I started and finished this book in the same evening (I was up much later than I had planned...). Chris Coppernoll does a wonderful job at developing both the characters and their stories. It is easy find yourself feeling as if you've escaped into Juneberry and are right there with Emma, Michael, and all of their friends, experiencing the ups and downs of their emotions and relationships. What a joy to find an author who writes in such a way as to make you anxious for the next book!

I really enjoyed this heartwarming story of family and romance - set in the south. The setting and characters are so real you get involved in the story right away and care about what happens! I appreciate good clean stories that inspire.

Twelve years ago, Emma Madison had everything going for her, a loving home, best friends and a summer romance, but she ran. Ran out of fear that she would be suffocated by small town living without the chance to reach for her dreams.

Now, working as a high rising Boston Lawyer, Emma wins her biggest court case yet. However, as soon as she leaves the courtroom, she receives a phone call that her father has suffered from a stroke. She drops everything to go back home--something that she had avoided doing for twelve years.

Emma assumes she'd go home to help her father and put things in order and quickly return to Boston, but her plans change when she once again falls in love with being home, with her high school sweetheart, family and friends. She needs to decide if she should fall for her successful career or rather for the love of all those she holds dear in her hometown.

Positive Elements: God is clearly at work through the faithful spiritual journeys of Emma's friends. I enjoyed seeing faith in action by the words and deeds of these characters.

Negative Elements: While this wouldn't stop me from recommending this book, I must say that I noticed that Emma was reconciled to her family, friends and sweetheart--but she was never clearly reconciled to God.

I picked this book because the setting is mostly in South Carolina and as always or in most books that I have read with the setting in SC - the book has a "Home" feeling - it is heartwarming, caring, and loving. I loved the characters in this book. Not just the main characters but the supporting ones as well. This book is definately a good book - a MUST read! I loved it all the way through!! The couple(s) in this books are unforgettable.

I really can't remember the last time I read a fiction book - but it's been over a decade. A self-proclaimed learner, my paycheck usually goes to books that challenge my worldview, or that present new business principles, or something equally brainy.

Recently, I moved to Nashville and was invited to an author signing for Chris Coppornoll for his second book, A Beautiful Fall. As an author myself, I recognized the need to expand my reading horizons a bit and decided take the plunge and invest in the novel...then actually read it. :)

After the first 10 minutes, I knew I would have a hard time putting the book down. I won't go into storyline, or plot, or characters here -- the other reviewers have done a fine job detailing those -- but A Beautiful Fall flowed seamlessly from word to word, from chapter to chapter, and from beginning to end.

In a world where getting ahead and having that drive to do more, be more, and get more can take us over, it is so refreshing to read a book that reminds us to let go of things and let God. To read about characters that we can actually relate to and their circumstances and struggles of the heart such as Emma and Michael, Christina and Bo, Samantha and Jim, Noel, Will: makes me wish for more small-town experiences. I loved this book and it has reminded me of what is really important in my own life.

This book is a sweet love story in three parts. There is the main love connection between Emma and Michael - high powered, on the rise attorney and stayed home in small town, making good carpenter who were in love and separated 12 years ago when she just left one day and didn't come back. Can he forgive her? Can she figure out what is important in her life?
Then there is the couple that have been married for years and are having their fourth baby - how do they sustain the flame?
And what about the dating couple where he has been burned by his first wife and doesn't want to go through that again and she just keeps praying that God will heal him so they can be together...

All 3 couples weave through this book and it really is a good story of how you can always come home.

Reading books, for me, is about connecting. I often find myself putting my feelings and thoughts in the character's shoes to see how they match up or compare to my own. In this book, I was easily able to identify with the small town of Juneberry and it's everybody knows everybody, a smile on every corner, good old boys feel. Too many times in life, we are all like the main character, Emma, in that we search out those things in life that sound appealing or exciting or right, and forget to rely on the one constant in our lives, God, to guide our steps. Emma needed to run away and in doing that almost forgot what she left behind. Chris's use of faith (Noel), perseverance (Samantha & Christina) and good moral character (Michael) helps to create a believable story that centers around Emma coming back to her roots and realizing the importance that God needed to play in guiding her life. It was a very refreshing and uplifting story (much like I felt after reading Chris's first book, Providence). A must read and one that will keep you wanting a third book to be written.

When I picked up "A Beautiful Fall" I really wasn't sure what my friend Chris had written. As I started to read I really was drawn into the story and being able to connect to each character in different ways.
Emma Madison, a high in demand Boston Law Partner, was successful and had bright future ahead of her, however, she was still lonely. Leaving a small town to go to Boston to Law School, however, she would never return until that dreadful day. The day that she won the biggest court case in her life which was one of her brightest and most successful wins in court turns out to be short lived. Receiving a phone call from her cousin about her father being rushed to the hospital from a heart attack she heads back to small town life to find her dad out of surgery in a hospital and the story goes on from there.
As she rekindles relationships that have been untouched for 12 years and a romance that was stopped in its tracks when she left town abruptly. She deals with what is going on inside her and fighting with the pressure that all people have, do we leave the one's we love for something that gives us more money and prestige?
I think we all can relate to these characters, male or female. This story beautifully tells of redemption between God's creation and ultimately a glimpse at God always longing for us to return to His embrace. This story especially hit home for me since I live away from my family in Texas and pray each day that the phone rings I don't get the phone call that Emma received.
Chris, did an exceptional job in developing characters and letting their stories make you reflect on your history and set you on a path of redemption. This story is not one that will be just a quick read, you read it quick because you want to see how it all turns out, however, it sticks with you and the Lord just might speak through it to reach you right where you are just like He did with Emma.
Well done, my friend, I pray for continue success!