Holy moly the angst! This is one that had my blood sizzling with it- hairs prickling with the urge to have their happy ever after.

I love the setting and the detail of the writing. So many fun things to immerse the reader in the story in a way that is unique.

A great sequel to give what people loved about the first the same expectation (but also so much more!)

Jen Devon is such a talented writer. Her prose reminds me of Kate Clayborn’s, very lyrical while never straying from the commercial, entertaining romance story. Duncan and Temperance charmed me just as much as Rowan and Harry, and I think every fan of second chance romances and found families will devour RIGHT WHERE WE LEFT US!

Great book, kept me wanting to read more. A great second chance book! It goes into great detail about the character's lives, so you get more than just the in moment. I absolutely loved this book and will most definitely look for more by this author!

I am a lover of romance novels, and “Right Where We Left Us” was everything I love in a romance. There were big, strong emotions. There was laughter and there were tears. There was beauty and pain and trust and bravery. This book was incredible.

The plot focuses on Duncan and Temperance making their way back to each other despite insecurities and life getting in the way. It focuses on their internal turmoil and angst. They’ve got years of distance and longing to get through. If you are a fan of second-chance romance, this is your book! I recommend this book if you like strong characters, a loving family plus found family, and playful banter. If you like spice, you’ll get a taste of that in this book as well.

Jen Devon’s overall writing style was amazing. This novel was so cozy. It takes place on a family’s land where they run a family business and are making preparations to open a vineyard. Devon’s descriptions of the land were incredible. I felt like I was there too, in the summer air, surrounded by nature. Her novel was made even better because the characters were likable. They were likable because they were relatable. I was able to understand the insecurities they battled with and the dreams that motivated them. Connecting to the characters makes a novel all that more enjoyable.

Overall, I love books that teach me something but also make me feel like I am a part of the story. This novel does the trick. It made me both laugh and cry. It made me want to love like the characters love. Lovers of romance novels will enjoy this! Five stars, hands down!

Second chance romance with all the feels. The story took me through the range of emotions and in rooting for the MCs to figure it out! At times the vocab was a bit academic, but it probably says more about my preference for easy reads than anything else. Good beach read!

I’m just gonna say it. I’m a Jen Devon Stan. I adore her writing style, the world she created, and the characters that live within it.

I read her debut Bend toward the sun when it first came out and fell in love with Harry and Rowan. Erin Mallon narrated the audiobook and that bumped it further. It was a top ten of the year for me. And the little Easter egg of what’s to come of Tj and Duncan left me more than a little excited for how their love story would unfold.

And Devon did not disappoint. Tj and Duncans story is complex and spicy. There’s longing and tension and long unresolved issues. And as a romance reader what more could you want?!? Jen Devon masterfully sews the past and present to create the now. TJ and Duncan do lovers to enemies to lovers so well.

And if that’s any indication, Frankie and Malcom will be just as good!

I ❤️ this book. Jen Devon’s Right where we left us knocked it out of the park!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Temperance Jean Madigan and Duncan Brady have never gotten it right. After one radiant, secret summer together when they were eighteen, they’ve been on-again off-again ever since. Now, despite red-hot chemistry and TJ’s closeness with Duncan’s family, they’re virtually strangers, only capable of adversarial banter, awkward small talk―and the occasional messy hookup.

When a wedding at the Brady’s vineyard lands TJ there for the summer, their mutual avoidance strategies prove impossible. The last thing TJ wants is to be under those angsty, heated glances Duncan thinks he hides. And for Duncan, having fiery TJ constantly close is the ultimate distraction that he absolutely can’t afford. When forced proximity begins to chip away at their armor, buried tensions resurface, old wounds urge confrontation, and once-in-a-lifetime love demands one last chance to finally get it right.

