Kristyn Miller's "Given Our History" is a sweet, dual-timeline contemporary romance. Professor Clara Fernsby finds herself sharing an office with a visiting Professor. That professor turns out to be Teddy Hamilton, her long-ago best friend and first love who she met at homeschool camp as a teenager, Can they get past the awkward ending they had a decade prior and work together as colleagues? Can they even be friends?

"Given Our History" was a slow-build with a second half that far exceeded the first. The dual timeline added to the build-up and strengthened the characters through their backstories. While I wish the story had build a little more quickly, the ending was a great payoff.

4 stars! This book was perfectly sweet and swoon worthy fall read! While I’m normally not a fan of the second-chance trope and also despise miscommunication with a burning passion, I absolutely adored Clara and Teddy. I loved the past and present chapters, and getting to really see their relationship develop as they grew up.

I am normally not a big fan of enemies to lovers, but I think I can make an exception as they aren't quite enemies... more like she thought they were but he always held a candle for her. So, Clara and Teddy. It made me think of fall days and quiet study sessions in my university library. I liked getting their history... hehe... and learning how they were a case of right person, wrong time. This is a cozy romance with some academic vibes and an author I would be happy to read again.

I really enjoyed this!! I found their relationship believable and I was surprised that I enjoyed the dual timelines. It never felt like I was jumping from something super exciting to something super boring, so I was able to stay engaged no matter the timeline.

I also found that the younger ages she was writing actually felt like the characters were younger.

Some of the logistics of academic life were a bit spoon fed but I guess that’s fine!

This was such a sweet romance. Perfect for fall. The chapters alternate between past and present. After being friends growing up and losing touch they are back in each other's lives giving their relationship a second chance.

Thank you to netgalley for an arc.

I thought this was such a cute second-chance romance that is perfect for fall! It follows Clara and Teddy who have been childhood best friends for 17 years and you can feel that history while reading the book. I appreciated that there were past POVs in this book since those moments really helped build the story. I enjoyed the characters a lot and felt myself relating to Clara which helped me connect with the book even more. Overall, I thought this was really sweet and perfect for the fall time!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a review!

I knew this book was up my alley, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did! I consumed this through both audiobook as well as reading and highly recommend both formats. The duel timelines helped flesh the story out and threw some twists and turns that made the story very satisfying. It felt slightly rushed at the end, which was surprising because it was a slow, slow, slow burn. I wanted to spend more time with Clara, especially in the time jump, but I finished this book loving it!

Given Our History by Kristyn J. Miller is a fun rom com. I found it a bit hard to get into, but overall it was a solid book. The characters and their history made the book more interesting. Readers of this genre should enjoy this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

Cozy up with this fall romance full of crisp autumn leaves, academic pursuits, and second chances.

✨ Book Review: GIVEN OUR HISTORY by Kristyn J. Miller ✨

🍁 Book Synopsis: Two history professors who had been childhood friends fine themselves in the same campus and sharing an office. They have to face their pasts and reassess their goals to see if they have a future as friends again or as more.

🍂 My Take: Loved the fall vibes and college campus setting. I had a hard time though with how this story was shared. It jumped from the past to the present, with the present timeline being relatively linear and the historic timeline of Clara and Teddy’s relationship jumping from key events in their childhood through college to present day. The format made it difficult for me to fully engage with the characters, plus it felt like the story was building to reveal some big secret as to why their relationship didn’t work in the past. That’s not quite the case though and it just left me wanting something more.

Read GIVEN OUR HISTORY for
🥰 Best friends to lovers
💞 Second-chance romance
📝 Lots of believable backstory
🍁 New England college campus setting

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)

😘 Thanks to @SMPRomance for the gifted electronic ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

I liked Clara and Teddy's story. My husband and I met at age 18 and reconnected at age 27 (after no communication) so I appreciate a story of second chances. I loved the college setting and Clara being a woman in STEM. This was an overall fun Rom-Com read! I loved the Fall themed cover for an Aug pub date!

