicity, her Grammy, and yes even, Catherine, life is about the people who love you. Instead of concentrating on those people who don’t care about you, bask in the love and joy of those who do. Life is much better that way. Thanks, Mariah Dietz for reminding me of that.
This book was amazing and will stay with me long after I have read it. It was so heart breaking and so real that I cried and laughed and yelled at my kindle. This is a story that can happen to a person in real life. Mariah has crafted and created a world where reality comes out and draws you in to keep you reading until the end. You need to know what is going to happen to Brooke and Levi.
Brooke is a sought after wedding planner. She has the life she has always wanted. Her business is thriving and her personal life is going great. That is until one day Brooke walks in on her boyfriend cheating. Her world is turned upside down and she crumbles and moves out of the apartment they shared and moves in with her best friend. That is when her best friend suggests they go out and that is when she meets Levi.
That is when Brooke comes up with the idea to start a blog for learning how to be single. Once she starts this blog she starts to live her life differently. She goes out and she does things she never would have done before. With all this new found happiness Brooke keeps thinking about Levi. She wonders what it would be like to be with him but she is scared because she has had her heart broken so she treads lightly with Levi. Slowly building up a friendship that turns into a relationship Brooke learns that The Fallback is wroth it.
My last read of 2018 and it was a belter.
I’ve decided that on my bucket list I want to kiss a gorgeous man on the jumbotron. And if it could be a gorgeous man like Levi Westbrook who can cook me dinner and steal my heart with his dimple that would be even better.
Wedding planner/events coordinator Brooke starts writing a blog, “Tales of Being Single” and decides to check out things that she hasn’t tried before like rock climbing, baseball and yoga. With perfect timing along comes Levi, dimple and all to help with her to do list.
The Fallback is a beautiful heartfelt story full of friendship goals and great female role models. Catherine of Glitter and Gold is not just a bitchy boss, she is so much more than that. I want to be Catherine when I grow up.
Brooke is a complete doughnut loving sweetheart. She is so likeable and lovable that she lights up this book.
Fab way to end the reading year. The Fallback isn’t a self help book but it has some really, really powerful messages:
“I don’t know if everything happens for a reason, but I do know that everything we experience teaches us something. Prepares us in some way to experience more. This might not have been the plan, but sometimes the fallback can be even better.”
“There are rules. Dating rules. Commonsense rules. Self-respect rules.”
“I’m boring. I prefer pajamas to dresses, barefoot to shoes, and I am realizing that I really suck at almost all girly things. My idea of fun is finding the best doughnut shops in town.”
“Don’t let age scare you from chasing your dreams. It’s only a number.”
“If you don’t like your cards, you make your own hand. Discard the bad ones and wait until the good ones come.”
“I had focused on my negative traits rather than my positive ones. Don’t listen to those doubts. They’re poisonous and will keep you from being who you’re meant to be.”
“Follow your heart. If faced with adversity remember you don’t have to face it alone but if you are, it will pass. You are strong and no one can take that away.”
“One path ends, and another begins. That’s life. Don’t miss the present because your’re so busy trying to continue on a previous path.”
4.5 Stars!
I just want to give a slow clap to this one. After a few recent let-downs with indie-published stories, I was starting to have trust issues. This is the quality of writing and editing I want in indie-published works and this author gave it in spades with her strong characterizations, vivid details, and a complete and thorough story arc. Although the romantic relationship is foremost, the story read like women’s fiction with an emphasis on female relationships. Brook and Felicity’s friendship was a highlight with their authentic intimacy and fun banter. Along with Brook’s relationship with Felicity, there were also important relationship moments with her family and fellow employees. As for the romance, Levi and Brook were a slow burn delight. Not too slow as to cause my ADD tendency to rear its head, but just right with Levi’s sweetly coaxing tenacity. Overall, I was impressed and thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience.
This book is truly another gem by Mariah Dietz! I absolutely love her writing style and how easily I can always be pulled into the story. This is such a great story about finding yourself and love. Strong, well written characters that you will simply fall in love with! Sweet read that I would recommend!
This is a great book with awesome characters! It was emotional and heartfelt. Brooke is this amazing person, with a lot of harbored feelings and heartbreak. I felt for her. I loved Levi! He was the perfect match for Brooke. I couldn’t put it down. Loved!
It’s not often a book can have a plot twist that I had no idea was coming, but this book had that in spades! A great contemporary romance read. Plenty of romance, angst, heartbreak and feel good times. Definitely a page turner that you won’t regret reading.
