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A review by happyeverabigail
Change of Heart by Falon Ballard
3.0
Falon is an auto-read author for me and this is definitely my least favorite by her which is super sad BUT I still love all of her other books!! And there were still enjoyable moments in this.
Overall, I found the concept to be a bit half baked. This felt like a first or second draft that was written quickly because there were moments I wanted the plot to go back to and take its time with it. One of those things is the motivation or "lesson to be learned" for the MMC. He is basically a perfect simp-y man which is fine with me but don't then tell me he also had his own journey when it was never shown or felt.
Speaking about the lesson.. I felt that the world was a bit too harsh on her. This is a side plot point that takes up 2 pages so I don't consider it a spoiler- the whole town hates her at one point because she helps out a wedding coordinator and when the bride tells her she's getting cold feet the FMC suggests helping her leave and tells her she doesn't HAVE to get married. Um?? The FMC is an absolute girls girl for that. I felt sad that so much of this was spent being a bit patronizing towards her via some of these lessons. If I woke up in a 1950s Hallmark movie it would be a nightmare for some of those conservative ideal reasons.
I enjoyed the actual romance. I liked the angst, the forced proximity with them being neighbors, and how eventually she was super vulnerable with him. This pulled off somewhat of a slow burn and the competitive love interests actually kept it fun for me.
I am glad that at least the FMC wasn't forced into a brain transplant and didn't have to go all small town Hallmark at the end. That was a major saving grace of this and I trusted the process and this author and knew she wouldn't let me down in that regard.
Thank you to Putnam Books for this eARC! Falon will stay an auto-read.
Overall, I found the concept to be a bit half baked. This felt like a first or second draft that was written quickly because there were moments I wanted the plot to go back to and take its time with it. One of those things is the motivation or "lesson to be learned" for the MMC. He is basically a perfect simp-y man which is fine with me but don't then tell me he also had his own journey when it was never shown or felt.
Speaking about the lesson.. I felt that the world was a bit too harsh on her. This is a side plot point that takes up 2 pages so I don't consider it a spoiler- the whole town hates her at one point because she helps out a wedding coordinator and when the bride tells her she's getting cold feet the FMC suggests helping her leave and tells her she doesn't HAVE to get married. Um?? The FMC is an absolute girls girl for that. I felt sad that so much of this was spent being a bit patronizing towards her via some of these lessons. If I woke up in a 1950s Hallmark movie it would be a nightmare for some of those conservative ideal reasons.
I enjoyed the actual romance. I liked the angst, the forced proximity with them being neighbors, and how eventually she was super vulnerable with him. This pulled off somewhat of a slow burn and the competitive love interests actually kept it fun for me.
I am glad that at least the FMC wasn't forced into a brain transplant and didn't have to go all small town Hallmark at the end. That was a major saving grace of this and I trusted the process and this author and knew she wouldn't let me down in that regard.
Thank you to Putnam Books for this eARC! Falon will stay an auto-read.