Assistant professor Clara Fernsby is nothing if not driven. She’s wanted to teach history since she was fourteen, and she hasn’t let anything stand in her way—not even the love of her life. And it all paid off in the end, because she landed a well-paid position at a private liberal arts college fresh out of grad school, and this year, she’s finally up for tenure.

When Theodore Harrison is brought on for the fall semester as a visiting scholar, it’s an unwelcome blast from Clara’s past. She hasn’t spoken to Teddy since a falling out ten years ago. Now that he’s here, she’s reminded of their shared history at every autumns spent at a sleepaway camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she traded battered books and burned CDs with a quiet, dark-haired boy—and fell in love with him.

That boy might’ve been her best friend, but the man teaching HIST-322 is a total stranger. But as they spend evenings working on a shared project and brainstorming over drinks at a college bar, Clara realizes she’s at risk of falling all over again. Given their history, she knows there’s every chance he’s not interested. But history’s all down to interpretation, and this time around, she’s got no intentions of repeating it.

Loved it from start to finish. Cannot wait to read more from the author.

⭐️3.5

Do you ever pick up a book and once you finish you’re like, that’s exactly what I wanted? Cause that’s what happened here.

I loved every second - so sweet, funny, and loved both characters. Gave me similar vibes to Every Summer After too - I feel myself slowly becoming a second chance romance girlie 🎀

Perfect for this time of year and was just a sweet, fun, cozy read!

Unfortunately the fall vibes were lacking, which I didn’t expect from the cover.
- 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
- 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞
- 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭/𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
- 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬
- 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
- acdaemia 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
There was some hit or miss, but overall a cute contemporary fiction/romance story.

I loved Kristyn's first book, so I was so excited to read this. I thought it was a decent sophomore book, but I just didn't get as hook as I did with book 1. I adored Teddy though.

Clara’s professional life is finally hitting its stride. All those years of focusing on her path to tenure at the detriment of her social life (or any life really) are about to pay off. But when a blast from her past ends up at her university for a semester and in her space everything is about to go sideways fast. The last time she saw Teddy he had been with someone else and the time before that she had broken his heart. Now stuck working in close proximity they are going to have to come face to face with their past and the unresolved feelings they still have for each other.


I’m a sucker for a good second chance romance so I had a feeling this was going to be right up my alley. I really enjoyed the dual timeline so we got to know Teddy and Clara in the past and slowly resolve what lead to their uncomfortable situation in the present. I do wish the timelines had synched up a little better so by the time they were together in the present we understood fully what had happened in the past.

Teddy is definitely going into the book boyfriend collection. The way he steps in to help her committee, drops everything to be there with her sister and puts himself out there time and time again with no guarantee of reciprocation from her stole my heart. I do wish we had gotten into his head a little bit even if just for a short time especially because I really wanted to know what went down with the roommate. That’s a long time to date and dump someone especially when you’ve had feelings for someone else the entire time.

Clara has to be one of my favorite fmcs that I’ve read this year. She’s clever and driven without being a stereotype of the career girl. She is selfless especially with her sister but also comes to the realization that she deserves more from those around her and doesn’t let herself get walked on. There’s nothing worse than a doormat fmc and Clara really showed especially at the end that wasn’t her.

This is a great fall read and if you’re a fan of second chance, forced proximity, workplace romance with a fmc you’ll want to be friends with a a mmc you’ll fall for then add this one to your TBR asap.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Kristyn for my advanced reader copies. All thoughts are my own!

This book was soft and sweet, full of nostalgia in the best way. The stakes never felt too high and yet the book kept me sucked in until the end.

Clara is an assistant history professor at a small liberal arts university and she is finally up for tenure. Everything is exactly the way it needs to be. But her plans and her feelings are both up in the air when visiting scholar Theodore Harrison arrives on campus. Clara and Teddy have a long and sordid history from when they were teens, but they haven’t spoken in ten years when their friendship fell apart. In need of a boost for her tenure application, Teddy promises to collaborate with Clara on a fundraising project. With old feelings resurfacing, Clara has to decide if history can be rewritten or if it’s time for a new story to begin.

