Narrators Kit Swann and Teddy Hamilton did a wonderful job here. I really liked how they voiced the characters and brought the story to life. I also find it funny how Teddy Hamilton narrators for a character named Teddy.

I enjoyed this story a lot. I'm not usually a camp love story person (perhaps because I never went to camp) but I thought the camp setting was fitting here. It made sense for the plot and the forced proximity romance. Think Camp Rock but the MCs are older.

Gretchen and Teddy are for the grumpy x sunshine lovers. These two do not get off to a good start but slowly form a friendship that's really sweet and heartwarming. I liked their connection and flirtation. They had good chemistry.

This book touches on serious topics like child neglect and poverty. I felt the author did a good job handling these topics. The way the characters delt with these issues felt realistic.

This book was the perfect combination of sweet and emotional. A wonderful contemporary romance!

I really enjoyed this read. I finished it quick because it was hard to put down. I related to the characters and the plot ran smooth. I laughed and felt all the romance vibes! I will be purchasing this for my shelf as soon as I possibly can!

This was such a cute listen! I really, really enjoyed it. I haven’t listened to a Jennifer Holiday book in the past, but this one makes me want to check out her other work. Kit Swann and Teddy Hamilton do an excellent job as the narrators.

Gretchen is having a mid-life crisis. After one too many bad tender dates, she has decided she is done with men. As a dance studio owner and teacher, she has a bit of free time and spends a couple weeks as a mentor at a summer camp for the arts in northern Minnesota. The fresh air might do get some good.

Teddy’s band just broke up. It could be Teddy’s fault. He is in a bad spot and needs to get himself into a better headspace. He joins Camp Wild Arts as a last minute add-on to mentor aspiring musicians.

Gretchen and Teddy have chemistry. Unfortunately, Gretchen has sworn off men.

In this super cute listen. I definitely recommend. I found myself smiling often.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

didn't love this the same way i loved 'canadian boyfriend.' the romance between gretchen & teddy was fun, but the overall plot just didn't spark my interest after the first half.

This was such a fun book! I loved the characters and the setting made it even better. The narrators were also amazing and did a fantastic job at bringing this story to life.

Teddy and Gretchen are an unlikely couple since Gretchen is trying to enter cronehood after too many failed dates but they make it work. I love how they support each other through out the book and encourage one another to chase their dreams and be better people.

Overall, I thought this was a fun read and I would absolutely recommend listening tot he audiobook!

Now this is the kind of rom-com I’ve been missing! Love that we have mid to late 30s and early 40s characters. Love the setting at camp and all the lovely nature. Love the brooding rockstar, come on! Realistic, but fun, easy to understand character struggles and the story had believability. The details about song writing and dancing were interesting and different, so it didn’t seem like a story I’d read before. I enjoyed this one!

The narrators were excellent! I really felt like they took on the characters and their personalities so well which made this book a really fun listen.

Many thanks to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for this ARC!

This was such a fun and cute story.

Gretchen is going to a creative camp to quit dating and especially dating apps. She wants to come closer with herself and to figure out what she wants for her future. In the camp she meets the rock star Teddy, who didn't know that he will be a teacher in the camp. Gretchen and Teddy couldn't be more different from each other.

I really liked the camp setting. It gave a cozy vibe to the story. The book has all the typical tropes (grumpy x sunshine, insta "hate"/dislike) paired with getting lost in the woods (which is also kind of a typical trope?) but it all fitted really well together and created an interesting story. Both Gretchen and Teddy had difficult pasts through which they could connect with each other and understand each other better. Most of the story was predictable, but it was still a lot of fun to listen to the story and to see where it's going. I would have probably enjoyed the story more if something really unpredictable had happened.

The pacing of the story matched the topics really well. It didn't felt too rushed or as if something was missing.

The narrator style was a bit different to other audiobooks I listened to. When for example the story was told from Gretchens POV, the narrator for Teddy would say whatever Teddy was actually saying. It added a lot of dimensions to the story and I was pleasantly surprised. It took me a bit to get used to it. Kit Swann and Teddy Hamilton both did an amazing job narrating the book.

This will definitely not be my last Jenny Holiday book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for this Audio-EARC!

Another great read from Jenny Holiday!

Adults at summer camp romances (as counselors, or specialty teachers as is the case here) seems to be a trending new plot idea, since there are several out now - but this is the best of them all!

Gretchen and Teddy have an interesting Six Degrees connection, but he isn’t aware of it, and part of why she takes the last-minute job covering the other dance teacher who backs out… after giving up on dating when yet another awful Tinder attempt winds up with a rockstar who is yet another terrible person, so she flees to the woods to start her transformation into an independent woman who is about to turn 40 (she’s got a funny idea about turning into a crone as a part of her midlife crisis), ready to swear off men for good.

