Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper for allowing me to read and review this ARC. This was a sweet, funny, and fast-paced romantic comedy between two friends. Mylie and Ben had attended school together, but parted ways once Ben went off to college. He returned to Clay Creek, Arkansas 10 years later to oversee the sale of his grandfather’s home. The house was nextdoor to Mylie’s. I don’t like spoilers and won’t give you any. It’s a quick read and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as I did. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I thought this book was so sweet! I LOVED the connection between the two main characters. It was a good, entertaining read that was light and so easy to read. Sometimes it was hard to follow from switching between the main characters point of view but not very often.

5/5 and can’t wait for this book to release. Fat Joe is my favorite!

Absolutely wonderful! The characters feel like they could come to life and step off the page. So well written, and beyond entertaining. If it were not for Mylie, Ben, and Granny, I would have said my favorite character was Fat Tony. He offers the perfect comic relief. I was in tears!

I was hooked from the very first page. Spring Fling is not your typical romance and had the perfect amount of suspense, angst, and comedy. There was just enough of the history of Mylie and Ben to help you fully appreciate their relationship then and now without getting bogged down in the past. Even though they've been out of touch for ten years, they fall right back into the same comfortable friendship they had so long ago. And while Mylie knows it is just a matter of time before Ben leaves again, she's determined to have a different outcome this time. But how can she possibly tell him not to go? And how can she ask him to give up the one thing he has worked for his entire life? He has been offered his dream job in what he considers a dream location.

Add in a teenage sister with all the drama a teenager can muster, a grandmother who is a little on the quirky side and has a boyfriend who is retired from their high school, and numerous friends and acquaintances in a very small town where nothing is a secret and you have the perfect recipe for either success or disaster!

I am only giving this book 5 stars because there is not a higher option. I will certainly be looking for more from Annie Noblin!

Thank You Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publish Date: March 18th, 2025

This book was so cute! This book was about two friends who stop talking to each other and ten years later Ben is back in town to sell his grandfather's house next door to Mylie. He came back to the house until it sold he wasn't expecting to reconnect to Mylie after all those years.

Mylie has everything she needs in Clay Creek, Arkansas, has her shop, and lives with her Granny and little sister Cassie. I love her relationship with her sister and granny.

Ben, family is gone and now he is left to deal with the estate

This was cute! There are definitely some inconsistencies in the story throughout, but I hope those will be fixed before publishing. I wasn’t very invested in any of the side plot, but the main relationship was very cute. Overall I think this is perfect as a palate cleanser quick read. Thank you NetGalley and Avon/HarperCollins for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review which has already been posted to Goodreads.

Spring Fling: ⭐️⭐️

I want to start out by saying two stars does not mean it’s a bad book! Books are so, so subjective and just because it wasn’t a higher rating for me doesn’t mean I don’t think it won’t be for someone else!
For me, I thought this story had all the right fixings to be such a cute, lighthearted, childhood-friends to lovers romance - but it lacked on delivery. I was so excited to read this because I just eat these types of books up! This book was very cute, and I often was laughing out loud at something the characters did or said. However, to me it felt like things were rushed with the two main characters. I didn’t really feel any chemistry between the two, and for me I think it was because it just seemed so rushed. It felt like they saw each other again after ten years, and only after a couple passing interactions were spilling all the bottled up feelings they had and then bam we were onto the next thing, the next, and then the end. The main conflict towards the end felt like that for me too, even though I thought the bare idea of it was great, it happened and then was over almost immediately.
I enjoyed the idea of all these characters, and as I said before they often had me laughing! But yet, at times I would get annoyed with the way they were acting because it felt like they were still fresh out of high-school, age wise.
I really wanted to absolutely love this, but I’m interested looking to see what Annie England Noblin does in the future!

Thank you to Annie England Noblin, HarperCollins, and Netgalley for giving me this ARC to read and review. I enjoyed it

“Did you miss me?”
“Every single day for the last ten years..”

If you like a cozy quick read in 3rd person this may be your book.

The title is both accurate and ironic because the romance feels like a fling but it has history.
Small town romance where the characters split for a period of time and reunite back in their small home town for one way or another - if this is the vibe you’re looking for then Spring Fling is for you!

Personally, I am not the biggest 3rd person fan and with the amount of dialogue in this book “he said” and “she said” disrupted the flow a bit for me. As much as I love quirks for a small town romance, some of the witty sayings became too much. However, others may find this to be sweet and add to the cozy/homey appeal.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon & Harper-Voyager for an opportunity to read this advanced copy!

