Clara and Teddy meet at a sleep away camp for kids that are homeschooled. Clara loves history but Teddy is undecided about what his interests are. They become best friends even though it is long distance and they are, I think, 13 or so. Fast forward to the present and Clara is a history professor at a college in Maryland and she is asked to share her office with a visiting professor. Surprise, it's Teddy. This is a second chance romance so there were dual timelines with the past and the present. At times I found it confusing. Clara was very driven in her career and even though Teddy had also chosen history we don't know a lot about Teddy other than he is a great guy. None of the other characters are really fleshed out. Her best friend is Izzy who lives overseas but they mostly play phone tag. She seems so willing to give up everything putting her career first and I didn't know what exactly she wanted from Teddy, love or friendship. There was so much back and forth between them and at one point they didn't speak for almost a decade. I just wanted her to get to the point and quit with the "word vomit." So it's a romance and we know there is a HEA but the fun is always how they get to that point but this ending was just meh. It was easy to read but I just never really felt a lot of emotion.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

“Sometimes people drift apart because the timing isn't right, but if they’re meant to be together, they find their way back to each other in the end.”

This is a cozy friends to lovers second chance romance with a dual timeline.
Two friends turned history professors find themselves sharing an office space when they have cut off all contact with one another. Having to navigate being together again, brings up memories and feelings that were left in the past.
This story entwined their adolescent years and adulthood/present time so effortlessly it makes it easy to follow their relationship.

Given their History are they about to repeat the same mistake that caused a drift in their friendship?

This was an enjoyable read and has elements that all readers would enjoy.

Thank You to NetGalley, Kristyn Miller, and St. Martin’s Press for the eArc for this book. All opinions are my own.

Clara Fernsby is an assistant history professor at a private liberal arts college. She always wanted to teach history since she was a child.

One day before the start of a semester she finds out she needs to share her office with a visiting professor. This professor happens to be her childhood crush, Theodore Harrison. Seeing him brings back a rush of memories and feelings. They had met at camp and stayed in touch throughout the years. Then they had a falling out over a decade ago and haven’t spoken since, so of course the first encounter has to be awkward.

I loved seeing them start to pick up where they left off. The second chance romance was done well. I also loved the 2000s references, especially the rock bands that I used to love back in the day like My Chemical Romance.

I enjoyed the dual timelines that went back and forth from the past to the present. It helped shape the story and help you understand both of their feelings.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book! I think it's a great fall romance to read as the cooler weather comes upon us. Clara and Teddy met as teens at a homeschool sleep away camp. Clara is a bit more extroverted to the shy Teddy and initiates a friendship. As they grow older, their feelings strengthen, but distance and circumstance make a relationship difficult. After a falling out causes them to lose contact for 9 years, they're thrust back together when Teddy accepts a visiting professor position at the college Clara teaches at. Can they reconcile and try again or is their history too much to overcome?

I've always enjoyed books set in academia, but it's usually from the student perspective, so I appreciated that this was different and we got to see it from the professor side. I also liked that they are professors of something that isn't often highlighted as a career, history. Clara and Teddy were both likable and different than usual main characters as they were both a little more subdued and level headed.

I also liked that it was dual timeline, because without that perspective of how their relationship developed, I don't think I would have understood why it all fell apart. That said, I do wish we had more time with them in the present. Even a couple more scenes where they spend time together would have solidified their connection and attraction for me. It was more referencing time spent, but not describing if that makes sense. I don't think it's wrong that their connection was heavily based on the past, but it was quite a big jump in time, from young adults to 30 year olds, so I didn't feel it as much in the present. However, when the relationship moves to more physical, their chemistry and connection felt more palpable. I also liked how supportive Teddy was of Clara realizing her worth, following her dreams and taking chances. She spent most of her life doing what she felt she should do to avoid ending up in a similar situation to her parents, but it was at the expense of her happiness. Reuniting with Teddy allowed her to see that she could find fulfillment in more than just her career.

