Hallmark/Groundhog Day/Pleasantville mash up. It was exactly the escapist rom-com I was craving and I gobbled it up in a day. The pacing and character development made for a quick read.

⁣𝗪𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝗪:
Heartwarming and whimsical
rom com
magical realism
banter, chemistry and steam
Character growth (the female lead, Cam, takes some warming up)
Forced proximity
Opposites attract
Self discovery journey
Small town
Spice

3.5

Plot: After blowing off her first date with Ben, Cam finds herself thrust into a Hallmark-style parallel universe with him where she is tasked with finding a career she is passionate about, become a valued member of her community, and experience true love before she can leave.

Themes: Happiness, self-acceptance

Characters: Cam is prickly and I think that any fan of a badass female main character will like her. Ben has boy-next-door vibes and his biggest character flaw is how often he calls Cam sweetheart.

Writing: This book is fun. I love Cam's reluctance at being in her picture perfect small town. I think this is well written in terms of magical realism and I appreciate that it isn't overly complicated.

I’ve read all of Falon Ballard’s books, but this one wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t love or hate the book, but it felt too saccharine to me. I know the point was likely to mimic a Hallmark movie, but it just didn’t fully work for me.

This book was adorable! I was sucked in right from the start and loved the whole vibe. I was rooting for Cam the whole time and really enjoyed the chemistry between her and Ben. Anyone who loves a good rom-com with forced proximity and found family, this book is for you!

You know how they say to not judge a book by its cover? Well Change of Heart is definitely one of those books. I went in thinking it would be a cutesy bubbly story but I was wrong. It was cute but a lot deeper. It’s about Cam’s journey to self love with a dash magic- which I did not see coming.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ll read anything Falon Ballard writes and this book continued to prove that I really would because I usually avoid anything with a touch of Fantasy but I sure did read enjoy it.

Gimme all the magical realism books! I adored this book! Gimme all the cozy small hallmark channel towns please! Four stars! Loved Ben and Cam!

Campbell Andrews whole life is work. She made partner at the law firm founded by her grandmother, and she has no time for anything else — least of all dating. Her latest date with Ben Loving, a handsome doctor, is a disaster when she barely talks to him before declaring she has no interest.

The next day, Campbell wakes up in Heart Springs — which seems like a perfect, Hallmark Channel-like town where people take things slow and prioritize having a life over work. In other words, it is everything that Campbell hates. It is made clear to Campbell she needs to complete three tasks, including experiencing true love, if she wants to make her way back to New York. Campbell has never failed at anything major in her life before. But this may prove to be her biggest challenge yet.

This is a charming and thoughtful novel. It explores interesting themes around family relationships, the pressure we put on ourselves, and finding balance in life. As in the author’s previous novels, the central relationship is compelling and has you rooting for the couple.

Highly recommended!

Loved!!!! Falon Ballard's latest novel, "Change of Heart," is the breath of fresh air I have been searching for. Having adored all of Falon’s prior novels, I went into "Change of Heart" completely blind, and I am so glad I did! After the first chapter, I knew this would be a novel for me. I practically read it in one sitting because it was just that fantastic! This 5-star book is a sweet, laugh-out-loud romance wrapped up in pure magic! If you enjoy romance books, then I highly, recommend you check out "Change of Heart"!

Cam and Ben meet on a blind date and then are transported (Pleasantville style) to a Hallmark like town where they need to accomplish tasks to improve their lives. It was super cheesy and a bit predictable, but a quick easy read!

Change of Heart is everything you want a Hallmark love story to be but it just never is. Falon Ballard takes on the traditionally cloyingly sweet genre but infuses it with her signature wit and banter. It is clear from the first pages that Ballard is a fan of Hallmark and its predictable tropes and Change of Heart feels more like an update rather than a criticism.

In Change of Heart, Campbell is a self-identified Hallmark villain. She’s a big city lawyer who crushes small businesses through her mergers and acquisitions practice. She doesn’t have time for dates and isn’t interested in love anyways. After another failed set-up that Campbell sabotaged within minutes, Campbell is shocked to wake up the next morning in a pastel, sun-drenched bedroom with full hair and make-up done. She soon realizes she’s been transported to a small town called Heart Springs, a town just like the ones she’s seen in Hallmark movies. When she enters the local coffee shop, she’s greeted by Mimi, a wise older local who informs her she won’t be able to leave until she completes three tasks that involve experiencing true love, becoming part of the community, and finding a job she’s passionate about. When her neighbor turns out to be Ben, her date from her failed set-up the night before, they begin working together to get out of Heart Springs.

