DNF.

At first, I had a great feeling about this book, and then the writing started to feel off. There were important things that were completely brushed past, and that really bothered me.

Kate—the FMC—was so ignorant, which made me really dislike this, so I decided to not go any further.

No hate to the author! This just wasn’t the right read for me.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾.

Thank you NetGalley, Rising Action Publication and Ashley Detweiler for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5⭐️
The FMC, Kate, is hurt after her high school sweetheart and best friend since 6yrs old dumps her instead of moving to NY with her 6 years ago. She has kept all guys at an arms length since then and avoided home due to family trauma.

I enjoyed this story and was really frustrated at the same time. One of my least favorite tropes is miscommunication or lack of communication and that stole the show in this book. Secrets, half truths and avoiding issues/topics by multiple people really made up the bulk of this storyline.

The alcoholism and toxic family dynamics may be tough for some. I don’t have that in my family and it was still unpleasant to read time after time.

Kate and Jase still felt incredibly young and immature but I was rooting for them because that’s what I was supposed to do!

Overall, it was a good book but not something I‘ll come back to.

This was a sweet, reflective read. I really enjoyed Kate and Jase’s relationship. It was full of emotion without feeling overdone. There was something comforting about the way they navigated their shared history

I also liked that Kate had such a strong support system around her. They were all so loving and present and added a lot of heart to the story.

Some of the time jumps did feel a bit choppy and had me flipping back to make sure I was following. Overall, it was a cozy story about coming home, facing the past, and figuring out what happiness really looks like.

This was really sweet. I love small town romances where I would actually want to visit the town if it was real and this was definitely one of those. It could be a Hallmark movie (I love them), a closed door romance, and shifts between present-day and various years into the past as we find out what our main character Kate’s life was like with her childhood sweetheart Jase, and why she ended up leaving solo. The side characters are likable also, and I love that Jase had a whole family that have personalities and are not just there to give him a backstory.

This is a story about childhood friends to lovers, layered with a complex family situation of the FMC father suffering with alcohol use disorder. The MMC supports the FMC throughout her years living with someone who struggled with addiction. A tragedy happens and this separates the couple for a number of years until the FMC is drawn back home to her family to face what she ran from years prior.

I gave this a 4/5 because I really enjoyed the flashback component that built the main characters relationship. I rated it 4/5 mainly because the ending seemed unrealistic between the main characters due to how quickly all was forgiven and the ending seemed very abrupt compared to how the rest of the story was told.

Was a great debut novel for this author! Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co!

♡ quite possibly the best small town romance i've ever read ♡

4/5 ⭐️

thank you to @ashleydetweiler_author and @risingactionpublishingco for an ARC of this book!

abby jimenez lovers.. this book is for you! this truly is one of the sweetest love stories i've ever read. it makes for a good one sitting read at 217 pages & the plot keeps you ENTICED!!

📖 plot & pace: medium/fast paced with so many lovely layers that keep you interested! i absolutely fell in love with the small town of Sloane, Kate and her inner circle and the blooming romance(s)!!

👥 characters: i LOVED these characters! yes.. Kate & Jase can be seen as "childish".. but i think they're just reliving their childhood love that they never got to finish!! and in a small town like Sloane, what else can you do?!

🤩 tropes: small town romance, second chance romance, (slightly) forced proximity, love triangle

⚠️ content notes: there are brief mentions of verbal domestic altercations/alcohol addiction. nothing graphic descriptions & very low spice.

i really do wish this book was longer! i felt Kate and Jase's storyline was perfectly paced but i wish Nick had a bit more depth in the story. he was SO CUTE!!

overall, i loved this book and it made me feel so understood. this is the kind of love i've always dreamed about 💕

release date: 06/04/2025

3⭐️
(ARC review) — Thank you to author Ashley Detweiler and her publisher Rising Action. I received an Advanced Reader Copy for the JUNE 2025 release of THIS KIND OF LOVEin exchange for my honest review.

This is more family oriented and the emotional hardships along the way as life happens with a second-chance romance along side it. There’s a lot to unpack for this FMC.

I liked the dual timelines seeing how the past shaped the future. Friendship, Family, love & healing. The characters were well developed and you connected with them. Nana was an absolute hoot!

I’m a sucker for small town romances, and this was no exception. I loved all the characters, both timelines (though the past was my favorite), and that this book didn’t shy away from heavier subjects. It was a love story about a couple but also family, friends, and the quirky town.

DNF @ 14% unfortunately this one isn’t for me - the plot felt really random and disjointed and I struggled to like any of the characters.

This Kind of Love is a sweet, second-chance romance that isn't afraid to tackle tough subjects and pull at your heart. The characters are easy to relate to and I'm, 100%, a sucker for romances that feature the one who got away.