First off, I didn't know this was the second book in a series when I was granted an advance copy of this book. This book doesn't really give you much of the backstory of the characters in the beginning and so I was really lost with so many names (this is a very big family with lots of interconnected additional people). The use of shortened names such as Mal for Malcom started to also confuse me because... why? I didn't understand for a VERY long time what the issue was between TJ and Duncan. I think the author purposely left it vague to make you want to turn the pages to find out or the first book explained more of their dynamic. If it's in the first book, then this book is not a stand-alone book at all. If that's the case, I think it should list somewhere that this is part of a series. TJ and Maren's parents are the antagonist in this story and they don't redeem themselves ever. I didn't buy the connection because these characters spend so much time apart and we get lots of Frankie and Malcom interaction to make me wonder who's story was I supposed to connect to. Over all, it was just okay.

This book was just really hard for me to get through. Right off the bat the flowery third person writing made it impossible for me to connect to the characters and the story. I’m not always the biggest fan of third person in romance for this exact reason—it oftentimes takes away from the connection that we’re supposed to have with the main characters and their relationship. So right away I knew I wasn’t going to vibe with this story. Overall I think the plot was a little lacking in a lot of ways, I would’ve liked to see more solid character development and higher stakes between these two main characters.

I’m giving it two stars because at the very least, though I didn’t vibe with it in the romance setting, the descriptions were very nice and creative.

Jen Devon is cementing herself into a low plot high feels character driven book queen!! I could not tell you what even happened plot wise in this book but seeing Temperance and Duncan grow was everything!! 

They both have pressures from their families regarding their careers and they don't know that the other is dealing with the same thing 
I don't like second chance romance and a lesser writer could not have pulled this book off (for me at least). 

I was very curious about Temperance and Duncan's story from what we saw in Bend Toward the Sun and ultimately what did not work for me in this book was the second chance elements. I never like the feeling of any plot being dragged out and while I understood that Temperance and Duncan had to work through some things I did not feel like it needed to take as long as it did. 
However I did enjoy my time reading this book. Jen Devon's writing is gorgeous. I highlighted so many quotes and literal pages of my ARC copy and wish I could share alllll of them. 

I also am obsessed with the Brady family and loved that we saw so much of Rowan and Harry. Harry has turned into the ultimate wife guy (will say I thought it was a bit strange that we did not see a convo about this being his second marriage either in the last book or this one, but it was not his book so it's fine). I loved the kids and the Brady parents. I always love when a character who has a not great family falls in love with someone who has a loving family. And Temperance's situation is interesting since she fell in love with the family before she fell in love with Duncan. 

As a massive Rowan McKinnon fan -- I loved seeing how the Brady family has accepted her and how much they love her. This book is probably meant to stand alone, but I really think you should read the first one before jumping into this one. Seeing Harry and Rowan's HEA, after they fought so hard for it, was so lovely. 

I am so hyped for Mal and Frankie's book like...

I also just love a meaningful tattoo in a book and Duncan has lots. 

I will say I don't really like this cover. It's too cutesy for me. The purple and the vines are nice, but as a whole it does not convey the tone of the story. 

Overall this book only worked for me because Jen Devon wrote it and that being said a lot of it bugged me and didn't work. I was really relying on the characters and the writing to get me through this one because by the end I was getting a little tired of everything.

This is such a great second chance romance! There was so much angst and tension and the entire book was an emotional rollercoaster, but in the best way possible. The characters were written well and had so much depth. I was really rooting for them, and I felt they had great chemistry. It's an emotionally heavy book, but with the right amount of romance, funny moments and some spice. I loved the chronic illness representation as well, because reading about a character who is like you is so important. I love the Brady family so much and I cannot wait for the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jen Devon and St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC of this book!

