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Verdict: A beloved, Goldie-winning debut: a fading Nashville star spends a winter in Vermont reinventing her sound, and falls for the med-school dropout posing as her co-writer’s wife. Readers rave about the tension, dialogue and emotional depth; a minority felt the second half’s turn and time jumps weakened it.
Best for: Readers who love an agonising slow burn with real emotional weight.
Heat level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.4/5 — a 4.29 Goodreads average across 6,621 ratings, 4.19 on StoryGraph from 1,665 reviews, and 4.6 stars across 1,952 Amazon ratings)
Tropes: Slow burn, fake marriage (sort of), forced proximity, single mom, celebrity/non-celebrity, starting over.
Falls From Grace is Ruby Landers’s 2024 debut contemporary lesbian romance, book one of the Grace Notes series and winner of the 2025 GCLS Goldie Award for best debut novel. Savannah Grace’s band Twice Struck topped the country charts for nearly a decade — until her high-profile marriage to her bandmate and co-writer publicly exploded.
It holds a 4.29 average across 6,621 Goodreads ratings, with 83% of them four or five stars, 4.19 on StoryGraph from 1,665 reviews, and 4.6 stars across 1,952 Amazon ratings.
What Is Falls From Grace About?
Brynn Marshall is a little lost: dropping out of med school made her the family black sheep, and she’s drifting around LA. Her best friend, indie musician Noah Lyman, has just landed a co-writing job with a megastar.
Savannah wants Noah’s help breaking out of country music, at her secluded winter home in Vermont. And what better way to help a friend than for Noah to bring Brynn along — pretending she’s his wife?
What Works in This Book
- Tension: Readers call it longing on steroids and say it kept them up all night.
- Dialogue: A couple of readers single out dialogue full of tension, desire and depth.
- Characters: Fully formed, flawed women — and one reader adored Savannah’s son Tucker.
- Audiobook: Listeners praise Quinn Riley’s narration.
Book Synopsis
A country star, a songwriter and his fake wife spend a winter in the woods.
What could possibly go wrong?
My Review
For a debut, this is remarkably assured. Told in third person from both leads, it balances heartstring-pulling emotion with humour, music that jumps off the page, and two women at their own rock bottoms finding each other.
The criticism centres on the second half. Several readers say the book took a clichéd or less believable turn around the midpoint, and some disliked the time jumps and news articles used to deliver information. One reader who read Landers’s later books first can see how her writing has grown since.
My honest note: Check the content warnings first; this one goes to heavy places.
| Element | In Falls From Grace |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Savannah Grace (country star, single mom) & Brynn Marshall (med-school dropout) |
| Core tropes | Slow burn, fake marriage, forced proximity |
| Setting | A secluded winter home in Vermont; Nashville and LA |
| Heat level | 🌶️🌶️🌶️ |
| Length | 438 pages (Kindle edition) |
| Series | Grace Notes #1 |
| Content notes | Alcoholism, addiction, suicide attempt, infidelity |
How Spicy Is Falls From Grace?
Steamy once the burn ignites — I Heart SapphFic labels it hot and steamy.
StoryGraph readers most often flag alcoholism, addiction and a suicide attempt.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want a slow burn with emotional depth and music. It is on our celebrity lesbian romance list.
You may want to skip it if: addiction or suicide content is a trigger.
In short: Longing, beautifully written.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
On Goodreads the split is 48% five stars, 35% four, 13% three, 2% two and under 1% one. On StoryGraph, 79% tagged it emotional and 95% found the characters loveable.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The slow burn first. Second, the dialogue. Third, the characters. Fourth, the audiobook.
What readers argue about and complain about: The midpoint turn, above everything. Second, time jumps. Third, heavy content.
The comparison worth making first: The Counterpart, another Ruby Landers romance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is pretending to be married in Falls From Grace?
Brynn. Savannah hires Brynn’s best friend, musician Noah Lyman, to co-write with her in Vermont, and Noah brings Brynn along posing as his wife.
What content warnings should I know?
StoryGraph readers most often flag alcoholism, addiction and a suicide attempt, along with infidelity (Savannah’s ex) and sexual content. The author also lists warnings on her website.
Is Falls From Grace a slow burn?
Very — readers describe agonising, delicious tension. Some felt the second half, with time jumps and news clippings, lost momentum.
Is it part of a series?
Yes, Grace Notes #1. Savannah first appeared in Landers’s novella Two Tickets.
Is Falls From Grace on Kindle Unlimited?
Yes, when we checked — or $7.99 to buy on Kindle. The audiobook, narrated by Quinn Riley, is widely praised.
If You Loved Falls From Grace, Read These Next
Try Ribbonwood, The Counterpart or Lacey Lassiter Is Not a Lesbian. Browse our celebrity list or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
Falls From Grace sets out to be an emotional slow burn about starting over, and it delivers with rare tension. What holds it back, for some, is a second half that changes direction. Highly recommended. Check Falls From Grace on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Falls From Grace ranks as an excellent celebrity pick — aching, assured.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 4.4/5
- ✓ 4.29 average across 6,621 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 83% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ 4.19 on StoryGraph from 1,665 reviews
- ✓ 4.6 stars across 1,952 Amazon ratings
Romance ★★★★★ 4.5/5
- ✓ Agonising slow burn
- ✓ Insane chemistry
- ✓ Fake marriage cover
- ✓ Longing
Characters ★★★★☆ 4.4/5
- ✓ Flawed Savannah
- ✓ Relatable Brynn
- ✓ Tucker
- ✓ 95% loveable on StoryGraph
Writing ★★★★☆ 4.1/5
- ✓ Sharp dialogue
- ✓ Dual third person
- ✓ Time jumps
- ✓ News clippings
Emotional Impact ★★★★★ 4.5/5
- ✓ Tagged emotional by 79%
- ✓ Made readers cry
- ✓ Rock bottoms
- ✓ Hope
Heat Level ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Hot and steamy
- ✓ Slow ignition
- ✓ On-page
- ✓ Adult
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Satisfying for most
- ✓ Clichéd turn for some
- ✓ Series continues
- ✓ Hopeful
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 4.4/5
- ✓ On Kindle Unlimited
- ✓ $7.99 Kindle price
- ✓ Quinn Riley audiobook
- ✓ Better on reread for one
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