I loved this book - as an academic working on my PhD, I loved how true it was to that experience and process. I also loved the tension and the relationship between the two main characters

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you love academic romance. It's a great fall-time read.

A few issues that I had... I didn't like the jumping back and forth between the past. I would have preferred a backstory and then stayed in the present.

Where is the epilogue!!!!!!! I need to know what's happening after The End. Ugh! I think a nicely wrapped up epilogue would have made it almost a perfect read. But, that is just my opinion. I still highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

Friends to lovers, academic setting…this book seemed like it was made for me. I did like it, but unfortunately the characters fell a bit flat for me. I still don’t really get why they couldn’t be together and therefore the second chance of it all didn’t make much sense to me either.

I’ll read this author again, but I wouldn’t really recommend x this one.

A sweet tale that moves back and forth in time to give Claire and Teddy a second chance at love. They met at a camp for homeschooled kids but lost track of one another. Now, they're teaching at the same small college and forced to work with one another on a project. Yes it's trope-y (second chances, forced proximity, misunderstandings sunshine. grump) but it's also got well rounded relatable characters and fine storytelling, Thanks to netgalley for the arC. A good read.

Given Our History is a second chance, friends to lovers romance that follows Clara and Teddy’s love story. Through flashbacks to their childhood and college years, these two find themselves sharing an office as Teddy is a visiting professor at Clara’s employer. With a tumultuous past, a shattered friendship, and unspoken longing on both sides, Clara and Teddy realize they can rewrite their story and get their happy ending, despite their history.

I loved the look that this story gives into the academic world of college professors and tenure. Having two main characters who are in academia and reading along as Clara goes through the tenure process definitely gave me a new perspective on what my college professors had to deal with for their careers. I loved that both Clara and Teddy were utter nerds, and I found their love of history to be very endearing.

The flashbacks into their childhood camp days and years that followed help to flesh out their story, but it also did leave me quite bored in the beginning. I couldn’t really get into the story until about 25% of the way in, but then I flew through the rest of the book.

If you like second chance romances, books set in an academic atmosphere, or the friends to lovers trope this one is definitely for you.

**Take this review with a grain of salt, I'm going to try to be objective, but given current life circumstances, my view on everything is tainted**

For this time in my life, it was nice to have a little escape into somewhere else and I probably would have rated this higher had I finished last week.

For a right-person-wrong-time, dual-timeline story, I thought this was well-done. My biggest complaint is from the present perspective, I feel like the time jumps were often and obvious (within a single page, weeks would go by.. I expected more time planning the gala than only a few chapters). The past timeline was full of all the throwbacks from when I was a teenager and very nostalgic feeling. I didn't think the fall-out between Clara and Teddy was as dramatic as they were building it up to be, I definitely expected more.
Overall, I would recommend this book - it was cute and light-hearted.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! Review live now on GoodReads and StoryGraph

I picked this book up because it looked like a cute second chance romance set in the fall time. But honestly, I found it boring. The characters were underdeveloped and I didn't feel like their relationship had any chemistry. I liked the beginning of it and some of the past timeline, but there was no major conflict so it failed to keep my interest.

This was adorable! I absolutely love a dual timeline second chance romance. However, the miscommunication will have your eye twitching, but I suppose that's just part of the fun.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Kristyn Miller and the publisher St. Martins Griffin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

ARC Review:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Given Our History by @kristynjmiller

A contemporary, second chance, friends to lovers romance with an academic setting. Clara and Teddy are childhood friends, who become history professors and reconnect at Clara’s job.

I firmly believe that when you read a book is almost as important as the contents of that book. Back to school/beginning of fall is my absolute favorite time of year. It’s cozy, comforting, familiar, and of course full of new beginnings. Our Given History is set during that time and absolutely delivered on those vibes for me.
Clara and Teddy’s relationship is so sweet. The story is told in current time and with flashbacks to their meeting as teens. The nostalgia of a first love mixed with all the early 2000s pop culture references had me fully invested in their adorable story.

Definitely go grab this one on August 27th, 2024

Thank you #netgalley and SMP for the opportunity to read this arc.

Things I loved: Second chance! Light academia! 90s nostalgia! Yes please.