I'd recommend this to people who like childhood friends to lovers, an academia setting and low drama.

Loved this! Great plot, multiple timelines
Not super spicy but good chemistry
Great nostalgic vibes from early 2000s!!

4.5 stars for a TRULY wonderful book!

This book was sweet, kind + such a wonderful portrayal of friendship, career navigation and growth. It was nostalgic in the best way, and though I often do not enjoy the "right person, wrong time" trope this book was an exception to the rule.

Thank you to NetGalley + the publishing team for an ARC!

Nice light fall read.

Set on a college campus, this is the story of 2 people finding each other again.

Great cozy read for a nice crisp fall day.

The very first thing I wrote in my notes about this book was ‘I want to like this so much.’ And my want didn’t win out.

To narrow down my scattered thoughts, I think the concept for this book is everything. Professors, history, friends to ?? to lovers, and a whole lot of academic talk. It sounds like everything I would love.

But the ball is massively dropped here and it’s super disappointing to me! The first 50% is impossibly slow to get through, with so much focusing on faculty meetings and no character development on Clara’s part despite her being the fmc.

The first kiss is abrupt and feels out of place, with Clara responding to Teddy’s hesitation in such a high school drama way that it blows it out of proportion escalating to a fight between them. Don’t worry, they resolve it in the next chapter with no real conflict or explanation.

The Gala they spend 20% of the book planning isn’t on page, but is just a catalyst for their first hookup. After which they claim to have a 17 year long slow burn, when in reality they didn’t speak for 10 of those years so it’s debatable.

The book feels so choppy timeline wise, and surprisingly I’m not talking about the past vs present chapters. In the present day we will skip whole months of time just to make it to the next ‘important’ stage for the characters and there’s no reference made to the off page time at all! Because no development happened obviously.

The third act is strange, our random reappearances of side characters who earlier played no real role are now showing up at random points in Clara’s life where she expresses regrets, and then disappear again.

So yes, I wanted to like this book SO much. But that wasn’t enough for me to look past some big structural issues that made the experience a drag and not enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book tells the story between Clara and Teddy, who met at homeschool kids summer camps throughout their school years, After a particularly bad fallout, many years later they met again as adults when Teddy goes to Clara's university as a visiting scholar. This is a very refreshing story between two mature adults who work in academia (both are college professors). This book is set in the fall, and following them go through daily life as professors in the fall semester makes the vibe feels very cozy to me. This book also depicts college life (including the portrayal of student life) quite accurately. Makes me quite nostalgic!
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While the story (especially the flashback) is very sweet, I can't help but wonder why should the conflict goes on this long. When they finally got together, I thought the way it's done was very smooth / not much past conflict was brought up. There's actually 2 time jumps and I don't quite understand why they don't just contact each other back earlier. The 3rd act conflict was also quite flimsy to me.
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Overall, I had a nice time. I think readers who look for cozy vibes and mature characters will definitely enjoy this book.

Read if you like:
🏕️ Summer Camp Friends to Lovers
⏳ Wrong Time, Right Guy
⌛️ Past & Present Timelines
🏫 Academia Setting
📚 Workplace Romance
🫠 Moments to make you melt

Clara and Teddy have stolen my heart!

This book truly is for those that love friends to lovers and honestly for those who don’t because the way this was done just completely worked for me!

Their story takes place over the 17 years of their friendship and current day when they are reunited after not talking for several years…. The heartache of best friends to nothing and the reunion truly was so well done in my opinion!

I loved that the story was encapsulating their meeting to falling for each other as teenagers, to going on their adult journeys and chasing their career goals to present day at 31 both working in the field they love and holds a special place in their history, pun intended!

