The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Falling Like Leaves

Series: Bramble Falls #1

Author: Misty Wilson

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han in this autumnal teen rom-com about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town who must confront her future and her old flame while the town prepares for an annual fall festival.

Ellis has a lot of expectations for her senior year, but moving from Manhattan to Bramble Falls, Connecticut is not one of them. Yet in the wake of her parents’ separation, that’s exactly where she and her mother are headed.

Bramble Falls might be charming, but it’s also full of distractions. Like local barista Cooper Barnett, Ellis’s one-time best friend—and first kiss—who has not only majorly glowed up but wants nothing to do with Ellis.

Then there’s the Falling Leaves Festival, a month-long tourist attraction run by Ellis’s aunt—celebrating everything autumn. The festival seems nice and all, but Ellis doesn’t have time to be roped into her aunt’s enthusiastic planning. Dragged to each event, she can’t stop bumping into Cooper, the one person she’s hoping to avoid.

But the longer she stays in Bramble Falls, the harder it is to pretend she’s not falling for this town and the people in it. As her return to Manhattan gets pushed further and further out, Ellis is forced to confront exactly what she wants for her future—and what that means for her present. – summary from Goodreads

Falling Like Leaves is a cozy fall romance, perfect for this season!

Honestly, this book followed the same pattern that most other romance books do. I found comfort in this book because of this though.

I did like the main characters. I thought Ellis was a nice main character. She was generally nice, but there were moments where she was selfish and self-involved, which was grating. Her storyline was predictable, though I wish more time was dedicated to her family dynamic. I think that was an important part of the story, and not enough time was given for this storyline.

At first, I really liked Cooper, but as the story continued, I liked him less and less. He would get angry and shutdown at the slightest thing, and I’m not saying his anger wasn’t warranted, but he didn’t seem willing to discuss anything. No character challenged this either, which was super frustrating. I mean I still liked Cooper well enough, but I thought that was a character flaw that was not acknowledged. I do like that he liked to bake. I love baking, so I love when characters like it too. I especially love his unique cookie recipes- maybe someday the author will release the cookie recipes!

I really loved the setting! I would love to go to Bramble Falls during autumn. It sounds so fun and beautiful- though I cannot relate to the dry fall as I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest! I loved how the town had a fall event every weekend- it sounded like a lot of fun, and it fit most of the fall activities into one book.

I really liked the side characters, especially Sloane and Jake. I’m really hopeful for the next books in this series, and I have a strong feeling that it’s going to be Sloane’s, which I am perfectly fine with.

Falling Like Leaves was a cute romance with a perfect fall setting. With strong Hallmark vibes, this is the perfect book to get lost in a cozy fall romance!