Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Fall I Want by Lyra Parish
⭐️⭐️

(This review contains spoilers!)

Fall I Want had so much promise! The first 20% of it was SO magical-- the cozy fall vibes and besties working in a cafe together and cosmic connections with a hot stranger! Seriously, I was all in... and so were the two MCs, Autumn and Zane.

At 20% they were already completely and totally in love. Autumn and Zane were supposed to be fake dating, but there was none of that in sight. They actively and very openly pursued each other the whole way through, taking away the literal best part of the fake dating trope. While yes, there is yearning it is very immediate and has none of the push and pull or tension of fake dating. They're literally just dating. And they get married after. a single month- and that's pretty much the whole book. It's love confession after love confession.

As always, there is a book for everyone out there and this one just wasn't for me!

Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collin’s publishers and Lyra Parish for providing me with this ARC. DNF at 70%. This book is perfect for readers who want a cozy fall romance between a billionaire MMC and an aspiring romance author FMC. It gives both cozy sweet vibes, but don’t be fooled this is definitely a spicy book. I DNF’d this book because I have a hard no, an ick if you will, for a very specific trope that sometimes is put in a romance book.

🍁🧡

Fall I Want was exactly what I needed, I’ve been wanting a cozy fall book and Lyra delivered 🎃 I absolutely adored Autumn and Alexander 🧡

Autumn has had dreams about a specific man for years, so much so that she nicknames him Mr. Dreamy. Imagine her surprise when Mr. Dreamy walks into her job, unfortunately he comes off as a jerk. Alexander is in town trying to fly under the radar, he doesn’t want to be recognized because of his families wealthy status. When he meets Autumn, he immediately feels a connection but tries to ignore it.

I loved the fall vibes, the characters, the small town and the dash of spice. This book is the perfect way to start the fall season, I definitely recommend! 🍁🎃🧡

Thank you Lyra Parish, Avon, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC!

Rate: 3.75 ⭐️

I fell for this book as soon as I saw the cover - it screams fall vibes! It's a small-town romance about Zane and Autumn, with an instant love connection. If insta love isn't your thing, you might want to skip it. On the other hand, if you're craving a lighthearted, feel-good read, this fits the bill. Initially, the book excels at capturing the essence of fall and the connection between Autumn and Zane. Unfortunately, the narrative becomes a bit repetitive after they fall in love - it feels like the same 'I love you' sentiment is repeated over and over.

If you like:

🍁 Small Town
☕️ Billionaire MMC
🍁 Grumpy x Sunshine
☕️ Fake Dating
🍁Insta-love
☕️ Fall Cozy Vibes
🍁 Fairytale Vibes
☕️ He falls first and harder
🍁 Spice 🌶️🌶️

You’ll love this

thank you netgalley and avon and harper voyager for the ARC.

i went into this pretty blindly. i did unfortunately dnf it, it's just not my kind of story. i can see why people may like it and it's very much a no plot, just cozy, low stake vibes for the fall time. i personally think it's too long for what the story offers. the pacing was disjointed, the characters fell in love so quick but then the rest of the story dragged. some aspects of the characters are relatable, but overall i felt no connection, they felt quite juvenile and the characters seemed more fitting as 17-25 year olds, not people in their thirties. i feel like i know nothing about these people and i did not care for the side characters. there was zero impact on me. there was a complete disconnect for me and the dialogue did not feel realistic. i had some trouble following along in scenes and sentences, it felt choppy. i couldn't even enjoy the spice. there were some good lines that stuck out to me. surface level, no yearning or tension or depth- it's sweet, but not enough for me. im never gonna think back on this book.

Ok this was such a cute cheesy romance fall book. I loved very piece of it. I definitely needed this pick me up after my last sad book.

From fake relationships, to ex’s on both sides turning up, to family drama. This had everything in it for a nice palette refresher and getting you into that cozy vibes!

This was such a quick little enjoyable read! If you’re looking for a smaller romance book that checks all the boxes to make you feel warm and fuzzy this will definitely do it. story was very easy to follow and a very low stress book. A great pallet cleanser. It’s very cute and whimsical. The story focuses heavily on magic and premonitions and manifestations but in a very cute way.

