I LOVE second chance romances!!!!!!!!! I loved the twists and turns, and how it dealt with Alzheimers. Would recommend!

*3.5 stars*
This is the third book I'm reading by Jennifer Bardsley, after really enjoying Sweet Bliss and Good Catch! I was very excited to pick up The History of Us, and it ended up being a cute and cozy read! We have romance, a bit of mystery, and lots of history in this latest addition to Bardsley's bookshelf!

The story features Andrea Wint, a woman in her mid-thirties living in Port Inez (a ferry ride away from Harper's Landing!) where she can visit her dad, who suffers from Alzheimer's. Andrea is doing the best she can in the wake of her father's diagnosis, and I really did admire her strength and outlook on life throughout this book. I really like how realistic the character was, with Bardsley showing both sides of the coin (haha, punny) in which we get a glimpse into the various emotions Andrea feels including guilt, relief, love, anger, sadness, and so on. Andrea was definitely a relatable character, which I find is thanks to very good writing on behalf of the author.

Then we have Dustin Karlsson, the boy who broke Andrea's heart 18 years ago... except it turns out she also broke his heart? This ends up being a heartwarming second chance romance - though I did wish for just a little bit more - things seemed to resolve themselves rather quickly, and I was just hoping to get a little more tension, a little more fight and passion. But if that's not what your looking for, and you want a nice, clean sweet romance then this will be absolutely perfect for you!

In terms of plot itself, we have a crime to solve! Not what I was expecting in a contemporary romance, but it ended up being such a great outline for the story! Andrea's dad was a rare coin collector in his prime, and his love of numismatics remains strong, even after his diagnosis! It's one of the few ways Andrea is able to connect with her dad, so when his entire collection is stolen from her house, she is determined to get back every piece. With the help of Dustin, the two go on a mission to locate their prime suspect - Dustin's scummy brother-in-law. What follows is a fun story, rich in research and history that you have you putting another little notch into your "random things I now know" belt lol!

As always, the writing style here is great! I enjoy the way this author puts pen to paper, and will continue to pick up her books as they come out! I like the characters, and how relatable their struggle are, and the range of emotions they convey. Overall, a good read and looking forward to what comes next from this author!

First of all, CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW BEAUTIFUL THE COVER IS???

In all honesty, the cover made me select this book and I was not disappointed.

The History of Us is an easy, light read that I finished in 2 days. You might think it's another small town romance but it's NOT. It has a little bit of suspense, a whole lot of family drama, and information about collectable coins.

The story revolves around Andrea, who has moved back to her hometown to take care of her dad who has Alzheimer's. Andrea has bought a beyond lovely refurbished house which surprisingly was sold to her by high school boyfriend, Dustin. Things didn't end well between the two when they were in high school but they never really moved on. Andrea and Dustin's family find themselves in a turmoil when both families are robbed by someone they both know. Andrea and Dustin embark on a journey of catching the culprit and recovering Andrea's father's valuable coin collection. Will this crime solving rekindle their love that they had buried deep within? Read to find out!

Although I felt the chemistry between the leads was a bit lacking. But, I absolutely loved all the side characters. If you're looking for a light yet fun read, you should definitely pick this up.

Overall rating: 3.5/5
Taking away 1.5 stars because of lack of chemistry

A pair of teenagers, separated by outside interference and miscommunication, come together years later to rekindle the love that never extinguished. Strong family values fuel the story as Andrea cares for her father with Alzheimer’s. Dustin and his siblings remain close through tragic loss. Jennifer Bardsley did a phenomenal job of weaving two lives into one endearing love story.

As a second-chance romance, this was quite enjoyable. However, as a suspenseful romance, I found it lacking. It was easy to not only figure out the guilty party but also figure out how the romance happens. I enjoyed the characters and the writing, but at times the pacing was a bit slow. I loved how Bardsley handled the telling and understanding of Alzheimer’s. That was extremely well done. Overall, it was quite enjoyable as a second-chance romance.

What if you had the opportunity to try again with the one that got away?

The History of Us is a heart-warming story about family and childhood sweethearts, Andrea and Dustin. The story is sweet, charming and romantic and swept me away. The History of Us is told from Andrea and Dustin's perspectives who are given a second chance at true love. I absolutely love that the prideful pair work together to catch a liar and a thief around Foks, Washington.

