A lawyer lives her life dedicated to her job until she finds herself in an alternate reality and her only friend is the bad date she had before she woke up in this hell hole. Now she must perform tasks thrust upon her to find her way back home.


It was definitely a tad slow, but the romance was romancing!

It gave major Pleasantville vibes with a Hallmark feel, too. I really liked the characters.

It was a simple plot with good character development.

Ben was so dreamy. There is some spice, but it's somewhat tasteful.

It's a story that has been told before, but it still had its own flavor to keep me invested.

My only nitpick: the first chapter grabs you but then the FMC becomes a major potty mouth, which I don't mind, I just didn't see any of it at first meet so it threw me off at first.

Thank you, Netgalley and Penguin Random House, for the ARC, I enjoyed it so very much

This book was adorable! I loved the touch of magic of being stuck in a make-believe world. It was almost like the Truman Show meets Hallmark. I loved the premise of the grumpy big city girl has to learn her lesson of what love truly means in the quintessential small town of Heart Springs. The cast of quirky small town characters was perfect. The slow burn of their main characters romance was perfect. The character transformation was really well written. I really enjoyed this one. It definitely made me laugh several times!

This is the second book by Falon Ballard that I have read, and while I loved Just My Type, this particular story took a while to pique my interest. Campbell Andrews, a workaholic lawyer, is set up by her grandmother on a blind date with a pediatric surgeon, Dr. Ben Loving, to whom she doesn't give a fair chance. The next day, in a quasi-Pleasantville/Wizard of Oz sort of likeness, she finds herself waking up in a unfamiliar town called Heart Springs and is shocked to find that Ben is there as well. She is then tasked by one of the locals (who she recognizes as the waitress from her disastrous first date with Ben) with a three-part quest in order for her to return home. As inconvenient as this quest seems on the surface, Cam (with the help of Ben) begins to discover that the journey she is on might actually be just what the doctor ordered. Overall, this was a cute rom-com and enjoyable once I was able to get deeper into the story. Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for giving me an eARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5⭐️ I’ve read all of Falon Ballard’s books, and she always knows how to balance out the romance with funny and honest moments.

Cam (though pretty unlikable to begin with) felt like a real person, and she really grew on me throughout the book. I liked seeing her journey of self-discovery, and what she was able to figure out after stepping away from her “normal” life. I also really enjoyed her chemistry with Ben, and how they supported one another with their demanding jobs and the strange predicament they found themselves in.

The setting for this book felt a little Hallmark-y, but without so much cheesiness (not that there’s anything wrong with the cheesiness!). I love a small town setting, and all of the characters introduced along the way added something to the plot. There’s a bit of magical realism here, and I think it was done well (though maybe left some things open-ended).

The only issue for me was that I wanted a little more depth in certain areas. Though the chemistry with Ben and Cam was there, I wanted more scenes with them together building intimacy, rather than time going by and intimacy being implied. I also wanted a little more from both their backgrounds- it wasn’t necessary, but I think it would’ve added more to the story and made them more dimensional.

This was a cute and quick little romance with some heart, and I already can’t wait for her next book.

I love Falon Ballard. This is a light, fun book for readers who like the movie “Groundhog Day.” Personally, I liked the heroine at the beginning of the book and didn’t want her to have to change to get out of the nightmarish Hallmark-movie world she woke up in.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

3.5 -4⭐️

I love, love Falon Ballard but this one fell a bit flat for me.

Background: Campbell Andrew’s is a high-powered lawyer who doesn’t have time for love. She agrees to go on a blind date with Dr. Ben Loving to get her nosey and pushy grandmother off her back. After this terrible blind date with Ben (where Campbell was extremely rude) she wakes up and finds herself in a Hallmark-like town called Heart Springs. She has been magically transported to this town to complete three tasks….most importantly she has to find true love while there or she will be stuck there forever.

What I enjoyed:
-All the side characters that lived in Heart Springs. Emma is such a sweetheart and genuinely nice person. Mimi was a hoot. She always made me laugh.
-Since I love Hallmark movies I loved the town of Heart Springs. Ballard was really able to capture the wholesome and picturesque town.

What did not work:
-Cam was pretty annoying throughout the book. She was very rude to Ben at the blind date and that made her so unlikable. Throughout the book she just seemed whiney and grumpy for no reason. Even towards the end of the book, I still didn’t like her.
-I loved Ben but would have liked more background and character development centered around him. I think in real life Ben would not have been attracted to Cam in the slightest. He was just too nice for her. And there was way too many times that he called her sweetheart.

Overall, I had high hopes for this but it was too slow paced and just fell a bit flat for me.

Thanks you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this gift eARC. All opinions are all my own.

Fallon Ballard is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I love the way she writes and romance and the way she writes her characters. They are real and full of complications and are multi-faceted. This book was super cute and i loved the whole pleasantville small town storyline. I probably would be just as cynical as Cam about how "perfect" the town was. I loved the ending and if it were written any other way it wouldn't have been as good. All in all i give this book 4 stars and i big hats off to Ms. Fallon Ballard. Thank you @Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to review the book.

"Change of Heart" is cute and heartwarming. I am always happy to receive a Falon Ballard books. They are always the perfect spicy Hallmark. I've noticed a recent trend in the trapped in a Hallmark/Christmas Carol-esque storylines. It reminded me a lot of Kate Robb's "Prime Time Romance" and "The Backtrack" by Erin La Rosa. So this book did feel a little repetitive, but in general the storyline was fun. 3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc! This book is for people who enjoy light romcoms with magic realism. People who enjoy redemption stories will like this book. While I typically enjoy Falon Ballard's books, this one fell short in my list of favorites. I thought the characters lacked authentic depth, and on a personal note, I just don't enjoy magic realism; HOWEVER, I know this book will hold its fan base!

