Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin is a sweet small town story. I was hooked right away by the setting in my neighboring state of Arkansas and Mylie's job in the fishing industry. My husband's lifelong hobby is fishing so I really related to those aspects of the story. Unfortunately, as time went on, I got bored with the story, the characters, and their relationships. I stuck with it and finished, but I wouldn't have missed much if I had chosen to DNF around 37% like I considered.

Spring Fling is out on March 18th. Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for my free e-arc.

This was a cute fluffy read. It lacked a little depth to be honest, but it was still a quick read. It feels like it’s kind of one of those pallet cleanser type of books. It was second chance romance and neighbor sort of book. There was also a slightly…or maybe very…unhinged character as well. I’m not sure if that was really necessary for the story or characters really, but whatever. Overall, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anything spectacular either. I did read it all in one sitting on an airplane though, so I found it to be quick to read.

Sometimes a romance novel doesn’t need to be complicated or epic in scale to be really enjoyable, fun and give you that warm fuzzy feeling. Spring Fling is a story about reconnecting and a second chance at love and I loved every second of it. Mylie and Ben’s story was very sweet and very relatable and a great look at how love can really change the course of our whole lives. Loved this supporting cast too as they helped make this town feel real and lived in.

ARC BOOK REVIEW

Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin

Thank you, Avon and HarperCollins, for the free eARC and finished copy of this book and thank you Libro.FM and @harperaudio for the free audiobook of this one! I am so grateful! #harpercollinspartner #librofmpartner #librofminfluencer #epictastemakers

SYNOPSIS: “Spring is in the air and Mylie has everything she could ever want: her tackle shop is thriving and employs a third of Clay Creek, Arkansas, and she lives with her beloved Granny and little sister Cassie, who both keep her on her toes. As tourists pour into town for the annual fishing tournament, Mylie is in her element and ready to bring her all-women team to victory.

After moving to Chicago, Ben never thought he would return to Clay Creek. But with both his grandfather and mother gone, he’s left to deal with their estate. His plan is simple: come in quietly, fix up his lakeside childhood home, sell it quickly, and get out. He underestimates how quickly his arrival will stir up the local gossip, and how intensely his unresolved feelings for Mylie, his childhood best friend, will resurface.

Amid the buzz of competition and the rhythm of small-town life, Mylie and Ben find themselves unable to ignore their shared history. They tentatively explore a future together, despite the impending sale of Ben’s house and Mylie’s insistence on staying put in Clay Creek. Flings are easier said than done, and Mylie and Ben will have to address their clashing lifestyles before their feelings get away from them.”

REVIEW: Oh my, how this book made me reminisce on my Midwest summers on the lake, sipping spiked Rt 44s from Sonic.

I really enjoyed the dual timelines of past and present! It let us see a bit of Miley and Ben in high school to see how they got to where they are today.

I don’t think I’ve read an audiobook with Amanda Stribling as the narrator before this, and I want to give her a shout out for a lovely job. She captured the Arkansas twang so very well.

If you love a small-town romance full of quirky characters (and animals—looking at you, Fat Tony), AND love a second chance romance, this one is for you!

Publisher: Avon
Pub date: 3/18/25

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this eARC!

While I did really enjoy this story, a second chance romance for high school BFF’s Mylie and Benjamin, it just kind of fell short to me! After these two former besties finally reunite after 10 years apart, its instant lust. And while I am all for some lusty romance scenes, I just wanted to get more to the story as to why these two are meant for each other, and what they love or even like about one another. A little bit more depth to the characters and to their love story could have easily made this a 4 star book for me!

But overall, Spring Fling was still a very cute, very easy to read romance story!

Mylie and Ben were best friends in high school until he moved away to attend college. Mylie loves her small town of Clay Creek, Arkansas. And the small town feel with nosey neighbors, wise grannies and good friends is a highlight in this book. Ben returns for the summer with plans to sell his family home which is just down the road from where Mylie lives with her sister and grandmother. Old unresolved feelings begin sparking between the two. But Mylie loves her thriving businesses and doesn’t want to leave her town and family. He plans to teach at a university on the east coast.

