Fall Like Rain by Ana Tejano

Published by Amazon on September 29th 2014
ARC from Blog Tour

Synopsis

Rain De Castro has been in love with her best friend, Mark Velasco, for almost the entire time she has known him, but she’s clearly in the friend zone because he’s happily in a relationship. Or so she thought, until the news of his break-up reaches her.

Now that Mark’s single again, she decides that it’s time to get out of the zone. But when her cousin Lissa comes into the picture and sets her eyes on Mark, Rain feels troubled when he gets a little too friendly with her. Rain is determined to fight for what she feels this time, but is it worth the effort if it's a losing battle from the start? Will she back off to give way for her best friend's happiness, even if it means losing him to someone else again?

I think we’ve already established in this blog that my favorite kind of romances are the ones that start out as friendships. Fall Like Rain is a classic best friend romance story and I enjoyed a whole lot. I was excited to read it when I first heard about it, not just because of its romantic plot, but because Fall Like Rain was written by a Filipina author and the cover was done by Aia, whose illustrated works and lettering art I admired. Anyway, I happily got into the book and I found myself easily devouring it in a sitting.

“Only best friends can keep this dancing game on for so long.”

Rain is the type of protagonist you’ll quickly grow to like- she’s believable and totally relatable. Look, I’ve never been in the friendzone (but only because I don’t have boy friends that I want to be in a relationship zone with LOL) but Rain made me realize how hard it is to be in it. She’s constantly wondering ‘Does he like me just as a friend? Or does he have romantic feelings for me too? WHAT DOES THIS LINGERING TOUCH MEAN???’ and I seriously felt how torn and confused she was despite the fact that Mark’s signals were pretty obvious from an outsider’s point of view. Despite Rain’s angst, the book still proved to be a very lighthearted read which was completely refreshing.

“You’re the first person I would always look for.”

Mark was a great romantic interest- the type that just makes you kilig, in Filipino speak. He was nice and adorable and just as effortless to like as Rain. The fondness between the two was sweet and had me rooting for Mark and Rain to finally realize they’re more than just best friends. That said, while Fall Like Rain caters to be more a story of romance, it’s really much more than that. What makes the book better than the many books in this genre is that there’s a good focus on family relationships and friendships. I really liked how prominent Rain’s friends and cousins were in the story and how the strengthening of those relationships were just as palpable as Rain’s romantic one.

“No one said things like these are easy, you know?”

Overall, I’m very glad I read gave Fall Like Rain. It was cute and delightful! I definitely recommend it for lovers of contemporary romance who need a quick feel-good read and most especially to fellow Filipino bookworms who want to read more of their own.

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