This is a story that exemplifies that timing truly matters! I love that it was shown that for the best outcome they couldn’t deny the timing issues, & that pursuing their relationship back as young and dumb 18 year olds or even at 21 wouldn’t have been best for either character which led to a delicious slow-burn full of tension with the flashbacks painting their feelings for each other so clearly.

Idk about you, but first loves and the timing issue worked so well for me the way it was written in this book!

Thank you so so so much to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review & to Kristyn for my gifted signed finished copy, I truly cherish it!

🍂🏫🍂
📖Review
4🌟🌟🌟🌟
📖Book 47/100
📚Given Our History
💫Genre:
Fiction/Romance
✍️Author:
Kristyn J. Miller

📝Synopsis 📝
Clara and Teddy are two homeschooled kids that end up meeting at camp and make a strong friendship. They are each others confidants and fall head over heels for each other. Clara realizes she’s too young and has to cut him off since they both are moving into different directions in life. She gets stuck caring for her family as an older child/sister due to an unfortunate accident. He in turn gets to go off to the university of his dreams. She gets the job of her dreams but is bamboozled by her boss which asks her to share an office with Teddy.

My thoughts 💭
I am a sucker for Academic Romances and this one was so good! I loved how it was focused on the world of higher academia…professors! I also liked the prioritizing of careers as a theme, and I loved the dual timelines. The long distance part took me down memory lane. It had me thinking of the days we had to use landlines and were charged an arm and a leg to call long distance.
I don’t like miscommunication tropes, but I feel the second chance romance part of it was unique and perfectly executed. I wish there was more depth in their college days part of the friendship/relationship. The ending was executed perfectly on this one 🙌🏻

✨Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress
for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

📌Publication Date:
August 27, 2024
✨✨✨✨

Clara has a path in life. Keep working at as a history professor, support her younger sister, and get tenure. What she doesn't expect is a blast from the past in the form of her former best friend, the one that got away, Teddy.

I loved this book! Here's what I loved:

The feel--This book has a cozy feel to it. I'm honestly not even sure why, but I felt like I was reading the story of an old friend. I loved the college setting but from the side of a professor! It has such a different feel and I was here for it.

Past and present--You get the past friendship of Clara and Teddy while also seeing them reconnect in the present. This helps add so much angst and emotions for the present chapters, You get a really good sense of why they aren't together and what went wrong (and right).

Second chance mixed with right person/wrong time--Both of these are top tier tropes for me! I thought Miller does them really well here. Yes, there is a bit of miscommunication, but it's more of "life got in the way" instead.

Overall, this was a really well-done emotional romance!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Clara has loved history since she was a teenage so it was not shocking when she became a history professor at a private liberal arts college right after grad school. She is happy and finally up for tenure when she is asked to share her office with a visiting professor. This professor happens to be Theodore Harrison, or Teddy, as Clara once knew him as back when they attended summer camp together over 10 years ago. The feelings she had for Teddy are starting to come back up and when they start to work on a project together, she realizes the feelings could easily repeat themselves.

This was such a cute read with the home school kids meeting at summer camp and staying in touch. As a regular summer camp kid, meeting friends each summer and staying in contact with them was one of the best parts. I do feel like Teddy came in out of no where but the dual timeline really helped explain their background. This was just a cozy fall read and I really enjoyed Clara as a FMC.

I didn't dislike this book but I feel like nothing much really happened. Teddy just kind of appeared and everything magically worked out. I didn't feel any connection between the two characters and any relationship talk honest felt awkward. I'm team Mindy on this one

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Given Our History by Kristyn J. Miller. All opinions are my own.

Given Our History is a second chance romance with dual timelines. It follows Clara and Teddy as they grow up together, lose touch, and then find themselves together again.

I usually love second chance romances, especially when they include scenes from the past.

My favorite part of this book was the chapters set in the past. I especially enjoyed the ones where Clara and Teddy were still teenagers.

While I thought this book was fine, I was disappointed in a few aspects.

