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Trust Fall

Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26
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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Better Than the Movies, Lynn Painter, comes a rags-to-riches rom-com about a small-town girl whose family inherits a fortune and moves to New York City, where she meets a big-city boy hiding an explosive secret.

Julia is just a small-town girl from Nebraska who loves her peaceful life. But when her elderly next-door neighbor—who just happens to be a secret multi-millionaire—leaves everything to Julia and her family after his passing, Julia is swept away to live in a historic brownstone in New York City and attend an elite private school for the super-rich.

It should be a dream come true. Wrong. Julia doesn’t fit in at her new school; worse, she’s failing. Enter Damion, the mysterious and handsome tutor who will get Julia back on track. Except Damion has a secret. He is the great-nephew of the man who left everything to Julia’s family. Damion doesn’t buy for a second that the person who was like a father to him would leave his home to strangers. And he’s determined to prove it.

To uncover the truth, Damion schemes to earn Julia’s trust. Not an easy task with Julia unsure about this rich boy with a rebellious personality. But the more time Damion spends with Julia, the more his plan begins to backfire. Because he is falling for the enemy—and the enemy is falling for him.

As Damion and Julia figure out where they belong, can they see past their differences and act on their feelings, or will the trust Damion has worked so hard to gain fall apart?

416 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication September 29, 2026

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Lynn Painter

55 books61.7k followers

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5 stars
62 (48%)
4 stars
52 (40%)
3 stars
7 (5%)
2 stars
5 (3%)
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2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
Profile Image for molly lou.
102 reviews338 followers
Want to Read
March 15, 2026
Me after reading that title:

description
Profile Image for ✨Julie✨.
876 reviews1,908 followers
Want to Read
March 13, 2026
OMG! This is so Gilmore Girls coded! 😍

Live Laugh Love Lynn Painter 🫶🏻
Profile Image for rei ‧₊˚✩彡.
216 reviews722 followers
Want to Read
July 3, 2026
pre-release:

AAAAA i got the arc for this one 🥰 I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!! i’m so excited i’m like rushing to read all my current reads rn 🥹💗

OK SO WDYM I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER FOR THIS BOOK? I NEED IT NOW
Profile Image for lauren ౨ৎ.
152 reviews272 followers
Currently Reading
July 8, 2026
starting this today!! 🤭🤭


°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・ — preread:

GUYS!!!! I GOT ACCEPTED FOR THIS TODAY OMG IM GONNA CRY!!! IM SO EXCITED!! 🥹😭🧡 i just know i'll absolutely love this one because lynn painter never lets me down🤞🏼



Release date: September 29, 2026!


many thanks to netgalley, simon & schuster, and lynn painter for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
Profile Image for jae ⟡.
44 reviews632 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
July 10, 2026
i’m mildly disappointed <\3 this wasn’t terrible but the characters were just too surface level for me. damion’s whole bad-boy reputation got old pretty fast and i never bought into the enemies dynamic between him and julia. they barely even scratched the surface of disliking one another 🫪 remi was probably the highlight of the book.

thank you to netgalley + simon & schuster for the arc!
Profile Image for Grace Quan.
392 reviews709 followers
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
July 11, 2026
🍁。° 🕰️༄⌞ 𝟓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔 ⌝ ༄☕️。°🍂

Trust Fall is without a doubt Lynn Painter's best work in my opinion. It delivered a really interesting premise that had an excellent follow through.

The story starts with Julia Lowell, an ordinary girl living in a small town in Springfield, Nebraska. When her family suddenly inherits millions of dollars and a historic mansion in NYC—with the one stipulation that they must live in it for 6 months before they can inherit it—it seems they have no choice but to accept.
On the flip side, Damion, the great-nephew of the man who left a portion of his fortune to the Lowells, absolutely hates Julia and her family on sight.

The setup is already intriguing, so that combined with the New York City Autumn, Julia's main character energy, and Damion's charisma, this might just be the perfect book for fall.

The plot: First off, I appreciate when a romance book has a substantial plot. I feel like Painter's previous books have mostly just coasted off vibes and banter. But I liked this one immensely; I wasn't just reading a fluffy rom-com, I was reading something with substance and direction.

My favorite part of this book was undoubtedly Julia. She had this wild curly hair that Damion described as Julia Roberts's Pretty Woman hair. It was so fitting to her personality and obviously the reference to that movie was just the cherry on top. I can definitely see her character resonating with a ton of teenage girls. From her awkwardness and social anxiety, to her struggle to fit in with "the popular kids," she was so relatable and easy to empathize with. Girl had such a hard time attending Gardenwood Academy. I felt for her as she was experiencing bullying and trying to navigate this whole new world.

Damion was a fun one to read about too. I loved his funky style and his big tortoise-shell glasses. He possessed a "rebel without a cause" attitude and had the kind of "bad boy" charisma that girls dream about. Overall he was an interesting character, he certainly wasn't perfect, but it's what made him such a multidimensional person.

Although I am pretty much obsessed with this book, there are a few critiques I'd like to make.

