Fall Into Me (Hearts of the South, #7) by Linda Winfree

Fall Into Me (Hearts of the South, #7) Reviews

• 
  BookLover

  First read in 2013, re-read in 2016 in preparation for new books in this series being released this year!!!
  
  This still remains my favourite in the Hearts of the South series. I loved Troy Lee. He came off as such an incompetent rookie in the earlier books, but this story just proves that it’s all about perception. In previous books, we got to see Troy Lee through the filter of Tick’s opinion and in a lot of cases, he got it wrong. Troy Lee was so much more than the young rookie cop. Troy Lee was intelligent, talented, sexy and one of the sweetest heroes.
  
  I really applaud Linda Winfree for taking what could have been a two-dimensional character from book 6 and showing us who Angel really was. I really identified with Angel and empathized with her feelings of insecurity and low self-worth. Troy Lee was perfect for her… They were perfect for each other!
  
  Though there wasn’t a mystery/crime aspect to this book, we got to see that even without a murderer on the loose, the everyday life of a cop held plenty of opportunity for danger. This story was romantic and heartwarming and full of redemption. I really like that we continued to see characters from other books and how their story continued, even after their happily ever after. It just illustrates how imperfect life is, even after finding the one you are meant to be with.
• 
  Jane Stewart

  3 ½ stars. Enjoyable contemporary romance - older female bar owner - younger cop.
  
  STORY BRIEF:
  Angel is 36, owns a bar. She was engaged to Jim for a long time. He dumped her for another. On the rebound, she had a hot night with Mark who never called back. A week later Mark was engaged to another. As a result Angel is insecure about men. Troy is 26, in his first year as a sheriff’s deputy, and plays guitar in a band on Saturday nights at Angel’s bar. He’s handsome. He’s attracted to Angel, but she thinks he’s too young. She’s also worried that he’ll leave her for another, since a lot of girls are after him.
  
  REVIEWER’S OPINION:
  This is book 7 in Hearts of the South series. It’s pretty good for contemporary romance. It’s not a deep story, but it’s enjoyable enough. Don’t expect much with the older woman younger man subject. It wasn’t an issue other than something to talk about when they first meet. The sex scenes are good.
  
  Troy is too good to be true - no flaws. He was an engineering student in college (rocket science) but changed direction to become a cop after his father was murdered. He’s a good cop. He has been attracted to Angel ever since he saw her. He wants only her. He has no interest in other women. He is generous and patient about all her needs. He wants her to be happy. He is devoted, building up her self esteem, taking off her shoes to rub her feet when they hurt, and more.
  
  Some reviewers were unhappy with a pregnancy and what happened. It did not fit the typical romance formula. I had no problem with it. I was fine with deviating from the formula.
  
  DATA:
  Story length: 260 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 14. Setting: current day town of Coney in Chandler County, southern U.S. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary romance, older woman younger man.
• 
  Pamela(AllHoney)

  The seventh book in the Hearts of the South series by Linda Winfree. Deputy Troy Lee is thought of as a screw up by some in the department. But he's not always screwing up and he hopes he doesn't screw up a chance at love with Angel Henderson. But Angel is 10 years older and has doubts that a romance between them would work. She has had 2 unfortunate relationships with men that didn't work for her and now she is a bit gun-shy.
  
  I am really enjoying catching up on this series. I started the series a while back and finally came back to it. I have liked and loved every book so far. While most have a bit of mystery and suspense, some don't. This is one that doesn't.
• 
  Book Binge

  This is book 7 in the Hearts of the South series. I don’t believe it’s necessary to read all 6 previous entries, I do think reading Hearts Awakened, the release immediately prior to this one, is a good idea. There are chapters in this book from the characters in that one and some of the plot threads carry over.
  
  This is my favorite Hearts of the South series novel. When I read it the first time the ending frustrated me so much I didn’t give it the love it deserves. Troy Lee is amazing. I absolutely adore him and his relationship with Angel. I’ve now read a million times – and each time I fall even more in love with Troy Lee. The end still makes me very angry, but if I skip the epilogue and ignore the way Tick acted for most of the book, I could happily label this book (almost) perfect.
  