The present-day storyline was very slow paced. Nothing really happened in it until after the halfway mark. I also don’t feel like Clara had really matured much from her teenage years; she was still making the same mistakes instead of learning from them.

I really liked Teddy as a character, but I thought that he deserved better than the way Clara treated him. He was patient and forgiving in ways that Clara didn’t deserve. I think in general, Clara was just a really hard character to root for because she seemed so selfish and so focused on a career that she didn’t even love that she threw away her relationships.

Overall, I would only recommend this book to some people if you like career-minded women and slower paced romances.

“Given Our History” is a tender, angsty story of childhood friends to estranged to lovers! When those tropes are combined with Dual Timeline storytelling, it’s the perfect recipe for me to love the book! Clara and Teddy grew up going to the same camp as kids, their friendship and love of history bonded them for years. Until it all ended after years of “will they, won’t they” and balancing their ambitious career pursuits. Many years later, Theo is a visiting researcher at the university where Clara is a history professor. Given their history, will they be able to reconnect and not repeat the past? I really enjoyed Clara and Teddy as main characters. The story had great themes of learning from history and applying those lessons to our life going forward.

For those who love:
🍂Autumn
🍂History
🍂Friends to Lovers
🍂Dual Timeline
🍂Academia
🍂Sisters
🍂Only One Office
🍂Forced Proximity
🍂Second-Chance

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I’m just obsessed with Miller and her amazing writing!
After reading and absolutely loving Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts I knew I had to get my hands on Given Our History by Kristyn J. Miller. And y’all once again she did not disappoint.
I became so invested in Clara and Teddy's story I didn’t realize I was up so late reading it.
I got so lost in the writing and characters once I sat down to read I didn’t get back up.
The whole book felt very grounded in reality, which I appreciate.
The way Miller writes her characters was very compelling. The characters are so relatable and imperfect.
I loved reading and watching their journey unfold. Kristyn J. Miller’s prose is both evocative and thought-provoking.
I couldn’t have loved this story any more than did!

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I really enjoyed this! I love a dual timeline second chance story, and liked the characters a lot. It was so sweet how Clara and Theo got to know each other through the years and the way the info about their falling out was sprinkled made it hurt in the best way. I do wish there had been some more angst when they reconnected at the school--they seemed to jump back into friendship pretty quickly. Overall this was a sweet read, and the pacing was consistent enough that I breezed through it in a day!

A second-chance romance with a dual timeline is usually my jam – I love the angst and yearning, and the ways that stories unfold as the past and present combine in ways that deliver a huge punch of emotion as you go. And though Given Our History has a whole lot of things going for it—an academic setting, tons of pop culture references for elder Millennials, and a robust childhood friends to lovers pipeline—I found myself wanting more from it.

The story follows Clara, a history professor seeking tenure early, who learns that she needs to share her office with a visiting lecturer—who turns out to be Teddy Harrison, her childhood best friend and first love whom she hasn't spoken to in nearly a decade. Though there is so much potential here, I often felt the chemistry between Clara and Teddy was a bit lacking. I appreciated that their story was quiet, nuanced, and realistic—they were both homeschooled, met at a summer camp, and really forged their friendship through phone calls, snail mail, and then social media messages before their falling out—and there were a couple of stand-out scenes, but overall, I wish the emotion had been dialed up, providing swoonier moments and a deeper sense of satisfaction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Given Our History
By: Kristyn J Miller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: 8/27/24

This was really cute! What becomes a friend to lovers romance really starts out as a second chance romance.
Two awkward teenagers meet at a camp for kids who are home-schooled. Clara is a big history buff who wants to become a professor one day. Theo learns his love of history from Clara and too can see himself teaching one day. They spend years being friends before trying to become more but the timing just isn’t right.
As they become adults, go off to college and deal with life as adults, they drift apart to the point where they don’t speak for years. When fate pulls them back together, working at the same college and being randomly assigned to share an office, can they work past their timing issues and be together?