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?
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!
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!
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.
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😝💗.
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.
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.
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.
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.