This was a cute fall read and just what I wanted to kick off my fall reading with. Pumpkin everything, cozy vibes, spice (and not just in the drinks 😉) and a fake relationship turned real.. real quick! While insta love isn’t something I usually like this one was done well and kept me thoroughly entertained through out the story. I loved how generous, caring and attuned Zane was and how cute Autumn was. They were cute together doing all the cutesy fall things for a while in the story. It was a fun time reading this and would definitely recommend this one for a perfect fall read.

don't get me wrong, autumn and zane could have been adorable. individually, there were glimmers of charm. i wanted to like them. i wanted to root for them. but together, they coalesced into a sticky, syrupy mess. their entire dynamic seemed orchestrated to be as fluffy and lovey-dovey as humanly possible, bordering on a diabetic coma for the reader. every conversation was either "i love you" or "i love you too" or some variation of nauseatingly affectionate drivel. they were cute, yes, but only in small doses.

THIS BOOK DRAGGED. it meandered. i kept turning pages, waiting, begging for something, anything, to happen. a conflict, perhaps? a misunderstanding? a character development that wasn't just "they love each other more now"? nope. also, nothing made sense here. i mean, nothing. none of these things added an element to this story.

So very sweet! Both characters are well developed; we get to care for them and their friends. Love the witchy fall vibe in the book and honestly, I loved there is no 3rd act breakup. They do have their challenges along the way but navigate through it as mature adults.

Fall I Want
Author -Lyra Parish
Release Date - this is a rerelease and can be read on KU and purchased on 8/19! And the book has pretty sprayed edges!! ♥️

Thank you so much @netgalley @avon and @harpervoyager for letting me read and review Fall I Want.

I read this book for cozy vibes. I was expecting Fall everything and there were some Fall vibes but it disappeared early on. This book has A LOT of tropes, but only stuck to billionaire MMC and Instalove.

I think I would have enjoyed this a bit more if it had a little bit less, it starts with Fall vibes and intriguing magical realism with fortune telling/visions/dreams that predict real life events, then moves to enemies to fake dating to insta love. It was a lot of jumping around for me.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE WAS - “I’ve been waiting for summer to end since before it started!” cause, same! Spring and Summer are THE WORST no one can convince me otherwise.

This book was not for me, its most prominent trope is insta love, which happens to be my least favorite trope. I felt that there were some serious topics that were maybe downplayed or overshadowed by the instalove, like the whole my dad is in the hospital, but I’m gonna joke about meeting my future wife. I also didn’t love the way the MMC threw his money around, for example, he bribed her boss so she could get out of work, idk seemed a little manipulative to me.

Like I said, not my favorite, but mainly because I personally don’t love these tropes.

This was a cute book! I really enjoyed the fall setting. With the weather cooling down and the season moving into autumn, this was such a good book to get into that sweater weather feel. I really enjoyed this one!

the first half of this book was so good and had me hooked BUT once they got together I lost all interest and spark. it almost became unbelievable and not realistic. the plot was interesting in the beginning and had all the fall vibes that came from the description and her little nickname matched the mood. once they got together the plot fizzled and it became repetitive and not really interesting.

This was seriously so cute! The plot was really good. The spice was just enough, and not overdone. I also loved the character growth, and the connection she gave the FMC and MMC. It was magical and perfect for a quick warm read for fall!

DNFed 15%

This explanation won't be long, I just wasn't feeling it at 15% and I did not want to waste any more time on this.

This was such a steamy book and i wasn't expecting that with the sweet cover lol. I liked the fall vibes and the way the main characters fell for each other. This is a small town romance where the fmc works in a bakery and is an aspiring author and the mmc is a millionaire that leaves the city to this small town to take a break. The first meeting between the mc's wasn't great but there was an instant attraction. They decide to be friends and to make an agreement to benefit each other in front of their ex and family. I liked the different plots that were in the book the grief of the mmc and how they came together. They were both so so cute and phew was it so steamy. The book was low conflict and very cozy for the perfect fall rom com vibes. I would definitely recommend

This book started off SO strong and I was sure I was going to love it. It felt like a lighthearted autumn read which was just what I wanted to read with the season approaching. Once Zane and Autumn fell in love, all the cozy fall vibes went away and it just felt like a really intense, obsessive love that probably wasn't healthy in the slightest. The falling in love was entirely too fast, as was everything that followed. This version of love felt very elementary with the marriage after a month and non-stop love proclamations. I can often look past insta-love type stories, but this was too much, too fast, even for me.

For what happened in the book, it also felt far too long. The book could have been essentially the same in half the number of pages. I did end up finishing it but the page count added to the second half of the book basically being love proclamations over and over made it pretty difficult to get through. I loved the first half so much that I really wish the second half were just... rewritten so I could fully enjoy the book.

If you're looking for a cozy fall romance that somehow devolves into an absolute train wreck of a love story, this is for you.

Love love love the cover. Loved the premise of being in a fall themed town basically. Loved the beginning of the witchy elements because, duh, fall. But that’s where it stopped. The instalove was SO instantaneous it was NOT believable. The way the characters were written did not reflect their ages. The way they acted throughout the story was almost… spoiled. Which made me feel yucky reading it. Did it have cute elements or plot points? Absolutely! But the insta and cringe overshadowed this. Appreciate the opportunity to read.

Well, that was interesting.

I was so ready for the cute and cozy fall vibes that were screaming at me on the cover. The pumpkin lattes, pumpkin treats, and the cool, crisp autumn sweater-weather. And I got that…for the first half of the book. Once Autumn and Zane started falling for each other, that’s all that mattered. The fall vibes were set to the side and forgotten for a hot and spicy time with these two love-birds. 😭

And now that we’re on the topic of the happy couple, can I just say that everything between them escalated way too quickly? As we are all aware, I am not a fan of insta-love, but this story was promising. You think it’s going to be an enemies-to-lovers type situation that turns into their fake dating scheme. Zane did say, after all, that Autumn’s coffee tastes like, and I quote, “shit.” That’s a great start! Yes. I love that. Offend the girl and she’ll hate your guts until…wait. What’s that? There’s an immediate attraction and an undeniable force or energy between the two that makes sparks fly and clothes fall to the ground. Nooo! 😅 I will admit that the two were cute together, but it was too fast for me. I’m too realistic and practical for these kinds of stories. I was intrigued, however, by the whole billionaire romance thing going on. I haven’t read that trope, so finally experiencing that was exactly that: an experience. 😂 But hey! I liked it, and I would definitely read more in the future.

Although Lyra Parish is not a terrible writer, I wasn’t exactly sold on it. I’m so sorry! I’m usually so accepting and forgiving of writing, especially in this day and age, where we like to keep things short and simple, but I just didn’t like the writing. It was too simple for me. Give me some prose, some long sentences with depth and more figurative language. 😭🙏🏼

Besides the amount of spice in the middle and end (I knew what I was getting myself into, so it’s my fault 😅), I was also a little thrown off by the lack of conflict in here. And that’s coming from someone who cringes when crap hits the fan because I'm no good with conflict or confrontations. But as I waited for things to go downhill, they didn’t. Thank God, there wasn’t a third-act breakup, but there was literally nothing to put pressure on these characters to be better versions of themselves. They grew, yeah, but just because of each other? Is that how life works? If so, sign me up because that sounds a heck of a lot better than whatever hand God dealt me. 😂

Anyway, even though I had some issues with the book, I still did like it. Am I going to read it again? No. Do I think you should read it? Yes, and I hope you love it and it becomes your next favorite book. 🥰

"Falling in love with me wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to you, would it?" "No. Losing you would."

Lyra Parish is a fall, scary movie girly just like me, and I'm here for it. Fall I Want was giving me all the cozy fall vibes, and now I'm ready to decorate!

I really love how all of Lyra Parish's books are interconnected. Seeing characters from her other series is so much fun and adds another element to the story. It's like all the pieces are coming together to make one big, beautiful picture.

Autumn's and Zane's love story had a rough start, but seeing them come together was worth the journey! They both struggle with past emotional trauma, but they slowly grow and work through it. I found the storyline to be incredibly relatable, which helped me connect with the characters more.

If you're looking for a wholesome, relatable, yet spicy fall read, then I highly recommend reading Fall I Want. Plus, pretty sprayed edges are being released on August 19th, just in time for your fall TBR!