This is the first book I have read by Annie England Noblin.  I enjoyed her writing style and the fun characters, as well as the quirkiness of Clay Creek, a small town in Arkansas.  I liked how Molly decided to bid on an adventure giveaway that would put her outside her comfort zone and how she would learn so much about herself and how her past was affecting her today. Hiking, snorkeling, kayaking all made Molly face her fears and realize she no longer wanted to be a lawyer in her dad's firm, which she was now a partner in.
I also liked meeting Eric who had trust issues and a past that still affected his present and his relationships.  Amazing how the ten days brought Molly andEric together to face those fears and trust issues together.   I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.

Loved the book! Perfect spring read! I really loved Mylie and Ben together, friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this book hit the spot in the most perfect way. I really loved the dual POV aspect, and the small town vibe was just really cute to read. Totally recommend if your are looking for a light read!

if I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure how to rate this book. As someone who loves a good second chance romance, I loved the story, the banter with the two main characters, friends and family, but I also felt like some things were missing to the story to just make it a smidge better.

storyline: Spring Fling follows the story between Mylie and Ben, two childhood friends, in Clay Creek that develop feelings for one another in high school. But, with Ben moving after high school graduation, the two ultimately thought it was best to not act on their feelings, leaving a lot unsaid and emotions buried. Ten years go by, and Ben finds himself back at Clay Creek tying up loose ends and reflecting on his feelings for Mylie. And, as for Mylie, her life has always been built in Clay Creek that his sudden reappearance has her reflecting on potentially what she missed and if Clay Creek could be her only home. Now with the two of them together, can they look past the ten years that went by? Had things already changed? Is this finally their shot?

what did I like? Like I said before, I am a SUCKER for second chance romances!!! I think the relationship that Mylie and Ben had was typical for friends who end up developing feelings for each other. There is going to be some miscommunication and frustration because how do you go from being the bestest of friends to suddenly lovers. If you're lucky enough to date your best friend, sometimes it's the smoothest transition, but I'm sure other times it could be like ???? especially with ten years of time in between. I think seeing the banter between the two and especially with others from town that they grew up with really gave you the small town feel and being a part of the story. I honestly thought this was a pretty fun read because of the added characters that were in the main characters lives.

what made me give it four stars? Even though I really liked this book, I did feel some things were missing. First, there were aspects that kind of jumped out of no where, which thankfully didn't take away from the main story, but did make me do a double take at times. Also, I do wish Mylie and Ben did get a chance to actually hash out their feelings and thoroughly communicate/put everything out on the table. I feel like a part of them was also kind of worried about what the townsfolk would think of their relationship (in the sense that they always had an imagine to maintain or a certain role to play) that it left them both a bit stubborn to actually fight for what they wanted until the very end. I wish we could have gotten a bit more of their final relationship towards the end of the book but also, I still am satisfied with how it ended!

Overall, I thought this book was a fun, light hearted read that I would recommend to others!

Thank you Netgalley, the author, and team for the opportunity to read this arc! I love being able to share my thoughts with others and hope to hear their opinion as well!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC!

This book had so much potential—small-town charm, childhood best friends reuniting, and the perfect setup for a yearning-filled, heart-tugging romance. But unfortunately, it just didn’t quite stick the landing.

Mylie and Ben’s story had all the ingredients for an emotional, slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance, but the character development was too shallow to make their connection feel real. Their childhood and present-day “conflicts” were barely touched upon, and instead of delivering those delicious moments of angst and longing, the romance felt… well, kind of bland. The tension fizzled when it should have sparked, and the emotional beats just didn’t hit as hard as they could have.

That said, Spring Fling is an easy, breezy read. I finished it in one sitting, and if you’re looking for a lighthearted, low-stakes romance with a cozy small-town vibe, it’s worth a try. But if you’re after deep character growth and a romance that truly makes your heart ache (in the best way), this one might leave you wanting more.

This book was a nice refreshing small town romance with great dialogue. I could not put this book down, it had me giggling and invested in the characters by the 5th chapter which is unusual for me, books typically take me until about a quarter of the way through! This is a fun and lighthearted read but I wish it had slowed down a little bit. Some parts of the book felt rush and a little more build up would have made it the perfect read for me.

An edgy hallmark movie! This book had a DELIGHTFUL small town, quirky characters, and predictable HEA with the edition of banter on steroids (serious LOL throughout), brief spice scenes, and some colorful language.

I truly enjoyed the short, quick chapters. It helped pack in the fun action and move the story along in a refreshingly entertaining way. I have found myself stuck with some "heavy" emotional themed romance books so I am beyond GRATEFUL for the lighthearted laughs and easy to digest themes in this book.

Read this is you are a fan of:
*second chance
*small town chaos and quirky characters
*beloved racoons ... looking at you Fat Tony
*Lake life and fishing
*Found family
*Low spice - brief open door scenes with mild descriptions
*Language - brief swearing throughout

This book was easy to read, made me laugh, and packed in all the feels - would recommend it for sure.

