Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Change of Heart

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Change of Heart by Falon Ballard

8 reviews

readwithria's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I usually live Falon Ballard’s books, but this was a bit of a miss for me.

First, I wish this book had been dual POV. I fully don’t understand what Ben sees in Cam because she is not a good person for the majority of the book. And then when she starts changing it feels a bit abrupt, and not quite a personality transplant but definitely a fast switch.

I also don’t fully understand the magical realism aspect. Being in the town is fine and all, but at the end there’s not an explanation or even an attempt at finding one.

I would argue that this book is primarily a piece of magical realism about self discovery, and the romance is secondary. If you’re looking for a romcom like her earlier works this is a bit of a shift.

Once I got about halfway through the book I sped through it, and enjoyed reading the book, but with the beginning dragging how it did I can’t give this book more than three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the eARC and the opportunity to leave an honest, voluntary review.

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juanat77's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Banter. Romance. Magical realism. I’m here for it! I have to say this is my favorite Falon Ballard book! It captured my attention from page one and did not stop until the last page. The FMC, Cam, is hilarious. She is the kind of character you don’t usually read in books. She actually sounds like a couple of my friends lol. Cam is developed very well throughout the story. Loved the banter between Cam and the MMC Ben. Also as always my favorite: NO THIRD ACT BREAK UP!!! It is Open Door which is not my cup of tea but I did over look it because I enjoyed the rest of the story so much.

4 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley @falonballard and @putnambooks for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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100_pages_hr's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This was a cute read IF you like a little mix of magic and Hallmark. The little Hallmark Town was cute I guess. It reminded me a little of Gilmore Girls due to the town's busy bodies.

I liked how the book focused on helping Cam become a better person in a few areas of her life but the alternate universe that was basically a Hallmark set was more magic than I prefer and made it hard for me to connect. I also really did not like Cam.

I absolutely loved Ben. His loyalty and devotion was amazing but felt misguided.

If you like books with magic this will probably be a much higher rating for you than me.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

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jennastopreading's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this title!

It is going to physically pain me to write this review, but reviews are meant to be honest, right? *sigh*

For starters, I've liked or loved the other four books I've read by Falon Ballard. They were fun, fast paced, had likable main characters (both male and female), and great banter. Great romcom's, and she's been an auto read author for me since I read her first book, Lease on Love.

Unfortunately, CHANGE OF HEART had none of those characteristics. And I am so, so sad about it.

The plot read like a horrible Hallmark Christmas movie with 50 plot holes. The FMC was intolerable throughout most of the story, and she was the narrator - so if you don't like her, you're stuck with her! The MMC seemed decent and charming...from what we saw of him, but he was hardly present for the first 50% of the story. So the banter and chemistry we're used to getting in her books? Basically non existent. And for whatever reason, the pacing felt sooooo sloooooow - probably because the book was almost a Groundhog Day sort of trope, but not really.

And don't ask me how many times the MMC said the word "sweetheart". My soul (and will to continue reading) crumpled a little more each time he said it, and it was easily over 200 times throughout the story. It started out as a sarcastic pet name and turned into an actual nickname that he used for her after they fell for one another - I was not at all amused.

Once I got to the 70% mark or so, I was so bored that I found myself essentially only skimming and reading dialogue. That's when you know it's bad.

As much as I love Falon Ballard and will read another book of hers in the future, this one was a no from me.

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mcstressy's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

LIKED:

I love a messy protag. Do I think that she needed some more fleshing out to actually be relatable and sympathetic? Yes. More on that later.
I think Heart Springs as a town was overall very cute and I could visualize it pretty well. I think that there could have been more descriptions of it to really get a mental map, but that’s just something I like
I really liked that she had a magical closet that changed with the seasons and that the seasons were kind of unpredictable in duration. That was just a fun little bit of world building.
Man I love nicknames. Was it a bit weird that he called her sweetheart all the time? Yes. But I just love when character’s real names being used holds so much weight
The premise, generally. And now for my soapbox - I think this book has been unfairly compared to both A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston and Prime Time Romance by Kate Robb for having similar plot-lines of being dumped into a Hallmark-esque town where everyone's a little too perfect and the FMC has to figure out how to get home or whatever. I have three things for that comment: 1. I’ve read both of those books and this premise is still pretty different. It definitely shares some overlap (Mimi is very similar to Sheldon in PTR and the town is not too dissimilar from the one in ANLS) but is overall its own thing. 2. Even if it was much more similar to these other books, they were all published within a less than one-year time-span between June 2024 and Feb 2025. This means that they were all written around the same time and in production around the same time, most likely this book was out of Ballard’s hands by the time ANLS was even on the shelves. That’s just publishing, baby. 3) (And honestly my most important point to make) This is not a novel concept. This is just an isekai, a story where a character is transported to a fantasy world, a thing that Japan has been rinse and repeating for decades in manga and anime. Who cares that it’s not the most unique plot point to ever come out? Isekais are fun. They’re silly little fantasies that are fun to consume. Is it an unfortunate coincidence that they made it to the rom-com book market all at the same time? Yes. But again…who cares.

LOATHED::

Okay, now having said all that - I do think that this is one of Falon Ballard’s weaker books. I still had a fine enough time in it because I like her as an author and her books are quick and easy to get into. But there is some layer to this one that is missing, something that her other books had that made them feel more whole. This book felt so skin-deep, it almost felt like it was written in like, one bender of a weekend and then sent straight to the printers. I’ve read most of her other books and while I don’t think anything has really won my heart like Lease on Love did, the others I’ve read have been cute and the characters have been sympathetic and lovable. These characters felt more flat, Ben especially. Cam was fine in regards to understanding who she was and her motivations, etc., but she still felt more shallow than some.
Who was Ben? Seriously. What were his motivations? His goals? What were his FLAWS? Like, I kind of get why Mimi brought him there by the end, but it was really flimsy.
Bouncing off of that - why didn’t he get any required tasks to leave the town?? Why was it all on Cam?? That was so bizarre to me. I was honestly kind of hoping to learn that he was from the town or something silly and he just got suckered back in, but that was never the case (and never made to seem like it was by any means)
The townspeople also felt really flat. Emma was probably the most fine, but…hm.
The three suitors thing added nothing. It dragged down the pacing and didn’t really allow for more character stuff with Ben, imo.

LONGED FOR:

More descriptions of the town
More character motivations, flaws, etc. for Ben to make him enticing / make me understand why she likes him and he likes her, even
More deep dives and digging into what makes Cam tick and how she unearths herself from the crusty corporate shill shell her grandmother cast her in

Will I read the next one? : Yes. It will take a lot for me to not read a new Falon Ballard book at this moment in time (unless I buy it and then stick it on my TBR shelf for eternity...sorry Right on Cue)

*Thank you to Putnam Books & NetGalley for providing this ARC!

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jackie_beyondthebookends's review against another edition

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lighthearted

4.0

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literary_laur's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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abbey_marie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was such an interesting read! I had a certain idea of what it would be going in, and it was different than I was expecting but still very charming and wonderful in many ways. I have a lot of thoughts, so here goes…

WHAT I LOVED:

Hallmark Vibes - I really loved the Hallmark vibes in this one. The town of Heart Springs was quite charming. I love that most of the book was set there and we get to spend a lot of time exploring that world. It’s very Hallmarky in the best way and it made this book quite the cozy read, especially around the Christmas season and particularly towards the end of the book where Christmas season is actually happening in the plot, which I loved!
Humor - There were some major laugh-out-loud funny moments in this book, particularly towards the beginning of the book when Cam first arrives in Heart Springs. She’s very snarky, and that made for some great banter and funny dialogue moments that I appreciated. She’s an interesting character for sure, and though I have mixed feelings about her, I think the snarky part of her character was pulled off very well by the author.
Emma - Okay, do we love Emma or do we love Emma? Girl, you’re perfect! You’re a goddess, a baking queen, and a freakin’ awesome friend! Do we love her or do we love her? I personally want to read more of her please. So sweet and such a kind-hearted person!
And I hope you and Ethan end up happy!
The Little Moments + After They Got Together Moments - I love it when a book doesn’t just end with the characters getting together - where we actually get to SEE them together and those little mundane moments like sharing coffee or having a conversation or the little habits and routines they form together. It’s very cozy and this book has that. I loved those moments!
Discovery - I loved seeing the two main characters discover more about each other over time and learn each other’s likes and interests.
By the end of the book, they’re very much in sync and it’s pleasant to read that journey of them learning each other on both a physical and psychological level. They were also really respectful of each other’s physical boundaries and consent was handled with care, which I always appreciate. Enthusiastic consent is great to read!

WHAT I LIKED:

Cam’s Character Development - I really liked seeing Cam grow throughout the story. I think by the end, she was a pretty likable character and she felt authentic and relatively well-fleshed out in numerous way. I will say her aha moment at the end of the book felt kind of rushed, and there are times when the internal dialogue didn’t feel authentic for the character, but I think overall she’s an interesting character who goes through a big arc of character growth that seems realistic (I mean, for a Hallmarky book, that is lol).
Ben - Ben was a great love interest and I liked a lot of his qualities. He’s very supportive of Cam, and a great book boyfriend for sure. I liked the way he calls her out on her behavior throughout the book, but was still really respectful and kind about it.
The Plot - I think the whole idea of having Cam have “quests” to complete was really interesting and moved the plot along in a way that kept the pacing quick but also entertaining and engaging. I will say that was part of the appeal once I got into the book to keep reading - to see how her passion/jobs and community engagement was going and how it would all shake out, particularly once she got better established in Heart Springs.

WHAT I DISLIKED:

Lack of Character Development for Ben - While I liked Ben, I echo other reviewers’ statements that he really didn’t have much of a personality other than his endless love and support for Cam. While that makes him perfect for a romance book in some ways, it also meant that he lacked dimension and we didn’t really get to learn much about him, his family, his struggles, and what brought him to Heart Springs. It almost seems like he’s a convenient side character or only there for Cam’s journey, which seems a bit unfair to him. And he adjusts to Heart Springs so quickly that it just seems a little too good to be true. I would have liked to see more of his real personality - his faults, his anger/sadness at being in Heart Springs initially, his family, his upbringing/background. He felt more like a side character, as others have said, and while I get that this is Cam’s story of transformation and she’s the narrator, I feel like we should’ve seen more of him and his different emotions/dimensions of his character.
Mimi - Okay, this one might have just been me, but I didn’t really like Mimi. I didn’t hate her, I just didn’t like her. Especially towards the beginning of the book, where I feel like she’s kind of cast as an “angel in disguise” type character - she just seems like she’s very irritated with Cam and judgmental towards her and her lifestyle (which, I mean, I get - yes, at the beginning Cam is pretty much an a-hole) but something about the way she was looking at and treating Cam and even Ben felt arrogant and not like the kind of heartfelt sweet angel character that these types of stories usually have. Now, it seems like this might have been somewhat of an act in some ways to push Cam and Ben together, but still it just rubbed me the wrong way. I dunno, I just got a bad vibe from it. 🤷‍♀️ Maybe it’s just me, haha.
The Ending - The ending felt sort of rushed for my tastes. I wish it was a bit more drawn out, as much as I adored spending the majority of the book in Heart Springs (and would have loved to stay there). I also feel like Cam’s interaction with her family was a bit too tied up in a bow and too perfect. I wish there had been some hard conversations in there, and we got to see Cam standing up for herself and what she deserved
especially to her grandmother - I mean seriously woman! I would like to have seen her kicked in the pantsuit! To just have her understand and make up all nice seems unrealistic and less satisfying for the reader.
The Writing Style - I liked this book. I liked the fast pacing. It took me a while to get used to it, but once we got rolling I was in and it was pretty good. There were some minor times the flow felt interrupted and throughout the book I really wish some scenes had more detail. I’m a visual thinker and tend to have an easy time imagining things from few words, but I know some people struggle with that so I think the book would have benefitted from more description overall.

Okay so I normally don’t include this section *sigh* but here goes…

WHAT I HATED:

“Sweetheart” - I cannot get over this. I know I’m not alone, though some readers may not be bothered by it, but I was a lot throughout the book. I eventually got somewhat used to it, and if it was used sparingly I wouldn’t have minded so much but I hated Ben always calling Cam “Sweetheart” from like the very beginning of the book to the very end
and in the intimate scenes which is just - ewwww - I cannot handle that! I was reading and I was like gosh he’s calling her that a lot and then I was like, but he better not do that then…and then I was severely icked out and disappointed. I’m sorry, maybe it’s just me but that’s wayyyyy too paternal for my tastes particularly in a sex scene - no way! That is not hot, it’s just gross and it gives me bad vibes. Ben’s golden retriever character made up for it, but on its own that kind of creeps me out. We will just leave it there. Another sidenote: this book made me realize I don’t love graphic sex scenes as much as the romance part of these types of books, so that’s something for me that was interesting to explore and learn through reading this!
In a word, it’s too paternal. It feels like something your dad would say to you, not your boyfriend
or lover. Nope nope nope!
I really hated that and I’m so sorry but I cannot forgive that lol! I am not okay with that. That being said, I eventually got used to it like 75% of the way through, though it did ruin some scenes for me haha. (Not too bad though, but some were just NO). Now, I HAVE TO NOTE that this is an unreleased copy I’m reviewing. This may change before publication. Please don’t take this and say, “Oh, that’s it! Nevermind! This is still a pretty interesting, fun, entertaining Hallmarky story and I don’t know if this may change before publication, so take what I’m saying with a grain of salt, try it for yourself and see if you like it. Falon is still a pretty cool writer - this one detail just personally got on my personal nerves but that’s me and it may not be you and you might love it so there, two cents given! 🪙

So yes, there were some things I didn’t like about this book, however I still gave it 4.25 stars because it was really inspiring to see Cam change over time, Cam and Ben’s relationship is quite sweet, her finding herself and finding friends and growing in the community is heartwarming to watch, and I just loved reading about Heart Springs. I could actually live in the world of Heart Springs forever and I want more please!! Thank you!

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