  I’m a huge fan of Linda Winfree’s Hearts of the South series. When I first started reading Fall Into Me I had serious doubts, however, because it features two elements I generally don’t care for. 1) Angel is older than Troy Lee. 2) Angel had a one night stand with the hero of the previous book. I was also concerned because Troy Lee was shown as kind of a bumbling kid in one of the previous books. I wasn’t sure how Winfree was going to make this work, but she did. Luckily the younger man angle was only looked at casually and not the focus of the entire book.
  
  Angel has been very unlucky in love. Her fiance of too many years goes on a trip to Biloxi and comes home with a bride. Yes, he’s gone for a week and comes home married to another woman. A woman he’d just met. Then she has a one night stand with deputy Mark Cook that she thinks might go somewhere. Instead she hears from someone else that he’s got a brand new girlfriend. Determined to forget all about men, she focuses on work. Until Troy Lee Farr shows up, that is.
  
  Troy Lee has had his eye on Angel for years. He figured if he waited long enough her fiance would screw things up and he’d have a shot. He didn’t see his co-worker getting to Angel first, but now that she’s single wastes no time pursuing her. Angel is wary, he knows he has to romance her slowly.
  
  I loved Troy Lee Farr. Seriously loved him. He was…perfect. And not perfect in a you’re-so-perfect-you’re-annoying kind of way, either. Just..perfect. He’s strong, funny, smart, sensitive and not afraid to put himself out there. Angel is having a really hard time moving into another relationship, but Troy Lee is patient and understanding. He doesn’t push her to move too fast, he just asks her to believe one second at a time:
  
  When he lifted his head, she clung to his shoulders, both of them breathing hard. He cradled her cheek in one palm. “I’m not asking you to believe now. I know it’s too soon for that, after…well, after everything. If you can believe just for this second, then for the one after that, and after that, soon you’re believing in me, in us, all the while. Think you can handle that? This second?”
  She smiled, desire pulling at her again. “I can do that.”
  An answering smile flirted with his mouth. He kissed her. “What about this one?”
  “I can do that too.”
  He lowered his mouth to hers again. “How about this one?”
  
  When a huge complication pops up with Angel, he’s understanding and supportive. If Angel had been stupid enough to turn away from him (which thankfully she wasn’t) I would have scooped him up myself. He was the definition of what every man should be.
  
  I really liked Angel, too. Yes, she’d had bad luck in love. And yes, she was somewhat cynical about it. But she had a great sense of humor and really worked hard to get over her hurt.
  
  “Are you still running that bar?” Maureen’s voice dropped to a shocked whisper on the last word and Hope rolled her eyes, working the pick through Maureen’s thick hair.
  “The Cue Club? Yes, ma’am, I am.” Angel leaned forward with her best devilish wink. “But I’m thinking of changing the name to the Den of Iniquity and getting some exotic dancers. You know, strippers.”
  Miss Maureen’s eyes widened, pencil-thin brows nearly reaching the salt and pepper curls falling onto her forehead.
  “She’s just teasing, Maureen.” Mama waved a dismissive hand.
  
  
  
  She didn’t let her past mistakes ruin her relationship with Troy Lee. Well, okay, she tried not to let them. She had a lot of baggage to deal with, but she didn’t run from him or try to push him away. She dealt, one second at a time:
  
  His intense blue gaze held hers, willing her to believe. She pulled in a shaky breath. Each second, he’d said. This second, then another, then another, until she believed all the time. She closed her eyes. She wanted to trust in him, in them. Why did it have to be so darn hard?
  Using his hold on her wrist, he drew her closer, leaned down to rest his cheek against hers. “I’m yours,” he murmured near her ear. “You have me. Believe that, baby.”
  She nodded and slipped her arms about his neck, holding on hard. “I’m trying.”
  “I know.” He rested a hand against her spine, dropped a kiss on the curve of her shoulder. “One second at a time, Angel. We have all the time you need.”
  
