Rating: 3.5 Stars

After enduring a blind date with Dr. Loving, Cam finds herself transported to the magical Hallmarkie town of Heart Springs where she will remain until she can challenged to find a career she is passionate about, become part of the community, and find true love. With her track record, she may never get home.

This was a fun tale with a touch of magic and romance. I found the setting and many of the interactions between Cam and the townsfolk to be quite amusing. I think all the Hallmark lovers and haters will be tickled by this aspect of the story.

Cam was challenging at first. I think the whole point was that she was kind of insufferable and terrible but grows tremendously during her time in Heart Springs. I felt her personal journey was well portrayed. She was very off-putting in the beginning, but I did give her a little leeway given her past. As she tried to complete her challenges, she recognized the worst parts of herself while also digging deep for the best parts.

I actually love Ben. I had a hard time buying into why he liked Cam before Heart Springs, but to each their own. He was a pretty good companion for her to have as navigated these tasks that pushed her way out of her comfort zone, but I was a bit let down by the epilogue. I know! I never say things like this. I am an epilogue lover, but it happened.

I have adored all of Ballard's books to date, so maybe I had the bar set high. There were plenty of things to enjoy as I read this book. I laughed plenty as Ballard always delivers whip smart dialog and banter, and I was entertained. I also thought the messaging was great and that Cam journey of self discovery was well done.

He's here, my Ben, and this is most
definitely real.” 💖💐🧁☕️
change of heart ARC 4.5/5 ⭐️
Thank you Net Galley and Putnam Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!! I loved this book so much and read it so fast! I love magical realism books and I will be thinking about this one for a long time. This was my first book i’ve read by Falon Ballard and i’m glad I did! This is about a girl name Cam who goes on a blind date with a man named Ben. She is uninterested the whole date and when she goes to bed she wakes up the next morning in a small town. She cannot leave the town until she completes 3 tasks, one being to experience true love. I loved Ben’s character so much. This book is released Feb 11!! Definitely make sure to check it out if you like magical realism, romance, and friends to lovers.

If you like fictional small towns and city-lawyer-girl-has-to-find-a-new-passion-oh!-and-love Hallmark movies, this is the book for you. After Cam and Ben go on a date, she wakes up to find that they're neighbors in a fictional small town she can't escape until she accomplishes three tasks. While I enjoyed this as a whole, Cam's development really took the spotlight, plot-wise. So much so that Ben, the love interest, read very much like a side character we don't know anything about, which made it hard to "pull" for him, or their relationship period, because he just didn't have much page-time. That being said, I'd recommend this for Cam's finding-herself plot alone. It was a quick read; not my favorite by this author, but I'd still recommend it.

This hurts my heart to write, but I didn’t love this as much as I wanted to. I LOVED the concept, but the execution fell short. Ben was underdeveloped and the “sweetheart” of it all was really distracting. I still liked parts of it, but I wanted to love this one and I just didn’t.

Change of Heart is about getting a second chance at life and being able to see how different choices can dictate your happiness. Seeing Cams growth and journey of finding herself and what true happiness and love looks like was incredible! The author, Falon Ballard does a great job at telling her story.

This book does contain 🌶️. If you want the book to remain closed door then skip chapters 22, 25, and 27.

I highly recommend reading this book!

Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Putnam Books, Falon Ballard, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.

My issue is that I’m unsure how seriously this book took itself. Was it meant to be a loving homage to sugary-sweet, Hallmark-type romances? Or was it a tongue-in-cheek, gentle skewering of them? I found that it landed somewhere in between—an unsatisfying middle ground that I failed to connect with.

This middle ground is best (or worst?) exemplified by Heart Springs itself, vaguely unsettling in its 1950s syrupy tweeness and regressive in some of its ideas. I get that Cam was sent to Heart Springs to work on herself, but couldn’t she have had (more of) an impact on the town’s outdated social norms? And why does Cam have to. fully assimilate to find her happiness? Even then, I think I could have overlooked these issues if the chemistry was there between Cam and Ben but it never quite materialized. Oh, and the spice—when it did happen, it almost felt wrong against an otherwise wholesome backdrop.

I’m sure some people will relate to and enjoy this book, but I’m not the kind of gal who watches those made-for-TV Christmas romances unironically— I’m the kind that watches to make fun of them. I usually enjoy Falon Ballard’s writing, but I don’t think I was the target audience for this one.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for this advanced reader copy, provided in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I am a Falon stan— I have adored her first four books, and she is a must read author for me. The premise of this one sounded unique. It was, but it just didn’t work for me.

Essentially, Cam is a partner at a law firm, and is set up on a blind date by her grandmother with Ben, a pediatric surgeon. She blows him off, and wakes up in a Hallmark town where she has to complete three tasks to go home— and Ben is there.

I love a little magical realism when done right, but I was honestly bored by this town, and didn’t enjoy watching Cam complete her self discovery tasks. Ben was one dimensional, and there wasn’t enough chemistry between them.

I just couldn’t get into this one! I’m a sucker for the magical transporting into a tv show or movie and finding a happy ending but I feel like the differentiation between the characters and matching it to the plot is what didn’t add up to me- it felt forced.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early release of this book.
If you like sweet hallmark movies and cozy romance books then I think this would be a great read! Unfortunately I have had to DNF it at 50%. This book follows Cam who is a big time lawyer in NYC. After being incredibly rude to our MMC Ben on a first date, they both find themselves in a fictional hallmarky type town, where they both have tasks they must complete before they can go home.

