3 stars- cute fall vibes, cute academia vibes, but I just didn’t connect with this one for some reason? Childhood friends to lovers is my fave trope, but I think I just didn’t connect with the main character, I still enjoyed the atmosphere though.

Such a sweet tale or miscommunication and assumptions. The characters were fun and endearing and I kept rooting for them to figure it out

It’s hard for me to discuss this book because, on one hand, I liked it. It was calm and sweet. On the other hand, it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I hoped going into it.

I have found that I’m a friends to lovers fan. So I was excited to dive into this relationship with these characters and watch them fall in love. However, I didn’t exactly buy their “madly in love” part of the story. I enjoyed getting to know them and how they became friends. We know very early on that Clara and Teddy had some sort of falling out. The story works up to what seems will be a climatic reveal but, in the end, it left me feeling lukewarm. When they finally confess their feelings to one another, I felt so indifferent.

It’s not a bad book by any means. It just didn’t work for me and what I look for in romance books. I would give this author another try to see if it was just this book that didn’t wow me.

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.


I enjoyed this book. It was a cute fluffy romance with fall vibes! I just wish the characters were a little more fleshed out.

Just not really for me, unfortunately. I didn't connect with either character - like I didn't really know them and what I did know didn't make me love them like I wanted to. The chemistry between them wasn't quite there for me as a result. I also felt like it was pretty slow - especially the modern timeline.

The cover of this gave me major cozy fall vibes. And the story did too. Nothing feels cozier than a college campus, a shared office and a relationship with lots of history in the past. Clara and Teddy were both homeschooled and met at a fall sleepaway camp for homeschoolers to be able to socialize with their peers. Both had strong motivations about the future. It was a dual timeline story, which is perfect for a book about two people with a long personal history. It allows the reader to access their backstory, how they built the friendship and how it fell apart, while also continuing to progress the story in present day and move their fragile relationship forward. It was a simple romance, no major dramas, just two people with a complex personal history, working through their pasts in the present so they can have a future.

I didn’t love this one.. but I didn’t hate it? It was a typical second chance rom-com, yet it felt like something was lacking. I just can’t put my finger on what yet..

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC, even though I’m late to the party!

Second chance romance with a side of academia! I enjoyed the backstory and the first half of the book. It kind of fell apart for me in the second half and was a bit dull. Based off the cover, I was hoping for more of a “Fall” theme but the cover is very misleading and made me annoyed I saved it for my Fall comfort reading.

I loved every minute of this book. So good and entertaining. You fall in love with their history and history itself. A lovely academia friends to strangers to lovers.

Clara Fernsby is on the brink of achieving her dream of becoming a tenured professor when her past intervenes and creates havoc. This second chance, friends to lovers romance is a great Fall read as it takes place on a northeastern campus. When Clara's former best friend Theodore Harrison gets a visiting professor spot at her college, fate pushes them together as they are required to share an office (of course). Although the ending seems obvious, the way Kristyn J Miller gets the two history teachers together is a fun romp.

I received this ARC from Netgalley, and this was my first book from Kristyn J. Miller.
This book does reflect past and present time lines. I recommend this book to people who love a second chance romance!

They say if you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it belongs to you. What do you think? I loved this book so much!

Clara Fernsby is an assistant professor of history who is finally up for tenure. It’s time to make sure she has all of her ducks in a row to submit her files for review. What she doesn’t need is the blast from the past when the visiting history professor turns out to be her best friend from her teenage years. Things between Clara and Teddy ended badly years ago and it’s been awhile since they’ve seen each other, now they’re sharing an office. Unable to avoid her past and the memories that come with it, Clara realizes she in the precarious position of falling in love with Teddy all over again, but that’s the last thing she needs. Isn’t it?

The premise of this story pulled me in and I couldn’t resist the cover. I really enjoyed parts of this book and didn’t connect with others. This story is told between present day and flashbacks to the past so that we can see Clara and Teddy now and then. The present day story and romance really pulled me in and worked, but it was something in the flashbacks that didn’t work for me. I don’t know if it’s because I wasn’t interested in their past too much or that this scenes just didn’t do it for me, but something was what I was looking for. I didn’t really have an interest in either of the main characters, they weren’t terrible to read, but they were just okay. I did enjoy the second chance romance aspect of this book, just wish I had connected with it a little better. If you like second chance romances and enjoy stories flip between the past and present this might be a good read for you.