1. Some of the bullying that Julia experienced was a little too intense. It was hard to read at times and could potentially be really triggering for teens who experience bullying. Especially if you have social anxiety, like Julia did.

2. I know some people will take no issue with this, and maybe even enjoy it, but some of the ultra Gen Z language really put me off. I understand that this is Young Adult, but it got distracting at times and really pulled me out of the moment. But on a positive note, there was not a single Taylor Swift reference which I found to be very refreshing.

Ultimately, Trust Fall really was the perfect book for fall. Highly recommend for fans of Lynn Painter, Jennifer Lynn Barns (for that little taste of inheritance drama and mystery), and New York City in the Fall.

༄。°₊˚⊹⋆🍁⋆⊹˚ ₊ ༄

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for the arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are entirely my own.

📆 Publication Date: September 29th, 2026
Profile Image for vita ౨ৎ (inactive).
71 reviews263 followers
Want to Read
March 13, 2026
ꕤ 🍁☕️ 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 ࿐ ͎. 。˚ ° ⊹ ˚.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⤿ release date: september 29

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? THIS IS SO GILMORE GIRLS CODED!!! I LOVE YOU LYNN 🧸🤎
Profile Image for cat (slow).
325 reviews126 followers
pre-releases
June 24, 2026
・❥・⁀➷ pre-release

april 7th- this cover?! 🧡💛🤎 i’m actually obsessed!! i’m so here for the vibes it’s giving off!! can’t wait for this to come out 🤭
Profile Image for vxmpslibrary [hiatus].
264 reviews121 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
July 11, 2026
.💌 4.45 stars.
- publishing date: Sept 29th, 2026.

Trust fall follows Julia Lowells , a small town girl living in Nebraska peacefully. When her elderly neighbour - who is a secret billionaire - passes away and gives the will to Julia's family, she's swept away to New York and to live her life as one while attending the most rich academy.

I feel like words would genuinely fail to express how I do feel about this book. It's something special, a feeling that makes me smile half of the times.

Lynn Painter manages to make every scenario in such a loveable rom-com, but the way she added dark academia also settled in the vibes. When I first heard of the book, I couldn't believe my eyes, the aesthetics were so beautiful and I genuinely was so excited to unravel this story.

And I finally got to do it!

Her writing style is something that is so beautiful, yes it's young adult, but when she writes about feelings, it's something so sacred, it's like yearning and poetry, it tugs on your heart and stays with you for awhile. That's how I felt when she described their feelings. I felt so many emotions, it brought tears to my eyes, I was smiling a lot, I let out a chuckle. I did love this romcom.

This book was also somehow INTENSE at so many aspects and I had to take so many breaks whether it's due to second hand embarrassments or due to some intense scenes. Such as the bullying scenes, the intensity was A LOT i could feel myself frowning most of the times and the one with Julia and Quinn ugh I hate that dude.

˚₊‧꒰ა .characters. ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
Julia 📚 ,
MY LOVEE! She deserved the world and I wanted to hug her. Lynn Painter manages to make all her characters relatable in a sense, but here, I felt like she was so me in so many aspects. Whether it's academic, anxiety or anything particular sorts, my girl literally deserved so much more. Though whenever she lied made me wince at the second hand embarrassment but otherwise I totally get her.

Damion🍷 ,
He's like one those jerks that I definitely was like 'hes such a jerk oh my god' but over all that, there's a real personality inside him that I loved. I admit his perspective was so entertaining and living that I loved being inside his head more. I wanted so much more of him, even though he's almost there in screen but I wanted more of his aspects like everything of his dreams, ambitions etc.

Liam well he was okay, I really liked him in the start but then I didn't. I felt like for someone who's supposed to be protective did nothing sort of things to help Julia when she was being bullied, because word travels fast right? He could have complained, I know that's not what Julia would have wanted but for Liam to hit Damion for hurting Julia but then not doing anything for the bullying she received is just so weird.

They both are such lovesick fools it makes me giddy and nauseous, like stomach churning. I felt like the development of the relationship was done perfectly well, the pacing was also done quite right for the development. The way Lynn writes yearning is like a character is yearning without even realising he is. That one chapter I was so shocked, I felt this tug in my heart and I was so surprised of the monologue. They both deserved each other and whenever they both are happy it makes me the happiest. They could be somewhat similar to other lynn's characters, but I genuinely can make a difference because of how special their moments were💗.

I have highlighted so many words and quotes because Lynn Painter had me obsessed and loving those lines. She writes feelings in details and I'm left wondering if someone would feel like that in real life. There were other side characters that I loved too and the Remington is just one of them. When Damion had tears in his eyes, somehow the writing got blurry and I wasn't able to read it ugh.

I like this book more because this was what I needed, something rom-com that would make my day better after I gave a test and my day was going a bit bad. Despite that, yes it did had some aspects that needed to developed but somehow they weren't and were left behind.

🫧.final thoughts. - I would definitely recommend this book! i actually loved it and had a great and awesome time! The characters made me feel so many things.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Publishing House for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review💗
_
OH MY GOD RTC
the amount of instagram breaks I have taken is ridiculous

┆ ⤿ 💗 .preread.
I have a test on Monday but anyways I'm so excited to read this book!! the message of recieving this honestly made my whole day hah😝💗.

