The Fall Guy

by Josie Watts, Janice Whiteaker

Fall in Maple Grove, Vermont is a nightmare.
The population of the tiny town I grew up in doubles overnight, everything is suddenly maple flavored, and the weather develops a split personality.
I’ve successfully avoided it for more than a decade. But, thanks to my parents’ anniversary celebration, this year I’ll be wedged into the thick of it.
These two weeks will challenge my patience, test my tolerance for pumpkin spice, and require lots and lots of aspirin.
I thought dealing with the crowds and my mother’s never-ending questions about my social life would be the most stressful part of my trip home.
Then I accidentally declare myself Harper Olson’s brand-new fake boyfriend.
My attempt to save the girl of my teenage dreams from an awkward situation backfires. Epically.
Soon our web of lies is wound so tight I can’t get loose.
And maybe I don’t want to.
Because Harper’s sweet smiles, terrible poker face, and Wordle addiction are making me think the leaves aren’t the only things falling.

Genres: Friends To Lovers

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 21, 2025

Reviews

[Heather Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun fall book!

Friends to lovers isn’t my favorite trope but fake dating is my shitttt and this was done really well and super cute!

I loved that Benjamin was portrayed as less of a “manly man” and more reserved, sensitive and caring. It showed him in a much different way than most MMC’s are portrayed and I liked it a lot.

The tension was killing meeeee, the back and forth of the POV and both of them falling but not able to admit it to each other!!! When it all finally worked out I couldn’t have been happier lol

The only thing that I was sad about is Benjamin didn’t tell Harper her loved her out right but she did to him.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet, fluffy fall vibes!! Ben is all green flags. Love their friends to fake dating to lovers!

1.5 🌶️

[🎀Marissa🎀 · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆/𝗗𝘂𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆/𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀/𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗔𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲: 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗔𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲📚
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 💋
𝗩𝗶𝗯𝗲: 🍁🏘️☕️🙈🪾💋🍂👀🧣
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹:🌶️🌶️🌶️

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀 & 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀:
✨ 𝙁𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜
✨𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙮
✨𝙎𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚
✨𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 & 𝙇𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙤
✨𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡

𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
❗️ 𝙎𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩
❗️𝙀𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 / 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠
❗️𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 & 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ʚ♡ɞ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

✨ 𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘? 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙯𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝘽𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣! 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙭 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩, 𝙖𝙬𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙯𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣.

✨𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨. 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙣𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 (𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜) 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝.

✨ 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 & 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝, 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙨' 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚.

[Patricia Saynuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fall Guy by Janice Whiteaker, writing as Josie Watts, is an absolute delight. It is my new favorite romance read this season. This friends-to-lovers story between Benjamin and Harper hits all the right notes: heart, heat, and the kind of emotional pull that makes this book “a can’t put down read”.
This book immediately draws you in. Benjamin and Harper’s accidental dating situation is equal parts sweet and sizzling, making their journey from friendship to love both believable and addictive. Their connection feels genuine, built on years of shared history, which makes their leap into something more even more satisfying.
The characters are so relatable and likeable. And it’s not just the leads; the supporting characters are well developed and add depth and warmth, creating a world you don’t want to leave. While part of the Josie Watts book series, this novel can easily be read as a stand-alone, giving both new readers and long-term fans a chance to fall in love with Josie Watts’, aka Janice Whiteaker’s, writing.
If you’re looking for an amazing fall read full of charm, chemistry, and heartfelt moments, The Fall Guy is it. This tory delivers a romance that lingers long after the last page.

[Claudia, Cmarie927 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect Fall read

As a fan of this author, I jumped at the chance to read her latest book, and it is a perfect one for the beginning of the Fall season.

Benjamin has been friends with Harper for years, and while she stayed in their small Vermont town, he left and became a successful business owner in Florida.
His return to town for his parent's anniversary put him in a perfect position to be Harper's fake fiancé. Only, building on their years of friendship, it was easy for both of them to feel more! (Why does she need a fake fiancé? Grab this and find out!)

This was an easy story to connect with and the characters are fun. I couldn't stop reading, and loved the dynamics of her book club friend group.

All the entertaining features of a small town read are here, with a steamy connection between Harper and Benjamin that I enjoyed. This connects with the Sweet Side books, so best if you know those characters as well...IMO.

I recommend this author and this story, and suggest reading more from her catalog of unforgettable works, once done here.

[Zoë Braycotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read, great page turner.

Loved this book for Benjamin and Harper. We have the fake fiancé, friends to lovers, both in denial scenario.

This is an absolutely sweet read, with some humour thrown in for good measure.

Benjamin steps in to save the day when Harpers Ex decides to be an overbearing idiot. Things escalated big time from there, small town & gossip go hand in hand and spreads like wildfire.

Only the fake doesn’t last long, both realising they’ve always had feeling just never did anything about it.

This was a fun read, great page turner.

We get a nice link to the Big North West series which I loved and we get to pop back to Sweet Side where all the crazy happens.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I generally like everything I’ve read by this author, but this one wasn’t for me.

I almost immediately stopped a few pages into chapter 1, but I officially called it quits when I got to chapter 3. The book starts with the most ridiculous airplane scenario that was anything but funny. I just kept thinking “there’s no way …” When I finally got to chapter 3 and the ex boyfriend insisted the FMC didn’t mean what she said at any point she said she wanted nothing to do with him, I was done. Between the opening scene, the MC’s mom immediately asking about his love life, and the FMC’s ex, I couldn’t bring myself to care about anything that followed.

[AnneMarie Davee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Guy Walks Into a Bakery ❤️🥯👔💙

Benjamin and Harper have a cute friends to more romance. Their story is one of overcoming fear and going after what you truly want in life.

What do you do when you on and off boyfriend of 10 years won’t honor the final breakup? You pretend with your sweet, hot friend who is kind and has his life together.

There are a lot of laugh out loud moments as well as heat between the two. The side characters are hilarious and they have good families. A nice HEA.

[Emma :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book! I was waiting for it to come out and it did not disappoint. I just loved everything about this book, I thought the vibes were great, characters are great, I loved character development, I love the pacing, and I really just love the ending. I think this is the perfect book to get you in the fall spirit and I absolutely could not put it down

[Lise Nanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Fell For It

Oh I'm so happy with Benjamin's story. Harper was the perfect choice for him, and the relationship flowed beautifully. Harper's book club ladies were hysterical and I could see them interacting with the Sweet Siders! Great read!

[R.J. House · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s no accident, I loved this story!

Benjamin and Harper may accidentally fake date, but just as they were destined to love each other, readers are destined love their story.

[Debbie Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute read. Mild spice

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. - this was a cute fall romance

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick cheesy love story.

[Courtney Hays · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and very quick read.

[Jessica McKenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute; cheesy but quick easy read

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF the characters seemed dull and something with the writing just felt childish to me.

[Janet Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

super great. the book club ladies sound like a cool group to hang out with

[Emily Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harper and Benjamin have been friends for years, having grown up in the same small Vermont town. This fall, Benjamin is home from Florida (Sweet Side) to celebrate his parents' 50th anniversary, and Harper has finally made her on/off again boyfriend off, though the bf will not take the hint that they are done. Thankfully, Benjamin is there to step in as Harper’s almost fiancé, and feelings develop. As always, there is great plot and banter, a wonderful geriatric girl gang, and just the right amount of spice, oh, and fall in Vermont. Enjoy!