I found both Cam and Ben to be incredibly bland characters. They don’t have any real sort of connection even at the halfway point of the book, when it becomes clear that they are developing feelings for each other. Their encounters are awkward and feel very contrived, as well as Cams encounters with every other character in the book. I understand that this is supposed to be a Hallmark-type book, but it was just lacking too much depth for me. Not to mention that at every moment characters are trying to convince Cam that she must be miserable and unfulfilled in her job as a lawyer. Which she might be, but it was giving the connotation that women cannot possibly be career driven and single and still be happy.

I think that this book just didn’t work for me, and that in no way means it won’t work for lots of other people!

This is the kind of cozy romance story that my mom would love. She is a great fan of Hallmark movies so by definition, I know a lot about the stories. This was so cute! I loved our main characters, they had amazing chemistry and the story was intriguing enough I read this in one sitting. I will definitely be picking up more from this author.

If you are a Virgin River fan then this book is for you!
I enjoyed it from the start even though it was sweet and adorable. Easy quick read
I really like Falon Ballards writing style and will look forward to reading another book by this author. Perfect read after reading something heavier.

Thank you Netgalley and Putnam Books for this ARC.

Fallon delivers every time. This author provides you with a romance that is realistic, heartwarming , has drama of real life and nothing outrageous. It’s authentic and just so refreshing. Both the MCs were likeable and you knew that their journey was for keeps.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC ✨️

Yall this read is super cute and so fun!

It was so enjoyable to follow Cam navigate herself through Heart Springs and it seemed like every dream of being in a hallmark movie! I couldn't stop giggling and feeling all the feels when it came towards the end.

As all good things came to an end I wish we had more time with some of the other characters and got to see more development of the side stories!

Highly recommend if you're looking for a good, quick read!

Change of Heart by Falon Ballard was a fun read and magical realism at its best. Campbell is a workaholic who doesn't date unless forced to and is not a likeable person. She goes on a blind date with Ben, a pediatrician who is the perfect man. Magically, she wakes up the next morning in a perfect Hallmark movie town where Ben is her neighbor and life is annoyingly wonderful for everyone but her. Cam is looking for a way out but finds love instead. I enjoyed the fantasy but Ben constantly calling her sweetheart got ridiculous. I wanted to smack him upside the head every time he did!
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the ARC!

I’ve become a huge fan of Falon Ballard and love her. Romcom style. Unfortunately this fell a little flat compared to her others for me, which I think was in part due to the Hallmark-movie theme which isn’t something I love. The plot was a little confusing and felt rushed towards the end, however it absolutely kept up with the butterflies and warm fuzzy ending that I’ve come to know and love.

3/5 ⭐️, 1.5/5 🌶️, 0/5 💧

☕️ Magical Realism
☕️ Self Love Journey
☕️ Work/ Life Balance
☕️ Social Commentary

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, and actually thought it had a really strong start. Unfortunately for me, the cheesiness in the middle with the fmc going on this personal journey for herself was a bit boring. I thought the personality of the mmc fell flat and did not feel the chemistry of them falling in love. I love magical realism and cheesy love stories, but this did not work for me, personally. I hope others enjoy it more than I do.

I could see and appreciate the writing of the author was easy to enjoy. I liked the messages that were trying to be portrayed, about love, both romantic and self love, the importance of balance with family and work and relationships with others, as well as the social commentary of supporting small business owners and minority constituency.

Ps. Nickname use trigger, felt like it came out of nowhere and completely overused, and not in an endearing way. This relationship just didn’t really feel romantic?

This was a sweet and fun romcom with a touch of magical realism. Cam is a lawyer at a high profile law firm who is set up on a blind date with Ben, a pediatric surgeon. Cam makes it clear to Ben that she only came on this date to placate her grandmother, and proceeds to spend the entire date checking her email. The next morning, she wakes up in Heart Springs, where she is given three tasks she must complete before she can go home, including finding true love.

While this is primarily a romcom, one of my favorite parts of this book was Cam’s journey of rediscovering herself, her priorities, and what she wants out of her life—she had great character development throughout the book. Cam and Ben were sweet and complemented each other well. Heart Springs was also a cute town and I loved the characters we met there! This was a fun twist on the classic city girl moves to a small town Hallmark storyline. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the ARC.

This was a miss for me. The characters were all unlikeable and the guy kept referring to the woman as "sweetheart." Every time I read that, I cringed and couldn't get passed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A workaholic lawyer who has given up on love goes on a blind date with a genuinely sweet doctor and doesn’t see what she has in front of her until…

Enter Mimi. A semi passive aggressive tab. Waking up in a charming, hallmark-eqsue magical town where anything is possible.

I loved this book so much! It was truly a magical realism lover’s dream. Watching the female main character, Cam, learn to love herself and discover her true passions in life was deeply rewarding. Ben was the kindest, most likable male main character, and the charm of Heart Springs pulled me right in. I couldn’t help but wish I could visit myself. This 2025 read did not disappoint! ✨💕💫🧁🍪👩🏼‍💼👨🏻‍⚕️

Tropes:
Small town setting (obsessed)
Fated mates (love)
Matchmaking (ok, cute)

I loved this book! It reminded me a lot of Groundhog’s Day the movie which is the highest compliment.

This book was funny and moving and had wonderful small town vibes.

I loved Cam and Ben and their love story was so sweet. I loved seeing Cam’s character grow from the beginning of the book until the end, it awesome. I love that she didn’t have to change who she was or her profession to fix herself. And I loved that she fixed herself.