9/7/26
EVERYBODY STAY CALM I GOT THE ARC-
Profile Image for dawn ౨ৎ.
63 reviews136 followers
Want to Read
March 14, 2026
the title. the prettiest lynn cover ever. the man who looks fine af on the front cover. 🤭🤫

i trust im going to fall for this book

IM SCREAMINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Profile Image for ava ⋆˙⟡.
119 reviews193 followers
Currently Reading
July 8, 2026
|🍂| pre~read |🤎|

AHHH I GOT AN ARC OF THIS 🤭 I’m literally so excited to read this omg, I’ve loved all of lynn painters books so far and this looks amazing
Profile Image for Ss.
138 reviews171 followers
Want to Read
April 8, 2026
|𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 ⋆。🕰‧˚ʚ📜ɞ˚‧🍂。⋆

𝖶𝖠𝖨𝖳!!! 𝖶𝖤'𝖱𝖤 𝖦𝖤𝖳𝖳𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖠𝖭𝖮𝖳𝖧𝖤𝖱 𝖫𝖸𝖭𝖭 𝖯𝖠𝖨𝖭𝖳𝖤𝖱 𝖡𝖮𝖮𝖪??!!!!!!! 𝖨 𝖺𝗆 𝖺𝗅𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗒 𝗌𝗈 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽. 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖢𝖮𝖵𝖤𝖱?!! 𝖫𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗀𝗈𝗋𝗀𝖾𝗈𝗎𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗌𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗅𝗈𝗈𝗄! 𝖠𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗏𝗂𝖻𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗌?!!! 𝖨 𝖢𝖠𝖭'𝖳 𝖶𝖠𝖨𝖳𝖳𝖳
Profile Image for joni ౨ৎ .
548 reviews540 followers
Want to Read
March 14, 2026
so i know basically nothing about this book but YA & lynn painter? 🫱💳

the glasses, the uniforms, ugh im obsessed !!!!


can we talk about this cover??

2026 is filled with such GOOD releases i truly cannot wait !!!!!
Profile Image for Mira.
378 reviews55 followers
Currently Reading
July 2, 2026
Pre-read: Omg, I got the ARC!🥹

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Profile Image for jo ୨୧.
340 reviews288 followers
Want to Read
March 13, 2026
🤎🎃🧡
cue ghostbusters theme
best believe i'll be trust falling into lynn painters arms when this releases BECAUSE GIVE ME RIGHT NOW
Profile Image for Aashita.
29 reviews6 followers
Want to Read
July 1, 2026
I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT FOR 29th September!! I AM SO SO SO EXCITED TO READ THIS ONE AND OMG THE COVER, release it alreadyyyyyy🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
Profile Image for ♥ Autumn ♥.
76 reviews
Want to Read
March 12, 2026
Pre-release: OHMYGOSH WHAAAAT IS THIS THE NYC ROMANCE I RECENTLY-ISH HEARD ABOUT?????!!!! AHHHHHHHHH I CANT WAIT👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Profile Image for Alice.
Author 1 book12 followers
Want to Read
March 13, 2026
PLEASE dont let me down lynn not with this gorgeous cover 😓 the children yearn for a fall romance
Profile Image for Hadley.
61 reviews33 followers
Want to Read
March 12, 2026
🍁🍂Pre-Release🍁🍂
3/12/2026

ANOTHER LYNN PAINTER BOOK!! *screams* I CANT WAIT TO READ THIS! THE COVER IS SO PRETTY!
Profile Image for lyn.
86 reviews46 followers
Want to Read
March 12, 2026
thank you for feeding us lynn painter 🤭🫶
Profile Image for emma (wes’ version)(ia).
64 reviews
Want to Read
March 17, 2026
WE ARE SO BACK BABY
a brand-new lynn painter young adult, in a new york prep school, enemies to lovers, autumn vibes... what can i say? i’ll fall in love with damion, i’ll adore this book from the beginning to the end, it’s definitely going to be a five stars book.
Profile Image for belle ໑ৎ.
41 reviews1 follower
Want to Read
March 13, 2026
ꮽ᱖ || pre-release: SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP, like yes, give me a NYC prep school enemies to lovers. HELLO? Also, the cover? SAY LESS. I'm beyond excited to read about Damion and Julia, like there are soo many new releases, it's insane and like the best thing ever.
Profile Image for erin ౨ৎ.
122 reviews144 followers
Want to Read
March 13, 2026
PRE-RELEASE
I'M SO EXCITED EEK!! I was waiting for a YA book announcement from her!
I really wasn't the biggest fan of Fake Skating, so fingers crossed that this one is more promising.
Profile Image for  caitlyn ₊⊹ .
53 reviews22 followers
Want to Read
March 12, 2026
𑣲┆pre-release ˚.⋆ֹ

BEYOND excited for this, you have no idea!!! set in nyc at "an elite private school for the super-rich", quite literally screaming, and the cover?? lynn painter you have my whole heart.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews