3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
An easy read about two professors who met in their teens and lost touch over the years but reconnect while teaching history.
I liked the dual timeline of the story and delving into both Teddy and Clara being homeschooled.
If you like second chance romance
If you like it’s always been you
If you like academia settings
This book is for you
It reminded me of Love and other words without the trauma.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Clara is a professor on the tenure track at her college, trying to push herself the last couple steps over the line to get tenure. But then she has to share her office with a visiting professor... her former best friend who she hasn't spoken to in years. Old hurts heal slowly as a friend to lovers plot ensues.

This is sweet. It gives off a lot of fall vibes in the setting and "start of school" stuff. Definitely a good back to school, light-hearted romance.

Teddy is totally the hunky kid from camp you always wanted to hook up with, and he grows up to be the hot professor, and added bonus is that he is the perfect book boyfriend that listens, that remembers things from a decade ago that you barely remember. He reminds me a lot of the personality that my husband has, the one who treats you like the sun rises and sets by you alone.

Clara is frustratingly stubborn, and pushed Teddy away too many times. That drove me nuts by the end of it, and I almost wanted to shout at her to get her head out of her butt and make the right move already... or at least stop fighting the right thing.

The flashbacks flesh out the love story nicely. The writing is really nice, and there's a few fun metaphors thrown in that I found particularly descriptive. I like her writing. I'm definitely coming back for more.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

This was a feel good read and super relatable for me as a history professor. Miller is a great storyteller and makes this second chance romance perfect.

4.5 ⭐️ The perfect cozy read for this fall! Get your preorders in!

Friends to lovers & Second Chance Romance!

I loved Teddy and Clara! I’m a sucker for duel timeline and having a bit of the history of the characters revealed at a time so you can understand their history!

I was a BIG fan of the academic setting!

I was proud of the growth for our FMC. 👏

Be on the lookout for Given our History in August!

Very cute! I do wish there was more tension between the main couple outside of the fallout they had when they were younger, but for what it was it was an enjoyable, quick read.

Given Our History is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that explores the complexities of love, forgiveness, and second chances.
Assistant professor Clara Fernsby is dedicated to her career and has worked tirelessly to achieve her goals. However, when Theodore Harrison, a visiting scholar and Clara's former best friend, reenters her life after a decade-long estrangement, she finds herself confronting unresolved feelings from their shared past.
The author deftly navigates the intricacies of Clara and Teddy's relationship, seamlessly weaving between past and present to unravel the layers of their history. As Clara grapples with her conflicting emotions and the possibility of rekindling their connection, readers are drawn into a tender and heartfelt exploration of forgiveness and redemption.
The novel's exploration of love and friendship is both nuanced and authentic, delving into themes of identity, self-discovery, and the power of second chances. The author's prose is elegant and evocative, capturing the emotional depth of her characters and the complexities of their relationships.
Given Our History is a compelling and emotionally resonant romantic read that will captivate readers from beginning to end. With its richly drawn characters and heartfelt narrative, this novel is sure to leave a lasting impression. The author has crafted a moving and memorable story that reminds us of the transformative power of forgiveness and the enduring strength of the human heart.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a decent book! I definitely enjoyed it, and didn't mind the jumps back and forth between the past and the present. I think my only issue was with the misunderstanding that happened, and how it pushed them apart for such a long time.

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for access to this E-ARC! This was really cute! Loved the characters & the romance. Definitely will read more from the author.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If I am anything it is a sucker for second chance romances! I loved reading about Clara and Teddy in both the past and the present. They had a beautiful friendship in the past and it was devastating reading them fall apart - though I knew they'd find each other again.

This book had great cozy vibes and if you enjoy second chance books, I'd definitely give this one a try!

⭐⭐⭐.5/5 - As always, I enjoy a woman in a STEM romance novel, and I enjoyed Given Our History!! With main characters that make you want to shake them a little and a love that spans over a decade of missed chances, readers will love Clara and Teddy's story!

THOUGHTS:
- The main characters have A LOT of the miscommunication/stubbornness trope that they have to get through.
- Alternating timeline between our main couple's past and present.
- Love a romance centered in academia.

**Thank you to St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

4.5/5 I am so glad I picked this up! It was charming and sweet, set in alternating timelines as two characters become friends as teenagers and reconnect later in their early thirties.

Not going to lie, the cover did catch my eye first.

As a history teacher, I loved the fact the two main characters were history professors and their love of history was a major part of their budding friendship.

The main tropes of this book are friends-to-lovers and second-chance romance and it does them very well!

Despite the author not fully understanding how tenure works for humanities disciplines (a history PhD doing her tenure review before her 30th birthday? In this millenium? I don't think so!) this is a sweet romance novel about how deeply affecting the romances of our youth can be. A sweet, breezy read perfect for back-to-school vibes.

Clara and Teddy have been best friends since they were children, but they've fallen out of touch due to choices they had to make along the way. Now, they're both university professors, trying to figure out if they want tenure or where they want to be. They end up at the same school and are cajoled into sharing an office. Will their deep-running connection be enough to overcome their fraught history?