Things I didn’t love: the pace is very slow, which might be on purpose to mimic the way academia moves. The emotional development of the main character left room for more exploration. They had been together as teenagers and now back together as adults it isn’t much different.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book! This is my honest review.

3.75 stars rounding up!

Assistant Professor Clara’s semester is off to an interesting start- she’s been encouraged and recommended to apply for tenure early, but she also has to share her office with a visiting professor, who just happens to be her childhood ex best friend with a rocky history. GIVEN THEIR HISTORY (see what I did there), things are tense and old feelings are popping back up all over the place. Told in dual timelines, this story moves us gently through young Clara and Teddy’s beginnings, and older Clara and Teddy’s rekindlings!

What was weird to me was that young Teddy and adult Clara were separately so interesting to me, but older Teddy was kind of meh and young Clara needed to get her shit together!! These are two driven, crazy intellectual, and slightly awkward humans who just happen to be perfectly made for each other if they can only get their heads out of the sand!

This also was a great insight into the college and professorial lifestyles, I was so in on all of Clara’s dealings on campus, her tenure application, and thinking about what it means to be a Tudor researcher in Maryland!

Thank you so much to Kristyn Miller and NetGalley for a chance to read in exchange for an honest review

A sweet East coast romance that will give you all the fall vibes. This is a super impressive debut looking forward to seeing what else the author writes in the future

If asked what “tropes” I like in a romance, I might draw a blank. But the more I read, the more I see that friends-to-lovers almost always hits for me, especially when the friends go back to childhood or teen years.

Given Our History is a beautiful story of second chances, the tug-of-war between career, family, and love, and the recognition that sometimes timing is everything. Clara and Theodore (Teddy) have been best friends since they were 14, well, minus the 9 years they spent not speaking. Now in their early 30s their worlds collide as Teddy arrives as a visiting professor at the university in the history department where Clara is also an assistant professor.

I loved the banter and friendship in this one. The characters clearly had a deep love for one another even as they denied being “in love.” The heartbreak of wanting more but choosing to prioritize education and careers was palpable.

Ordinarily a dual timeline with a mysterious reason for why two characters are no longer on good terms irks me, but this one worked. Why? There were enough clues and the past timeline was so rich that I wasn’t constantly wishing I could “get back to the real story.” The chapters from the past immersed me into summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains, mailing mix CDs across state lines, nosy parents listening in on phone calls, and MySpace private messages. The emo bands, the dial-up internet, the homeschooling (of which I was not, but I had close friends who were), all brought me into Teddy and Clara’s past. The miscommunication trope is also one we all seem to love to hate, but because Clara was self-aware about it and because most of it occurred during those formative ages of 14-21, it didn’t frustrate me the way it might have otherwise. My enjoyment came down slightly because of these issues (so maybe this is properly 4.75 stars), but overall I think these parts of the plot were well-done.

I appreciated the side characters in Clara’s sister, co-workers, and other family members. There was just enough from each of them that our main characters’ lives were fleshed out. The friendship between Clara and Teddy was believable, as was its demise, and I was invested in their relationship. I was so invested that I didn’t want the book to end and paused at 90% so I could come back and savor it with my full attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for access to this arc but I no longer want to work with this publisher.

MY HEART IS YOURS!!!

Can we talk about this gorgeous cover first???
It quite literally stopped me in my tracks. But… wanna know what’s even better than a pretty cover? When the story is just as good as the cover.

This is my first book by Kristyn, but it won’t be my last! I absolutely loved Theo and Clara so much!! Seeing their relationship develop and blossom was everything I never knew I needed.

This is an academic second chance romance with two strong, level headed, nerdy, and introverted characters. It’s truly my perfect book!
Their chemistry had me kicking my feet. I’ve never been so giddy about two characters find each other again and falling for one another!! SOULMATES!! They are soulmates and I’ll stand by that statement.

“I’ve missed this”
“I’ve missed you”
^ I miss them already

Overall this is such a fun and cutesy read! The banter and wit was perfection. And as someone who hates the miscommunication trope, just know they’re my exception!!
I highly recommend this book it’s quite literally the perfect fall read!!!

*quickly stops reading to google when The Black Parade came out* Oh, I'm THAT old. I feel you, Clara.