Of all the unpleasant things one might have to do, writing a negative review of a highly anticipated book probably doesn't rank that high. Nevertheless, here I am, and this is going to SUCK because I loved this author's debut so much and a second chance romance had so much angst potential. But I think this might be...not good? I struggled to finish. The pacing is terrible and the overall structure of the story is confusing. For much of the time I felt like I was reading a series of vaguely related vignettes and being told they showed the development of the romance. I got very little sense of the characters. I kept feeling like I was missing something, but what I was missing was an actual plot and character development. Zero emotional payoff. UGH, I feel awful saying that, but an ARC deserves my honest review. Plus if unnecessary reconciliation with awful family members is rage-inducing for you, this one will push all of your detonation buttons.

The most frustrating thing is that there's so much potential here. In the first few chapters I got promising chest pangs of angst. I genuinely wonder how much editing support Devon got this go around; she really needed someone helping her pull the threads together and ground the story. So as much as the execution of this book failed, I'm not writing off future books completely. I know she has it in her! But this one isn't it.

4 stars

I adored Jen Devon's debut, Bend Toward the Sun, the first in a series about the Brady family and their family vineyard. Right Where We Left Us was an enjoyable read, but seemed less tender and much spicier than the first installment. Don't get me wrong, I'll happily read the next one and the one after that! I just didn't get the warm fuzzies as much with this installment. It might have been the premise of second-chance romance - so much angst, so much on-and-off-again. Still, I love the friendships, the family connections, the banter, and the atmosphere. Here's hoping the next book is Malcolm "Creme Brulee" Brady and Frankie. That Grumpy meets Sunshine vibe will be fun to read!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

I was a big fan of the first book in this series Bend Towards the Sun. Right Where We Left Us is stylistically very similar to Bend Towards the Sun, low plot, lots of angsty pining, and an evocative setting. But more than that, Right Where We Left Us is very much a continuation of the story in Bend Towards the Sun just with the focus shifted to two new main characters – Temperance and Duncan. I strongly recommend you read Bend Towards the Sun first.

Temperance and Duncan were each other’s first loves back when they were 18 years old. Temperance is essentially a member of Duncan’s extended family – her sister is Duncan’s sister-in-law and Temperance grew up spending summers with her sister and the rest of Duncan’s family. The book starts out with Temperance returning to spend another summer with Duncan’s family, this time for her best friend’s wedding to one of Duncan’s other brothers (the couple from the first book in this series, Rowan and Harry). We are told that in the 14 years since they broke up, Temperance and Duncan mostly try to avoid each other and whenever they fail to do so it almost always results in a hookup. Now, their ability to continue this pattern is challenged because they are going to be together all summer long.

The premise is so promising but unfortunately the execution missed the mark for me. The first hurdle, which quite nearly lead to me DNFing this book, is the pacing of the story. In Chapter 1 we glimpse the chemistry and tension between the two MCs as they are alone together setting up for Harry’s proposal to Rowan and it is delicious, and then…nothing. For the longest time, the MCs go back to avoiding each other and nothing happens. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the two MCs barely even interacted for the first third of the book. Instead of filling that space with lots of pining from afar and interiority that helps us get to know these MCs, we mostly got filler – overly detailed backstory, too much focus on the large cast of side characters, and lots and lots of setting. A few stolen glances and everyone around them noticing it and calling them out on it is not enough to carry the romance arc for a third of the novel.

Once Temperance and Duncan started interacting things improved quite a bit. Consistent with their pattern over the past 14 years, they start hooking up. I mean this in the least skeevy way possible, but the scenes where Duncan and Temperance physically connect are the best parts of this book. Jen Devon is skilled at writing scenes in a way that make you feel immersed in the moment with the characters and feel their feelings. I felt the depth of their need for each other in these moments, and there were enough of them that it kept me invested in a book for a while. But then my investment started to fizzle because I just wasn’t feeling the depth of connection between these two outside of these moments, especially from Temperance. Their reasons for not being together are so threadbare that it honestly makes no sense how they’ve gone on like this for 14 years. There are no significant hurdles to them being together that need to be overcome, and without those it’s hard to believe that what they have is anything more than lust because otherwise they would have been together ages ago. Not to mention that the emotional peak of them finally getting together again after 14 years doesn’t hit nearly as hard as it should because it feels like they barely had to work to get their HEA.