I received an advanced copy of this book and am choosing to review it. Brooke is a woman that is being in a long relationship and after endings. She realized that at some point in her relationship she loose herself. She decided to focus in her job while at the same time decided to tried new things and start to write a blog were she can shared her news experience as a single woman. Because the betrayal from her ex she now is facing insecurities and trust issues. Levi is a handsome guy with a big heart who knows was is being betrayed so he knows she needs time and space. The story is a little too slow for my likes. But at the same time I love the slow burn between them and that they took their time knows each other. Other thing that I love about the book is the relationship between heroine and her best friend
Overall – 3.5 Stars
This is a book that I’m going to have to review in 2 pieces, so please bear with me.
The story – 4
I loved the premise of this book! Brooke finds herself unexpectedly single. That leads to a little bit of self exploration and eventually a new love. She has some emotional growing up to do, but has a good group around her to help with that.
Brooke is a likeable character and her friendship with Felicity is heartwarming and funny. I also enjoyed watching Brooke get to know and explore a new relationship with Levi.
My one complaint with the story line was how the Brooke/Levi conflict resolved itself. It almost seemed as if something from the story was missing or that there was a hurry to wrap things up.
The setting – 3
I have a thing, a giant pet peeve of a thing, when it comes to books that are set in real places. I need the details to be right. This book takes place in Chicago and there are a handful of details that didn’t ring true, most of them I was able to brush off as artistic license. But, there were others things that I felt should have been presented accurately, especially since they are easy to research.
Overall, this is a good book by a new to me author. I enjoyed Brooke’s story and look forward to reading Ms Dietz back list.
This story was what romance is really about and one of the best stories to date by this author. Brooke and Levi were so right for each other, but also took their time getting to their end result. This story built upon their characters all along the way. I wanted to keep reading even when I couldn’t.
Brooke is an event planner and Levi is a bar owner. Their chance encounter and just budding relationship turns to dust within a blink of the eye and they’re left trying to navigate a professional relationship which constantly crosses lines. The end result is a great build up to their fallback to each other. Romance done right!
I received a free copy of this book from the author.
If you can imagine The Devil Wears Prada but for event planners that’s kind of what this book reminds me of. Now don’t get your skivvies in a twist over the comparison. You’ll just have to read the book to see for yourself.
What we have here is a man and a woman who are attracted to one another. He’s her client, but he also has a secret he hasn’t shared with her about who he really is. Her boss made her drop other events to take over this guy’s grand opening for his bar. Not totally unusual but it’s not usually her wheelhouse. Weddings are more her shtick.
Anyway, as their working relationship goes the attraction multiplies. Then the secret is out! Well that doesn’t sit well. Not that he’s going to let her give upon the potential of a “them.”
While this book isn’t my favorite Mariah Dietz story it certainly is a fun read. These characters are lovely and I think you’ll enjoy getting to know them as you read their love story.
More! I need more!!!
I loved every second of this book. The story was fantastic. I couldn’t put it down. Mariah is talented and you don’t want to miss out on The Fallback. You’ll fall in love with these characters. I didn’t want it to end.
The Fallback is my new favorite Mariah Dietz book.
“I don’t know if everything happens for a reason, but I do know that everything we experience teaches us something….this might not have been the plan but sometimes the fallback can be even better.”
Our main characters, Brooke and Levi will be a couple you will remember for a while. Brooke is a perfectionist, she’s a very successful wedding planner and is living the perfect life. Great job (her boss is a bit much but hey – it’s her dream job), great life, successful and a great boyfriend…well – not really. The great boyfriend turns into a cheater and Brooke has to face, that everything isn’t perfect anymore.
Brooke has a great supportive best friend who helps her through this tough time, allows her to live with her, supports her donut eating habit, helps her by allowing her children to love on Brooke through a tough time. Felicity encourages Brooke to start a blog about dating which helps her begin to rebuild. Felicity is her saving grace…until Levi.
“Even in my most vivid of dreams, it didn’t feel like this – like my breaths depended on his and race heart raced to maintain his same pattern.”
Levi is a sweet guy, not necessarily looking for a relationship but the attraction is instant. These two embark on their friendship with trepidation (Levi becomes her client – she’s planning his bar opening – not his wedding) but their chemistry is undeniable and they begin to find their need and desire to be together more than they expected. Brooke is very hesitant but with Felicity’s encouragement – she dives right in…
Levi is such a swoony man!