Despite my enjoyment of this book, I did have a couple of issues with it. I loathed the miscommunication between the two main characters. Yes, it added drama, but it made it hard to root for Jase because I knew he was hiding something, and a simple conversation with literally anyone she knew could have cleared everything up. I also felt like the writing was choppy at times and could have used a little more fleshing out.

As far as debut novels go, I thought this one was good. I adored the characters and the setting. The secondary characters stole my heart and I'd love to see more of them in future stories.

Most people know the feeling “There’s no place like home”, but sometimes going home is the last thing you want to do. Especially if you are running from the past and it tries to collide with the present. This book has heavy topics including alcoholism, abuse, anxiety, cancer, & death. But it is also about healing, and forgiveness.

Kate returns home after 6 years away and expects that nothing has changed. And in many ways that is true, but in a few ways- everything has changed. Leaving Kate to navigate through how that makes her feel, and what it means for the life she has built.

The story has a dual timeline that flashes back and forth between Kate at six years old, to Kate in her mid twenties. You experience family dynamics, trauma, love and loss in the span of the book.

Jase was Kate’s safe space and person for most of her life, until one accident changes everything. Kate believes Jase lived a very different life after she left, so when he keeps showing up telling her they need to talk she avoids him at every opportunity.

But eventually all things reach a boiling point- when confronted with past hurt can Kate forgive and forget?

I am rarely a fan of the miscommunication trope, and it did frustrate me that Jade, Nana, or Kate’s Mom didn’t tell her that Jase never dated anyone else or built a life with them. In fact Nana was negative to Jase and snubbed him for literally no reason. They were kids when his Dad died and all he did was break up with her. I would have enjoyed the second chance romance more, if it hadn’t been built on the miscommunication.

Thank you NetGalley and Ashley Detweiler for opportunity to read and review this ARC!

When I saw this book being recommended for fans of Emily Henry and Taylor Jenkins Reid I just knew I needed to get my hands on it. While I would agree that this is a good blend of both authors writing styles, it was missing that addictive quality that the aforementioned authors deliver. However, I will definitely be picking up more from this author in the future.

Mostly easy read. At times the writing felt choppy and like it didn’t have a good flow. There was also some inconsistencies that made it confusing to follow the story. I appreciated how the author addresses toxic relationships with family and the conflicting emotions one might experience. There was a lot of potential for this book but it didn’t quite make it.

This Kind of Love by Ashley Detweiler

I really liked the representation of toxic parents in this book and the emotional turmoil it can cause. When Kate’s father is rushed into hospital, she heads home to support her family. Going home means Kate is forced to confront her painful past. Every inch of Sloane is filled with memories of Kate’s alcoholic father, and the heartbreak her childhood sweetheart, Jase, inflicted on her. Can Kate put the past behind her and reconnect with her family and her past love?

While This Kind of Love is a romance, there’s also a lot of talking points around family dynamics. It’s interesting to unpack the emotional baggage Kate has from her childhood. The romance is sweet, and I enjoyed the flashbacks.



Thank you Net Galley and the Author for an ARC copy. All thoughts are my own.

An easy-to-read second chance romance. Kate and Jase both were friends since childhood turned into teenage lovers. They fell apart, and now, decades later, they are getting a second chance at love with each other again. There was also an underlying theme of alcoholism and its negative impact on the family. Characters are relatable. It's told through Kate's perspective alternating between now and past timelines. In the end, everything is tied up neatly with happily ever after. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I couldn't finish this. Maybe it wasn't for me and others might enjoy it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Dnf @ 27%

Was not feeling connected at all to this story. I was annoyed by all the characters. I didn’t understand this conflict at all.

I absolutely cherished every page of this book. It was just darling! I could not get over how sweet the characters were, and how relatable they could be. If you like Emily Henry, you will like this book! Wonderfully done!

In all honesty, I just couldn’t get into this book. The characters all had golden retriever personalities Nd were just too hyper on the page.

The book/plot also didn’t have a good flow. It felt choppy as we would go from scene to scene and dialogue to dialogue.

I couldn’t connect with the FMC because when we first meet her she just slept with a one night stand, then she starts dating this nice guy Nick, only to go home and reconnect with Jase. It rubbed me the wrong way.

The FMC’s Nana and Mama drove me nuts. So did the friend Amy.

I really wanted to like this one, but it should have been a pass. I hope other readers who like very active characters and fast plots like it.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

Such a sweet story. I enjoyed getting lost in the pages of this title. The self-discovery that Detweiler writes about is delivered authentically. I appreciated that so much. I was entertained and invested in the characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.