  I really loved how they worked together, leaned on and supported one another. When Troy Lee was stressed over work he turned to Angel. When Angel was having a bad day, she turned to Troy Lee. And when she has a major problem they work on it together. That’s not to say they didn’t have problems – with both of them being stubborn and independent they were bound to. But they fought for each other. I do think Troy Lee put more into the relationship than Angel did, especially in the beginning. He didn’t let her get away with anything.
  
  She paused and met his gaze straight on. “You should be seeing someone your own age, Troy Lee.”
  “Please don’t start that bullshit again. It’s not the issue and you know it.”
  “Really. What, pray tell, is the issue?”
  “We’ve been out one time and already you’re looking for me to cut and run.” He shook his head. “You’re doing it again. Speeding ahead, looking for where you think you’re going, instead of seeing what’s along the way. You gotta learn to slow down and enjoy the ride, Angel.”
  
  He was definitely the stronger of the two. But Angel didn’t disappoint me. She had some stuff to work through, and I saw major growth from her. Despite her being in her 30’s, she read as kind of immature in the beginning. That wasn’t the case by the end. Plus, once she committed to Troy Lee, that was it. She was all in.
  
  Angel blinked hard and bit her lip, trying to stop the quivering of her chin. “I feel like I’ve waited my whole life for him, waited to get to this point where I could appreciate and value him most.”
  
  Despite my love of Troy Lee and Angel, I did have some issues with this book. Some major ones.
  
  First: Tick Calvert. Tick got his HEA in Hold On To Me. He was tortured and brooding in his book, but was reformed by the love of a good – oh, wait, no he wasn’t. Because Tick is an even bigger jerk now than he was when he was being “tortured” in his book. He was an asshole, plain and simple. He was dealing with a lot of stress in his life, but the way he took it out on Troy Lee was ridiculously petty and mean. He wasn’t hard on him because he saw potential and wanted Troy Lee to be the best he could be. He was hard on him because he didn’t like not being in control of other elements of his life. That’s makes him an asshole. Which annoys me because I really liked him prior to the last two books in this series (this one and Hearts Awakened).
  
  My second issue is a big one, one that came close to ruining the story for me. The main conflict that arises between Troy Lee and Angel was resolved way too easily for my liking. I was really disappointed in the direction Winfree went.
  
  I think I’m going to go ahead and talk about it.
  
  SPOILERS AHEAD
  
  **spoiler alert**Shortly after she and Troy Lee start dating, Angel finds out she’s pregnant. Troy Lee stands beside her and tells her he’ll support her. He’s loving and kind and I just wanted to kiss him. But that isn’t the problem. The problem is, she doesn’t know whose baby it is. It could either be Mark Cook’s baby, Troy Lee’s coworker that she had a one night stand with, or her ex-fiance’s. Her ex wants nothing to do with it or her, and though Mark is willing to be supportive, he’s just started a new relationship and is afraid this will ruin it.
  
  In the end, it is Mark’s baby. That was wrong on so many levels. First, that baby should have been calling Troy Lee daddy. Second, it was just too easy. No one had to suffer at all. Angel got a great man in her life and a great biological father for her baby. Tori accepted that Mark had gotten another woman pregnant even though she struggled throughout the book with jealousy over Angel (not to mention Mark lost a baby some time back and this was seen as a “fate” type thing). Even Tick, who was an asshole of extreme proportions throughout the entire book, just shrugged it off (as Tori’s brother he had reason to be upset that his sister’s new man had gotten another woman pregnant – even if he was best friends with said man). It was just too neat.
  
  The third problem I have is related to the second: all the unprotected sex going on. Angel was a woman in her 30’s, and so were both the men who might possibly be the father of her baby. I get the author needed the conflict the situation created, but come on. Though I do have to give Winfree credit for writing a female character in this situation and not slut shaming her. Angel had concerns about how she’d be regarded when people found out she didn’t know who the father was, but Troy Lee was quick to put those feelings to rest. **end spoiler**
  
  Those last two issues definitely hurt the story. I just can’t get over the easy resolution.
  
