This was a hard book to put down; I ended up reading more than half of it in one sitting, something I haven't done in a while. All I Want Is You was the perfect romance novel; it made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me want to text my ex or download Hinge.

All I Want Is You had everything I want in a romance novel; it had expected tropes, unexpected revelations, not too many miscommunication moments, spice, and authors falling in love. When you add in a Christmas setting, you've got magic.

Thank you NetGalley for the gifted copy of 'All I Want Is You' by Falon Ballard!

5/5 stars for the best Holiday romance of 2024 to be released. Falon Ballard is a go-to, repeat author for me. I look forward to every read, so I was ecstatic for a Holiday romance debut!

This juicy novel I could not put down, I devoured it in two days. It was the perfect blend of cozy, holiday, steamy and my favorite trope: Enemies-to-Lovers.

I DEVOURED this book. All I Want Is You is my favorite Ballard novel to date. I read this in one night… it was the perfect holiday read but more than that… the MCs had me hooked. Love love loved!

A second chance romance with two romance authors? Say no more!

I enjoyed reading this one so much. Getting to experience Jessica and Nick’s past Christmas’s together was such a fun was to see how their relationship unfolded in the past.

I didn’t love the reveal of the past conflict and it was sad to me that a conversation could have prevented them from being apart for five years.

Overall, a sweet read and perfect way to wrap up my Christmas reads!

3.75 Stars. This was a really cute book. I loved how much Nick simped for Jess and how their opposite personalities attracted each other. Also, why Falon hit us with the one bed trope? Sign me tf up. I definitely was a bit surprised over some of the smut in the book, some of it fit, but some of it felt like it was misplaced and it took away the character's chemistry. His grand gesture at the end of the? Hot damn, I want that to be me so bad. I also felt like the author could've gone more in depth with the characters, I felt like I didn't know much about them by the end, especially Jess. We knew a lot about Nick's backstory and his relationship with his family, but not much about Jess's. All in all, this book is perfect to read for the holidays if you want a steamy, cutesy romance.

A cute little holiday read between two romance rivals!! If you're looking for a fun little holiday read, this is definitely it.. Falon's writing is always so easy to follow and a great time. The slowburn and tension between the leads was delectable!

Thank you netgalley for an arc in exchange for a review.

*I saved this book to read in December, so I apologize for the late review*

I absolutely LOVE Falon Ballard, so when I realized she was releasing a holiday book, I SQUEALED. All I Want is You is a quick read, with spice, and some of my favorite tropes.

Jessica writes romance books with HEAs. Nick writes romance books with sad endings. They are exes, Jessica is introducing him at an awards ceremony, they get snowed in at the location, the hotel lost Jessica's reservation so she has to room with Nick, there's still chemistry...and their editors/agents think it's a GREAT idea for them to write a book together.

WHAT.

Well, you can guess what happens with the one room situation, and I was here for it. I loved them writing the book together, too and I kinda want to read it.

The second chance aspect was done really well I think, because when they eventually hash out the break up they actually discuss it and reflect on what happened and what could/should have been handled differently.

Falon Ballard is a QUEEN when it comes to writing dialogue and banter, and I absolutely loved the conversations between Jessica and Nick throughout the book.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the advanced copy!
I really enjoyed my time for this one. I always love a meta book about writers especially those writing a romance. This one had such a cute Christmas vibes and played into so many of my favorite romance tropes. Forced proximity (snowed in) and only one bed was truly top tier. I loved the flashbacks to their Christmas’s past as a couple.
It was a really great holiday romance and Falon Ballard always knows how to write a cute romance!

Thanks again to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the advanced copy!

I absolutely loved this! This was the perfect Christmas book and I just loved how it came together. I’m pretty convinced this had all the tropes it could possibly fit in. I was up late reading this quite a bit Also, it being a play on NIck and Jess from New Girl made it 10x better. 10/10 for one bed, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and second chance was impeccable.

What to expect:

✨second chance romance
✨bitter exes
✨nonlinear time line
✨one bed
✨open door
✨dual POV
✨short and sweet

This was a quick read with a storyline I enjoyed overall, but also one of those books where I’m not sure the second chance was deserved. With the amount of heartache Nick’s actions caused and the reasoning for the initial breakup, that grand gesture just wasn’t enough to forgive him. HOWEVER because this is fictional romance we will move on to THAT PROPOSAL🥹🫠 Best scene hands down. Fallon continues to be an auto-read author for me!

This was a good Christmas read, but not my favorite Falon Ballard book. The book was sweet. I enjoyed that the premise of co-writing the book together didn't occur until later in the book. I feel like it gave the story momentum until the ending. I found myself getting frustrated at the MMC throughout for hiding the reason for breaking up with her, and the FMC's decision that she didn't care and wouldn't push him. Too much miscommunication. I feel like the MMC should have had to work harder to win her back after revealing the reason for the breakup. Also, super annoyed at him being a romance author who doesn't write happy endings, especially that he's so torn up over losing the "love of his life" when he's entirely at fault for that.