Campbell is everything I want a Hallmark main character to be. She’s smart and witty and sassy and independent and irreverent and funny. Falon Ballard is so so good at writing female characters that I want to be friends with. They’re three-dimensional and full of flaws but so funny you can’t help but root for them. Campbell has the same foundational traits that drew me in to Sadie in Lease on Love. Ben is less fully developed and, as a result, the chemistry between him and Campbell isn’t fully, fully there. I would have loved to get to know Ben more.

All that said, this was such a fun, quick read. I zoomed through it and laughed out loud a bunch. If you’re a Hallmark fan, Change of Heart is a must read!

I love that this book was making fun of hallmark movies while also being a literal hallmark story. The main character had good growth, but I definitely cringed every time I saw the word “sweetheart”.

Such a fun read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

Cute story but not my favorite Falon Ballard. It reminded me of a Hallmark movie (which is a good thing) but I didn't fully invest in the story until a ways into it. I will still definitely explore other works from this author but this one was just okay to me.

This was a great read! I would recommend it to a friend. I loved it! Five stars. This book is a captivating exploration of human emotions and relationships. The narrative unfolds through the lives of richly developed characters, each facing unique challenges and growth. The author’s prose is both lyrical and engaging, drawing readers into the story with vivid imagery and relatable experiences.

Falon Ballard books are always an immediate read for me. She always seems to write storylines that I don't read on a regular basis. Change of Heart is a "magic realism" book, which I didn't even know what a thing until after reading a few other reviews. It was a unique story, but I felt like a chunk of the book was missing. It was very unclear as to why Cam and Ben wind up in Heart Springs. This is also one of the times that I wished the book would've been a dual POV. Not getting Ben's side of the story was really disappointing. Overall this book sort of missed the mark for me, mostly because I don't think magic realism is a genre that I enjoy.

2.5⭐️

When I first read the premise of this book, I was really interested, because in paper unsound exactly like a Hallmark movie, and God knows I’m a sucker for those.

Ambitious woman is magically transported to a small town and, in order for her to travel back to her place, she has to fall in love. Sign me up right know.

However, I don believe the execution got a little lost in translation.

I completely understand Campbell’s ambition regarding her job, but honestly, if you’re writing a romance book, I believe you can’t have a heroine who’s entire personality is disregarding love and not wanting to be five-feet-close to it, because when the time comes for us readers to feel an ounce of what she’s supposedly feeling, we won’t find it anywhere.

More often than not, she came off as a very judgmental person, always thinking she was better that everyone else in that small town. She was also quite a cynic when going on all those dates, not for how many there were—yo go girl—, but because when she announced— quite rudely, if I’m being honest— she didn’t really want anything else from them, she would get offended when the men agreed with her. I’m sorry but are you the only person who can disregard other peoples feelings?

I did really like Ben. However I don’t think we got enough time to have any sort of connection with him, as I feel the jump from friendship to romantic relationship happened quite fast—again not believable if you take into consideration Campbell's cynicism.

I do believe, this would work better as a script for the Hallmark channel than for a book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the arc of this book!

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I’ve read some reviews, and people seem to really like her other books, so I might have to give them a try.

I just love everything she writes. Her work is always reliably sweet and satisfying. I usually love to read anything by her as a palate cleaner and it never fails!

Cam is a workaholic who after a blind date with pediatric surgeon Ben gets transported to a fictional magically town ala “The Good Place”. Unlike Eleanor Shellstrop, Cam is not dead, she just needs to become a better person and find love sent by the mysterious Mimi. This is a great magical realism rom com, full of all the small town tropes. It was enjoyable quick read.

In this book:
Magical realism
Small town
Reverse grumpy/sunshine

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Falon Ballard for an advanced digital copy of this book.

This book would definitely be the perfect Lifetime movie meets Stars Hollow, and I’d be watching it on day 1. Cam and Ben are HEA perfection, and can I have a Mimi in my life to teach me to get better?

Cam is a workaholic lawyer in New York who goes on a blind date with pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Ben Loving, but is so preoccupied with work that the date flops. When she wakes up the next morning, she's no longer in New York, but in the little town of Heart Springs, straight out of a Hallmark movie, and the only person she knows there is....Dr. Ben Loving. The rest of the book follows her quest to get home. In the process, she learns about herself and has a "change of heart."
If the premise sounds cheesy, that's because it is, and the execution is not much better. This book is fanciful and full of magical realism, but even accounting for the whimsy, it just didn't perform. I found myself rolling my eyes so many times, the plot was internally inconsistent and the overall message was vague.
Probably Falon Ballard's weakest book to date.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.