Given Our History is the story of Teddy and Clara, two homeschool kids who meet at summer camp and form a long distance friendship based on their mutual love of history. The story takes place years later - Clara is a professor at Irving University when Teddy shows up at a visiting scholar she is forced to face their long history and own up to why their friendship ended years ago. The boy she fell in love with may now be a man she could see herself falling for again.

The story of Clara and Teddy feels like a warm cup of cider in fall (never-you-mind that the story takes place in fall proper). I've always enjoyed stories with characters that have history and getting to swap between present day and the past allows for context to be dropped in small bits. I loved getting to know Clara and Teddy's story and the backdrop of academia makes this a really second chance romance. I also love the author's writing style and likely will be picking up other works of hers.

The reason this wasn't a "perfect read" for me comes down entirely to personal preference. I found the characters well fleshed out, the plot engaging, and the writing style to be interesting without distracting. It just wasn't "perfect for me", if that makes sense at all. I would still highly recommend this book to anyone who loves academia, second chance romance, and an autumnal vibe.

This book was really fantastic, I loved reading it! It'll be a great, cozy, academia focused read for those who are interested in that sort of thing.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great read. I'll be looking for more books from this author!

A cute, albeit slow, romance that spans decades.

Two professors, and childhood best friends, with a complicated past get a second chance to prove history won't repeat itself.

I found this to be just okay. The blurb immediately got me excited for this read, but the execution left me wanting more.
I felt like the miscommunication dragged when it was obvious the timing was right for these two. I also struggled with the main characters.
They're kind of...boring? I feel like we really didn't get to know Teddy, and while we know more of Clara, it just feels like her life has always been kind of sad, lonely, and nonexistent. And her friendship with Izzy felt incredibly awkward.

I liked the setting of being accomplished university professors and Clara's sister Reagan and her shenanigans really helped make some scenes more fun, but otherwise, this read was just fine.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my free electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Me? Obsessed with you? Yes.

I canNOT get enough of this book! The story, the MC’s, the friendships UGH. I love everything abou this book and I cannot wait to get a copy for my shelf!! Very beautifully executed!

Friends to Lovers is not my favorite trope mainly because most of the time the storyline involves regret of “lost time”, which I just don’t like to read. I need there to be a realization of before they weren’t right for each other or something like that because otherwise it usually comes down to “I didn’t want to ruin our friendship” or “I wish I had known”. I really felt that in this book, so I didn’t end up loving this one. I also just kind of felt that Clara was a stale character, she was winy and I know she was supposed to come off as a strong independent woman but to me she just kind of came off selfish.

(More like 3.75 stars)

This was a cute and quick read second chance romance based in academia!!!

I absolutely loved the way these two met at camp for homeschooled kids. Teddy, shy and reserved, who thinks he's bad at people. Clara, history nerd at 14, and just wanting to make friends. Both end up majoring and teaching college history. Find themselves again after 10 years.

Like most second chance romances, this one was dual timeline. I enjoyed seeing their history(ha) and I loved seeing how they never lost their deep connection. More than that, I didn't think their original breakup was contrite and actually made sense for their journeys, which I really appreciated!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

STORY LIKES
⭐️⭐️⭐️

RECOMMEND
💳 yes

SPICE
🌶️ N/A

“Given Our History” is a cute dual timeline romance by Kristy J. Miller, which will be released later this summer.

I like that the second timeline starts when Clara and Teddy meet when they are children and progresses until the day see each other six years ago. The present time line starts at that meeting and then does the 6 year time jump.

This story is good for anyone who enjoys romances with the following tropes:

⭐️ Second Chance
⭐️ Childhood Friends to Lovers
⭐️ It’s Always Been You
⭐️ Single POV

If you decide to read this story when it’s released, I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read “Given Our History” in advance.

This was so cute! Normally I hate dual timeline books, but I didn't mind at all in this one. The only thing about it is I do feel like even when they were ages 16-18 in the flashbacks, the writing felt a bit juvenile for how most people that age talk.

Other than that, this was really a very adorable romance. A nice balance of spice and a really strong slow burn! I love the world of academia as a setting since it hasn't been overdone in the genre yet, it was really refreshing. I do wish they touched a little bit more on what Teddy did in the years leading up to their reunion and how his relationship and subsequent breakup with Mindy went, especially considering that the Mindy storyline was sort of part of the "hook" in the first chapter to get you interested.

4/5 :)

I love a good second chance romance! Were the reasons for the initial breakup a little flimsy? Yes, I won't lie. But I did enjoy the "now" and "then" chapters. And honestly, a lot of stable relationships are built on friendship so good for them.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I loved it from start to finish. I love books where it take place in a past and present version. I loved the characters and how the story came along together. This book is similar to Every Summer After by Carley Fortune and Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren so if you were a fan I definitely recommend this book! Solid 5 stars for me! Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy of this book for my honest review. Publishing Date of August 27, 2024.

This was SO CUTE!!! Full of nostalgia and longing and so much fluff. This book felt like a warm hug.