I'll read anything Falon Ballard writes, and even though this hit on several different tropes, it still did them all well. This was a fun holiday read and I love it.

If you love second-chance romances with festive vibes and classic tropes, All I Want Is You is a must-read. Jess and Nick, once lovers and now professional rivals, are forced to reunite when Jess must present Nick with the Romance Author of the Year award—five years after he broke her heart. Their rekindled spark becomes impossible to ignore when a snowstorm leaves them stranded at a remote inn, sharing a room (and yes, one bed).

Falon Ballard masterfully balances humor, heartfelt moments, and romantic tension. Nick’s reason for their breakup is admittedly dumb (as is often the case in second-chance romances), but he owns it early on, making the story more about moving forward than dwelling on the past. The snowed-in setting and forced proximity trope bring the holiday magic, and the chemistry between Jess and Nick is undeniable.

This book is bingeable, heartwarming, and perfect for Christmas romcom fans who love emotional depth without over-the-top drama. Falon Ballard delivers a cozy, charming romance that’ll leave you smiling.

I 👏 ate 👏 this 👏 book 👏 up

I’ll be honest, I was very hesitant to read this one after not jiving with Right on Cue but this one was so good. I literally finished it in 12 hours and it’s been a minute since I’ve done that.

Jess and Nick are both romance writers. One follows the tropes of the genre, the other doesn’t and that causes a lot of disagreement. After breaking up five years ago they are thrown into an event where they have to be civil. And then they get snowed in.

I loved how fast paced this book was, but it didn’t lack depth. I truly felt like a voyeur in Jess and Nick’s minds and hotel room 😅. The depth that Ballard achieves with her characters is so heart warming and real. I also loved the tropes of this book, it had everything that I love.

Read if you like
💕Second chance romance
💕only one bed
💕Multiple pov
💕snowed in

This former loves to enemies to lovers story is a cute one!
It gives so many romance tropes!

I wanted to jump into this Hallmarkish holiday inn and read by the fire! The reason for Nick & Jess's breakup in the first place made me boil a little, but the banter, the spice, and the revenge dress is all worth it. Both characters are romance writers and they definitely know hot to be spicy off the pages!

Grab this one if you like:
~second chances ~dual POV ~one bed ~romance authors ~snowed in ~holiday setting

Second-chance romance? More like “You showed me who you are and I still decided to ignore your red flags which, by the way, are all still here”.

Honestly, this fucking guy.
May I present you Nick Matthews, the embodiment of the “good guy” who never does anything wrong, it's never his fault - when he's the one who broke up with you for HIS selfish reasons and then used YOUR feelings as a justification - and if you don't want to date him he's cool with that, emotional blackmail and gaslighting aside.
This guy is supposed to be the best writer in the whole world - even if he has the depth of a golden fish - and swims in his white male privilege while whining around about being excluded from the writers' community because he doesn't write happy endings (poor thing), even if he's a best-selling author with movies in the way and a six figures contract (it's so sad, I know).
Like, how can he be described as a romance author in the first place is a mystery to me, but let's ignore that.

The other aspect I didn't see coming is how much this story revolves around smut.
It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's kinda boring because it's supposed to build this tension between Nick and Jess but, really, only made me dislike even him more, especially when he was the one describing the scene - again, this man does not know how to write.

What they say it's true: even with all the best intentions and efforts, a second-chance romance is one of the most difficult tropes to write, and not all writers can succeed with it, especially when they can't see how problematic it is what they're writing.

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Second chance romance is never my favorite trope, and I still think the reason Nick broke up with Jess in the past was kind of lame. But the present more than made up for it. The forced proximity, Christmas, only one bed fun is so good. Their chemistry is palpable, and I just wanted them to figure out their issues and have their HEA already.

I think in a lot of holiday novels, the characters aren’t always as fleshed out an author’s other books, but I totally loved Nick and Jess. They were real people with flaws, anxieties, strengths, and desires. They were the main characters, not Christmas, and I think that made this a stronger story. I really enjoyed it for the holidays!

The perfect Christmas book to kick off the holiday season for my reading! I thought this short and sweet book had the perfect amount of second-chance romance and a cozy Christmas vibe. Two authors who used to date, stuck in a cozy Christmas Inn because of a snow-storm?! Love it! Sure it's not the most groundbreaking book ever to have been written - but I loved the banter, and the ending!! If you are looking for a cute, Christmassy book - especially a shorter book to help you hit that reading goal - I recommend it!

This book is exactly what you would expect from a second-chance romance book about two romance writers who are writing a second-chance romance while debating living their own second-chance romance…. You name a trope and it probably exists in this book. There were cute parts although I didn’t find the characters particularly relatable; they didn’t have much personality outside of their lust for the other. Not my style of book, but if you’re looking for a typical Christmas romance book, this could be one for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC!

This whole book was cute! It felt exactly like watching a hallmark movie but in the best way. I finished this in one day, its thing groundbreaking but it is a quick read perfect for the holiday season.