by Abby Jimenez
(post may contain affiliate links)
The Fall Risk is a charming romance short story by Abby Jimenez.
On Valentine’s weekend, two people who share a second-story apartment landing realize that construction workers mistakenly removed their stairs to the ground. Neither is actually looking for romance: Seth is a recently divorced arborist who is on medical leave after severely spraining his ankle, and Charlotte is in hiding from a stalker.
This was such a quick and charming short story! I’m a fan of Abby Jimenez (though I still need to catch up on her backlist) and I really appreciate that she often highlights important topics from the real world. In this story, she delves into how people who have stalkers really are not allowed many, if any at all, protections unless their stalker becomes violent.
Seth is a precious cinnamon roll. I really bought his chemistry with Charlotte and since this is just a short story it’s focus is on their “meet cute” across an entire weekend while they’re trapped on the second floor. I also really enjoyed the little side story about their respective best friends coming together as well.
Tropes in this book include: forced proximity, cinnamon roll hero
CW: stalking, light violence, firearms
If you want to see more from me, check out my Bookstagram, TheStoryGraph, or Bluesky.
ruse reviews 