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!

Stars 2.5 rounded to 3 out of 5
Steam/Spice 1 out of 5

I am a sucker for any 2nd chance romance... but this one left me wanting. While I loved that Mylie was the town's most successful entrepreneur and largest employer, so much else about the book felt too formulaic and predictable. (And yes I realize that most romance is very formulaic but it still...)

What to expect: 2nd chance romance, childhood best friends to lovers, boy next door, it's always been you, this town was too small for me, quirky Granny, miscivious younger sister, goofy lovable dog, troublemaker town raccoon that everyone loves... the bully is still a bully... I'm only in town to sell my old house... etc.

TW/CW: death of a parent, abandonment by parents.

For me personally, Annie England Noble's books are either hit or miss, and this one, sadly was a miss. We needed more Fat Tony and less errors on one of the major character's names - is it Robbie or Bobby? Pick one and stick with it, please. The story overall was a typical lost-love romance where you immediately knew what was going to happen, and there were no surprises along the way. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Mylie and Ben were best friends growing up. Bonding over deceased fathers, they became fast friends. But as they grew up, neither one of them wanted to be the first to tell the other their feelings had changed to something more romantic. Ben moved away for college, and life moved in for both of them as they fell out of touch.
10 years later, Ben is back in town to fulfill the promise he made to his recently deceased mother, and to sell the house he grew up in, right next door to Mylie's. As Ben trades his life in Chicago for one in Boston, his time in Clay Creek, Arkansas is just a pit stop. But for some reason, he can't help but get caught up in the small town world--and Mylie--before he leaves again.

If you really like:
🐟 Small town romance
🐟 Small town drama
🐟 Second chances
🐟 Childhood friends reunion to lovers
🐟 Girl next door
🐟 Sassy grandmas
🐟 Fat raccoons
Give this one a shot!

My personal review:
The premise of this book was so cute!! But the romance and story were just not there for me. Mylie and Ben are so stuck in the past of 10 years ago, that they barely even get to re-know each other before jumping into a friends-with-benefits situation-ship. The romance scenes were incredibly rushed. And I found myself struggling to get through the last 80% of the book because, quite simply, I was bored.

I thought this book was a fairly quick read. Mylie and Ben are high school best friends that both have feelings for each other but they do not ever tell each other. They end up losing communication after graduation when Ben moves to Chicago for college. Ben's family kept the family home in Arkansas next door to Mylie. He ends up coming back 10 years later to get the house ready and sell their family home. He also made a promise to his mom that he would come back to the family home one last time before he sells it. He plans to use the money to move to Boston and he start teaching at a University there. Mylie and Ben end up reconnecting while he is there and they realize that they still have feelings for each other. This is a bit of a slow burn, a lot of miscommunication and not saying what you feel. Overall, I felt it was a cute read and I mostly enjoyed it.

This was a 2.5 for me. The characters didn’t feel very fleshed out. The flashbacks didn’t really add enough for me and I feel like they jumped into a relationship really fast. Not enough tension building. Way too much about Robbie - that felt unnecessary. I upped from two stars to three because the part about his mom making him come back because she hoped the couple would get together was very sweet and made me cry. Needed more of that.

This was such a fun read! I loved the setting being in Arkansas as most small town romances I've read have been set in the northern parts of the US. We get a good amount of small town antics and gossip along with our characters trying to figure out their relationship. I did find the conflict to be a little bit over-done or rather the characters specifically stated that they would try to ignore the conflict until later and then when later comes, it turns into a big deal. It is the sort of conflict that you can see coming from a mile away and I just wanted our MCs to get out of their own ways and sit down and talk about things for once. I do think we get a good amount of characterization that helps explain why both of them end up acting like this, but it wasn't quite enough to make me un-annoyed at them. Our MCs did have great chemistry both as friends and as lovers which is always a great time. I wanted more time of just them interacting together and found that there were some scenes where we would have gotten that, but then the book flashes forward a few hours to them leaving the place and going back home, which was frustrating.

Tropes: Childhood Friends to Lovers, Small Town, Second Chance

Standalone

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC. Expected publication date is March 18, 2025.

2.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager for this ARC 🤍

First of all, I expected a book titled Spring Fling to have a lot more spring vibes. The only thing that makes me remember it was Spring was the mention of the teachers teaching summer school soon. So it was missing the spring vibes for me.

