Back of Book: 

Gilmore Girls meets Jenny Han in this autumnal teen rom-com about a city girl stuck in a quaint small town who must confront her future and her old flame while the town prepares for an annual fall festival.

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.

Book Number: One

Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A cozy YA romance novel that celebrates the autumn season as well as the magic of first love. 

Ellis has so many plans for her senior year in New York City and every single one of them will help her get into her dream school and become a journalist. Unfortunately, her mom has other plans when she decides that the two of them are temporarily moving to Bramble Falls, her mother's hometown, for several months so that her parents can take a break from one another. Ellis is determined to make her father proud, but Bramble Falls slowly begins to change her into a different person. Someone with friends, someone who puts others before herself, and someone who is starting to care less about her grades. And then there's Cooper, her childhood best friend that she ghosted years ago. Is it okay for Ellis to let her guard down, or will all of her carefully constructed plans fall apart? 

Misty Wilson will be attending Midwest Bookish Fest 2027, so it’s no surprise that that is the reason I’m reading this one now. This was a great book to be my first fall read of 2026 as the autumnal vibes are immaculate. 

It took a bit of time for Ellis and Cooper to grow on me as they weren’t the most likable characters from the start. They had some petty disagreements that had me shaking my head and remembering how dramatic high school truly was. Despite them having a ton of petty conflicts to work out with one another, I found that they were good influences on each other and they helped motivate one another to pursue their passions. 

The Bramble Falls fall festival sounds like such a blast! Small towns that put on huge seasonal festivals are seriously some of the cutest settings for a romance, and I thought that Wilson wrote some impeccable autumn vibes. I must say, this was one of my favorite part of the book. It was such a joy seeing Ellis and Cooper participate in all of the cozy activities together, such as carving pumpkins, getting lost in a corn maze, and indulging in autumnal beverages and snacks together. 

There was a moment in this book that I thought the third act conflict was going to make me throw the book across the room. Luckily, Ellis realizes her errors quite quickly both times, so it didn’t make me want to bang my head on the wall too much. Ellis is certainly very selfish at times, but it is quite obvious that she cares deeply for those she loves; she just seriously has some daddy issues. 

Cooper’s love for baking and Ellis’s passion for fashion were also a really cool part of this book. Seeing teens so passionate about their hobbies is great, and it’s awesome how these two inspire one another to bring their hobbies to the next level. 

Overall, “Falling Like Leaves” is a cute and cozy small town read that is perfect for fall. It features an adorable fall festival that exudes such strong autumnal vibes; it sounds like it would be such a blast to partake in a festival such as this! Ellis and Cooper weren’t my favorite MCs, but they each go through some great character growth that makes their dubious decision-making skills much more palatable. The town of Bramble Falls is so cozy; I’m definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, “Falling Like Snow,” this winter and returning to this great setting!

Back of Book: 

A girl juggles planning her town’s first-ever winter festival and untangling her complicated feelings for both her best friend and the star hockey player in this charming book in the swoony Bramble Falls series that started with the New York Times bestselling Falling Like Leaves.

After Bramble Falls’s wildly successful Falling Leaves Festival, Sloane Sullivan is looking forward to some downtime—especially kicking back and marathoning Nora Ephron movies with her best friend, Asher. But they barely make it through Sleepless in Seattle before Sloane’s mom calls an emergency tourism department meeting; it’s all hands on deck—Bramble Falls is having its first ever Falling Snow Festival!

Sloane may still be recovering from the last seasonal event, but she’s also excited. After all, Christmas is the best time of year! And she’ll have her whole crew by her side, including her cousin Ellis and, of course, Asher. But when irresistible, hockey-playing Micah catches Sloane’s attention, she finds herself a bit distracted. The emotions her unexpected flirtation brings up make Sloane feel confused about Micah…and Asher.

She’s never thought of Asher as more than her best friend, but even if Sloane is seeing Asher in a new light, what does that mean for her and Micah? Uncertain and more than a little overwhelmed, Sloane throws herself into festival preparations, hoping to get a little Christmas magic in return that will help her figure out where her heart lies.

Book Number: Two

Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Romance 

Review: ?