My goodness this story was absolutely delightful, and a captivating page turner!
Annie England Noblin’s writing is a perfect mix of character, setting, love and laughter. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these characters.
I just found the whole book really interesting and charming. 
A wonderfully written friends-to-lovers romantic comedy.

Spring Fling was a sweet, small town romance that I really enjoyed. I’m a sucker for the rekindling of a high school love and this was just a fun, uncomplicated read! If you’re looking for a cozy, Sunday afternoon read as we head into Spring, this is it!

Spring Fling provided a much-needed afternoon escape from reality.

Set in the charming small town of Clay Creek, Arkansas, it’s a lighthearted read where Mylie runs her thriving tackle shop and navigates life with her ever-supportive Granny and little sister Cassie. Amid the buzz of an annual fishing tournament, her childhood best friend Ben returns, stirring up old feelings with a hint of ~*unresolved tension.*~

The story has a cozy vibe and is a sweet, feel-good read perfect for a lazy afternoon, even if it doesn’t fully pull you into the emotional depths.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Spring Fling was a sweet and cute small-town romance, but it did not fully click for me. Readers who love instant-love stories will probably enjoy it more. The beginning showed promise, but I struggled to connect with the characters. That said, it was a light and easy read with total Hallmark vibes—if that is your thing, you will have fun with this one!

Thank you so much to @netgalley @Avonbooks and @HarperVoyagerUS for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publication Date: 18 March 2025

Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin
Pub date: 3/18/2025 (tomorrow!)
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This was a cute lil small town romance that served spring vibes. The main characters Cassie and Ben grew up together as friends who were crushing on each other but never told each other. After 10 years, they reconnect when Ben returns to sell his grandfathers home.

I enjoyed the dual timeline, the strong female characters and the humor that the side characters brought to the story. I would have liked for the main character to be developed a bit more and their miscommunication was a bit frustrating.

Overall a cute and lighthearted read. Thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for access to this eARC.

Spring Fling written by Annie England Noblin WASN'T a horrible book by any means, in fact it was cute for a spring read, but I just had a some issues that kept me from giving this book a higher rating. As many of y'all know by now, I'm a sucker for a pretty cover, so of course I had to get my hands on this book, I'm super thankful I had the chance to read this story early, but again, I had a few issues with this one. Spring Fling wasn't bad, in fact it was pretty enjoyable, but I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to. Now, let's get into the reasons why I gave a three star rating. Spring Fling was a cutesy spring time story, I know it's categorized as romance, but the romance wasn't romancing for me, it felt so rushed and not well executed, don't come for me, I know this is an advanced readers copy, but the miss spelling of one of the characters names happened at the most awkward times randomly throughout the book, and my last issue I had was our two main characters haven't seen each other in over ten years but they were shoving their tongues down each other's throats after ten years of no communication, that just didn't sit right with me at all. For those of you that want to read this book, don't let my review stop you from picking it up, you might have better luck than me, but for the reasons I had, maybe it was just a me thing, but anyways, I'm still going to recommend this book to those of you that are looking for a cute spring read.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND AVON AND HARPER VOYAGER FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

"Not everybody wants to have a boyfriend, but everybody wants to have friends".

Mylie Mason owns Hook, Line, and Sinker which is a warehouse in Arkansas that crafts handmade tackle for fishing. This little Clay Creek, Arkansas community holds a Spring Fling Finishing Tournament and Hook, Line, and Sinker is one of the biggest sponsors of the tournament as they make the tackle. For the tournament this year, Mylie is on an all women's team. Mylie has a fourteen years old sister, Cassie, but Mylie acts more like a mom figure to Cassie instead of playing the big sister role. Cassie and Mylie's mom has been in and out of their lives, but they have different dad's and Mylie's dad has been dead since she was a baby. At just twenty-two years old, Mylie went to a community college for a business degree. I absolutely adored Violet Mason- their grandma, she was so sassy and spunky, they also had the cutest pitbull named Stanley. Benjamin Lawrence went to college in Chicago after graduating high school. Ben returns to Clay Creek to sell his grandfather's house after his passing and his mom also passed away. Ben is a respected member in the field of economics. Ben claims Chicago is his HOME, he loves the city life. Ben wants to sell his grandfather's house before summer rolls around because he has a job offer at a University in Boston waiting for him after he decides to sell the house.

Mylie and Ben became best friends in sixth grade, they connected because they were the only two kids whose dad's had passed away, and Mylie was Ben's first real friend that stood up for him while the other kids made fun of him. In Spring Fling. we get past chapters and glimpses into Mylie and Ben's crush phase back in high school. After ten years of no communication, Mylie and and Ben finally meet again, but their reunion was just a bit weird, I didn't like the fact that they were full on making out right away. This fishing tournament is basically like the Superbowl with food, festivities, and tourists, but for fishing instead of football. I love the friends-to-lovers trope, but I don't know, it just felt way too rushed for my liking. Like I stated before, I know this is an advanced readers copy, but the spelling errors were most random, Mylie became Miley, and her best friend Jodi became Jodie, it was just at the most random times when this would happen. Mylie and Ben would always look at each other like they wanted to ravage each other despite not talking for over a damn decade. I liked these two characters, but I felt like Mylie tried too hard sometimes, and Ben was just too damn stubborn and blind to see what was right in front of him when Mylie was crushing on him. Clay Creek, Arkansas sounds like a fun and loving community. I praise Mylie for stepping up to help out with Cassie, but I feel like she could have gone without playing the mother figure role.