  Despite that, however, I was really impressed with this entry. Troy Lee and Angel were spectacular together and Troy Lee is just…perfect (I know I keep saying that, but it’s true!). Because it had issues I couldn’t get over,I’m giving it a:
  
  4.5 out of 5
  
  This review was originally posted on
  Book Binge by Holly.
• 
  Holly

  1/11/15 reread: I didn't read this for the
  2015 reading challenge, but since it qualifies I'm totally using it. See full review here:
  Fall Into Me.
  
  #24: A Book You Loved...Read it Again Done!
  
  ___________
  
  1/11/13 reread: I don't intentionally re-read this book every January, I just get the urge once a year and can't help myself. Have I mentioned how much I love Troy Lee? srsly. love.
  
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  1/7/12 reread: This remains my favorite book of the series. Troy Lee. sigh.
  
  reread: i heart Troy Lee.
  
  
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  re-read review: This is my favorite Hearts of the South series novel. When I reviewed it initially the ending frustrated me so much I didn't give it the love it deserves. Troy Lee is amazing. I absolutely adore him and his relationship with Angel. I've now read this a total 7 times - and each time I fall even more in love with Troy Lee.
  
  
  
  The end still makes me very angry, but if I skip the epilogue and ignore the way Tick acted for most of the book, I could happily label this book (almost) perfect.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Another good entry in the Hearts of the South series, but had more flaws than many of the previous novels. I especially think she took the easy way out at the end. Still, I'm excited to read the next installment.
• 
  Anja

  4.75 stars.
  
  Troy Lee is an amazing hero. He says some swoon worthy lines that made my heart melt. The romance between Angel and Troy Lee is worthy of 5 stars on its own. I was worried once Angel discovered what she did. I thought it would turn into an “I’m breaking up with you for your own good” situation. It didn’t and she actually talked to Troy Lee about it right away. His response was wonderful. There were so many scenes showing them falling in love and being in love I was practically a puddle of goo.
  
  Listen, Tick. You had your book. Remember book three? This is book seven and you are still getting more screen time than you should. I think you belong in a Robyn Carr novel instead of here. Also, the more books I see you in, the less I like you.
  
  Mark and Tori. I understand why you were in this book but I felt like you had too many scenes from your points of view.
  
  Why did Angel spend 16 years in an on/off relationship with a loser? She says she didn’t realize he was a loser until it was completely over, but, come on. 16 years?
  
  Like the previous book, there is no suspense plot. Unlike the previous book, the lead characters in this one are strong enough to carry a full novel.
  
  The author hasn’t updated her website or released a book in more than a year. I really hope she is still writing. She is a hidden gem. I haven’t given this many high ratings to one author since I discovered Lisa Kleypas.
• 
  Vee

  I was expecting not to like Troy Lee’s book. Why? Because I like my confident, growly alpha. I do not want to read about the Chandler County Sheriff department’s screwup. Troy Lee was made to look stupid in previous books. That was from Tick’s POV. Well in this book, I was majorly ticked at Tick. But I’ll talk about that later.
  
  I FREAKING LOVED Troy Lee! He wasn’t stupid. This boy was a genius. Let me explain: At the scene of an accident, this is the conversation.
  
  
  “How fast did he say he was going?”
  “Fifty, maybe fifty-five.”
  Troy Lee snorted. “More like seventy. He’s lucky he didn’t roll the truck.”
  Frowning, Tick studied the marks. “How do you figure that?”
  “Geometry and trig. You know, high school math.”
  “Troy Lee.” Warning hovered in Tick’s voice and his brows lowered in a scowl.
  “I’m serious.” Troy Lee spread his hands. “It’s basic geometry and trigonometry. Simple angles and drag coefficient. He left the road at what looks like a thirty-degree angle, re-entered more on a forty-five. When you enter that and the drag coefficient for dry pavement into the formula, you get approximately seventy miles per hour.”
  Tick stared at him. “You did that in your head?’
  “Well yeah.” Troy Lee shrugged.
  
