I DNFed this book. I wasn't a fan of the pacing and I felt like it was time jumping a bit too much. I do think she's improved massively from this book though having read What Happens After Midnight.

The Summer I Turned Pretty if it was set during the school year with the brothers being the Sprouse twins and one of them is secretly gay.

K.L Walther does it again; another YA romance that hooks you from the start. I can’t get enough of these wholesome, yet impactful books. If you liked I Kissed Shara Wheeler, you’ll love Maybe Meant to Be!

I loved the characters and their development throughout the book. I respected the way K.L wrote Charlie and Luke, with so much care and love. There are a lot of important themes explored here that likely resonate with a lot of teens/young adults. I think this is a really important book to be out in the world.

highlights:
- boarding school setting
- cozy summer read
- queer characters
- dual narrative
- coming-of-age story
- new england setting (I think?? lots of martha’s vineyard references, but never quite gave us a solid location for the school)

★ ★ | fade to black

!! POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD PROCEED WITH CAUTION !!

*A special thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

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Man, I really wanted to love this one. But I just couldn’t get into it.

It felt like we were thrown into a story that had already started at the beginning. Like, Nick and Sage already had this history that we only really hear about briefly. There’s not even a significant flashback. Just a casual mention and then the story continues.

I also didn’t really connect with any of the characters either. Every single one of them is two dimensional, and I wasn’t really invested in the outcome of either of the two main relationships.

The third act conflicts felt imbalanced, too. There was one conflict that was massive and I feel like it wasn’t done the justice it deserved (ie. Charlie and Luke) and then there was the other that just felt weird and superficial (Sage and Nick). There was also a major lack of chemistry and banter throughout the entire book.

While the story was quick and relatively easy to read— minus the difficult to understand school system— I can’t say this was one of my favorites.

Dnf at 7%

So um I have a problem with not reading the back of books before reading them so when I got confused about what this was about and read the blurb it did not sound good to me. Definitely my fault and not the book’s but oh well

really good book and kept me on my on my toes of what would happen. really enjoyed the characters and their journey and would read this author again.

I have absolutely loved everything I have read from KL Walther. I read what happens after midnight twice this summer. And this one was just so good also.

I’m a sucker for a book with good friend dynamics. And I loved the mischievous bit to the bunch.

Miscommunication tropes I can occasionally find to be irritating but I really liked it here. I think it gave value to the story.

It was just overall a really good read. I loved it and I cannot wait for her next book.

Very fast paced and I liked the relationships. There was definitely some miscommunication that bothered me but it got resolved and was fine; because of that and the choppiness of the writing of the plot I rated it 3 stars. Unrelated note to the book, I love kl walther’s covers!!

A messy, heartfelt coming of age YA story about a group of seniors living at an elite New England boarding school and their intertwined relationships. Sage has been best friends with Charlie forever and everything thinks she'll end up marrying him but what they don't know is that he's secretly gay and afraid to come out to his parents and twin brother.

To make things even more complicated, Sage finds herself falling for Charlie's twin brother, despite never wanting a serious relationship before she gets a chance to live her life out in the real world. Full of drama, secrets and a TON of heart. This was great on audio told from multiple POVs and narrated by Alexa Elmy and Graham Halstead and I think my favorite book so far from this author!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!

CW: homophobia

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcefire Books for the e-arc of K.L. Walther’s re-released novel, Maybe Meant To Be, in exchange for my honest review.

Description:
*If Charlie and Sage are meant to be, why can't Sage stop kissing Charlie's brother?
*And why can't Charlie stop thinking about kissing the new boy at school?

I really wanted to love this book. I absolutely loved The Summer of Broken Rules & What Happens After Midnight, but I could not get into this one. I felt like I was dropped in the middle of a conversation, aka, the Bexley School and it’s students. I had a hard time keeping track of who is who and then the info dump never let up for me to find my bearings.
From the few chapters I read, I liked Luke’s character. I didn’t understand why everyone thinks Sage & Charlie are meant to be. Yes they’re best friends, but there wasn’t any romantic tension between them; only pet names (husband, wifey, etc). I wanted to love this as I loved the idea of a queer romance rep, but sadly I am DNF’ing at 15%.

I definitely think younger adults and teenagers would enjoy this novel and probably relate more to the characters.

I believe this is a re-release of the author’s nove “If We Were Us”

Walther writes endearing characters and cozy stories set at boarding schools so well (I loved What Happens After Midnight), and I couldn’t wait to dive into this story of friendship and love. Unfortunately, it was a miss for me.

While this was cute, I thought it lacked focus and had a slightly chaotic pace. The book dove head first into drama within a group of friends, but without any backstory on or intro for the characters, I spent most of the time confused about what was going on. Navigating multiple POVs can be challenging if they aren’t distinct and truthfully, I couldn’t keep each storyline straight and it all blended together. I personally felt like I spent my entire time reading playing catch-up. There also wasn’t much in the way of establishing the setting - the story was more character focused with a flimsy plot.

This had lots of potential with its boarding school setting and fun friend group, but the lack of structure, character development, and overall background impacted my reading and it didn’t come together for me.