I recommend reading The History of Us if you enjoy heartwarming stories about finding true love, emotional family dramas, second chance romances, childhood sweethearts, and forced proximity.

“I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you open up that suitcase of old toys.”

I was first introduced to Jennifer Bardsley last year when I was invited on tours for both of her Harper Landing novels. I fell in love with her writing style and the setting for the books so I was excited to get my hands on her latest.

I was fully invested in Andrea and Dustin’s stories, both their individual happenings and their rekindling romance. This was just the story I needed after a stressful week!

The story
Andrea lives in a small town in the Pacific North West, a ferry ride from Seattle. She lives a quiet life. Morning walks with her best friend, her work as a graphic designer and daily visits to her father who lives in a memory care facility with Alzheimer’s. She brings a coin from his collection to him every day and it’s the one thing he does remember. When his collection is stolen the safe in her house, Andrea teams up with her ex-boyfriend from high school, Dustin, to recover the coins. The forced proximity leads to the truth being spoken about, and a second chance for Andrea and Dustin.

My thoughts
I really enjoyed the author’s Sweet Bliss and Good Catch stories set in a nearby Harper’s Landing town. The writing in this new book seems to be richer, in both facts and emotions. Both Andrea and Dustin are dealing with the past, unresolved emotions and family issues. Coupled with a chase to recover the coins, it makes for a super story!

I really liked this book!! I think Jennifer Bardsley did an awesome job telling a really great book. This was one of those "I forget how long I've been reading books" and I loved that!!

Overall I really enjoyed this book it moved at a nice pace. With the ill father and the coin collecting it gave me vibes of Nick Sparks book Dear John, which I loved and really appreciated about this book. The main characters had a nice familiar chemistry that made you root for them to over their past misconceptions.

The depiction of Alzheimer's disease in this book is written very nicely, it was written to be very relatable and understanding without sugar coating the struggles of the situation it puts patient and families in.

The one things I would have changed about this book is that the chapters be a little shorter, I would have preferred that is have 10 more chapters to help break things up a bit better.

If you are looking for a cute second chance romance full of feels, family, and love this is it.

I started this book because I love a second chance trope, however I had to stop reading it around 25%. The storyline seems like it would be great and I love the direction where it was going but it was all happening so fast. There was no relationship built with the characters in the reader so I had 0 attachment to see what was going to happen with them. Something about the dialect was really off; felt very immature in writing and was extremely bland. I think this story has a lot of potential but I can tell from just reading 25% that its not hitting the mark.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!! ✨

If you’re looking for a cute small town romance for this summer, look no more! In this book, we follow Dustin and Andrea. They broke up 18 years ago in high school and they try their best to avoid each other in their small town. However, when Dustin’s brother-in-law robs Andrea, they both go in an adventure to try and catch him.

This was a very unique concept! It was fundamentally a romance, but there was also an entire plot full of mystery and action. I loved the small town vibes and the second chance romance in this book. But i was also very invested in the mystery aspect of the novel and I was very eager to know how the story was going to end.

Overall, i really enjoyed this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

- sha (@lafilledapollon) ✨

Heartbreaking and heartwarming beautiful romance story with great characters and a very romantic moment.
I enjoyed it a lot and while I haven’t read many books by the author in the past, this one was just perfect at the right moment for me.
Looking forward to read more by the author in the future.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Love story plus a little mystery !

I finished this book in 4 hours!

I was hooked , in the beginning of the story you are introduced to a bunch of characters and it took me a little to figure out who was who and how they were connected to each other . But once that was done It flowed.

Andrea is taking care of her dad who is in the " memory care unit" of a nursing home where she visits him every day before dinner. Her mother has abandoned him in his time of need and has a new boyfriend. Andrea early on is introduced to Cade who was helping her dad get his hand unstuck from the paper towel holder. she then finds out he is married to her ex boyfriends Sister Leiann

Dustin is Leianns brother and HATES her husband, he had to fire him from the company he and his other sister Heidi who is also Andreas best friend owns for stealing. Dustin gets a call that changes the whole direction of this book.