  See?! Apparently, I get turned on by geek-speak from a hot sheriff. Though I could argue it's more physics. :) Did I mention he is also in a band? Which brings us to Angel—the bar owner where his band plays. I think I have a soft spot for women who everyone thinks is a skank, but is simply misunderstood. I really liked her. She’s thirty seven, ten years older than Troy Lee. Not only that, she is coming out of a broken engagement and the "rejection" from a one-night-stand who she thought could be more. Her self-esteem was at an all-time low. She wasn't acting pathetic, but it explained her reservations about going out with Troy Lee. Our hero is determined. He’s got the patience of a saint. And even if I wanted to smack Angel for bringing up the age difference, thank god this didn’t last long and she started seeing Troy Lee for the man he is.
  
  Did I mention this man is a dirty talker? Troy Lee has many layers, but there is no doubt this man is a keeper.
  
  There may be a trigger for some. Angel is pregnant with another man’s baby.
  
  A sub-plot going on in this book is the day-to-day dealing of traffic stops and emergency dispatch calls that affects the home life of our guys who work at the Sheriff Department. Broken dates, needing to calm down before bringing home the stress of the job. I’ve grown so attached to these flawed characters. I loved Cookie in this one. I loved how he handled Tick for being an ass to the rookie, Troy Lee. Man, Cookie should have been a psychiatrist. I was a hundred percent behind him calling out Tick for mishandling Troy Lee's training. Tick was letting his personal demons affect his temper and cloud his objectivity.
  
  
  And OMG, I never thought I would experience the same dread and emotions as what had happened in “Anything But Mine”. Though the tragedy happened at a significantly smaller scale, the heart pounding play by play had me gripping my eReader. I must commend this author for her mastery of weaving the action and the emotions in climatic scenes.
  What can I say? I really loved this one. Turns out, done right, I can forgo my OTT growly alpha for a geek who is also the underdog. He’s protective, patient, so sweet and single-minded in his devotion to the heroine. I swooned big in this one.
  
• 
  Carol Burnside

  If you like younger men/older women romances, then this one is for you. Troy Lee is definitely not your typical younger man, nor your typical small town deputy. He knows what he wants and he works to get it, even when the going gets tough. Angel is fed up with men who use her, but Troy Lee is nothing she expects and everything she needs.
  
  In addition to the romance, there's a whole cast of characters from previous books in this series revisited here, including Mark and Tori from Hearts Awakened (Bk. 6).
  
  This one had me reaching for the tissues. Winfree knows how to make her characters work for their happiness and throws enough wrenches in the mix to fill an industrial sized toolbox.
• 
  ~Megan~

  Oh that Troy Lee!! What a special guy he was! I wasn't expecting to love him so much, and I don't think Angel was either. They had a lot to deal with in their relationship, but he was determined to love her no matter what.
  
  I'm happy with the way things turned out for Troy Lee and Angel, as well as for Mark and Tori...I was worried it wasn't going to end well, but a tragedy put things into perspective for everyone. I'd like to strangle Tick Calvert about half the time he appears...how come all his personality issues developed AFTER he got married? Only two more books in the series...am wondering where the author disappeared to?
• 
  Lori

  Reread in 2010. Love Troy Lee. Love Angel, especially once she got over her older woman/younger man issues. Love their relationship. Am now afraid to let my teenage boy back in the car. Hate the epilogue. Still.
• 
  Rhian Cahill

  What can I say except go buy this book and the rest of the books in the Hearts of the South series. Loved it!
• 
  Renee

  4.5 stars
• 
  Cam

  I hesitated reading this one because I couldn't imagine Troy Lee and Angel a couple. But through Linda Winfree's creative magic she wrote a beautiful love story. Thank you Linda Winfree!
• 
  Veronica

  My favorite book of the series! I adore it and reread it often!
  
  Another reading of this wonderful book!