Given our History follows Clara, a history professor, and Teddy, who is brought on as a guest lecturer at the university Clara teaches at.

This is a sweet second chance romance, and was a good read with tons of cozy fall vibes!

This was such a cute read! I kicked my feet, giggled like a little girl and loved so much about this story!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Given Our History is the cleverly titled second chance romance told from the POV of Clara Fernsby, professor of history at Irving. She’s forced to share an office with a visiting professor, who also happens to be a former best friend/crush/flame and thus is forced to confront their history together.

The story moves back and forth in time, making it almost a coming of age story as you learn more and more about Clara’s relationship with Teddy. I found these characters to be so interesting and absolutely relatable. The evolution of communication from late night phone calls to dial up to MySpace to WhatsApp, for example. This was like a walk down memory lane for me in an often hilariously charming way. Present day Clara transported me to my university days and trends and cultural references presented during both time periods truly resonated with me.

I love this story cover to cover. It’s relatable and clever, swoony and heartfelt. And there’s some delightfully spicy bits! The writing is descriptive, but relaxed - homey and intelligent. The story is so beautifully and smartly crafted. I’m looking forward to finding more by Kristyn J Miller.

This was a very quick and easy read. I was so eager to know what happened between Clara and Teddy.I enjoyed both timelines and setting. Just throughout the book I wish there was tension.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.
I really wanted to like this book but the main characters just frustrated me so much. I am not sure if it was because they were supposed to be homeschooled teens but they were bad friends to each other and terrible communicators. Clara barely kept up with her friend Izzy and the fact that she made no friends in college made me feel a type of way about her. And how do you have a “best friend” and never meet or speak to their parents/mom? Clara’s life seemed like such a bummer until we meet her in present day. I enjoyed Clara and Teddy’s adult relationship and the second chance romance aspect but they did feel like strangers after all that time apart. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy the flashbacks. And although there’s a nice HEA ending, I still think Teddy & Clara need some couples therapy stat if they expect to have a strong relationship going forward. Those 2 have hardly spent any extended amount of time together. Good luck to them!!

This was super sweet. It was a great childhood friends to lovers story. It also just felt really relatable as well. I think a lot of people will connect to it.

The only thing that turned me off a little bit is the past/present timeline got confusing at times. Like when we would bounce back and forth I would often forget where we left off.

Also, the atmosphere/scenery was giving “Rory at Yale” vibes and I loved it. This is going to be the perfect fall read!

✨childhood friends have a falling out to lovers
✨forced proximity
✨second chance
✨past present timeline

I like to start by thanking the author and the publisher for the chance to read this book. Good book, easy to read, and I would recommend!

3.75/5 🌟🍂🎃🧡

A sweet second-chance, friends-to-lovers, academic partners romance. What was unexpected was the seamless dual-timeline that led up to the prologue of this story. Clara and Teddy’s story came full circle with each chapter, the events in each timeline lining up in the most satisfying way. I love when authors do that. Miller’s second published romance novel does not disappoint and it should surely be an immediate buy for any who pines for lost lovers finding their way back to each other.

*Two scenes that are worth skipping for those who prefer clean reads.

Academia setting, flashbacks, friends to strangers to lovers, second chance, slow burn

I love books set in an academia setting. I will read it no matter what. This book will be such a good fall read, and such a cute love story!

While I enjoyed this book, the flashbacks made it a little hard to read. They were very important to the book and the characters growth in finding each other again, but sometimes I wanted to just skip them to get to the present day events. Ultimately, I don’t have much to say. It was enjoyable, but a little slow and hard to focus on until halfway through.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early read of this book. All thoughts are my own, I do not receive money for reviews.

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @stmartinspress for an early copy of Given Our History by @kristynjmiller. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Release date: August 27th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195790751-given-our-history?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=g1DZscvG2I&rank=1

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

I haven’t enjoyed a friend-to-strangers-to-lovers romance quite like I did Given Our History. Told from Clara’s POV, it tells her story with her childhood best friend Teddy. They were both homeschooled and met at a summer camp as teenagers. Despite living in different states, they managed to keep in touch and share their love for history. Being friends for years had them develop feelings for each other, but both were too afraid to change the dynamics of their current friendship by admitting their feelings for each other, until it was too late, and their love story hadn’t even begun before life got in their way. After years of their falling out though, fate had them meet again at university, with Clara on her way to tenure and Teddy a visiting professor.

I enjoyed the past and present chapters, especially the past chapters where Clara’s feelings for Teddy started to grow a bit more on the romantic side. Though the reason for their falling out seemed quite silly, I couldn’t fault Clara for giving up on Teddy so soon, because really, life gets in the way of most things. Miller did such a great job highlighting the reality that sometimes things do not work out the way we want them to because of some unexpected circumstances and our priorities and responsibilities. I would also like to applaud Miller for making me starry-eyed over Clara and Teddy’s romance – she told their story in a way that made me really think and feel that they are fated to be together. Fate brought them together through camp and Clara’s love for history, and regardless of their falling out of touch for almost a decade, fate brought them back together.