Teddy has just endured a hugely publicized band breakup (with his longtime buddy who was Gretchen’s last Tinder date, but he doesn’t know this… nor does bandmate Scott’s wife!), so heading to teach the music students at the fine arts summer camp is a perfect escape.

When the pair gets past the grumpy-sunshine, instant dislike, after being lost in the woods when left behind on a group hike, a special benefits (horizontal hugging) arrangement for Gretchen and Teddy is made, before she is going to leave men behind forever, since it benefits them both… until it really doesn’t.

Narrated by Teddy (Teddy voicing Teddy!) Hamilton, one of the very best in the biz, and Kit Swann, both were just fantastic in this duet version. I wish more authors were able to splurge on duet style because it really makes a difference having it done this way.

Excellent story and quite unexpected twists coming up a few times. Definitely a recommended one from me! Jenny Holiday really knows how to write the perfect amount of steam and storylines with the perfect chemistry and all the banter.

Thanks to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Hachette Audio for the early read and listen copies. This is my honest opinion.

I am reviewing this book in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. Do you ever feel like you want to go far away from technology and the noise of life and have a life reset? Gretchen and Teddy are the main characters and they both went looking for this very thing. “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately” I love books that have a setting in the woods. Something about being in nature and the opportunity it provides for a life reset is always a good thing. This book was perfect to read at the end of a year going into a new year. This story examines the idea of being retired from love but love finding you anyways.

3.25 stars

Gretchen Miller is a self-denominated badass. She grew up poor so she worked hard to get to a place of comfort. She became a dancer and then a teacher, she opened a dance studio for kids and now, just a couple of months before turning forty she's about to expand on her life project. She bought a building for her business, no more renting. She has decided to swear off men forever. And she is happy with these decisions. Isn't she? Thing is, Gretchen is going through her midlife crisis and asking herself is this all there is? So, when her best friend "forces" her to go Camp Wild Art as a dance instructor for a few weeks before her new dance studio opens Gretchen finds herself removed from her every day life, reigniting her passion for dance and most importantly meeting Teddy Knight, a disgraced rockstar dealing with his own demons after his band's sudden breakup. These two will have a rocky start, but in this removed place they will fall in love with each other.

First thing I have to say, romance is not my genre. And though I always start a book with an open mind, this novel didn't wow me. It's well written, it gave both main characters depth and their moments together made me believe in this relationship. I also liked the setting of the Camp Wild Arts, it made it more unique. However, there were issues with the pacing. Mostly, we pretty much skipped the whole first week of camp, just like the last week was summarised in a few sentences like 'we were together every night'. Also, the last 15% of the book, after the Camp was over, was a rushed mess. So yeah, the pacing could have worked better. Other negative for me was Gretchen. She as a whole is a very contradicting character. I understand the appeal of quirky heroines in this genre, but Gretchen, though is about to be forty, reads so much younger. Her childishness, bubbliness and the way she interacts with others feels like a character in her late twenties, at most very early thirties. Though she has wise moments around Teddy, I wish I could've read a more realistic woman of forty. Also, the whole 'I'll become a crone project' was too silly for me, a quirky joke that never stopped.

As a whole, I enjoyed this book. But there were a bunch of times I was rolling my eyes. The smut was okay, nothing great, nothing risky. The love relationship was believable but rushed. I wish the Camp elements, what was what actually caught my attention when reading the synopsis, would have been more important. It felt like the author often forgot there were a bunch of other characters and activities surrounding the main couple and just remembered there was a lake for them to swim and ogle each other. The students and colleagues felt like background noise most of the novel and it felt like a wasted opportunity.

All in all, I think If you enjoy this genre you will like this book. It's lighthearted and the relationship is believable and well-established. The Camp setting makes them see each other every day and develop their relationship in a bubble. It's easy to read. The audiobook is also the best way to enjoy this story. The fact that there are two narrators for our couple is the perfect choice to enjoy the story. Kit Swann brings Gretchen's energy to life so well, just as Teddy Hamilton really shines performing Teddy's sarcastic tone. Really recommend this version.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced copy of the audiobook.