Oh I adored this!!! 4.5 stars K L Walther is one of the best YA authors in the space. This is a heartwarming, fun, and emotional read following two best friends in their final year at boarding school. With the fears of what is next for them and the uncertainty that comes with change, Sage and Charlie are learning to accept who they are and to chase after what they want.

I adored these characters!!! Charlie had such growth throughout this but it never felt forced. Watching Charlie accept himself was so emotional. Walther built a strong slow burn in this with Charlie's internal growth but also in his relationship. The dynamics between these characters is perfectly balanced with the light hearted plot moments that had me nostalgic for my early college years and last high school memories. This is perfect for people who are unsure of where they are headed next and that you only have to do what's right for you, not what everyone else tells you. Walther's writing is very accessible but each word feels perfectly chosen. The easy going style leaves you with some moments of pure excitement juxtaposed to emotional sections.

I cannot rave enough about this book, it's messages, and the beautiful way it is written. It's an incredible story that I hold close to me.

I loved this book!

Normally I have a little sense of what I'm going into but with this book I went in blind.
In the previous books I've read, the dual POV usually means that the characters aren going to end up together but that was not what was happening here.

Charlie and Sage are, to the outside world, a match made in heaven, but they both know that isn't the truth. You get to see how both of them struggle with their complicating love lives while facing all the madness that surrounds a senior year in high school at Bexley.

I loved reading how Charlie was going trough his own journey and the struggles he's facing along the way. Out of both the characters, I loved him the most. It felt like I could actually feel what he was going through.

Read it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book!


I've really enjoyed this author's other books, but this one missed the mark for me. I tend to proceed with caution when books centered on a character from a marginalized community are not written by authors of that same community, and this book is a good example why. The main arc of this story is one of the main characters (Charlie) coming to terms with the fact that he is gay, and then sharing that information with the people in his life. Before coming out, he dates a lot of girls and doesn't really treat them well, which didn't sit right with me. Also, the fact that Charlie's eventual boyfriend basically forces him out of the closet was problematic in my mind. Overall, I think this story could have been handled with more care, or maybe not at all by this author.

Do you like:
Boarding school setting?
Childhood friends?
Romantic comedies?
Then I think you’ll like this book because it has all of that and more.

Personally I enjoyed this book. It was a cute lighthearted story about childhood best friends falling in love for the first time, but not with each other! I enjoyed both Sage and Charlies stories and overall I just had a fun time.
I did feel like the side characters were a bit flat and undeveloped, but it didn’t hamper my enjoyment
Overall this was easy to read and fun so if you’re in the mood for that I recommend this book.

I enjoyed this just like Walther’s other books! She has a real knack for writing fun, immersive settings and large groups of characters. The romances were fun and sweet, although I wasn’t a fan of Nick and Sage’s relationship having to be secret (but that’s just me being annoyed at Sage’s immaturity, not a negative on Walther’s writing). This is a quick read, great for when you just want a fast and easy YA rom com.

Another school year dawns, and Sage Morgan and her two best friends, Charlie and Nick Carmichael are back at Bexley, their small New England boarding school. It's senior year, and the addition of Luke Morrisey, a PG (post graduate) transfer is here for a finishing year at Bexley. Luke's arrival sets events in motion that would never have occurred to Sage, Charlie, and Nick a year earlier, and lead to some of the best and worst times of their lives.

K.L. Walther does an amazing job of drawing up the cozy confines of a specific place and vibe, and it's no different with Bexley this time around. I'm a big fan of her work, and I enjoyed "Maybe Meant to Be", and especially the introduction of a same sex romance in the upper crust world of Bexley. Representation is important, and I appreciated the way the storyline was presented- it felt organic and easy, a natural progression for the characters involved.

I think I would have really liked this story but I was constantly confused getting characters mixed as well other things. The start of this book throws you in it too much too fast leaving me constantly questioning everything.

I was so excited for a new K.L. Walther novel but this is a rebrand of her debut, If We Were Us. I like this cover better, but I'm not sure why it needed a title change. Summer of Broken Rules will always be my favorite of Walther's novels, and this, being her debut, does not come close. I hope we get a new story from Walther soon!

4.5/5⭐️

(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book! 🤍)

K. L. Walther is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors to read. She always manages to create sweet, heartfelt stories with fun characters and unique plot elements.

Maybe Meant To Be follows best friends, Sage and Charlie through their senior year at Bexley, a boarding school. Everyone thinks they are meant to be together, but Sage is more interested in Charlie’s brother. While Charlie is more interested in the new guy on campus, Luke.

I loved these characters so much. Their issues and struggles felt so genuine. Even when they made mistakes or bad decisions, you couldn’t help but root for them to get their happy ending.

At its core, this novel is about the anxiety and excitement that surrounds the transition between high school and college. The tests, the dances, the bad ideas, the relationships, and the heartaches. The book does a phenomenal job of capturing those moments and the complexities of growing up, while also giving us cute romances! Overall, I adored this story. 10/10 recommend! 💖

This one just was not for me. I was very excited for it since I enjoyed The Summer of Broken Rules and What Happens After Midnight, but it just never clicked for me.