The cover is charming but the story isn’t always light and fluffy. I enjoyed the small town setting, family and best friend. I wasn’t in love with Ben and Mylie as a couple. I read another book this week and bought into meeting the love of your life in high school. But I saw it in flashbacks and then falling in love again in the present time. This book relies on you believing their closeness in HS, but in the present more time is spent arguing.

My advance copy isn’t a final release version and so I don’t mark down for typos or things that I trust will get fixed for the final print version. That being said, there were many more mistakes then I am used to seeing in ARC’s. Mylie/Miley and Jodi/Jodie are main characters, figure out which spelling is correct and stick to it. Plot holes include Jodi’s long term boyfriend all of a sudden being referred to as her husband. And little sister’s cheating boyfriend who she breaks up with being referred to as her boyfriend again in the almost to last chapter. It is like there have been re-writes and no one has checked for continuity.

I usually love second chance romances but I wanted to see a little more of the adult romance develop. There are spicy scenes but that isn’t the same seeing feelings grown again or realizing they have always been there.

A sweet small town friends to lovers novel. Mylie is happy where she is-with her business, her friends, and her family. And then Ben who left for Chicago is back in town and she's knocked a bit aside. Ben never expected to come home and he's only meant to be there to settle his family's estate. These two have known each other since forever but they never saw one another as romantic partners. This moves back and forth in time to track their relationship. It's a bit predictable, with a third act conflict that won't surprise, but it's engaging. I also liked the side characters who definitely enhance the plot. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read for a lazy day.

Small town, past high school friendships and love. Kylie and Ben have been best friends since he moved from the big city to the small town. But, he never planned to stay after high school. So their friendship and love faded with time over the next decade.

Present day but all the same conflicts. The character development was lacking, the side characters were cute but predictable. It was all a bit predictable but sometimes that’s what you want in a small town romance.

3.75

This is a good book. The two main characters are Mylie and Ben. They meet in high school when Ben moved from Chicago. They were best friends. Ben and his family moved back to Chicago when he graduated. He went away to college. Ten years later, he came back to sell his grandfather’s cottage. He put it up for sale. He saw Mylie again. There is an attraction. They started dating. They fell in love.

3.5 Stars

This book was pretty cute. I liked that we got back story interspersed into the main story and I liked the characters, especially Granny. The story was cute and did have a little added conflict with the Robbie character’s story. I liked the small town vibe.

With that being said, I can generally get past some errors within the story, however the ones I was noticing had the potential to alter the reading experience. I noticed fairly frequently, especially toward the end of the book that the author would use the wrong character name when discussing certain conversations or situations. She would reference a character that was not involved or would cite a person who would have been talking in third person. It hindered the experience for me, therefore I couldn’t give it any higher rating, no matter how I liked the story.

Quick Summary: It's a small-town romance where Ben returns to Clay Creek to sell his house. Ben and Mylie were interested in each other in high school and never grew out of it. This book focuses on them trying to have a relationship now that they are older.

I thought it was a cute book, but I felt like there was a lot of miscommunication throughout the whole book. I felt like both of the main characters fell flat and didn't have a lot of development, except for maybe at the very end. Both Mylie and Ben were kind of annoying and childish (even though they were 28 years old). I feel like this book has a lot of potential, but it just feels flat.

I do think this is a good summer read, and I did enjoy the aspect of their relationship and the cute dates they went on.

Overall, this is a good book if you are a fan of friends to lovers, insta-love, small-town romance and some spicy scenes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Annie England Noblin, Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable small town friends to lovers romance. Some of the drama and side plots didn't engage me but it was a good read.

Small-town, friends-to-lovers? It sounds like everything from my BK Borrison, Sarah Adams loving dreams. I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover – it is giving rainbow lover vibes & I so wanted to be apart of it.

Unfortunately, the cover was pretty much the only thing about this book I enjoyed.