It was also missing the romance. It was a quick read so more details could have been added. It lacked character personality and chemistry. I liked Ben and Mylie alright, but I don't feel like I know them after reading this. Their new relationship doesn't have a strong foundation at all, outside of their friendship 10 years prior. Even the "bitchy" realtor was flat and dull as a character. All the personality in this book came from Granny! Loved her.

The small town setting was cute, but again lacked some detail. The lack of detail also led to some small plot holes. There's a little spice🌶 and a quick HEA.

Overall Spring Fling is a cute, quick, and lighthearted read, but unfortunately fell about flat for me. I think I didn't enjoy it as much because I never really bought into the chemistry between Ben and Miley.

This would be the perfect beach tree. It’s very easy and light. Missing a little bit of pizzazz, but overall an enjoyable read. Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy. Publication date March 18, 2025.

This book is fine, it's just boring. I do think they had romantic chemistry but no sexual chemistry. Those scenes should of just been fade to black.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I am a sucker for a small town romance. When you add in best friends to lovers and a quirky cast of characters (Fat Tony will become an instant favorite), I am bound to be hooked. This was a love letter to small towns and all of the things that make them so wonderful. The book centers around Mylie, a hometown girl who has built her own business from the ground up (in handmade fishing lures) and Ben, a Ph.D. in Economics, who moved to the small town of Clay Creek in 6th grade. Spring Fling tells the story by occasionally going back in time, so we can see Mylie and Ben throughout their friendship. It was clear early on that they were always meant to be more, but Ben’s desire to move away for college made them both afraid to make it more. When they reconnect after 10 years, you really find yourself hoping they can figure things out.

A charming second-chance romance. Delightful characters. Well, some were not so great, but added interest and angst to the story. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

I enjoyed reading Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin. The rural setting of this little town of Clay Creek grabbed my heart. The people there, from the dinner to the bingo hall, were so special and down right hilarious at times. The bingo hall feud was something else! I also loved Granny's role in this story. She's a fiery red headed woman who loves her town , her neighbors, and her family fiercely.
The story as so sweet and had all the right ingredients for something more, but the communication between Ben and Mylie felt disjointed and lacking at times. I was wanting more, the drama was set, but it felt off and needed to be fleshed out. Also I did not understand how Jodi was married this whole time? I thought she had a boyfriend?
Overall it was a sweet small town read!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spring Fling is a charming, humorous, heartfelt, second-chance, friends-to-lovers story that kept me happily engaged from beginning to end.

Note: If you read an ARC of Spring Fling (as I did), you may have had concerns about a reference to Mylie's sister's boyfriend at the end of the story (again, as I did). I'm happy to report that has been changed in the final, published copy of the book and is no longer an issue.

Full review closer to publication date.

ARC received from Avon Books via NetGalley
Fair and unbiased review

I liked this one…until I didn’t. I honestly liked the sister storyline with Mylie and Cassie way more than the romance between Mylie and Ben. I enjoy a second chance, friends to lovers, small town romance as much as the next person, but the build up to being said lovers was….lackluster. I did not feel the chemistry. In addition, the issues their relationship had seemed insurmountable, and the conclusion left me feeling like one party may come to resent the other in the future. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can recommend this one.

Small-town romances are not usually my thing. However, the description of Annie England Noblin's Spring Fling had me hoping this book would change my mind.

Childhood friends Ben and Mylie haven't seen or spoken with one another in ten years, ever since Ben left for college in Chicago, escaping the tiny town of Clay Creek. Despite each having feelings for the other, they never acted on those emotions. Now, Ben is back in town to sell the home he shared with his mother and grandfather. He never thought he'd return to Clay Creek, but he promised his mom that he would come back and spend a little time there while preparing for the sale. In small towns, there are no secrets and no avoiding the people you once knew. For Ben, that means running right back into his former friend and next-door neighbor, Mylie.

Mylie is spunky and energetic. She adores Clay Creek and has completely committed to life with her grandmother and younger sister. While she has dated other people, the "what if" question about Ben has never left her mind. When he returns to town, they both know he won't be staying. Still, that chemistry sparks again, and Ben and Mylie decide to explore what's between them--even if they know it won't last.

Spring Fling is cute. I liked the characters, but each felt somewhat shallow and underdeveloped, and the plot was predictable. Romance fans who prefer just a small touch of spice in their stories will appreciate the tame romance. While I can't say this story changed my mind about small-town romances, it's a quick and sweet read.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This book was meh. Second chance, friends to lovers and small town. All great, but there was zero chemistry between the characters in my opinion.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book got off to a slow start, but it got better after that!