I have so much more I could say about why this book fell flat for me, but I don’t want to drone on and on. I think I have so many thoughts on this book because I could see how it had the potential to be great, which really elevated my disappointment. I got to the end and was left with the feeling that with more time and attention to developmental edits this book could have really sung, especially knowing what Jen Devon is capable of after reading her debut.

So, it's been a while since I actually read this story. However, ever since, I've been struggling to form a solid opinion about this story and write this review.

In truth, throughout the story, I couldn't connect with either of the MCs. While the storyline and plot were designed to be engaging and sweet, somehow, the characters just didn't live up to the premise of the story.

The fact that these two are grown adults and still nervous about how everyone else sees them was just too unrealistic for my liking.

.2 ⭐️

Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for my ARC 🩷

I was SO excited to be approved for this after recently finishing and loving Bend Toward the Sun. While this is technically a standalone book, Right Where We Left Us is a continuation of the Brady family antics and you’d be doing yourself a big disservice reading this (book 2) before Bend Toward the Sun (book 1).

I really loved this second chance romance. This book was still beautiful but slightly less lyrical than book one, which actually helped me to get more into the romance. There wasn’t as much description between interactions which helped the tension build between the leads.

It was such a pleasure to slip back into the warm, sunshine world of the Brady family and I’m already hoping we have a book three (Mal/Frankie) in the works.

Right Where We Left Us is sweet, heartwarming, a little 🌶️, and so enjoyable.

I luckily got to read an arc of RIGHT WHERE WE LEFT US by Jen Devon and the emotional rollercoaster I was on... I can't even begin to describe it. The pining... the angst... I spent a good portion reading this book clutching my heart. How can two people communicate so much but actually say so little?! Temperance and Duncan really had me frustrated at times, but the other parts had me so giddy and enamored. This book picks up right where BEND TOWARD THE SUN left off. I absolutely love the Brady family and there are plenty of family moments in this book too. Highly recommend!

thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ebook in exchange for an honest review

I slurped this up like that guy in the bathtub scene in saltburn.

4.5 stars

read if you’d enjoy a slow burn, will-they-won't-they, second chance romance with complex characters and found family. there is also a career in medicine represented very well (but the bar is on the floor in that regard). some over-complicated interpersonal conflict but within the context of convoluted circumstances, I can appreciate and respect that as part of the characters’ journeys.

devon writes beautiful imagery and poetic prose, which makes her stories even more romantic. her vineyard setting comes to life like a movie in your head, and I'm so glad we got to revisit it in her sophomore novel. speaking of which, although the books are interconnected standalones, trust me: reading book one is 100% mandatory before diving into book two. here’s to hoping frankie and malcolm are next book.

fans of more literary fiction-esque romantic dramas akin to Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez will adore.

2 stars

I thought this book looked cute, but I did not care for a single character or the romance while reading it.

Thank you for NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book!

Wow. Just wow. What a great way to write a second chance romance. I started to read this, and realized that there were references I was likely missing, so I did a quick search to see if this was a book in a series. While it wasn't obvious, and these are indeed interconnected standalones, Bend Towards the Sun is well worth the read prior to getting into Right Where We Left Us. I absolutely fell in love with the Brady family and its competitiveness and love and joy in living. It is multigenerational in scope, and Devon did a great job at blending humor, longing, romance, and love into a swoony, heartfelt story. It's hard to believe this is only her 2nd published work. And now I can't wait to read about Mal and Frankie!

I loved the story! The characters had so much depth to them. I felt like they were my best friends and I was part of their situation. I could not put this book down. I love stories that have multiple characters that poor out into another book and all the dots connect. I highly recommend this story, along with "Bend Toward the Sun". This is the type of book that when you are finished reading it, you miss it. It is hard to find authors that have the talent to continuously write good stories that have great character depth. Please, please continue writing more books.