I was SO EXCITED to get chosen to ARC read this after hearing about it. There just isn't enough romance with early 30s MCs so I devour them!

I love the 2000s references in this book, especially all the music throwbacks. Such a fun, nostalgic aspect to a story. The dual timeline isn't my favorite, but at the same time it's a cool way to learn their whole story, and it worked well in this book.

I really liked both MCs. They immediately clicked, got along so well, and really understood each other. The past timeline was heartbreaking at times, just wishing they spoke their true feelings and committed, but like Clara realizes at the end, things could have turned out differently if they had.

I enjoyed the side characters, but they were lacking a bit. Clara's friendship with Izzy didn't make a lot of sense, I wish there was more of it on page, as well as more info/explanation about Mindy (even though I hated when she popped up in the story).

Overall though it was a good romance that had me in my feelings, it had some spice, and it had a HEA. A perfect cozy Fall romance.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

Assistant professor Clara Fernsby lets nothing stand in her way of her goal and is now up for tenure at a private liberal arts college fresh out of grad school. When Theodore Harrison is brought on for the fall semester as a visiting scholar, it’s an unwelcome blast from the past. She is reminded of their shared history and past love, but ten years have changed him. Working together means she might fall in love again, but like last time might not be interested. She has no intention of repeating their history.

Clara is on a tenure track and hoping to boost her profile by applying for the position in three years of teaching instead of seven. Teddy had once been her best friend and crush, and life circumstances prevented them from being together past a few dates and kisses. We see the dual timelines in this novel, of their past selves as well as the present; Clara's so busy doing what she thinks is the best choice for everyone else, it doesn't occur to her that there's no time for fun, relationships or any downtime at all. Teddy's presence unsettled her and brought up past memories, and feelings that she didn't quite bury. This is an enjoyable second chance romance in academia, and Clara finally chooses what's best for her, and not just on paper. I really liked that about the ending.

A sure way to get my attention me is to mention "second-chance romance". That being my favorite trope, I expect angst and yearning and longing, which this book did not deliver on (at least the parts that I read).
I was vibing with the writing, and expected the plot to follow. Unfortunately it was pretty bland. Nothing was going on?? We get so many unnecessary details and info dump that do nothing to move the plot.
I find myself not interested to know what happen to them, or why they did not work in the first place, or how they will make things work again, so I am dnf'ing.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This book was okay. Just okay. While I was so excited to read a book about historians falling in love, I was left disappointed by how immature the characters were and how the pacing issues made the story move along so slowly. I felt like the flashbacks could have been fewer to get to know the characters more in the present, and I did not appreciate how lusty the relationship between the two MCs felt, especially with this being a dual timeline, second chance, enemies to lovers plot. I enjoyed some parts but I was also just frustrated.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars

This is one of those ultra rare instances where I enjoyed a second chance romance and I'm glad I read the book.

Given Our History is told in dual timelines which adds to the tension of the story. We experience Clara & Teddy's relationship as it evolves from strangers to childhood best friends to former friends to reluctant allies to lovers. Sounds like a lot right? Trust me, it works!

Clara & Teddy are your classic right person, wrong time love story. They're so clearly perfect for each other but childhood goals, miscommunication, and some serious stubbornness from Clara get in the way. They have a falling out 9 years prior that leave them not speaking and hurt by one another. There's a little blip along the way where they see each other that only adds to the angst but, again, her stubbornness gets in the way of any healthy communication.

At it's heart this is a light academia love story with two introverted lovers of history who were too proud to admit their feelings for one another and let their careers take center stage instead of their secret love. It's heartwarming and pure and angsty and I was rooting for these two to get over their poor communication and just speak to each other. Once they started communicating it was perfect.

It did take a bit for me to like Teddy because for the first half of the book we didn't get to know him too well. This book could've benefited from Teddy having his own POV. We got to know him in the childhood timeline but adult timeline was a mystery and Teddy is a character who guards his heart and his emotions to a fault. Once he started opening up and communicating his needs he was amazing. Clara was at times a bit frustrating because of her stubbornness but I tempered it with her being a young introvert and I was sympathetic to her and her fears.

Overall I do recommend this and will most likely read it again because I did really like these two as a couple.

Thanks to SMP, SMP Romance, and NetGalley for the arc.