I really loved this dual timeline romance and I felt myself becoming so fond of both Clara and Teddy as their feelings grew for each other over the years, but neither of them wanted to ruin the friendship they both cherished. This book has so much nostalgia wrapped into it that you can’t help but feel nostalgic too, in all the references to mid/late 2000s memories but also the way these two grew together and then apart. You feel like a friend along for the ride. These two felt like very real people who could exist among us and I absolutely love when characters feel lifelike.

The drama in this book is very low stakes, but it still hurts and it feels cathartic when these two find their ending together. I was a big fan of how this book ended overall! The autumnal vibes from the cover as well the academic setting made for this to be very cozy. I definitely recommend checking it out if you’re looking for a soft kind of romance read.

Given Our History is a cute rom-com with a nostalgic feel and fall in academia vibes. I found this book fun, but kind of meh for me. That is not to say that the writing was bad or the story was not interesting and fun, but I think it just didn't hit for me. The characters never really grabbed me and their story was not one that I could really get emotionally involved in. The second chance aspects of this were fine, but nothing new for me. I know this will hit really well for a lot of people, it just didn't quite land with me.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Given Our History. This is a well crafted romance that has relatable, mature and flawed characters. We follow two friends over the course of their lives, the story goes back and forth in time. In the past we spend some time at an Appalachian summer camp for homeschooled kids and in the present we are on a college campus following them as professors. I found the change in scenery to be interesting and help keep the story going at an interesting pace, knowing the two timelines would meet. This is an quick and easy read and by that I mean it's easy to get into and just enjoy. I started reading it on a whim and read almost 50 percent in one go.

The author not only builds the romance between the two characters but we meet and get to know an interesting bunch of side characters. I really enjoyed my time in this novel, the academic setting was strong and just what I wanted. Because we spend time in their teen years, the book talks about burned CD's, music popular in the 90's, MySpace, Limewire, etc and I just loved that as I was doing the same thing at that age.

The smut is mild and there is a meaningful connection between the characters. For those of you wondering before you pick up the book, it is open door and you can skim it. The other areas of the book are the strong points. I really enjoyed the characters and their story over time. This is a strong will they won't they and there is miscommunication but I found it to be very relatable to the human experience.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.

Not bad. I wish I had liked it more.

Clara is all about stability. She's seeking tenure at the college she's taught at for years. Everything is going along smoothly, until Teddy arrives. He's a visiting professor who was once the love of Clara's life. They didn't end on good terms, but now they have to work together. Will they rekindle the love that bloomed when they were teens, or will having this unexpected this blast from the past prove explosive to every aspect of Clara's life?

This was a solid dual timeline story about friendship, first love, and how "right person, wrong time" can damage the best people with the best of intentions. I enjoyed the flashbacks to summer camps in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where we first see these awkward teens fumble towards a relationship. It was set in the mid-2000s, and nostalgia abounds! The autumn setting in present day was refreshing as well. There were many highlightable lines, brief scenes of well-written spice, and terrific closure.

This story attempts to tell us two stories at once, alternating between Clara and Teddy's teen years and their lives as 30 year-olds. I found the choices of when we jumped between timelines a little confounding. Personally, I found the last third of the book a little tedious because we were still needlessly visiting the past. Some events intended for tension were better at building frustration on the part of this reader. Some of the academia was a little humdrum, but readers who teach will likely find themselves in many of the pages.

Bottom Line: I enjoyed this book. I was glad to see our mostly likable characters find their happily ever afters. It was a pleasant read that makes for a great fall escape.

Trigger warnings: father having a heart attack/stroke, father sustaining a debilitating injury, difficulty paying one's bills/financial stress

I'd like to thank St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.