3.5⭐️

if Teddy Hamilton narratoring in, ima read it. i love that man voice no matter what the vibes are! Kit’s voice was very much fitting for Gretchen but her emotion during the spicy scenes didn’t give appropriate emotion to me, but were perfect for all other scenes!

as for the book itself, it was so cute!! the whole idea of having a wilderness retreat / summer camp in which various artists are the counselors for artistically inclined was genius. i love a good “i’ve sworn this off but he is making me change my mind” plot. they had such a relationship that was perfect just like any couple of teenagers at summer camp would, but with adult emotions. i loved the emphasis on rediscovering your purpose in life or creating a new path for yourself no matter how late in life it may be. it was stressed that even if you think you “should” be doing something and it’s making you financially stable, doesn’t mean it’s your only path to a happy life.

This was a cute romance set at a summer camp. Teddy is a rock star and Gretchen is a dancer. They are artists in residence at creative camp and I enjoyed the concept of adults at summer camp. I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed how the narrators went back and forth no matter what POV you were in.

Jenny Holiday does it again with this funny and thoughtful romance. Gretchen and Teddy are both at a crossroads in their careers. Gretchen is about to expand her dance studio and thus has decided to give up men completely due to time restraints and previous disasters on dating apps. Teddy 's rock band just broke up. They both find themselves filling in to be mentors at an arts camp to decompress and evaluate next steps. After a rough introduction, Gretchen and Teddy warm up to each other and start to connect.

I loved the setting of this book, a summer camp for teens and young adults exploring their creativity. This was a fun book with forced proximity tropes.but also dealt with the deeper issue of dealing with trauma inflected as a child. It was the perfect blend. I love the communication between Gretchen and Teddy, they really bared their soles to each other.

Thank you to Hachette Audio for the advanced listener copy. Kit Swan and Teddy Hamilton are two of my favourite narrators, and really brought the story to life. I highly recommend this audiobook, it is swoon and heartfelt.

Cute little romance about forced proximity, realizing you are more than your brain tells you and overcoming what you thought was your only option. News flash, it’s never the only option. Definitely recommend.

This was a delightful listen. Jenny Holiday wrote a wonderful romance, and Kit Swann and Teddy Hamilton did a great job of bringing it to life.

We met Gretchen as Rory’s boss and best friend in Canadian Boyfriend, but Into the Woods works perfectly well as a standalone. Gretchen and Teddy each end up in the woods, literally and figuratively, while putting a pause on their respective lives. Gretchen wants to avoid a midlife crisis, so she’s bought a building and plans to expand her dance studio. She’s also decided to give up on dating and enter her crone era (after a bad date with someone we hear more about later). She sees a month in the woods as a dance mentor at an arts camp is an excellent opportunity to detox from the men on the dating apps.

Teddy’s band has just broken up, and he responded with an act of hotel room destruction. Teddy needs time and space to recover and write a revenge album, but he hasn’t paid attention to the details and thinks it’s a band camp for adults, not an art camp for teenagers. Teddy and Gretchen’s meet not-cute happens off page. We hear about it as Teddy reflects that he was an ass because he thought Gretchen was a super fan of his now deceased band.

Gretchen and Teddy are where they are to deal with their mess. The joy is watching them work out that they can make room for each other, mess and all. Tbh, romance main characters are messy and that’s why I love them. Insert gif of Marie Kondo saying, “I love mess.”

Teddy is clearly a mess. He’s angry and without direction. His ex-girlfriend is still living in his apartment. He has a lot of unresolved issues from his childhood, which get a lot of airtime in the book.

I saw a review that stated Gretchen didn’t deserve Teddy, and after considering throwing my tablet across the room, I thought about how someone would come to that wrong conclusion. I think the short answer is internalized misogyny. But the longer answer is the different journeys Gretchen and Teddy are on. They start in very different places and Gretchen’s growth is more subtle. Because Gretchen is already a competent adult. Teddy is also a competent person, but he has much more emotional intelligence to gain.

Gretchen’s mid life crisis and cronification goals are based on avoidance. She has her life together in enviable ways. She’s made thoughtful choices about what she is going to prioritize in her life, she’s running a business that’s doing well enough to support her expansion plans, and she has a well developed sense of empathy and good boundaries. She does not need to be rescued in tangible ways (except for that one time she and Teddy got lost in the woods), not by Teddy and not by anyone. Gretchen is open to a fling, but doesn’t see how a rockstar would improve her life. She would be fine as a single person with friends and a satisfying life as an entrepreneur. To me the question was not whether Gretchen deserves Teddy, but whether Teddy would make her life better.

