Cute little novella about a couple who fall in love but the man gets sent off to war. They both lose touch and move on with other people but find their way back to each other. Second chance story maybe their will be more with some of their kids. Happy ending for sure. Spicy and heartwarming!!!

Although this is only a novella and quite a fast paced read the story felt much longer.

Spanning forty years it’s told in dual POV and moves between the past and present a lot. I found it interesting to see them in the different time periods and the decades lost made the heartache even harder.

Giana and Leo’s love story was the kind of second chance romance I love. Definitely recommend.

This was VERY different from most romances.
Dual timelines with a now and then. The then is 40 years ago! So when he gets back to the now they are about 60 years old.
Honestly I can't believe I'm about to say this but.... For being a novella and a prequel/origin story there's far too much spice that doesn't really add to the story or help with the characters connection.
Insta-love is a big part of this. I loved the letters that was one of the sweetest parts.
I loved the dual pov. Loved the side characters/ friends.
Was sweet and heartbreaking all in one.

Thank you for this arc

I absolutely wholeheartedly loved Come Back to Me.
I hope to read more from LeAnne August In the future.

So far this is one of my favorite novella’s for 2023.
A small town summer love in 1969. 😉

I love this couple so much. The love Giana and Leo have for one another is relationship goals! Leo is a true souther gentleman. Giana was sweet as pie. Who knew kids in the late sixties knew so much about sex as a virgin. Lol
The spice in this books is just enough.

My heart ached so much for them at the end I didn’t expect what came next. 🥹

The book start with some trigger warnings. I crying reading this novella, what Leo and Giana have is true love. First i cringe with the insta love they have but i enjoy they spend time together, war make them seperate and what they have is really heartbreaking. The reunion in the next decades was so hearthwarmer. I love the dedication, hit hard thank you.

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#ComeBacktoMe #MapleRidge #LeAnneAugust #XpressoBookTours #NetGalley #ARC

super fast read! i didnt realize this was a novella. it was fast and furious with the plot, the spice was good and i liked the chemistry between the 2. i felt like it was rushed in the end but it was still a good ending to the story. thank you so much netgalley for allowing me to review early!!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

Since this book is a novella, it’s a really quick and easy read. We get a little bit of a backstory to the two main characters but we really don’t need to know much. Leo is visiting Maple Ridge for the summer and falls in love with Giana. They buy a cottage together and things get spicy. There are some sentences and phrases in the book that I found to be cringy, but the story as a whole is not.

Would recommend if you’re looking for a quick read!

Thank you to Netgalley and LeAnne August for an e-arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

When I saw the cover and read the blurb I was really excited to read this book! Sadly this book was not a good fit for me. This book is only roughly 127 pages so things move incredibly fast, there was also a lot of sex scenes. I don't have an issue with smut, but I would have preferred to have less smut if we could have focused more on actual depth and development towards the characters and the plot.

Come Back to me has a great plot but the overall execution of the story was kind of terrible. The story begins in the “now” and we are transported back to 1969 where Giana and Leo meet and fall in love. With this great love comes the heartache in between until we get to the HEA (if you want to call it that)

Here is a list of my grievances for the story:

-The sex scenes- I lost count of how many because after the first one I just skimmed through them they didn’t add a lot of value to the story for me.

-The story is too short to allow you to connect to the characters emotionally. For me what makes a book a 5 star read is whether or not I can connect and feel what the characters are going through. This could of been one of those stories that leave you a blubbering mess but that connection just wasn’t there.

-The ending… magically we find out Leo lived then bam their spouses are dead and after 40 years apart they are meeting again at the cabin to, as the reader can only assume is to spend their remaining lives together.

This ending felt really unfair to both characters that they didn’t get more time together. I would of much rather a pregnant Giana left her husband after that letter to be with Leo- they were soulmates after all and there is so little detail into either of their lives but from an earlier chapter it sounded like her husband knew she still pined for Leo. There were several other paths this story could of taken and it would of been a much more enjoyable read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

2.8/5 ⭐️

❗️Disclaimer: This review isn’t to tell the author that they are bad or not. This review is simply based on my own personal opinion of the book. I do suggest you give it a chance before you form an opinions about it and decide whether you like it or not.❗️

Come back to me was a good debut novella. It is 127 pages long and has the following tropes.

Tropes found in this book:
Insta-love
Kinda Second Chance
Love letters
It has always been you.
Small Town Romance

Things I liked

- I liked the writing.

- I liked the main characters a lot and how much they loved each other even after 40 years.

- I liked the side characters, they really helped the story.

- The spice was good. I would say 2 🌶️

- I really liked the small town setting.




Things I didn’t like:

- I didn’t like how fast paced it was. It didn’t really make me feel anything for the characters and they’re struggles.

- I wish the book was longer so that I could connect to the characters.

- Nothing much truly happen until the end with Leo and that made me force myself to read the first 50% of the book. It was good but not something that maintained my attention like how i would have wanted it to.

- I didn’t particularly liked the ending. I like that they ended up together and it was cute but I didn’t like that they weren’t together sooner. It didn’t feel right to me.




There are other things I didn’t like but I won’t go into detail since they are spoilers. Overall this book was a good debut novella but there were some things that could have been improved. If you want a quick read and you like the tropes mentioned I would say give it a chance and read it.

This is a story that will not only involve your heart but your mind! From the second page you are involved and interested by the second chapter you are glued to how these two wonderful people will heal and grow together. I loved it and was sorry to be finished!

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Books for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a debut novella which I was able to read rather quickly at just over 100 pages. I enjoyed the pacing of the first half but I felt like the last half of the book felt rushed. I do understand there was a lot to get through; it felt a little off but not enough for me to stop reading.

I really enjoyed how these two characters came together and getting to know them. I’m not usually an insta-love type but I fell hard for Gigi and Leo. The spice level was great and my heart strings were tugged in the last few chapters. The author kept me hooked and invested the whole time.

I think this was a debut and I’m looking forward to what the author comes up with next!

📚 Come Back to Me
📝 LeAnne August
📌 Book 21/50 for 2023

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗘: Romance ❤️
𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

🔔 Publishing March 30, 2023 🔔

✨ This was an eARC gifted to me via @netgalley. The following review is my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions. ✨

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 📖
This debut novella by indie author LeAnne August is heartbreaking and intense, 100ish pages packed with the sweetest love story ever. I’m usually not a fan of the insta-love trope, but August did a phenomenal job of making you feel the passion and rawness in the relationship of Leo and Giana, allowing the reader to be swept away to this free spirited and carefree world that is a summer romance. The novella jumps from present, then to past and back to present, and coupled with the incorporation of letters toward the end, the reader is privy to just enough information that you feel the emotion Giana feels like a sucker punch. Honestly, when I started reading I didn’t expect this to be my cup of tea, but this is one of those tender stories that has an impact that lasts. I’m excited to see more from August. 🤍
•
𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 ⤵️
Insta-love ❤️, summer of 1969 ☀️, closure 🚪, small town 🏘, southern boys 🤠