Many thanks to GP Putnam's Sons for the digital review copy of Change of Heart by Falon Ballard, which comes out on February 11th. Let's dig into my thoughts!

Oh, how much I wanted to love this book. It begins with a dedication to "unlikable women" and boy am I here for more books in which women are allowed to be unlikable. Our protagonist, Cam, is the hardworking, heartless lawyer who usually plays the villain role in a Hallmark movie, and it's a great concept for a romance. I love how the book balances her learning to prioritize the right things with letting her retain what makes her her.

The Hallmark-world premise is fun, and I enjoyed seeing Cam navigate its bizarre seasons and rituals. Watching everyone get mad at her for her mistakes adds depth to the character of the town in a way you don't often get from a Hallmark-inspired world, and I enjoyed that as well.

However, this book just didn't work for me. The main issue is honestly something so small that really got under my skin. The love interest calls her "sweetheart" in basically every line of dialogue. Yes, it starts out sarcastic and eventually evolves as their relationship does, but it was too much. It got distracting and made me cringe every time he was on the page, to the point that I just couldn't invest in him as a character or in their love story. I wanted to root for them, but I couldn't really get past this to learn who he was or what made him a good match for Cam.

Given that it was a romance, the love interest being a flat character with an irritating quirk like this took me out of it and made it hard for me to enjoy the book, despite it having some elements I really enjoyed.

Change of Heart didn't work for me, but that doesn't mean some readers won't love it! For those looking for a Hallmark-style world that gets interrogated by the tough lawyer character, this book might well scratch that itch.

I love Falon Ballard's writing style. This book has her signature style while going in a direction we haven't seen from her before. This book requires some suspended disbelief for the magical realism. The main character Cam comes off as unlikable to start. Cam is all black cat energy and I was angry with her when she got trapped in Heart Springs. Cam's character grows a lot during the book and discovers what she really wants from life. While there is a romance her I think the story is really about Cam's growth and the romance is supporting. Our love interest, Ben, is charming and sweet. He's really supportive of Cam and isn't put off by her grumpy tendencies. Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for this eARC.

When I read the description of this book, I thought the premise sounded good.
Unfortunately, it just read a little strange. It fell very flat to me and the premise just felt very fake and weird. For this book to be considered a romance, it didn't feel like it had the spice, on or off the page.




Thank you Falon Ballard, Penguin Group Putnam & NetGalley for this advanced eARC!

This book was cute. Almost too cute. It was a mix of Pleasantville and every Hallmark movie you've ever seen.

I thought the characters were cute, and the messaging being about loving yourself very important.

That said, I don't like Hallmark movies. If you do, read this book!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

She was a cute read, though it did feel a bit long at times. It definitely has that cheesy, Hallmark movie vibe, which I’m always up for.

Unfortunately, I struggled to connect with both of the main characters. The FMC felt a little too grumpy and tough around the edges for my taste, while the MMC seemed distant and lost at times, leaving me wanting more from his character.

On a positive note, I really enjoyed the small-town setting and the whimsical, charming atmosphere of the town and its residents. There were also a few moments of spice that felt a bit unnecessary to the story, but overall, it was an okay read.

Thank you Netgalley for an early arc of Change of Heart. I love Falon Ballard. I have all of her books, I love her writing style. This was really cute and I would recommend it. I rated this 4.5 stars.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for my early copy. All thoughts are my own!

I enjoyed this for the most part. I feel like the main female character was really unlikeable. I felt bad for Dr.Loving because he was awesome. I get its grumpy/sunshine trope but she was just plain rude. She was tolerable by the end.

I like the concept of the plot and I think the side characters were fun. I just wanted more I guess. Maybe if it had been longer and more detailed; I would’ve liked it more. Not to say this book was bad because it wasn’t. I read it in one sitting and would recommend to others.

I wasn’t sure about this book, but I loved the author so I kept going and I’m glad I did. Heart Springs grew on me as well as the main characters. The FMC matured throughout the story. I wished we had a little bit more of the MMC. I would say this is a 3.5 Star book but I rounded up.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

I’m a big fan of this author, but this book missed the mark or me. I didn’t care about the characters and I didn't see an actual connection between the characters. Also “sweetheart” was said so many times it made me literally cringe.

Fallon Ballard has been an auto-read author for me since she released Lease on Love, so I'm disappointed that her latest release didn't work for me.

I was not a fan of Change of Heart. I appreciated the magical realism and overall themes of the story, but the characters weren't well-developed, and I didn't enjoy the ending. Also, I am baffled as to why Ben called Cam "sweetheart" every three seconds. It was cute at first, then awkward, then infuriating.

This one wasn't for me, but I still look forward to Ballard's next book!

Did I get myself into another magical realism book without realizing it? Yes. Did I also enjoy it immensely? Also yes. This book follow Campbell and Ben from their blind date through to their displacement to a magical small town, Heart Springs, as neighbors. The only way home is to complete three tasks, one of which is to find true love. She's not convinced she would be able to find true love in this slow town when she's used to her fast paced lifestyle. This book was very reminiscent of a hallmark moving of a city girl falling in love with a small town boy, except in this case, he happens to be a city boy stuck in this small town with her. I found the story to be fun and reminded me of the movie Freaky Friday in a way. Overall, I very much enjoyed it. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the free eARC. All opinions are my own.

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