Summary:

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?

1. The "Just Friends" trope is probably the most exploited one, but it still remains as one of my ultimate favorites. Ana Tejano effectively played with my feelings with all the subtle displays of affection and longing looks. The confusion and the overthinking were also so agonizingly real. Not that I've experienced those in real life, but these were what made me kilig and root for the characters to finally realize their feelings. “Only best friends can keep this dancing game on for so long.” 
2. That the characters liked each other more than because of their looks made them more real to me. It's also refreshing to read a New Adult book without the sexy times! We have too many romance books where the plot was driven by the characters' attraction to one another, but here, the affection stems from friendship, and that for me, was beautiful. 
3. Meah and Faith were loyal friends of Rain and they were definitely for keeps. I loved Meah especially. Out of the trio, I think I'm more like her: the honest friend who will encourage you to be brave and to say what needs to be said. 
4. Love interest is Type B, woop woop! Mark was Mr. Nice Guy and his subtle displays of affection were endearing. Sure, he's kind of torpe, but I liked how he sorted his feelings out first after his breakup with Camilla. Although, I don't really appreciate him waiting for Rain to reach out first, he more than made up for it for being so adorable. 
5. Rain's struggle to admit her feelings to Mark was the main story, but we also see her finding her true self and strengthening her relationship with her friends and family towards the end. The ending was satisfying in a way that you felt like everything fell into its rightful place. The timing was just right - Rain learned how to get out of her shell, be brave and admit to her mistakes. That I say, was good character development. 

I enjoyed this a lot and I don't regret that I've put off reading it until now because like in the story, I think it was just the perfect timing. Ana Tejano had recently published another book - one that's about Rain's friend, Faith. I quickly bought it right after finishing Fall Like Rain and was done with it after a few hours. Review about Keep the Faith will be up next.

You may purchase Fall Like Rain by Ana Tejano through these links: