I finished my first book of 2026 and absolutely LOVED it!
Falling Like Leaves: Book 1 in the Bramble Falls series
Release date: September 2, 2025
Rating: 4.5/5 stars. (I would have given it 5 stars but there was some language that I didn’t care for because I feel a book can be written without using that word.
Still, I recommend it! Like the reviews say, it gives Gilmore Girls vibes but I also was feeling My Life with the Walter Boys vibes as well. (I haven’t read that book yet but I’ve seen the show on Netflix!)
Ellis has a lot of expectations for her senior year, but moving from Manhattan to Bramble Falls, Connecticut is not one of them. Yet in the wake of her parents’ separation, that’s exactly where she and her mother are headed.
Bramble Falls might be charming, but it’s also full of distractions. Like local barista Cooper Barnett, Ellis’s one-time best friend—and first kiss—who has not only majorly glowed up but wants nothing to do with Ellis.
Then there’s the Falling Leaves Festival, a month-long tourist attraction run by Ellis’s aunt—celebrating everything autumn. The festival seems nice and all, but Ellis doesn’t have time to be roped into her aunt’s enthusiastic planning. Dragged to each event, she can’t stop bumping into Cooper, the one person she’s hoping to avoid.
But the longer she stays in Bramble Falls, the harder it is to pretend she’s not falling for this town and the people in it. As her return to Manhattan gets pushed further and further out, Ellis is forced to confront exactly what she wants for her future—and what that means for her present.
It’s book 1 in a new series and I can’t wait for the next book (sadly, it isn’t scheduled for release until October…)
Add it on Goodreads
Have you read it? Let me know in the comments!
Let’s chat!
All Things Books 