He Falls First by Jill Shalvis - Book Review

Series: Colburn Brothers #1

Publication Date: 05th August 2025 

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

4 Stars 

One Liner: Establishes the series 

Ryder Colburn is busy running the family businesses and caring for his ailing father. But a chance encounter with Penny compels him to help her and get to know her more. 

Penny has paid the price and is living in a dilapidated house with her grandmother and tween brother, trying to survive on the catering job. She has no time for anything, definitely not love. 

But maybe life has other plans! 

The story comes in Penny and Ryder’s first-person POVs. 

My Thoughts: 

This is my first book by the author, and I’ll be happy to read the other books in the series (fingers crossed that the publisher will make them Read Now). 

The plot is pretty thin as the focus is on building the foundation for the series and establishing the main characters (the Colburn brothers and sister). I hope the sister also gets her book. 

That said, the characters are well-developed, layered, and realistic. They have their flaws, but they are good people. They have been through enough trauma and are doing their best to be there for their loved ones. 

As the title suggests, the MMC falls first, and he is pretty open about it. The FMC calls herself a hot mess (more than a few times) and is willing to heal (always a good sign). 

The characters know their flaws and insecurities, so they have meaningful conversations even when there’s a sort of breakup. They talk about things and communicate, making it easy to root for them to be together. 

The toddlers (Abi and Alex) are little tornadoes or wolf cubs (as their mum calls them). Needless to say, the kiddos brighten up the book each time they appear on the page.

A few plot threads have been left open and will presumably be resolved in the later books. I’m curious to know where they’ll lead. 

There’s quite liberal open-door spice (3+) and a generous dose of F-bombs (alpha brothers and all that, I suppose). The banter is pretty good, though. The book has many funny moments despite having a sense of heaviness (due to dark themes like parental abuse, childhood trauma, domestic violence, death, illness, etc.). 

We don’t know about the FMC’s mom, though her grandma and half-brother are sweet. Still, I wish we had a little more backstory about her family. It would have enhanced the plot. 

To summarize, He Falls First is a heartwarming read about finding love, family support, and being there for one another. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #HeFallsFirst