Book Review: The One Where They Fall in Love By Cristina Wolf

Published August 15, 2026 | By Laura

Cristina Wolf and her blog tour have joined us today as I review her latest book, The One Where They Fall in Love.

You never know when love may come knocking…

Hopeless romantic and romance editor Elle Thompson lives for happy endings—but real-life love? Not so much. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t thrilled when her best friend gets engaged. Really. Not jealous at all.

Meanwhile, Oliver Cole likes things a certain way. Schedules and routines and order. So when his move back to New York is disrupted with the unwelcome addition of Thor—the dog his sister adopted for him—he’s less than enthused. Even less enthused than Oliver? His neighbour, Elle.

When Elle can’t bear to hear Thor howling all night, the two agree to strike a deal: she’ll dog-sit while he’s on shift.

But what starts as a reluctant arrangement soon turns into late-night chats, sizzling chemistry, and two lonely hearts daring to let each other in.

*****

As a book editor, Elle Thompson is a deliverer of happy endings. She adores the romance genre she works in. She just wished her own life reflected the happiness of the characters she helps bring to life. Oliver Cole is not sure what to make of his new neighbour. He’s got a lot going on in his life and has no mental bandwidth to deal with it. Then he meets Elle.

The One Where They Fall in Love was my introduction to Cristina Wolf. It was the premise and genre that got me excited to be part of the blog tour for this novel. I couldn’t wait to get started. This type of book is the reason I love running Novel Kicks. It allows me to discover new authors like this one.

From the title, I think you can work out where this book ends up. What’s magical is how Oliver and Elle get there. The heart of this novel lies in these two people. The plot unfolds so well. It’s the type of style I’d love to be able to write in. It feels effortless. There were twists and turns, but everything felt realistic and believable.

Told in a dual narrative, this book explores love and romance (it gets spicy in places,) but it also goes quite deep into mental health issues – anxiety and OCD. The author includes a very thoughtful content warning at the beginning. As someone who has anxiety and suffers from panic attacks, that was something I fully appreciated. I could also tell that the author has personal experience of how this feels. The scenes that cover these topics are done with such care. This story is a reminder that OCD isn’t just having to wash hands a certain number of times.

Elle is a superb main character. She’s fun, cool and knows her own worth; to a point. She is a bit of a people pleaser, but she knows her limits. She enjoys being able to help others and that’s a lovely trait to have. It’s this empathy that allows her to see beyond the walls Oliver has put up around himself. Both Elle and Oliver get in their own way…a lot.

Oh, Oliver. I loved him. Simple. He has felt pressure to be a certain way and to meet a certain standard. This has led him to struggle with OCD and panic attacks. I am not going into how and whether this changes throughout the book, but I will say that, seeing he and Elle get to know each other and seeing the effect they both had on the other, their story was emotional, frustrating, and heart-warming all the same time. The other characters were great. Lucy was funny and Henry was a supportive character who was easy to like. I adored Thor and Blue.

OK, I am going to stop before I give much more away.

The One Where They Fall in Love is a MUST for any fan of romance and happy endings. If you’re looking to be swept off your feet by a magnificent love story, this is the book for you.

(Thank you to Aria and Rachel’s Random Resources for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.)

About Cristina Wolf –

Cristina Wolf wrote her first book in the third grade. It was an adventure book about her beagle, Abby, complete with hand-drawn illustrations and top-notch handwriting. Needless to say, writing and reading has been a passion of Cristina’s from the beginning. After graduating from Marist College with a double major in Business and English, Cristina pursued a career in the publishing industry while earning her Master of Science in Publishing from New York University.

Cristina has experience working at literary agencies and as an editorial assistant at a publishing house. Finding life in NYC a bit different than she expected, Cristina returned to her native New Jersey where she earned her Master in Teaching from Monmouth University.

She now shares her love of books with her students as a middle school English teacher.

Say hello to Cristina via her website and Instagram.

The One Where They Fall in Love was released by Aria on 13th August 2026. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Barnes & Noble and Waterstones.