DNF at 32%. I felt no chemistry between the MCs and truly did not care if they got together, so I chose to spend my time on other books.

From the time Ben and his mom moved in next to Mylie and her family Ben and Mylie were best friends. But kids grow up and friends grow apart.

Ben never planned on coming back to the small town where he grew up. Now that his mother and grandfather have died, he's back in Clay Creek just long enough to get his grandfather's house ready to sell. It had been ten years since he's seen Miley. He didn't expect the old feelings were still there. And he sure didn't expect that Miley might return them.

Mylie may have been sure and confident as the head of the company she started, but she's not quite as confident in her private life. Ben is just as unsure. As he spends more time in Clay Creek he starts to remember all the little things that make a small town special. That includes Mylie. But neither of them seems to know how to deal with old feelings that have matured from teen age crush to something more adult.

This is a fun, sometimes bittersweet story of discovering that what we want or expect isn't always what we need.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

Small town setting, second chance, friends to something more...this had all the right combinations, but the execution was just not quite there. While I was routing for Mylie and Ben to uncover their mutual feelings, the connection wasn't overly convincing and everything felt too quick after 10 years of silence. I did enjoy the side characters and the family/friendship dynamics with Cassie and grandma.

3 stars

Spring Fling is a cute premise - childhood friends are reunited when one of them returns to their small town as an adult - but I was underwhelmed by the execution.

I really enjoyed the dual POV and split timeline between their childhoods and now, and the setting was lovely. I love a meddlesome small town, and it was the perfect setting for a childhood friends to lovers story.

I found myself less and less invested in the story as it played out, but I can't put my finger on a specific reason why.

Thank you to Avon for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

Spring Fling is a charming small-town romance filled with second chances, unexpected reunions, and just the right amount of chaos. When a country music star returns to his hometown to lay low, the last thing he expects is to run into his ex—the woman he left behind. Sparks fly as old feelings resurface, but with a meddling community, unresolved pasts, and a town-wide spring festival in full swing, nothing goes quite as planned. This is a perfect pick for readers who love the exes-to-lovers trope, a little Southern flair, and a feel-good story where love blooms just like the season.

I enjoyed this book! It was a sweet small town romance. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters and the book was cosy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, HarperAudio Adult and Annie England Noblin for giving me an advanced listener’s copy and advanced reader’s copy of this book!

"Rekindle your belief in the magic of first love and the charm of small towns."
Spring Fling is a friends to lovers romantic comedy that you do not want to miss! This was the perfect spring read that I could not stop turning the pages. This was a light easy read that was written so well. Every character in this one was wonderful and I loved the small town where it took place. I highly enjoyed this and would recommend to any reader who loves romances. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager/ Avon for the ebook and to William Morrow Group and HarperCollinsPublishers for the book in exchange of my honest review of Spring Fling by Annie England Noblin.

I liked the setting of this book. Great small town vibes and I like the not cliche career choice of the FMC, with her owning a fishing supply business.
I didn’t feel like the her and the love interest had a lot of chemistry even though they had been childhood friends.
I don't mind 3rd person books but you don’t get much internal monologue from the characters. I wanted more of what they were feeling in the moment.
2.5 stars

Thank you for allowing me to read this story.

This story was such a delight—warm, funny, and full of heart. I found myself smiling through so many scenes, and the characters felt so real I could easily picture them. Grandma and Fat Tony absolutely stole the show!

The friends-to-lovers dynamic was beautifully done. Their reconnection in adulthood felt genuine, and watching their romance unfold was both satisfying and swoon-worthy.

This is definitely a book I’ll be adding to my personal collection, and I already know it’ll be a favorite reread come spring.

This is a cute spring romance! The small town antics were so fun. I had some trouble connecting with the characters though. I felt like the story could have been a bit longer so I could get more invested in their story. If you love small town vibes then this could be a fun romance to escape with.

**𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑺𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑵𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏

Release Date: March 18, 2025

3.75⭐️3🌶

Mylie has lived in the same small town since her mother dropped her off at her grandmothers when she was little. Mylie was best friends with Ben in grade school through high school when he was an anti-social book nerd. She never told him she loved him, and he moved away to Chicago to go to school.

Ten years later, Ben comes back to the small town he grew up in to sell his grandfathers house and collect a few family items. He didn't bargain on seeing his old best friend. They had kept in touch for a few years, and then lost touch. He had been a gangly teen when he left, but due to his fitness routine in college and bulked up quite a bit.

Mylie had spent the last ten years building her own business of selling fishing equipment online, and she employed a large percentage of the town. She went on dates every few months, but nothing ever stuck.

This was a sweet little small town romance. It was a cute fast read.

Themes/Tropes:
🍁Second Chance Romance
🍁Friends-to-Lovers
🍁Small Town Romance
🍁Rom Com
🍁Ozark Mountain Story

TW:
✨Bullying
✨Intimidation via destruction of property
✨Punching/fighting

this was so cute & fun!!! i loved the small town and all the quirky townspeople!!! it was such a great cozy read & the romance was very sweet!! i highly recommend it!!!

thank you to the publisher & netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!!

