Thank you for the advanced copy of this book.  My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

Feels Like Falling is the story of friendship, second chances, and strong family ties.  When it comes to Southern Lit, nobody does it better than Kristy Woodson Harvey.  I can hardly wait to read her next one.

A fun and refreshing read with a beautiful setting and characters you can invest in!  The focus is on friendship, how some people enter your life because you need them at that moment. The two main characters are Gray - a successful woman in charge of her own company while going through tough times -  and Diana - the underdog, never-lucky-in-love, recently homeless.  This is a story of love, loss and friendship.  I enjoyed it very much and looked forward to escaping every night after work into the lives of Gray and Diana!
Thanks to Kristy Woodson Harvey, Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

If you haven’t discovered Kristy Woodson Harvey you must run out now and get this and her trilogy.  She is one of the best southern writers out there.  This book was a quick read as I loved all the characters in the book and the storyline.  They and it gripped my heart and didn’t want to let go!

Feels LIke Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey - At least one of my Instagram friends said they read this and really liked it, so I figured it was worth a shot. The promo pages before the actual story kept calling Woodsen Harvey a great Southern Fiction novelist and I can’t really explain it but it had me feeling some sort of way. Like what exactly is Southern Fiction? Is it so different than Northern Fiction? What about Midwest Fiction? Who’s writing that? What about Mid Atlantic Fiction? It’s just weird. Anyway, back to the book. I tried to keep an open mind, but in 2020 I’m not very interested in reading about a wealthy white lady who’s life gets turned upside down and she becomes a better person after she realizes poor people are humans too. Maybe that isn’t the actual plot and it’s just me being a judgey mcjudgerson, but that is how it felt. So I noped out and moved on with my life.

Kristy has become one of my favorite southern authors!! This book was heartwarming, I loved each character. I can't wait for her to write more!

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Ok, so I know many of you think summer begins with Mary Kay Andrews and Elin Hilderbrand. And it’s true- they do write GREAT books. But summer begins with me with a KWH book- allow me to explain: First, her books are published in the last week of April generally (when the weather is getting that good warm feeling in Mississippi- shortly before it turns all hot as hell!) Second: I am generally working that garden/pool area like crazy- again, having me craving the summer. Third: Her books covers are summer defined. Fourth: She just writes good characters that I love and gives me all the easy breezy feelings with her books.

Ok, so we have established that if Feels Like Falling is NOT on your list- you need to fix that pronto- mmmm’kay?

What I Liked:

Well the cover obviously. I have MAD love for this cover.

Diana and Gray- they reminded me a bit of the main characters in Dear Carolina- but they were both strong characters. Diana had been through the wringer many times and Gray- well, her perfect life was taking a bit of a hit- and it’s hard when the things you thought were holding you up, defining you- actually turn out to not be. Both ladies had some growing up to do that summer- learning to roll with the punches, enjoy the good moments, and that just because you feel like you are falling- well maybe you are not.

The ending. Sweet. Satisfying. I would LOVE to hear more about these characters!

Bottom line: Kristy Woodson Harvey does it again. This book should be on your TBR list. It should be in your beach bag. You should read it in the bathtub with a large glass of wine. Just read it!

Feels like Falling is a wonderful story of how taking a chance pays off. Sometimes showing a little kindness may be rewarded with new, strong relationships. That is the crux of this heartwarming and yet heart wrenching book by Kristin Woodson Harvey.
Ms. Woodson presents a moving story of what happens when your world is turned upside down and you start look at yourself and your life through a different filter. Two women with very difference experiences from very different backgrounds develop a relationship that is rewarding for both of them. 
This story is well written and flows easily, unlike the lives of the characters which are very rocky and bumpy. The characters are very relatable as are their situations. I laughed and I cried. This is the kind of book that pulls you in and has you rooting for the characters.
I highly recommend this book to all readers for its writing and emotion. Thank you #Netgalley and #GalleryBooks for approving my request. All the opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

If you like Hallmark movies this one is for you.  It is a quick read, but fun.
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC!

What a sweet story! I loved everything about this book! Hardships, love, lost and friendships all come together for one heck of an ending! Kristy Woodson Harvey writes with such passion that sweeps you away. I’m always captivated and never can put her books down! Another amazing book!