This was a cute second chance romance which takes place in an academic setting. Overall, it was fine but did not blow me away. It never really grabbed me. I feel like it would have been beneficial to have Teddy's POV.

I'm not sure I would call this a contemporary romance more just contemporary or perhaps woman's fiction. While there is some romance in it, it is more about the growth of the characters. Once they reconnected I didn't feel that much romance between them. It was more like we missed a chance at this when we were younger and had a connection lets try it again. It was ok and I love a dual timeline, and the throwbacks were great!, but it just was missing a bit for me.

Thank you to Kristyn J. Miller, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Netgalley for a free access to an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this book and the writting did keep me enrages, however, I ended up wishing I had not read the book.

Why do so many romance authors keep making women in their 30’s act like they are outdated old ladies? I felt like the MFC was an elderly lady not a young 30 something year old. I think she was on the younger side of 30, too? At one point the sister is telling the FMC how she is basically going to be doomed to a life of no marriage because its almost impossible for women above a certain time in their 30's to be able to either get married or stay married. The FMC is confused about technology to th point of ridiculousness. She talks about clothes an fashion as if she's an older woman. It just felt cliche and weird.

There were really no cozy or fall vibes. There was a costume party, but it fell flat. The cover and the setting really alluded to a cozy vibe, but I got none of that. This could have taken place anytime of year,

I didn’t like either of these characters. The academia setting did not feel real, it felt very forced and written just to make the plot work but very surface and shallow and even inaccurate. It felt very, very shallow. I'm not sure the author has worked in academia and if she has I wish she would have made it feel a little more authentic or created a setting that felt more substantial.

Most of the characters felt flat, and very two dimensional. I found them either annoying, or pointless.

The MMC feels almost codependent. There wasn't any chemistry between them. He was annoying, and I'm sick of men with a sob story doing the bare minimum and being looked at as some dream boat catch. Honestly, throw this many back.

Women, please don’t ever feel like you are wrong for prioritizing your education or career over a man!

When history professor Clara is assigned to share an office with a visiting lecturer for the fall semester, she never expects it to be her former best friend, Teddy—the one she had a painful falling out with nearly ten years ago. Hoping to keep her distance, she's forced into close quarters with Teddy when they're tasked with organizing a gala to raise money for a scholarship. The more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to deny the rekindling of old feelings and the spark that never quite went out.

Maryland! Baltimore! Old Bay! Tennessee! I was primed to like this novel based on the locations referenced in this book. The vivid descriptions of Maryland, more specifically Baltimore, and the cozy academic atmosphere made me feel right at home. But what really stood out was the slow burn romance between Clara and Teddy. They’ve been friends since childhood, and it’s clear that their love for each other has simmered quietly through the years. A few reviewers were not a fan of what originally tore the two apart in their twenties, however I found the conflict to be reflective of the miscommunication and life changes that naturally occur with the growth and life at that age.

Watching Clara and Teddy navigate their complicated past to find each other again was both heartwarming and emotionally satisfying. Pick up this book if you are a reader who appreciate romance with a bit of an emotional journey, where love isn’t easy but worth fighting for.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin's Griffin for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the author and SMP for an e-arc on this book

I rated this book 2.5 stars - I felt like it was really slow and the romance aspect just lacked for me. Also the roommate situation just felt like it didn’t fit into this book? Like there was so many options and Teddy fell for her roommate? It was just so ick and not like him? He doesn’t seem like the type to just settle and then he does - with boring ole Mindy the roommate? It just didn’t add up to me

I enjoyed the dual timeline - I felt like overall this part was well done.

What you can expect
- dual timeline
- women in STEM
- childhood friends to lovers
- light spice

This book was really cute! I loved the setting of a college campus, but I found this book to be super unique as the main relationship was between two professors as opposed to two students. The dual timelines in this novel were done really well and provided necessary context to the formation of the relationship. It was necessary in the development of the current timeline and current relationship. The friends-to-lovers trope is a favorite of mine, and it was done so so well in this book! I loved seeing the formation of their relationship. Overall, I would really recommend this book!

I wanted to love this one, I really did. The flashbacks to childhood were charming, but the present day story was a little confusing. I fully admit to reading this over the course of several days, so maybe I missed some details, but the ending seemed to wrap up without giving romance..