“I am going to make you forget everything”
“Forget what?”
“Everything except for me.”
THEN Mariah hits us with a twist that I wasn’t expecting and kept them coming! Between the twists and unexpected turns, the multifaceted characters, the slow burn of their relationship and the beautiful writing of Mariah Dietz, I was hooked from the beginning!
I can instantly say, that I was intrigued immensely by the blurb of The Fallback. This book by Mariah held a lot of promise. This standalone novel is one that touches on many subjects, that we as humans deal with, every day of our lives. It is extremely relateable, and very well written. It was inspiring to see the heroine reinvent herself at her own pace.
Brooke is a event planner at Glitter And Gold. She is also one of the most sought after wedding planners in Chicago. Having a boss that resembles THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, she barely has time to do a thing. After her perfect life was tipped upside down, she in turn decides to take stride in her situation, and reinvent herself along with her best friend of 25 years.
Levi is as intriguing as he is confident. Sexy in a James Dean kind of way. He is as patient, as he is kind, with a heart that has been bruised in the past. In a sense, he also has an old soul, and does things the right way. He lives a simple kind a life even though he has a lot going on.
The reason for only 4 stars is because I felt like the story dragged a little bit. I am all for a slow – burn, but this one seemed like it went a snails pace. I loved the story line I really did, and there was things that I definitely did not see coming, but I feel like the plot blew up and was resolved too quickly in my eyes, other than that it was a very good read.
*Do I recommend this book? YES ABSOLUTELY! It is definitely worth the read.
*Reviewed for Reviews From the Heart
OK, so there are things I liked about this book and there are things that left me a bit puzzled.
I thought how Brooke and Levi met was cute. I adored Brooke’s BFF, Felicity & Felicity’s husband, Dan. Brooke’s boss, Catherine, left a lot to be desired.
My big problem with this book was how Brooke never faced her issues with what happened in her previous relationship. She continually brushed it off when it was clear she struggled. I wouldn’t have minded her ignoring how she felt for a couple of chapters but it continued on & on. Also, I wanted MORE of Levi. Because the book was focused on Brooke, it made it hard to connect with Levi and their feelings for each other. Also, when Brooke started blogging as an outlet, I thought it would be therapeutic for her in the wake of her previous relationship and a means to help her come to terms with what happened. However, the blogging part of her journey really took a backseat to everything else. I think there was only 2 or 3 entries that we got to “read”.
The book felt very long and drawn out but I did like the epilogue. I don’t mind a slow-burn but this just lacked that spark that I was hoping for within the story.
“I don’t know if everything happens for a reason, but I do know that everything we experience teaches us something. Prepares us in some way to experience more. This might not have been the plan, but sometimes the fallback can be even better.”
I am a huge fan of Mariah’s work and have been for quite some time. The Fallback is such an amazing story, with some awesome characters. Plus it has some of my favorites—a slow burn romance and donuts!
I absolutely adored Felicity and Brooke’s friendship. It was so touching and I’ll be honest, I was quite envious of it. Then we have Levi — queue heart eyes! I have such mad love for Levi. He’s definitely my ultimate book boyfriend and the stuff dreams are made of.
This book is full of swoony goodness, with a healthy dose of life lessons too! I can’t recommend this book enough. It will forever be in my top list of favorites. From the storyline to the amazing cast of characters [main and supporting], you are sure to enjoy this amazing journey.
“I wonder if he can see what he does—if he can see the same marks that I feel emblazoned upon my skin. If he knows the reaction my body has to him, the reaction my heart has to him.”
5 BEAUTIFUL STARS!! Levi and Brooke’s story is so beautifully written and hits all your emotion buttons. Levi is perfection in everyway, he is sexy, hot, confident and fun. These two have both had bad relationships in the past and need to trust each other. Mariah Dietz has given us readers the perfect story that you can’t put down. This is one book you should 1-Click.
A beautiful story of not only romantic love but also that you must first love and accept yourself to be truly happy. Brooke is recently single and homeless with only her friend to turn to for aid. The thought of getting back on the saddle is terrifying so she decides to discover herself. One evening while on an adventure with her friend at a local club, Brooke meets Levi. From the start they are drawn to each other but Brooke is afraid to put her heart on the line again. As a compromise Levi offers to help Brook on her voyage of self discovery. What she discovers is eye opening and heart warming. The Fallback is a most unique story that you will want to share with those you love.