I absolutely loved this book! I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend reading it! You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you to HQN and Netgalley for an ARC of this book! I’ve willingly read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.

I had requested LONG PAST SUMMER months ago and went into it completely blind after getting approved. I was immediately sucked in.

Alternating between last and present, the novel examines the ups and downs of Mikaela and Cameron’s relationship from when they meet and fall in love the summer before she heads to college in New York City to the present when Cameron, a successful photographer, is being represented by Mikaela’s law firm after twenty years apart.

Though it did feel slow at times (mainly because I just wanted these two characters to get it together), I devoured this book. The characters felt flawed and real (and, in one case, VERY manipulative), but the journey they went through to get to the present was heartbreaking, bittersweet, and full of growth.

I doubt it will happen, but I hope we will see more of Kaela and Cam in Noué Kirwan’s next book (possibly Vanessa’s love story?!?).

Thoroughly riveting and emotional story with characters that pop off the page thanks to lots of fun details and a vibrant agility with dialogue. Mikaela's carefully curated life gets very messy very fast, and we get to watch her sort through her past and present as she sorts through a deeply complex love triangle.

Mikaela followed her ambition to the city; her best friend and ex bonded over the loss of her. But no one really got what they needed in that aftermath so the universe offered them a second chance to figure it all out via a high stakes law suit, and I loved how the author examined how we all much reckon with our youthful impulses, decisions at any point in life, grievances, anger, feelings of abandonment, unmet expectations, ambition, and desires again and again. All of the characters are great. Julie is charismatic and it's easy to see how she could talk you into fun--or the opposite. Mikaela's commitment, drive and intelligence adds depth to the narrative and to her inner thoughts, and Cam is worthy of the women surrounding him. At turns emotional, spicy, wry and knowing, LONG PAST SUMMER is a perfect contemporary romance with a lot to say about friendship and relationships, how people change, and how we deserve chances to reconsider what we once thought was the only way.

Warning – this book is full of competency porn, and I ate it up!
The heroine Mikaela is a junior partner attorney in a law firm and killing it. Juxtaposing that with her quiet, small town roots shows us just how driven she is.
The opening of this book captured me: the heroine’s breakout moment at age 18, and the first chance meet-cute. But insert an overly-needy, overly-self-centered best friend, and Mikaela’s drive to get out of that small town, and that first chance is lost.
Kirwan teases us with how Kaela’s first love, Cameron, came to be married to said best friend for chapters, and made this a page-turner. A lawsuit between Julie and Cameron creates forced proximity—for all three of them, but particularly for Kaela and Cam.
Another favorite thing about this book—he had a special name for her where everyone else called her Mike. He was so sure that they belonged together (fated mates) all the way through, and so patient with her, and her work, for so long. My personal opinion – others’ may vary – is that he’s a bit of a cinnamon roll hero.
I love a professional heroine. Because we all know women have to do five times the work to advance in time with their male counterparts. Kirwan does a fantastic job of balancing – she touches on how much harder it is for women of color, without it being a focal point of a universal love story. In fact, Kirwan is one of the best handlers of interracial romance that I’ve read in quite a while. It’s a part of her thinking, and once or twice a part of the conversation, as it should be. Meanwhile, throughout the book, as a professional white woman who found love in her 30’s, I totally related to Kaela.
Overall, this was damned impressive for a debut author, and I look forward to seeing more from her!
I received a free copy of this book on NetGalley in return for a fair and impartial review.

Mikaela met Cameron when he was working at the police station after she and her best friend Julie had been arrested for their senior prank, flashing during halftime at the regional final football game. Mikaela had always felt that Julie outshone her, but that summer Cameron only had eyes for her. Mikaela had big long term plans for college and a career, but Julie set her sights on Cam for the long term. When Mikaela and Cam reconnect 20 years later she is representing him as a lawyer, against Julie who is now his ex wife and the plaintiff.

Chapters alternate between now and then, give glimpses of a romance building and collapsing as characters reconnect in the now. I really enjoyed this book, it was 100% for me. It had just the right amount of humor, sweetness, and angst. Told entirely from the perspective of Mikaela, I appreciated the way that other characters still showed their motivations and their growth. I liked a second chance romance where kids were involved, and considered in how the parent's treated each other.

As a librarian I'll be ordering copies of this book for our whole system, and promoting it as a great new contemporary romance. I received a digital advance copy of this book from Net Galley and the pubisher for the purpose of this review. All opinions stated here are my genuine opinions, and not representative of my library system.

Fun, sexy, and at times heartbreaking, this book took me through the emotional ringer. Mikayla and Cam are an extremely rootable couple with realistic conflict that kept me turning the pages. Awesome debuted and I"m excited to see what Noue Kirwan writes next.