Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for allowing me to read an ARC of Change of Heart by Falon Ballard, in exchange for my honest review.

Falon Ballard does it yet again! A super cute and magically delicious modern-day fairy tale! I definitely recommend this fun and quick read.

I'm not typically one who likes magical realism... but make it Hallmark-esque and apparently I am!

Campbell Andrews is the ultimate workaholic, her sole focus is winning cases for her family's law firm. When set up on a blind date with Ben, successful pediatric surgeon, Cam goes but only to say she "tried." She is the definition of 'not interested in love.'

Cam and Ben are transported to the quirky, picturesque town of Heart Strings. This is where the Hallmark vibes come into play. The town is idyllic and time moves on its own continuum so you experience the adorable summer carnival, fall harvest fest and Christmas season, all in a span of a few weeks. In order to get back home, Cam has to find true love. And Ben has to help her.

Very cute and feel good rom-com. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Falon Ballard always delivers intricate characters, immersive settings, and entertaining plots that make it so easy to binge her books. I loved watching her tackle magical realism in this new romantic comedy, adding the perfect amount of mystical vibes to the story.

This book is a perfect read for fans of cheesy Hallmark movies, the classic big city girl in the small town trope, and an unapologetically herself heroine!

3.5 ⭐️

Cam is a headstrong lawyer with a clearly set path in life and no time for love. To appease her overbearing grandmother, she finds herself on date with a handsome pediatric surgeon, aptly named Ben Loving. As their date comes to an end the pair has an odd encounter with their waitress and the next morning Cam wakes up in a bedroom, and town, that aren’t hers. In order to return home, Cam has to make some serious changes in her life including finding love.

Change of heart is a Hallmark movie with a touch of magical realism which is typically one of my favorite book vibes. This one didn’t quite hit the mark. It was hard for me to get into and the pacing was clunky in parts. Additionally, the change in Cam felt awkward; I knew how things would play out for her but waiting for it to click was rough.

That being said, I love the concept of this story and the message of being true to oneself. Also, I want to live in Heart Springs and be friends with so many of the characters. I think this could be an amazing book with some revisions but know that even without them there will be an audience who adores this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

3.5 🌟
Thanks to NetGalley and the Penguin Group for the ARC of Ballard's new book! I need to start out and say I have read and love everything Falon Ballard has written...except this. Ughhhh. I wanted to love it. Really. But...it just didn't grab me. It felt very pieced together and I thought we were missing a lot of parts. I also thought the FMC and MMC relationship kind of just happened? Not a ton of tension or build up. It has a really similar feel to A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston...so if that was your jam give this a shot. Just didn't do it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC of Change of Heart. Review below is completely my own.

This was a sweet story with some solid themes around not recognizing your own unhappiness. I did feel the story came across surface level and overused the nickname sweetheart. I also didn’t love the implication that a hard working successful career equates to lack of fulfillment and happiness. I love Falon Ballard but this one just felt a bit too cheesy and wasn’t for me.

3.5 stars!

Cam is a cutthroat workaholic lawyer who has been groomed by her grandmother since she was 10 to take over the family law firm. She doesn't have time for dating or friends or anything personal as work is her life. Her grandmother sets her up on a date with Ben, a pediatric surgeon and she doesn't want to disappoint her grandmother so she plays along.
Ben is interested in getting to know her but all she wants to do is eat and finish some work emails. Needless to say, the date doesn't end well.

The next morning, she wakes up in Heart Springs and is confused as to why she is there but even more curious, Ben is there too and he’s just as confused as she is. The two of them must figure out how they got there and how to get back to reality and if their first date was any indication, how to have a change of heart about each other.

This book was a cross between Pleasantville and Scrooge. They are put in the idealistic town that's full of sunshine and rainbows which is the complete opposite of what Cam is.

This book was fluffy and surface level, but not in a bad way. There were themes that were cute and some deeper heavy ideas but those were never brought front and center into the main story. This was about self discovery and finding a true passion in life. I just didn’t get the anticipation tingles on this one. Kinda choppy in certain areas and jumped forward a bit at times. Very hallmark inspired and while it wasn’t my favorite book of hers, it still was quick and fun to read.

Hallmark romance, open-door spice, and some magical realism! Cam is a workaholic top notch lawyer who doesn’t have time for herself or anyone else. She gets setup on a blind date with pediatric surgeon Ben & basically writes him off…and then poof: they both end up in a Pleasantville/Barbie type world where Cam goes on a journey of self-discovery (she’s given 3 tasks to complete before she can go home). This world is so fun to read about: the perfect seasonal clothing ends up in Cam’s closet every morning, friendly neighbors wave as she walks down the street, perfect opportunities fall into her lap, etc.

I always enjoy Fallon Ballard’s writing, and this one was fast paced and snappy and very much her usual style that I like a lot. I did not like Ben’s “sweetheart” every 5 lines, bleh - made it feel just a littttle too cheesy. Cam also cussed too much imo - you can be callous and tough without sounding like a trucker. I expect lawyers to be very well spoken (even if they are from nyc!).

The magical realism element of this book was a fun twist. As with most books with magic, you need to suspend some thoughts and questions about reality and just roll with the story. Cam gets to wake up every day with perfect hair - love it! Cam needs an office as she starts working on a new case and boom her house makes an extra room - if only stuff like this could happen in real life!