I understand this was an uncorrected-proof, & as an ARC-reader, the intent is to not get hung up on the little details. However, I felt continually pulled from the story from the sheer number of inconsistences throughout the entire book. The spelling of the FMCs name continually shifted from Mylie to Miley, & her best friend Jodi/Jodie went through the same thing. A time or two can be written off, however this was consistent. & there were several instances throughout where backstory/details would change. At the beginning Ben’s home had been in his family since it was built in the 1960s, & his mom had grown up there, however later his grandpa bought the house in the 90s, & his mom hated moving to a small unknown town. When Ben first arrives to town Jodi’s mom is trying to hook them up at Jodi has been in a relationship with no proposal in sight, but just a few days later she’s married & bored. There were several other instances that had little affect on the overall story (Mylie’s factory was once a previous shoe factory, but later was a previous boat factory), but still continued to pull me out of the story, as things just were not lining up.

But focusing on the meat of the story, I was sad to find that is wasn’t just the discrepancies that were keeping me from fully engaging. Long story short, this was all tell, no show. Within what seemed liked seconds of Ben returning to town, there was a relationship with Mylie, after not seeing each other in 10 years. There was no development or connection between them – just a relationship that was there because we were told it was there. The intimacy scenes honestly felt so forced, as did much of there relationship. & at the end of the day, it never felt believable. Because we never got a true connection from Ben & Mylie, it is hard to believe either of them would just up & forget their life long dreams for someone they may or may not have a lukewarm relationship with. I don’t believe in any chance of a true HEA for them, probably just a lot of resentment later in life. They both liked to look at each other & were full of lust, but that felt about it.

Outside of the relationship, there was a lot going on in this small town, that I still haven’t figured out how it added to the overall plot. The storyline with Robbie was borderline cartoonish & really took out the feeling of lighthearted spring-fling, & made it something a bit darker. Because it was also so over the top it wasn’t believable at all.

I did enjoy some of the development between Mylie & her younger sister Cassie. It was a bit frustrating at times, but also Cassie is 14 so it honestly felt pretty believable. There were some pretty heartwarming scenes between the two & I would have loved to see so much more between them.

Bottom Line: I hate to ever say I can’t champion a book, but as this one is right now, I just can’t. I was never rooting for the relationship between M & B, or honestly any of the characters. The small town was cute, but we didn’t spend much time in town, & when we did, it felt like being catapulted back to 1950 & not in a whimsical way (a lot of dialogue felt antiquated). I also struggled with the sheer lack of diversity in this book, which only added to the antiquated, off-putting vibe of the town. I hope this book finds readers who will enjoy it.

2 stars

Oof this one was bit rough for me and my thoughts are about to come out a bit all over the place so bear with me here. Plus spoilers. There was a story but no writing at all. And the story sadly didn't make much sense if you thought about it for a minute. Why would that house be full of family mementos if it had renters living in it fairly often?

What started bothering me early on was there were at least 3 instances where something happened twice. Cassie left a room then was being talked to as if she hadn't left the room. Ben shut a book twice a paragraph apart. Ben was also pulled from being face down in the mud twice without him ever falling face down a second time.

Another issue I had was things happened so suddenly and the whole story was incredibly rushed. Things just happen with no lead up and are over maybe a paragraph later. At one point Mylie tells Ben she has no plans so she goes to his house and leaves maybe 12 seconds later because she has plans. There were a couple scenes that felt very "and everyone clapped" if you know what I mean. There was a bingo brawl of old ladies, there was a very random kidnapping scene (honestly all of the Robbie stuff felt pointless), the mud scene felt like "oh I've seen this in romcoms before, let's shove it in here". At one point Mylie stands still on the dance floor staring "for a few minutes" yet they still have time to dance together before that same song ends. There is no discussion about condoms or health before s*x, They leave a nearly done lasagna on the stove (probably meant in the oven) to bang and then suddenly she's leaving before the sun comes up and mentions "he only left to turn off the stove" so he just wasted all of that work to make this lasagna to probably burn on the stove and then left out all night even though he JUST had a raccoon problem in his house. And even though this was in third person, it was just the MCs but then randomly we get another person's thoughts. Nothing felt consistent at all. And then Mylie's best friend and business partner was like "why didn't you leave with him" like she didn't start an entire fairly large business here??