This book also felt like it was MADE for me. As a person from Maryland who went to UMD and is not much older than the FMC, so much of Clara’s childhood felt personal.

I’m not usually drawn to second chance romances but this was so so so cute!! I am immediately picking up her other novel. I loved this!! This was such a soft and sweet read.

Ah, a romance for the ages! Childhood friends that reconnect later in life, with a bit of a long distance friendship going on too. This book asks the whole "what if" question people might come across in their life. What if they had a romance with the one that got away?

This book has duo timelines with the past and present, split between how their friendship started and where they are at today. I loved seeing their relationship develop over the years, even if it was long distance, and some of the interactions were so cute and made my heart feel warm. Of course, they were kids and made mistakes too, but that is what growing up is about.

Along with their relationship, this book talked about these kids being homeschooled and what their experiences after homeschooling was like. It is a detail smaller than the relationship, but it was interesting and I feel like I learned something from it! The main character does touch on some of the hardships, but she also went out and did all the things that non-homeschool kids can do (like get a PHD). There were a couple times where people made comments about homeschooling not being "good enough" despite going through an accredited program, and comments like that helped the main character make some tough decisions about her job. The homeschooling also gave her a chance to meet her best friend and the boy of the story too, so it does play a decent part!

There is a bit of spice to the story, but not too much. There is sex, but it does not go super into detail and it is over relatively quick. The characters consent, use protection, and even talked about using a vibrator to feel more comfortable in the bedroom. Small details like this make a story feel more realistic! Plus, I don't feel like these two scenes took away from the story - it was a culmination of this relationship, and showed how their feelings for one another changed.

Overall, I thought this was a sweet romance and I loved watching it develop over such a period of time. I am always interested in "what if" stories that get me thinking about my own life (and how I would not date anyone from my past), and I am a sucker for a good childhood-friends-to-lovers story. The romance has a slow build with no over-the-top gestures, but there is a kind of third act breakup leading to the final resolution. If you enjoy romances, then I would say to give this one a try!
Content warnings: loss of a parent, heart attack, sexual content, cursing

Given Our History was such a sweet read! I'm a sucker for a second chance romance and absolutely loved everything about this!

This was such a cute romance! Loved the dual timelines and it was easy to love the two main characters. This story is a good reminder to not dwell on the past & to look forward to the future

Loved the structure of this book, switching between past and present and revealing some things before describing how they happened. I’m a sucker for the academics setting. The complications in their relationship felt authentic to the period of their lives (high school through grad school). And I enjoyed the physical romance scenes. Some scenes from Teddy's point of view might have made it even better but I really enjoyed it. Maybe a touch more exploration or acknowledgment of how they might have changed or the relationship experience they each had in the intervening years could have also made a very good book even just a bit greater. I’d give it 4.5 stars if I could.

Thank you to NetGalley/the publisher for an ARC of this title.

I wish I had been able to get into "Given Our History", but despite the charming premise, I never grew attached to the characters enough and struggled to finish the book.

Perhaps I am not fond of back-and-forth flashback structures.

The writing was fine, but not remarkable.

This story was about a second chance romance with childhood friends that had miscommunication the first go around. Kristyn had a good job of interconnecting the story lines between the past and present. Was able to complete within one sitting as the story line was a breezy read with some depth.

➸ 3 stars

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

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc!!

Second chance romances are one of my favorite tropes when done right, and this one was… okay! I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would have mainly because I wasn’t really engaged in the story. It started off great but I felt like over the span of 300ish, pages nothing really happened at all and I just wasn’t hooked…

🍂 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
🍂 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞
🍂 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭/𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
🍂 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬
🍂 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
🍂 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

“We’ve been apart longer than we were ever friends.”

➸ clara - there wasn’t anything I disliked about her… but there also wasn’t anything I liked. her character kind of fell flat for me and her reasoning for not wanting to be with teddy annoyed me because she never even tried!

➸ teddy - I liked him I guess, I think maybe adding his pov would’ve added more to the story; having some insight on how he felt towards clara would have been cute since it was so obvious he loved her!! one thing I would’ve liked more touch on was his kind of recent 6 year relationship; it was kind of just mentioned and that was all there was to it… what went on there? why did it end? 6 years is a LONG time and if I were Clara I would’ve been so curious as to what happened…

“Except in all the ways you were exactly the same: in the way he looked at you every time he saw you, like you were the first rain after a long drought—palms turned up, catching droplets, because to have some small part of you was better than having none of you at all.”

➸ clara & teddy - I really liked how they became friends during camp and their dynamic/friendship was really cute! I love how they bonded over being homeschooled, their parents, and Clara making him fall in love with history was really cute! Them being apart for almost ten years and then finally finding out what caused their fallout towards the end of the book annoyed me a little (miscommunication…) but at least
they’re together now and I’m happy for them !!

“I’ve missed this”
“I’ve missed you”

Miller’s writing skillfully weaves together nostalgia, longing, and the thrill of rediscovery. The tension between Clara and Teddy is palpable, and readers will find themselves rooting for their rekindled connection