This book was a cute romance book. It was childhood friends to lovers and a small town romance. I loved the small town and all of the crazy characters in it. I loved the flashback to the main characters growing up. I found a few grammatical/spelling errors as well as a couple of times a character being called by the wrong name. I also wanted the characters to have more depth and overall just wanted more from this read.

Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pub Date: March 18, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review Spring Fling.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book and loved Mylie and Ben together. I loved the small town vibe and the supporting characters. I even loved the flashbacks to Mylie and Ben’s childhood. Town wide events make me super happy and I think they’re a lot of fun. So the fishing tournament was right up my alley. The town shenanigans were so engaging. And don’t get me started on Granny and Fat Tony. I LOVED THEM!

But at some point things just got stagnant for me.

Here’s the thing: I feel like Ben and Mylie have a relationship based off of nostalgia rather than who they really are. I think first love is a special thing and sometimes people are meant to come back together later, but I just didn’t see it with them. I almost felt as though it would have been better if they didn’t end up together and remained friends. I know you need to sometimes suspend belief when reading fiction, but I just couldn’t see them lasting long in the real world.

This book was a cute small-town romance, but it is not one that will stick with me. I liked the main character, Mylie. She a strong female character that knows how to handle her business and take care of the people around her. Unfortunately, the romance between her and Ben was just not there for me. As high school best friends, the book depended a lot on that past relationship even though we didn't get to see very much of it. After ten years of not seeing each other and hardly talking, their relationship seemed purely physical, and even that didn't have much chemistry. Though I liked how the author ended the book, Mylie and Ben's relationship didn't seem like one that would last.

I really enjoyed Mylie's relationship with her sister, Cassie, and I liked the touch of drama thrown into the story. Mylie and Ben both had great backstories, though we didn't get to see the effects of those backstories on the characters as much as I would have liked. Both MCs could have been fleshed out more.

Overall, it was cute but forgettable.

This book was cute but there were a lot of inconsistencies in minor details throughout the story that bugged me. The sentence structure also felt rudimentary & clunky at times, or as if it could’ve used a little more developing / editing. There were so many plot lines & some of them didn’t really add anything of value to the story. I feel like one of them easily could’ve been dropped (specifically the one revolved around an unhinged side character).

The main characters were supposed to be in their late twenties but the way they acted a majority of the time seemed much younger to me. It also felt like some of the side characters were more fleshed out / had more personality than Ben & Mylie.

I did enjoy the story and the characters overall but, unfortunately, the large amount of editing issues greatly impacted my enjoyment of the book. I’m really hoping that some of them were caught before it went to printing!🤞 Thank you to NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC!

Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin is a book that showcases this author’s capability to write magical stories of love, renewal and legacy that is often where we turn our thoughts in Springtime. A “friends to more” story that has delightful characters, plans that change in a small-town community. It’s not hard for Ben and Mylie to give the community something to talk about which small towns excel in doing.

Any Annie England Noblin book that I have read has her wit but also her entertaining small-town personality. Spring Fling is the perfect Spring escape read.

Spring Fling is a small town romance following Miley, the owner of a tackle shop, and Ben, her childhood best friend, who returns to the town after ten years away in order to clear out his late grandfathers home and put it on the market. Despite not seeing each other for almost a decade, Miley and Ben quickly resume their friendship and realize this is the chance to explore their relationship in ways they never got to before.

I really wanted to love this friends to lovers romance, but I just found the story a little lacking and ultimately underwhelming. There is nothing abhorrently wrong with the plot, but outside of the characters and the quirky town, I think the romance didn't have the time to develop and shine the way it should have. While Ben and Miley were very cute together, their relationship progressed so fast and I wasn't able to feel their emotional connection, tension, and build up that often comes with a second chance romance. Overall, the small-town charm was there, but side characters and subplots overshadowed the romance and left me wanting more depth.

3.5/5

This was really cute and a perfect read to transition into spring if you’re into reading seasonally. It’s a second chance, small town, friends to lovers romance between Mylie and Ben and you get to see glimpses into their pasts when they were younger as well as in present day. The town was quirky and so were many of the residents, I kind of liked the secondary characters more than the main ones to be honest, I think Mylie and Ben could’ve been a little more developed. Overall a quick and sweet read that was a pleasant escape.

The book was fine. I hope they changed the multiple spellings of the Mylie. Felt rushed and too much like a lot of other romances. The romance parts felt so awkward and flat. The book was enjoyable, but the characters didn’t seem like they would even work. It all felt very predictable.