Teddy does not have his life together. He starts angry and feeling betrayed. But, early on, he accepts the advice of the women around him and lets go of the revenge album. He reluctantly starts to plug into the world around him. He starts a mile behind Gretchen, so his emotional growth is more obvious and easier to measure. Gretchen’s drunken rant about men on Tinder, and mentoring Anna, a teen prodigy opens Teddy’s eyes to the world experienced by girls and women. Teddy believes them. He accepts the lived experiences of women. He recognizes his mistakes (mostly) and corrects them.

In the midst of the emotional growth, Teddy and Gretchen connect over long conversations, horizontal hugs, and art. Because they are in a place outside their regular lives, they open themselves up to care and tenderness. I loved their relationship and the changes they make to their lives at the end of the book. This is out January 7, so you won’t have long to wait.

I received this as an advance listener copy from Hachette Audio and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook arc. Teddy Hamilton hoo does an amazing job as always bring the character to life. Cute romcom where she down on her luck and calling dating off for good, and he’s been kicked out of his band and wanting to write music and go solo. They both end up at a camp to help teens to further their art careers. They both become camp counselors, and getting stranded in the woods together, and after a night of sharing their secrets.

I absolutely loved this romance, and the audio narration by Kit Swann and Teddy Hamilton was perfect! I loved the whole vibe of an artist-in-residence/summer camp for teens setting, and it sounds like a place I would love to hang out at! Gretchen and Teddy were such well-developed characters, and I love the way that they (as well as their relationship) grew and evolved throughout the course of the book. Highly recommend if you are looking for a romance in the new year. Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for the advance copy.

I had the pleasure of listening to this book on Audiobook narrated by Kit Swan and Teddy Hamilton.

The Story
Following Gretchen, a ballet teacher who is about to substitute for a couple of weeks at an arts camp in the woods. Gretchen is about to expand her dance empire by opening a new studio that includes not only dance for children, but a Pilates and Yoga studio. Gretchen has had this dream of expanding and doing something great ever since her childhood. She didn't grow up under the best of circumstances, but she is changing that narrative now. She is even giving up dating and hoping to have a last hoorah with a band member. When that date goes south, Gretchen resigns to her time in the woods to let go of men for good. That is until she meets Teddy.

Teddy, a typical hotel-room-trashing rockstar is not about to spend the summer in the woods mentoring children. But is he truly that jerk of a rockstar, or was this just a fluke. After breaking up with his band, Teddy is trying to find himself again. So what better way to rediscover yourself than in the woods. After a rough childhood, Teddy was determined to live better. This is just step one of a new way of life.

Both Gretchen and Teddy have childhood traumas and resulting adult issues they are working through. It may take each of them some time to really discover how to best work through their issues.

The Narration
I loved the dual voice, dual POV. I especially loved that instead of trying to pretend to be the other character, even if the chapter was in Gretchen's POV, you would hear Teddy's voice, and vice versa. That helped me keep track of what were inner thoughts and actual conversations.

Also, anything narrated by Teddy Hamilton is always a win!

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC Audiobook!

This novel was such a warm hug. I love a story about people in their mid/late thirties who are still figuring things out. There seems to be a trend to treat love interests in their thirties far older than they actually are so this was super refreshing. The forced proximity of having them at camp together was super delightful. As someone who was very mid about Canadian Boyfriend, I enjoyed this one a great deal and am looking to future projects by this author. I will say, the third act fizzled a bit for me as far as the actual conflict, but that didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed the majority of this novel.

The narrators, Kit Swann and Teddy Hamilton, were phenomenal and added to my enjoyment of the story itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the arc!

Into the Woods by Jenny Holiday was so much fun! Come for the camp vibes and stay for all the banter and maybe even true love...

Both in need of a reset and some time to reflect, thirtysomethings Gretchen and Teddy find themselves at an arts camp in the Minnesota woods, and don’t exactly get off on the right foot. Not exactly bitter enemies from the start, but not friends either, each has made assumptions about the other.

After all the horrendous Tinder dates, dance studio owner Gretchen has sworn off dating and decides to focus on expanding her business. When the camp director begs her to fill in as a dance mentor, she decides to take a break from life and maybe take a breath. Teddy, a musician reeling from his band’s breakup, sees the camp as a peaceful opportunity to write his own songs and create a solo album.

It's a romcom, so we know where this is going. Gretchen and Teddy each have baggage to work through, and surprisingly find they have some things in common and a connection where they can help each other unpack it all. Not to mention the major attraction they have for each other. I loved their conversations, the ways they slowly opened up to each other, how their characters developed. I also loved the humor in this book—so much witty writing and clever banter, so many great comebacks, keen observations, and fun.

I highly recommend the audio version. Both narrators (Teddy Hamilton and Kit Swann) are fantastic and really bring the story to life.