Clara has always had a passion for history and when she is up for tenure at her college there seems to be an unexpected hurdle Clara must overcome. She must share an office with her old camp crush Teddy. Their history full of almost moments that never come to fruition. Clara is determined to keep Teddy at arms length and professional. But as Teddy volunteers to help Clara with her tenure goal, old feelings resurface. Can the two finally get their timing right? Or will academic achievement once again keep them apart?

I absolutely loved this second chance romance and could relate to the adult pressures of feeling like you should do what is expected and have everything figured out. Perfect fall read!

Given our History is a cute fall second chance romance. Former high school best friends get a seond chance at love when our mmc is takes a visiting history professor position at the small liberal arts college our FMC is currently working and up for tenure, also in history.

This romance is fun, has some pretty good banter and some great chemistry. As an academic I usually love college set stories with nerdy academic types. There is a lot here to enjoy, but some of it was a bit off in terms of the plot structure and how tenure works that bugged me. Because it was a bit too close to home it took me out of the story. That is just me though.
Also, both main characters are home schooled in high school and come from a rather strict backgrounds that might be all too familiar to someone raised in a purity culture churched home. Again, if this wasn't you it's easy to gloss over and it'a not at all held up as a good thing just present in the past storyline (plus there is some mild spice), but if you are sensitive to that vibe this may not be for you.

I enjoyed it overall and it got me in the mood for fall!

Clara and Theodore used to be best friends when they were teenagers. Sixteen years later they are not even speaking anymore for a couple of years. Clara is completely focused on her job as a history professor at university, trying to have tenure when she receives the news that Teddy is going to her university for a semester as a visiting scholar and he is sharing her office.

Clara is frustrating as a main character. I understand their falling out when they were younger considering everything that they've been through around that age. I understand the miscommunication that took place and the choices that she thought she had to make. But in the present timeline she is a 32-year-old. The fact that she keeps having the same impulses and the same thoughts as her younger self (we follow her in the present and in the past) is frustrating. Especially because she keeps having the same revelations and insights over and over again and forgetting them and going back to how she was. The fact that she has such an idolized and naive version of love, marriage, and relationship as a grown woman is once again frustrating. She didn't and doesn't develop as a character. Teddy is fine, there isn't much to say about him - he is there just to be the other part of the couple. Their relationship starts sweet; their history long distance book club was pretty cute.

The book is fine. But in these stories, I'm looking for engaging characters since the story is only about them and mainly about their romance.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Assistant professor Clara Fernsby and Theodore Harrison have not seen each other in ten years now he is at the private liberal arts college she teaches at. I enjoyed seeing them get their second chance along with the ups and downs they went through to do so. This is a new Author to me and I want to read more by her. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A delightful light academia romance that is absolutely perfect for fall! A must add to your fall tbr!

I would recommend this book to fans of a good slow burn, and to fans of friends to lovers. I would also recommend to any former emo kids who would be delighted to see My Chemical Romance pop up more than once in a romance novel. I don't know that the love story here will ultimately stick with me forever, but I thought it was cute and charming while I was reading. I would definitely say I got wrapped up, almost the same way I do when reading a thriller, as we went between past and present to slowly find out what caused their falling out.

4.75/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶

Two history professors get a second chance at love while one is working towards tenure and the other is really just trying to find what makes him happy.

Given Our History was the first Kristyn J. Miller book I've read, and it turned out to be the most perfect book for fall! I read it in a single day, nearly in a single sitting. I loved the college campus setting and dual timeline, seeing how the two became best friends, then drifted apart, and finally found their way back to each other.

Clara Fernsby (FMC) is trying to get tenure at her university, she is applying early but soon finds out she has to share an office with Theodore (Teddy) Harrison (MMC) while one of the buildings is under construction. Teddy is a visiting professor at the university, after his father passed and his mother got settled in Pittsburgh, he decided to explore other opportunities and see what was out there. This has landed Teddy and Clara in the same office, seeing each other frequently -- OH! And Clara's sister is in one of Teddy's classes!

I loved a lot about this book, but I especially loved seeing the forgiveness for past hurt on the page. Clara and Teddy were able to work through their past and move forward. I'm wondering if there will be a second book since the ending was good but more open than not, but I also love the possibilities there for the characters to choose from so many options!

Tropes:
- Second Chance
- Workplace Romance
- Dual Timeline
- HEA for Now (ends on a somewhat open-ended note, but the characters are together and happy)

"Love is the hard road. The person you're meant to be with is whoever you choose to be with. And you'll have to fight for it and make sacrifices for it every step of the way. You just have to choose someone who's worth all that trouble, and then you have to keep on choosing them, every day."

THIS, my friends, is how to do a second chance romance. You highlight how decision making when you're young isn't perfect, you highlight the importance of growth and how it can be the right person at the wrong time, and you make sure that the previous timeline is period-accurate.

Miller does a wonderful job of establishing the early aughts, with teenage Teddy and Clara relying on dial-up and phone calls to form the basis of their relationship. They progress through time, with texting overtaking their relationship before their eventual falling out. Her strength is certainly in the seventeen years of time passing, the rise and fall of young love. I also appreciated the look at homeschool culture and how much community is involved in it (though I'm not sure why her high school education was then brought up at her tenure meeting?? Who's to say, I'm not in academia).