This was a great summer/beach read. Gray is such a good character because yes she is crazy rich and has everything she needs but she also has the biggest heart even when her life comes crashing down. When Diana walks in to her life, it only proves how good she really is. I really like this feel good story and was happy to learn about each one of the ladies!

I love reading books set in the south! This was a well-rounded story with multiple facets that connected together seamlessly. I enjoyed everything about this book. A great beach read!

I was invited by the publisher, Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books, and NetGalley to read the ARC of Kristin Woodson Harvey’s book, Feels Like Falling in exchange for and write an honest review.  It is light, easy, fun reading, with characters that will steal your heart. It deals with issues such as single-parenting, job loss, divorce, near homelessness, and of course, romance.

Two women who couldn’t be more different, yet are somehow the same show us how to put our lives back together after loss. Gray Howard (yep, Gray’s a girl) is an influencer’s influencer, has just lost her mother to cancer, and her husband to his assistant, and her sister to a controlling evangelical husband. Diana Harrington has just lost her job, still loves the man who left her many years ago, and finds herself homeless when she leaves her trashy boyfriend. 

These are two strong women whose life experiences are vastly different. Gray had a comfortable life until things fell apart. Diana had a rough life. Both came out on top, and it was wonderful to see.

I loved it that the story is full of little tidbits of wonderful and very useful advice. For example: “The only person who gets to pick how you feel is you,” and “Nobody’s going to fix your life but you.” If you need of a book of light, easy reading, with a heartwarming storyline, Feels Like Falling is the book for you.

What made The Grumpy Book Reviewer grumpy?

Not that much, really:
•	confusing further with farther;
•	a few missing commas;
•	incorrect verb usage: bringing vs. taking, was vs. were, come vs. go
•	a few split infinitives

Kristy Woodson Harvey is a new favorite author for me in what I think of as the Southern chick lit genre.  I enjoyed this, her latest book, quite a bit.  It's the story of two women, Gray and Diana, who meet when they're both reeling from a series of life's blows.  Their circumstances are quite different though, and Gray is in a position to help Diana with her immediate needs (like a job and a place to stay) and feels compelled to help her since she thinks she's the reason Diana lost her job.  Gray is more of an emotional mess and not surprisingly, in the end Diana helps Gray as well.  In between there are reunions with a lost loves, a new love, and an emotional crisis or two.  But there's also humor and heart.  And in some ways it does feel a bit apropos for 2020 - the year of "we're all in it together".  I did listen to parts of this as an audiobook as well as reading it, and the narrations were excellent.
My thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

Kristy Woodson Harvey is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to Southern Fiction and she is now an auto buy author for me! FEELS LIKE FALLING is my very first time reading her but I surely know it won’t be the last!. She is the voice in that genre and she totally knocked it out of the park with her story telling! The peek into these characters lives shows you how people deal differently with their problems. Sometimes it’s funny and other times it left a lump in my throat. I mean seriously, how can you not fall in love with these people and get all up in their business?

 

I feel that the title, FEELS LIKE FALLING, is perfect, as is the heart tugging story. Kristy Woodson Harvey captures the charm of, essence of, and the depth in characters that make for page turning and emotional reads. FEELS LIKE FALLING will cause you to look within your heart and to think about yourself as one of the characters…you think about what you would do, how you would react and how to proceed given the information.

 

FEELS LIKE FALLING is an emotional story where I laughed, cried and know that I will be thinking about it long after I finished.  The story is well crafted and emotionally engaging.  All the characters in FEELS LIKE FALLING are very relatable and not perfect at all. You can’t help but feel each emotion that these caring people are dealing with. When one of them was happy, I was happy. When Diana was crying, I was crying too. I love when an author does that to their readers. Kristy Woodson Harvey grabs her readers by the heart and never lets them go. I truly was an emotional mess after reading this heart tugging story of love and finding a way to get through the situation these people were thrown into. 

 

Now that I have read FEELS LIKE FALLING and discovered Kristy Woodson Harvey I’m excited to read more of this new to me, auto buy from now on author. If you are looking for a contemporary read that is filled with heavy subject matter, but still fills you with hope, please take a chance and read FEELS LIKE FALLING.