Cades Car was found , and then Andrea's Coins in her whole safe go missing. Andrea and Dustin work together and find there way back to each other.

A huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

It's hard to find a book where it truly warms your heart and make you feel blissed and hopeful, but I'm glad 'The History of Us' delivers all that.

A second chance romance between our main characters Andrea and Dustin, who were high school sweetheart until a heart break left a trail of broken hearts. Fast forward 18 years later, Andrea had to track down the burglar who had stolen her father's most prized possesion, and to do that she had help from Dustin who felt indebted to Andrea's father for some reason. Awkwardly, they both travels to hunt down the culprit but old feelings catches up on them. And that's how this book is going to unravel..

As for the characters, I admire how well-grounded they are, despite being flawed and all, and see how each characters figured out their emotions, history, fate and all those stuff in order to move forward. The family ties between Dustin and his family members warms my heart (despite Leanne being a bit.. rough around the edges). We also follows Andrea who had a mixed feelings when she felt what she feels duding and after taking care of her father, and with her mother having another boyfriend, she feels trapped for some reason and how i wish i could give her a hug.

Everything about this book is comforting, heartwarming and the development was just so great i could stop reading.

It also has the representation of Alzheimers, whete it was written in a great manner with easy-to-understand elaboration. Other than that, this book also included the numismatic history of coins which is very new to me and I like reading about it!

I would totally recommend this book for everyone who loves a comforting, heartwarming romance with family ties and realizing your own feelings.

I loved this story, sweet and captivating, a romance of second chances that will leave your heart overflowing with happiness! As a person who dealt with Alzheimer's in her family, this book definitely hit very close to home. The story of Andrea and Dustin was really charming and I liked the mystery that is maintained throughout the plot.

Definitely a must read!

"Emotions are like water, Josh had said. They can do a lot of damage if you’re not careful. But sometimes, Dustin realized, emotions could heal, and the best thing was to let those feelings flow."
I loved @jenniferbardsley Good Catch last fall as part of her book tour, actually it was the first month for me as an Instagram #booktourhost and the physical copy still sits on my dresser as a reminder . When I saw #TheHistoryOfUs I couldn't wait to take a trip back to Harpers Ferry to everything that makes her books cozy and. like your fave You Tube vlog walking from place to place feeling like you are there.
Reasons to pick up #TheHistoryofUs:
❤ sweet second chance at love with high school sweethearts who haven't seen each other in 18 years
🎰 trip through all the casinos that add to the history of Washington state..
🏩 heartbreaking view of a parent with Alzheimer's but a daughter who visits her Dad everyday
🛣 Dustin throws himself into helping Andrea find her fathers coin collection that was stolen ..and page by page Jennifer adds little bits of coin history.
What I would have liked more of..
🌶 steam.. for those who want a clean read this would be perfect though. Me I wanted a little more angst..a little more longing.more rhan kisses..but .. we got sweetness and hearts being drawn in fogged up windows which was adorable of a grown man.☺
Where there is suspense, in what is happening with the lost coin collection.. I would have been happier if police were involved. Hunting a trail got a little drawn out. I wanted more between the love growing between the main characters.
Leanne bugged me .. blocking her brother and sister was sad, and without spoilers I wish she had gotten wise sooner than she did.

All in all I still be waiting for the next story coming from Harpers Ferry!

I thought this was a super cute, easy read. It was a pretty cool plot to go along with.
I think it was well written with some very familiar and well loved tropes and I only really had one thing I didn't like. I really didn’t like that it was written in third person because it kept throwing me out of the story, and I felt like I couldn't connect or relate to the characters.
3.5 stars overall, and i think tons of people will love this
I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The History of Us by Jennifer Bardsley through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

What a beautiful read! First time I read a book from this author but not the last!

Dustin and Andrea’s story was really sweet and pleasurable to read. I enjoyed the second chance aspect of the romance and the Alzheimer’s theme along with the mystery in the story.
Beautiful book, one that I will read again to experience all the feels once more.

Would recommend this book with no hesitations! :)

Equal turns thoughtful and sweet, The History of Us is a darling read. Dustin and Andrea shine as a couple, and Port Inez is the type of small-town that will draw you in like you are a member of the Karlsson family.