The spice in this one was just a tad too much for me but mainly because love and sex were getting all kinds of confused for these 2 characters who basically only knew each other for a short time.

Overall, I really liked this one. Warm and fuzzy and romantic, holiday cheer & lots of optimism, second chances and thinking the best of people.

Thank you to Putnam Books & NetGalley for this ARC!

If you love spending the weekend reading a nice spicy novel or watching the Halmark Channel then this book is for you. Falon Ballard does an amazing job Telling Cam and Ben's story, and how they will escape their little Halmark dilemma. I know you will all love reading this and we all need a Mimi and Emma in our lives.

Thanks to Netgalley & PENGUIN GROUP- Putnam for the E-ARC! Loved this so much!! Cute characters & setting. Also loved the romance. Another masterpiece from Ms. Falon!!

Loved this book! It was so much fun. Schmigadoon meets a Hallmark movie, only with sex. What more could you ask for, really?

I would have liked to see some more exploration of the actual dynamics of Cam’s family, or her own issues, or whatever, but this stayed pretty surface level.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc! I really enjoyed this story, and I haven’t read anything like this before- I found it so unique. At times it was definitely cringy, but I think that is part of the charm as the fmc and mmc *spoiler* got magically teleported to a hallmark movie setting equivalent. I was constantly looking forward to picking this book up and subconsciously teleporting myself to their story as a bystander, I was obsessed. I’ve read a few books by this author before and this has got to be her best yet, she has really matured as an author and succeeded in a reality switch trope with romance while managing to keep it interesting throughout the entire story. There is not one page I disliked.

This was a great read! I love how it really flipped roles. Instead of the man being the issue it was the women. She took her job to seriously and never really looked outside her bubble. And a doctor who was so down to earth and was ready to bring her out of that bubble of a world. It's like she never saw what the world was really about. Like it was black and white and when she figured it out it all became colorful. Great read! I would highly recommend it!

Falon Ballard has become an auto-buy author for me. While Change of Heart felt much different than her previous two books, it still kept my attention and cemented my love of her writing. Even for those not normally drawn to a magical element, there was enough realness in the relationships to make it a perfect romcom read.

I love a novel with a little romance and magical realism and this reminded me of A Novel Love Story in that way! Cam is of course our grump that is a workaholic and after blowing through a date with Ben a pediatric surgeon, they wake up in a hallmark type town. I sort of vibed with Cam since she was a bit snarky and trying to find ways to get through her tasks to go back to real life.

It’s Pleasantville meets A Novel Love Story. After rudely sabotaging a blind date with paediatric surgeon Ben, cynical workaholic lawyer Cam wakes up in Hallmark-ish Heart Springs with Ben. To return to her New York life she must find a new job, participate in the community, and experience true love.

It’s a great concept, but I think the execution and characterisation was patchy, which, in turn, made the romance unbelievable. It also didn’t know whether it wanted to partly satirise Hallmark towns or embrace them, which made the tone a bit uneven. Ben jsut existed to pine after Cam, except he’s pining before she’s started to evolve. The repeated ‘sweetheart’ also gave me the ick. I get was meant to be snarky, then endearing, but because he was so blank it didn’t land well. Cam had more chemistry with the lawyer. I think the dynamic would’ve worked better if Ben was like Cam and also didn't want to go on the blind date. There’d have been some real banter and tension as both are forced together to do the same tasks. While Cam is outrageously awful, she had a great sense of humour and I liked Cam’s snarky comments about the town and her scheming to try and get the tasks done so she could return.

‘I’m a big-city girl and I’m trapped in a small town. The opening of this story might be familiar, but I refuse to be the kind of woman who abandons her dreams for the love of a small-town man.

Fuck that.’

My issues aside, it is escapist fun you can breeze right through.

Thanks to Penguin/Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book has a neat premise. It was definitely not what I was expecting, but I ended up really enjoying the story and the second chance at life the book gave to a character that thought she was fulfilled in life.

Very cute story. I have never read a book with this idea. Very unique storyline that pulls you in till the very end. We definitely recommend this book!

Change of Heart was a good surprise. The book was well written and had an unusual storyline.

Rule number one: you must find a career you are passionate about. Rule number two: you must become a valued member of the community. Rule number three: you need to experience true love.

Cam is a high-powered attorney whose grandmother is trying to marry off, so she is sent on blind dates with men who match her work ethic. At the beginning of the novel, Cam is on a disastrous date with Ben Loving, a pediatric doctor. The pair does not get along and Cam is trying to get the date over earlier than intended. Their waitress is aware of the tension, and allows them to leave early, but leaves a note at the bottom of the receipt. The next morning, Cam wakes up in a fictional town where everything is different, and the story takes off from there. Once I was in Heart Springs, I felt at home there and I could see myself in Cam's shoes.

Such a unique and fun take on a small town romance! You got all the sweetness you expect with so much more sass. I loved the black cat/golden retriever vibes from Cam & Ben (respectively). I loved watching how differently their minds processed; Cam focused on doing whatever she could to manipulate the end result to what she wanted while Ben trusted the process and followed it along the way. I really enjoyed the side characters and how they added to the storyline. I loved how as we neared the end, Cam & Ben just gave in and realized that their true happiness was worth the risk. Another great love story from Falon Ballard!