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Gallery Books through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was such a great feel good book! I love how the women in the book inspired each other to be themselves. One of the best woman fiction books I ever read.

Feels Like Falling was a good book - it’s the perfect southern summer beach read. (It reminded me of Mary Kay Andrews first few books.) This was one of those books where nothing much happened, but you wanted to keep reading. Gray is a 35-year-old almost divorced mother who runs a super successful company (think LikeToKnowIt). Diana is a 40-year-old who becomes Gray’s housekeeper after dumping her loser boyfriend and losing her job. When Diana moves into Gray’s guesthouse, the form an unlikely friendship as they figure out their careers, fall in love, and live with their families. The cover was perfect - it kinda sums up the book!

I was first introduced to Kristy Woodson Harvey last spring with the conclusion of her Peachtree Bluff series, The Southern Side of Paradise. It made me fall in love with her light, southern style and immediately got me in the mood for all of the summer reads that I had lined up. I was very excited when I had an advanced copy of her latest novel, Feels Like Falling.

In times like these, it was really nice to pick up a stand alone Woodson novel that takes you into complex situations: loss of a parent, strain in familial relationships and the loss of a job, but mixes in the importance of friendship and renewal that despite the gravity of her character’s situation, makes the book flow in the light-hearted summertime beach read that Woodson is so great at. 
Gray has had the perfect life and it is one that she has worked so hard for, but in a moment it all seems to be falling apart. Her mother passes away, her sister runs off with an extremist preacher and her husband up and leaves her for a younger woman. 
Diane is a local woman who is not as well off as Gray and once she loses her job at a local store, she finds herself living in Gray’s guest house. Together, the two forge a friendship as each woman tries to build their new life. Old and new love eventually comes knocking for them both, making them question their own ideals and what life could be like if they just dove in. 
Overall, a great standalone from Woodson who offers us a light beach bag read that will take your mind off of the craziness of the world right now. 
Book Information
Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey was released on May 1, 2020 from Gallery, Pocket Books with ISBN 9781982117702. This review corresponds to an advanced electronic galley that was received from the publisher in exchange for this review.

<i> Feels Like Falling </i> by Kristy Woodson Harvey is the perfect summer read. It is fun, yet serious at times, playful, and not boring in the slightest. The characters are all well-fleshed out with plenty of backstories to get you invested early on in the book. I am a huge fan of Kristy Woodson Harvey, she writes just the style I love to read, and this book falls into the category of being one of my favorites this year. In this story, you'll meet Gray and Diana, two women living totally different lifestyles, but both at pretty big crossroads in their life, that happen to cross paths. The chapters alternate being told by each of them, so the reader is given both points of view right from each character. This book is super readable and the characters are very 'real', as in you can imagine them being someone you would come across in real-life. I definitely recommend this book for your summer (or whenever) list!

Gray Howard, whose mother just died from cancer and whose husband ran off with his executive assistance, and Diana Harrington, who is coming out of a messy relationship with no place to go, have a lot in common.  Luckily for Diana, Gray has space in her house and lets Diana move in, since Diana has nowhere to go. This is their story.  With Gray’s help, Diana begins to heal and so does Gary. Both realize that the paths they were on may just not have been the right ones. Diana’s first love returns, and all her secrets come flooding to the forefront, which complicates things. However, together, this seemingly unlikely pair help each other survive the bad karma that life has thrown at them and to work on foraging a new way in the world. It may not be what they had planned on, but it is what it is, and they learn, with each other’s help, to accept it.

This is a summer beach read.  It is not a very complex novel and has no hidden meanings.  It is just the life of two women, down on their luck, who meet up and learn with each other’s help to push on ahead past the pitfalls that have moved in their way. Many of the characters are typical women, born with a silver spoon in their mouths, coping with the every day trials and tribulations.  Diana is the standout, who does not fit that image, as she comes from a very different background. As I said, there is nothing exceptional about the story and no crazy plot.  However, it is the story of two women who meet up when things are not going their way and end up helping each other accept and embrace the life they are given. It is a good book to read if you are not looking for something too deep or convoluted, perhaps to take to the beach or on travel. I think, as I said, it is a good beach read.  I received this form NetGalley to read and review.