Like Snow We Fall by Ayla Dade: What Readers Love and Criticize

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A figure skater dreaming of the Olympics, a snowboarder with a party reputation and snowy Aspen: Like Snow We Fall by Ayla Dade opens the Winter Dreams series and is one of the most successful German new adult novels of recent years. Since 2025 it has also been available in English. We analysed reader opinions and summarise what readers love and what they criticize.

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What is it about?

Paisley arrives in Aspen with little more than her skates and a difficult past. She has a training spot at a figure skating school and is aiming for the Olympics. She cannot afford distractions, least of all Knox, the snowboarder at the centre of every party. Until she sees another side of him and both their secrets start to threaten their careers.

What readers love about Like Snow We Fall

• The winter setting: Snowy Aspen with its small town feel is the most praised element in blogs and on Goodreads.
• A strong heroine: Paisley grows through her story, and Knox has more depth than his reputation suggests.
• Light and funny writing: Readers enjoy the easy style and the chapters from both points of view.
• The friendships: Paisley’s friends at the skating school are a big part of the charm for many.
• Sport and slow burn: Figure skating and snowboarding feel fresh, and the romance develops slowly.

What readers criticize

• Missing content notes: Several readers say that heavy topics like sexual violence and doping come without warning.
• Judgemental undertones: On Goodreads, readers object to how Paisley thinks about other women and to jokes about a non-German name.
• Knox changes too fast: From party boy to devoted partner happens too suddenly for some, and a few miss the chemistry.
• Pacing: A slow start, a rushed ending and a doping subplot that gets too little room. One blogger says the TikTok hype set her expectations too high.
• Smaller points: Some readers find the competition details unconvincing or the explicit scenes out of place.

Content notes

The publisher lists no official content notes. Readers mention sexual abuse and abuse of power by a former coach, a mother with a drug addiction, doping, grief, panic attacks, body shaming and blackmail.

Success

According to Penguin, every novel by Ayla Dade is a SPIEGEL bestseller, the leading bestseller list in Germany. The series was heavily hyped on TikTok and now has six books.

What writers can learn from it

• A strong setting sells a whole series. Snowy Aspen is the main reason many readers pick up the book.
• Heavy topics need preparation. Content notes and careful handling protect readers and your reviews.
• Change needs steps. When a character changes too quickly, readers do not believe it.

Conclusion

Like Snow We Fall is cosy winter romance with sport, heart and heavy topics in the background. Fans of grumpy/sunshine and snow will find a whole series to binge. Readers sensitive to abuse themes should check the content notes first.

Sources

For this overview we analysed the following reviews and articles:

• Penguin Germany
• Penguin Australia: English edition
• LovelyBooks
• Goodreads: Like Snow We Fall
• Puddingklecks (German blog)
• Himmelsblau (German blog)
• Chapter Away (German blog)
• Books by Ju (German blog)

Ratings as of November 2026.

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