Quick Synopsis – Professor Clara Fernsby has always been quiet and bookish. She’d rather be reading about Tudor history than anything else. When her ex best friend Teddy arrives as a visiting professor, Clara is forced to remember their failed friendship and botched romance. But is there still a spark between them? Or are they just history?

Song This Reminds Me Of – This Photograph is Proof by Taking Back Sunday

Publication Date – Aug. 27, 2024

Other Books I’ve Reviewed by this Author – Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts Kristyn J. Miller

Spicy Rating – 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Overall Rating – ⭐⭐⭐.5 out of 5

Review – This is the second book I’ve read by Kristyn J. Miller, and I enjoyed it. It’s a nice, quick romance novel. The only thing I don’t love is the miscommunication between the two main characters, Clara and Teddy. The story is told between the present day and flashbacks to summer camp where Clara and Teddy met. When they’re younger, the miscommunication makes sense, but the present-day characters still struggle with communication, and I hate that lack of growth.

Clara and Teddy meet at summer camp, and part of the story is told through flashbacks that take place at the camp. We get to watch their friendship grow and how they eventually realize/act on their mutual attraction. This part was so wonderfully angsty, and it felt so realistic to me. When they run into each other as adults, they still have that spark of at least friendship between them. Clara and Teddy rekindle their friendship while, of course, wondering if their romantic spark is still there.

As a current emo kid, I absolutely love the music choices and Teddy making mix CDs for Clara. It made me so nostalgic. There were so many sweet little pieces of their relationship. I would have liked to see Teddy try to woo adult Clara a little bit more. I think Teddy was supposed to come off as stoic, but it felt more wooden to me.

I didn’t like this book as much as the first book I read by Kristyn J. Miller, but it is a fun romance read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press – Griffin for the advanced reader copy; all opinions are my own.