A heartfelt holiday-themed story that rom-com fans will delight in.
After her town’s wildly successful fall festival and a busy drama club season, Sloane Sullivan is ready for winter break in New York City with her cousin, Ellis—but life has other things in store for her.
This stand-alone follow-up to Falling Like Leaves (2025), which centered on Ellis, follows Sloane, who loves wintertime but tries to avoid painful memories of her late father, who shared her enthusiasm for Christmas. Sloane’s mom, the mayor of Bramble Falls, surprises everyone by deciding to capitalize on the town’s popularity—videos of the Falling Leaves Festival have gone viral—and throw a Falling Snow Festival. When Mom pressures Sloane to help with the frantic, last-minute plans—dooming the New York getaway—she teams up with her best friend, the unconditionally supportive constant in her life, Asher Yoshida. After a meet-cute in which Sloane sleds into hockey star Micah Cook, her feelings for both boys complicate the festive season. Romance fans will swoon over the thoughtful and elaborate lengths Asher goes to in expressing his feelings for Sloane. Sloane’s fear of ruining their friendship and her grief over the loss of her father are palpable. The loving, joking interactions among Sloane’s friend group add dimension to the story, and readers will delight in the movie references woven throughout. They’ll also cheer Sloane as she figures out her feelings. Most central characters are cued white, and Asher is white and Japanese American.
A heartfelt holiday-themed story that rom-com fans will delight in. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781665989824
Page Count: 352
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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