Falling Like Leaves by Misty Wilson (Bramble Falls book 1)

“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.” - taken from Goodreads.

A cute fall rom com where every weekend is another autumn festival. Ellis is angry to be plucked from NYC and her dreams of following in her father's footsteps and set down in Bramble Falls, Connecticut. She plans on making the best of the situation until she can get back to the city and pursue her dreams of going to Columbia. Ellis doesn't count on falling for Cooper Barnett who isn't exactly happy to see her back in town. What will happen when Ellis’s dreams for her future seem to change the longer are stays in Bramble Falls?

Visit Misty Wilson’s website.

Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson (Truly Devious book 5)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first four books in the series, Stop! You may not know some of the past details revealed in the previous books.

“Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain—questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed.

Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.” - taken from Goodreads.

This was an interesting installment in the Truly Devious series. With David studying in London, Stevie and her friends concoct a plan to study abroad so that she can visit David. Upon arrival, they meet one of David’s friends, Izzy, who wants Stevie’s help to solve the murders of two of her aunt’s college roommates. Blindsiding her aunt Angela with Stevie’s arrival, Izzy panics when Angela disappears. Begging for Stevie’s help, it’s not long before she is on the case. Told between flashbacks to June 1995 and the present, can Stevie solve this latest mystery that she has stumbled upon before she needs to leave for Ellingham?

Visit Maureen Johnson’s website.

A Show for Two by Tashie Bhuiyan

 

“Mina Rahman has a plan for her future:

• Finally win the Golden Ivy student film competition

• Get into her dream school across the country

• Leave New York City behind once and for all

Mina’s ticket to winning the competition falls into her lap when indie film star—and known heartbreaker—Emmitt Ramos enrolls in her high school under a secret identity to research his next role. When Mina sets out to persuade Emmitt to join her cause, he offers her a deal instead: he'll be in her short film…if she acts as a tour guide to help him with a photography contest.

As Mina ventures across the five boroughs with Emmitt by her side, the city she grew up in starts to look different and more like home than it ever has before. With the competition deadline looming, Mina's dreams—which once seemed impenetrable—begin to crumble, and she’s forced to ask herself: Is winning worth losing everything?” - taken from Goodreads.

Mina Rahman cannot wait to Leave New York City and head to California to attend film school. In order to make her dreams come true, she is determined for her school’s film club to win a prestigious competition. Her golden ticket arrives at her school in the form of Emmitt Ramos, a up and coming bad boy movie star, who is there to prepare for an upcoming role. The two make a mutual deal. Emmitt will appear in the film if Mina will help him with a photography contest he has entered. When the pressure of Mina’s home life and desire to escape from her parents begins to affect her various relationships, will she risk everything and everyone in order to leave NYC? A great story about who and what makes a family and home for a person.

Visit Tashie Bhuiyan’s website.

Lucky Caller by Emma Mills

“When Nina decides to take a radio broadcasting class her senior year, she expects it to be a walk in the park. Instead, it’s a complete disaster.

The members of Nina's haphazardly formed radio team have approximately nothing in common. And to maximize the awkwardness her group includes Jamie, a childhood friend she'd hoped to basically avoid for the rest of her life.

The show is a mess, internet rumors threaten to bring the wrath of two fandoms down on their heads, and to top it all off Nina's family is on the brink of some major upheaval.

Everything feels like it's spiraling out of control―but maybe control is overrated?” - taken from Goodreads.com

Emma Mills has written another feel good out of touch friends to romance story that definitely has multiple bumps thrown Nina’s way. Definitely the brain break from an intense read that I needed.