Clara and Teddy felt so familiar and tender, I was immediately taken in with their best friends to lovers to strangers to lovers journey. The flashbacks were the perfect foundation so that we understood their friendship and how they got to where they are in the present. It was a slow burn with the sweetest payoff, I really enjoyed this book!

I’m all for ambition and drive but I’m a sucker for love!! I’m always rooting for them to give up or put their dreams aside for love (in books only) but at the same time I’m like no man should come first! But this book makes my heart so happy!

I enjoyed this so so much! First book by this author and it was perfect for my autumn-taste vibe. A cute, academic-type romance/workplace that made my heart so happy!

The best way I can describe this book is “cozy.” It was an entertaining read, with lovable characters, and a sweet romance.

I’m not usually a huge fan of second chance romance, but I thought the flashbacks fit really perfectly with the present day narrative. It was adorable to watch the two grow up together. I felt like their love was really unique and refreshing in that it was more of a steady love.

Clara’s storyline was really spot on with the way that women are often treated in academia. There were many aspects of the novel like the sexism that added to the romance storyline and made it more than just a romance.

This was my first novel by this author, and I cannot wait to read more!

Clara Fernsby and Teddy Hawthorne are reunited after a falling out 10 years ago when Teddy is a visiting professor at the same university Clara teaches at. Clara and Teddy first met at the sleep-away camp for homeschooled kids when they were both 14, and had been best friends until they had that falling out. Told in dual timelines, the reader gets to see Clara and Teddy's relationship evolve at they grew older and learn what inevitability led to their falling out while getting to see the pair get a second chance at romance.

I absolutely loved Given Our History, and this may be my favorite romance I've read this year. I absolutely loved the dual timeline aspect that was present in this book. It really helped the reader gain a better understanding of the motivations behind Clara and Teddy that made it easier to understand why they did have a big fall out all those years ago. Clara and Teddy felt so fleshed out, and the timeline of their entire relationship just felt so realistic.

I absolutely loved Given Our History, and can't wait to check out more from this author in the future.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC opportunity. To start I LOVE a friends to lovers story. It always seems much more reasonable to me as a reader. And this was no exception, the story was cute, you were rooting for them as a reader. And it was exactly what I want out of one of these cute books. Loved it

So, this book was a 3.5/5 star read for me. It was good and I enjoyed it. Some parts absolutely flew by! This was a dual timeline, second chance, friends-to-lovers romance. All tropes that I love! However, some parts just moved way too slowly for my taste. It is a slow burn, and if I'm being honest it's TOO slow. There really isn't any romance until the last 70ish percent. And then there is so much miscommunication between our main character and her love interest that it just starts to get interesting and then starts falling flat again. I didn't hate it, and just because I didn't like it doesn't mean that someone else couldn't love it, but I'm not sure that I would recommend it to anyone.

5 ⭐️!!!
3 🌶️

There are not enough words in the English language, let alone any language, that could ever describe how much I absolutely LOVED this book. I had to force myself to take several days to read it and savor each page even though I wanted to devour this book as quickly as possible.

From the beginning of this book, I had immediate connections with the main characters. They felt very three-dimensional and I loved that each had their own quirks that followed them throughout the years. Through the duration of this book, I enjoyed the development that these characters underwent both together as friends, as a couple, and individually.

The number one trope that I am a sucker for is second-chance friends-to-lovers. Two of my favorite books are People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry and Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. Whatever kind of magic those two books are composed of, Given Our History was hit with the same exact dose. Reading this book felt like a warm hug; it was nostalgic and brimmed with such longing that I felt all of the emotions that the characters did.

One of the things that I especially loved about this book was the dual timeline. I love when there is an event that has happened in a book that has broken up a pair of characters but the reason isn’t revealed to readers until later in the book. There was a certain scene in this book that I will keep a secret for the sake of dramatic effect for future readers, that literally had me sitting straight up and gasping at my Kindle.

My favorite quote from this book was: “Falling in love was like falling asleep on a long drive: you let yourself get comfortable and then suddenly you wake up and you’re already there. Falling out of love, in contrast, was like a car crash: you slam on the brakes, but you don’t just stop, because the momentum is still there. And years later, you might’ve recovered, but you still have the little aches and pains, and maybe you’re a little scared every time you hop back behind the wheel, because look what happened before.”

I will definitely be purchasing this book as soon as it releases, and will be recommending it to customers/followers. I am so excited for it to have a place it can call its home on my bookshelf. This novel will go down in my book journal as one of my favorites of this year, and quite possibly of all time.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Kristyn J. Miller, and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to enjoy this advanced reader copy of Given Our History.

I will say, the singular thing that I did not enjoy about this book was that it looks like Teddy’s head is on backwards in the cover. However, that is easy to look past in the grand scheme of how incredible this piece was.

Content Warnings: sexual content, death of a parent (mentioned)

My review will be run immediately on Goodreads and StoryGraph and will be posted on my Instagram account (@graciesbooknook) tomorrow 3/27/2024.