Idk, unfortunately this felt like a mess and I was often confused at how we got to the next point of the plot. I wasn't rooting for these characters at all and not because they were unlikeable but because I just wasn't given anything to care about.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.

This was a great read to start the springtime for me! Mylie runs a tackle shop in her hometown, living with her grandmother and younger sister. Ben, her childhood best friend and the one who got away has been gone from their hometown for years, is back in their hometown to sell his family home, conveniently located across the street from Mylie's house. There is undeniable chemistry between the two, paired with witty banter. The entire time I was rooting for Ben to stay and for them to be able to get their happily ever after. This was a sweet and cozy romance about second changes and finding home. Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted eARC. All opinions are my own.

Instagram post will be live on 11Mar25.

This was a great romance story. It gives hope for second chances. I love the small-town dynamics and the family relationships. It touches on bullying and drinking responsibly. It was a fast and fun read. I'm glad that it had a happy ending.

Mylie lives the perfect small town life in Clay Creek. She owns a tackle shop and lives with her iconic Granny and sister. She couldn’t ask for much more. Ben never planned on moving back to Clay Creek but has to go back to help sell his grandparents’ old house. He’s ready to get it sold quickly and quietly so he can continue his life in Chicago. But Ben ends up making a big splash in his return. His unresolved feelings for his childhood best friend Mylie end up putting a delay in his plans. Ben and Mylie try to make it work while he’s there but sometimes a spring fling is easier said than done. It’s not ideal when two people have differing lifestyles and don’t want to give that up for one another. Will these two last longer than just a fling?

This story was so cute and perfect to kick off some spring reads! Small town romance and second chance romance are two of my all time favorite tropes and this book did them justice! I loved how spunky Mylie and her family was! It reminded me of my family and how supportive (and a lil crazy) they all can be! I loved how sweet Ben and Mylie were together and how they grew together throughout the story! This book also had the perfect subtle amount of spice! I would definitely recommend this one for your spring TBR!

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 stars for me!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the author, and their team for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for my review! This one releases on March 18th, 2025. Definitely go check it out!

This was a cute, quick spring/summer read. I feel like the feeling Ben had about the town could have been fleshed out a little more. It never felt like there was much reason given for the unnecessary struggle he had with the town, but aside from that I enjoyed it!

Thank you to Netgally and Avon Publishing for the review copy!!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read Spring Fling in exchange for an honest review.

Spring fling is a fun, late spring read. It takes place in charming Clay Creek and follows hardworking Mylie who owns her own bait shop. She’s lived in Clay Creek her whole life, and ten years ago had spent all her time with her best friend Ben. Suddenly, Ben is back in town to sell his grandfather’s house. In true friends to strangers to lovers fashion, Ben and Mylie are drawn to each other and have to confront years of history together and apart.

What I liked:
🌷The small town vibes. Clay Creek is a picturesque small southern town. They even have their own bingo night that gets exciting.
🌷The side characters in this story felt equally interesting and had their own fun quirks. I loved Granny and Jodi!
🌷I love a good friends to strangers to lovers trope.
🌷It felt like a smaller scale Lucy Score book.
🌷I loved the flash backs to when they were young. Those chapters really helped connect current Mylie and Ben to old best friend Mylie and Ben.

What I didn’t like
🌷The rushed feeling I got between Ben and Mylie wasn’t my favorite. It did make the whole time crunch thing of being there till his house sold feel real, but I also made some moments fall flat.
🌷The spice…I always skin the spicy parts of books, but in my skimming for this one it felt almost as if it was added because spice is popular right now. It didn’t add anything to the story and was rushed and awkward.

A very sweet small town romance that gave aspects of a second chance love. A very cutesy kind of read.

This story does have a dual timeline that tries to give the perspective of these two friends and how they missed an opportunity to tell each other how much they loved back then vs. being in present day writing those wrongs in a second chance kind of way.

Very hallmark in the overall feel of the storyline and characters. I didn’t quite get to the level I wanted with the connection between the two main characters in some aspects of their relationship. It felt more forced than natural in some ways.

A low stakes cozy cute romance if that’s what you are looking for! Thank you Avon and NetGallery for my ARC!