I aspire to be like Granny when I’m old and gray—she’s such a diva!

Aside from the side characters, I didn’t enjoy this read very much, unfortunately. Maybe it’s the fact that it was in third person—I usually like third person when used right, but this really needed to be done differently. Historical fictions are the only things that should be third person, never romcoms, and I stand by that.

On top of that, the romance and even the humor were poorly executed. There was no connection between the two characters—just lust. It felt like they were forcing something that wasn’t even there to begin with.

The audiobook could’ve been better too, but it’s not the narrator’s fault. Just the way the story was written.

No hate to the author! This just wasn’t the right read for me.

❀ 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀
Friends > strangers > lovers
Second chance (in a way)
Small town
Dual timeline

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾 & 𝙖𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠!

The cover of this book drew my attention. It looked like it was for an escapist read and that is something that I find myself wanting more and more these days.

Meet Mylie who lives with her sister and grandmother. She runs a tackle shop in a place that attracts tourists.

Meet Ben who has returned to his old hometown from Chicago to take care of some family business. He knew Mylie in the past.

What will happen when the two find themselves in the same place again? The book's cover offers a good hint.

Fans of small towns, fishing, second chance romances and feel good endings will want to give this one a look.

Many thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager for this title. All opinions are my own.

This is an engaging, well-written book, but it’s unfortunately not for me. It’s described as a delightful romantic comedy—but the first chapter opens with the heroine having to fire an ex-con employee for drunkenness and theft. He then goes on to destroy her property and make threats. I wasn’t expecting violence and the woman-in-jeopardy trope in a rom com—nor would I describe this book as a rom com. DNF in chapter 5.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I went into this book looking for an estranged friends to lovers that was going to hit me in allll the feels and overall this was a fine read. When Ben returns to the small town he spent middle and high school in, he reunites with Mylie. The two were everything until they lost touch when he went to college. But when he returns home to sell his grandparents home. The two reconnect, more or less picking up where they left off and making the most of his limited time in town.

You couldn't help but root for them the entire book, which i loved but the reader doesn't really get a glimpse into what, on a deeper level, tore them apart and there's a few adjacent story lines that detract a bit from the romance. The story ends a big abruptly but overall a cute quick beach read.



Thank you Netgalley, and Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review!

I really wanted to love this book, I really did. The premise had so much potential—childhood friends reconnecting and falling in love again, with a small-town setting that promised lots of charm and sweetness. And while it was cute, the chemistry between Mylie and Ben just didn’t hit the mark for me. Their relationship felt rushed, and I couldn’t quite buy into it. They reconnect after ten years, and it almost felt like after a couple of conversations, they were suddenly spilling all their feelings and moving way too fast.

I loved the idea of the characters and the way the small town was painted, but the events started to feel a little too melodramatic for me, like I was watching a soap opera instead of a romance. The quirky moments piled up one after the other, and while that can be fun, it felt a little over the top here. It was a little hard to connect with Mylie and Ben’s romance when it felt like they were still acting like teenagers, even though they were supposedly adults.

I will say though, I loved the sister dynamic between Mylie and Cassie. That relationship really stood out to me and felt more genuine than the romance itself. And the way Mylie and Ben had to figure out what they really wanted was a great premise, but the emotional buildup wasn’t there for me. By the end, I didn’t really feel like they were a couple who would last beyond the pages of the book.

While the story didn’t fully work for me, I do appreciate the author’s voice and the way she brought this small town to life. I’m definitely curious to see what Annie England Noblin does next! A special thank you to NetGalley and Avon & HarperVoyage for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spring Fling is a cute, light hearted read. It was as in depth in exploring the relationship between Julie and Ben as I had hoped and I wish more of granny's story would have been included, but I still enjoyed the book. Thanks #NetGalley

This book was not my cup of tea. Our FMC, Mylie, is a business owner in a small town in Arkansas and has been in love with the boy next door, Ben, since sixth grade. Ben moved away to Chicago after graduation and it’s been 10 years since they have seen each other. There was a lot of tell not show of how Ben and Mylie are great together and I just didn't believe their love story. I wasn't invested in them succeeding or not succeeding.

This could have been a cute second chance romance, but there were so many other side characters that we meet and the town is written in a way to make you feel like it’s a character that it really took away from Ben and Mylie. I think the other big issue is that there was this unnecessary drama with these side characters that I don’t feel like it helped progress the story in any way.

This book was 300 pages and honestly could have cut about 100 pages and still told the same story if not a better story.

I really enjoyed Spring Fling.

The main characters (Ben and Mylie) were well written and their relationship was believable. The side characters were fun and I laughed throughout the story. The banter was so well done.

This was my first book by Annie England Noblin but won't be my last.