This wasn't a perfect book by any means. The spicy scenes didn't do anything for the reader (in an alumni house on campus where it's established how old it is? Really?), and the secondary characters aren't given much agency, besides Clara's sister Reagan. Yet this book is still a winner in my book, with many beautiful quotes.

Other quotes I enjoyed:
"There's no bad guy in our story, no one person who wronged any more than the other. There's just...life."
"Maybe a love like that is wasted on me. I never sat around dreaming about meeting my soulmate, falling in love. Maybe that's because I met the only person for me when I was fourteen. Love never had to be added to my list of never-ending goals because it was just...already there."
"Fate that our birthdays were a day apart, as though Teddy was born and the universe realized the next day that it had almost forgotten his twin flame."

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. Sorry that I ended up writing this a couple of weeks after publication day.

This is a very cute romance told in the present with many flashbacks. It’s a quick easy read. Clara and Teddy are darling, if for most of the book immature and somewhat frustrating. The relationship is well developed and relatable. I just wished for a little… more? More twists in the story, better secondary character involvement?

This dual pov tells the love story about 2 friends who get the chance for love again. Growing up Clara wanted everything to do with Teddy the first time she met him at camp. Being a history nerd gave them both the common interests but over years Clara just felt that she'd rather not pursue anything than to get her heartbroken.

Now that Teddy has walked back into her life, her feelings are doing back flips. Would their friendship be the same like they had at camp or is it the last time they saw each other not the best memory they have for each other.

This second change, friends to lovers was the perfect start for fall.
Childhood friends to lovers, say no more. second chance romance, say no more!!
Both Clara and Teddy were quirky, cute and they understood each other like no one else did.
Their dual pov definitely showed some miscommunciation but their present pov made alot of sense once both were able to explain every situation themselves.
(This was also a older sister syndrome book and my heart burns for the older sister syndrome since I love my big sister and know how hard she works to keep things going no matter what. Hug your big sister and tell her you're proud of her and thank you!)

Thank you to Kristyn J. Miller, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First, I want to say I am obsessed with the cover of this book. I love it so much. Second, this was good but wasn't as good as I expected. The miscommunication drove me crazy. I also couldn't connect to either of the main characters. I just wanted more.

I usually love a second-chance romance story, but unfortunately, for me, this one was simply boring. I never got fully engaged in the story of Clara and Teddy.

In addition to second chances, other tropes found here include friends-to-lovers and miscommunication.

The story tracks two young history professors who both grew up as home-schooled children. They met at a camp for home-schooled kids and became long-term friends. But something happened to derail their friendship before it could move to the next level. There are a lot of (clearly labeled) flashbacks, so you gradually see their friendship grow and change. But I kept waiting for something big that caused them not to talk to each other for 10 years, and once it was revealed, it was anticlimactic. I did enjoy all the references to pop culture of their youth, like the Twilight books and movies and bands like My Chemical Romance.

I have worked at a university and understand the tenure process quite well. There is no way that it would have happened as depicted in this novel. Also, who brings a vibrator to a gala???

Sorry, but this one just didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

4 ⭐️ - OMG this was so cute. I loved reading this book. It had a great setting, relatable characters, and a swoon worthy romance. I enjoyed the timeline changes between past and present to really develop and digest the characters growth and love for each other. I wish there was more!

I liked this book well enough. It was a very atmospheric academic romance. The romance felt a little lukewarm and I didn't really feel like any of the side characters added anything to the story. So on most counts, it was a miss for me.

This book was seriously just such a sweet romance novel. I loved the dual timelines and being able to see how their relationship grew and changed over the years leading up to them being reunited.

Teddy is absolutely book boyfriend material and the steamy scenes between the pair really delivered.

The beginning was a bit slow for me but overall, I absolutely adored Given Our History. I highly recommend you check it out if you are looking for an easy read that's lot of sweet and a little bit spicy!

LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED this one. What a beautiful romance. I loved these characters and loved the dual timelines. I do wish there was an epilogue because I love those but it didn't damper how much I enjoyed it!

This gave me some Ali Hazelwood vibes in terms of the build up and romance. Cute love story about missed connections and poor communication that runs awry.

Not a very dense book and rather easy to read. Great before bed reading

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. love a second chance romance, love a miscommunication trope a bit less. overall i thought it was well written and well planned out. the way the characters went from friends to lovers to strangers was a better idea than letting them stay together. the reason they weren't speaking for so long could have been a better reason.

Clara has her whole life planned out - college, grad school, history professor, tenure. She has sacrificed friendships and relationships to follow this strict path. When a former best friend (and more) comes waltzing back into her life, she is forced to reexamine what she really wants and what she's willing to sacrifice to get it.

I love a good second chance romance and Given Our History fits that bill perfectly. Clara is so relatable to me in many ways. Miller has such a way of creating characters that you cannot help but fall in love with. I will absolutely continue to read more books by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Given Our History.

Strong start, with glimmers of delicious angst but oddly there was just not enough present-day characterization or development for me to fully understand them. So the pacing fell apart a bit there midway for me - especially because the tension was sorta resolved by 70% .