Given Our History was such an endearing read. Miller’s storytelling made me root for the main characters and made me feel so nostalgic over the millennial references like burning CDs, Twilight, and MCR.

As a teacher I was hoping to love this book, but it felt long. It might have just been bad timing for me.

First off, Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC.

Teddy and Clara are two home schooled incredibly smart, but socially outcasted kids that meet at summer camp. Their friendship blossoms into a crush that neither fully knows what to do with. So they talk on the phone and send books back and forth. It's adorable. Teddy ends up going to an early admissions college and the communication between the two starts to break down as they find themselves busy with their own lives. Eventually they loose contact.

But as fate would have it, they meet again at university where Teddy has accepted a visiting professor position at the same university Clara is teaching at. I'll call this a one office forced proximity trope. The sparks never left.

This book was adorable and I loved the dual timeline as it really added to the depth of the relationship Clara and Teddy have. The chemistry was immaculate and the little popculture references were so relatable. I've never read a romance set in academia and I can now say this might be one of my favorite settings.

This book was SO cute! I absolutely loved the past and present narrating. It really helped build up the relationship between our two main characters. There were a lot of moments in this one where I found myself laughing out loud. I always love a romcom that has the ability to actually deliver that kind of response. There was a lot of quotable dialogue between characters too. I found myself doing a lot of highlighting while reading. If anything, I wish this book had had some more spice. There were a lot of scenes at the college they worked at and I was kind of wishing a little something something would’ve happened there LOL. Regardless this is a great “fall vibes” romcom that I highly suggest you pick up when it comes out on 8/27/2024.

La historia está bien, me gustó y estuvo entretenida. No le puse una calificación mayor porque no conecté con los protagonistas.



La primera mitad me cayó mal Clara por las decisiones que tomaba y que luego sufriera por ellas, pero en la segunda mitad entendí porque hizo lo que hizo, además me alegre que eligiera su superación, aunque llegó un punto en el quería sacudirla porque estaba tan enfocado en su vida profesional que no tenía vida fuera de eso.

Teddy no me cayó ni bien ni mal. Muchas de sus actitudes no me gustaron, lo sentí como un adorno y no como el protagonista era un adorno, era necesario que tuviera povs.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Not only does this cover scream fall, but the book felt like one cozy hug! I really loved the dual timeline and following Teddy and Clara in the past and present. Two history professors with a history?! I thought this was so original and such a breath of fresh air—not to mention the character growth 👏🏻 This felt like Kristyn (the author, not me 🤣) in her natural habitat! I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

Given Our History by Kristyn J. Miller is a captivating tale of second chances in love, set against the backdrop of a picturesque ivy-covered academia and intertwined with complex family dynamics. This heartwarming story beautifully captures the essence of sweet romance and the power of forgiveness.

I’m a sucker for a cozy romance and this one absolutely warmed my heart. Friends to lovers, second chance romance, and dual timeline? Sign me up. Clara and Teddy met seventeen years ago at camp but as their friendship bloomed into something more, the timing just wasn’t right. I loved seeing Teddy’s transformation from a lanky, quiet teen to a grown, hottie scholar who knows what he wants. Clara had ten years to get her life together, but it turns out Teddy’s return to her life was what she truly needed. Cannot recommend this one enough! Just enough spice, such a sweet and heartwarming story - honestly I want to curl up in front of the fireplace with a hot cocoa and read this one again 🤍

I love a second chance romance and Given Our History gave me all the feels! Assistant professor Clara is living her dream teaching history and now she’s up for tenure, but an unexpected blast from her past in the form of visiting professor Teddy, her childhood best friend, makes her start reevaluating her life. I loved the angst and the emotion and the dual timeline. The banter was on point and the slow burn of Teddy and Clara was sexy and romantic. Clara is so relatable and she’s tries so hard and lifts the people around her. I just loved the premise and the execution of it. The side characters were all so well developed and added to the depth of the story. I wish there had been a little more time for their romance to develop deeper in the present timeline, but I thoroughly enjoyed this romance!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC

The story between Teddy and Clara was sweet as it traveled between the beginnings of their relationship as homeschooled kids to present day college history professors. However, something just feel flat for me. I didn't feel super connected to the characters or the narration. Going between past and present became tedious at points as well, and felt like it interrupted the flow of the story. And although their relationship itself spanned many years, the feelings almost felt rushed. Overall it wasn't a bad story, but just didn't do it for me.


#GivenOurHistory #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

A generally cute second chance romance with a good kick of nostalgia for us millennials.

However, that’s really all the positives. I felt this book was simply unremarkable, the characters fell flat, and the tropes felt forced.