Clay Creek is the epitome of small-town Arkansas - so it's no surprise when, after 10 years, Ben Lawrence's return sparks excitement amongst the townsfolk and feelings of uncertainty from his former best-friend, Mylie. After graduating from high school, the once inseparable pair forge their own paths through adulthood: Mylie starting the business of her dreams in Clay Creek and Ben earning degree after degree in the big city. Throughout this book, we get flashbacks to what brought them together in friendship and what was kept secret between them. This book has all the necessary ingredients for a tropey small-town romance: best friends, family antics, and a town villain with a robust rap sheet and an unquenchable thirst for revenge. With Clay Creek as a backdrop, I enjoyed watching the story unfold. The town and its inhabitants were fully fleshed out and not just added in as filler- I appreciated that they got their own well-deserved place in the story! Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read. Probably closer to a 3.75 but rating 4 stars because 3 wouldn't be enough! This was my first read from Annie England Noblin but certainly not my last.

Picky given I received an uncorrected e-proof, but is of note: Many times throughout this (including on one of the first few pages) there are discrepancies between the spelling of Mylie/ Miley. Also, Allie (another character) seems to often be placed in dialogue where it should be Cassie? I first noticed this during the scene where Mylie has to take Cassie home post some teenage troublemaking, and I had to re-read because I was certain it was just Mylie and Cassie yet Allie's name was next to the dialogue. I noted it again in Chapter 55 - Cassie is referred to as Allie.

3.5 Stars!

This small-town romance follows Mylie and Ben, former childhood friends, as they reconnect in Clay Creek, Arkansas. Mylie owns a tackle business and lives with her Granny and sister. Ben is coming back to Clay Creek to sell the family house after his grandfather and mother passed in order to start his new life as a professor.

I enjoyed the book overall. The characters and conflict fell a little flat for me at times. Conflicts didn’t have much build up and were resolved quickly. The setting and side characters were really enjoyable, but our main characters felt like they needed more to be relatable to the reader. There are some open door scenes, but I wouldn’t describe them as “spicy”. The book reads more YA than I am used to with books of this trope, which is perfectly fine, just unexpected.

I’d like to thank Annie England Noblin, NetGalley, and Avon + Harper Voyager for the eARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
This was a super lighthearted, fun, small town romance. The characters of the town were a fun ensemble and definitely added to this books charms. Felt like reading a hallmark movie, which is a compliment as I love a good hallmark movie.

The story follows Mylie and Ben who are childhood friends being reunited after 10 years apart. There is a bit of a dual timeline element as you get flashbacks to their childhood but for the most part it takes place in present day. These two characters have different wants and life goals though that is keeping them apart.

The beginning was just a little slow but once I hit the 40% mark it really flew by and I really enjoyed it. I do wish we had gotten more insight into Ben’s character at times but overall he was well rounded. Mylie and her family were definitely the beating heart of this story.

If you like small town, second chance romance, with hallmark movie feels this is definitely the book for you. Was a great summer read and leaves you feeling hopeful!

*this review will be posted on my instagram closer to publication date*

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Who says you can’t go home? When Ben returns to Clay Creek, Alabama from Chicago to sell his mother’s home, he is reunited with his first friend in the town from growing up, Mylie. Spring Fling is an adorable, breezy novel about second chances. Southern charm meets the culture of Appalachia for a delightfully heartwarming tale.

Review is on Goodreads and will be posted on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

This book was unfortunately not for me. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, except for maybe the cute raccoon, and it just kept me from really enjoying the story. Had to push myself to even finish it and overly felt too tropey and a little ridiculous. Unfortunately I do not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley & Avon/ Harper for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Was not my cup of tea. Not a fan of the writing style but it was still a cute romance easy read. I kinda pushed to finish reading it

This was a cute, fun romcom and I had a good time reading it, but overall I didn’t like the writing style and didn’t feel connected to the characters.

I would recommend it for the spring, but it’s not a favorite of mine!

All that to say the end was super cute and I did enjoy it

This was a quick read (around 300 pages). I really enjoyed it. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, when done well. This one was good!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

First off if you are looking for a quick, fun and cozy read, this is the book for you! From small town romance, first love, to friends to lovers - Miley and Ben’s relationship is a whirlwind!

A small town romance set in Clay Creek, Arkansas - Miley the Owner of Hook Line and Sinker - a bait and tackle shop and Ben a Professor of Economics, find their lives crossing paths again after 10 years as Ben fulfills a promise to his mother.

A four star quick read for me!

Thank you net-galley and Avalon Books for the opportunity to read this as an ARC!

This book was such a nice pleasant surprise for me! I was craving something but didn’t know what and this small town cozy romance was perfect. It was childhood best friends and second chance romance without a lot of the miscommunication that typically comes with this trope. I loved the setting of clay creek, that characters, especially granny, and the little danger/drama subplot with Robbie. The dialogue was funny, sweet, and realistic instead of cringy, I laughed out loud several times. Overall, this was the perfect small town romance. It was a great length, super bingeable read, entertaining, and engaging!

2.5!

This book is a sweet small town romance, following Mylie and Ben. This book was a fast- paced romance novel, perfect for someone who wants a deeper story, but not the pages!

When I first started this book, my immediate notice was to the third point perspective. However, I did get past this throughout, and it ended up adding to the charm of the book. I typically do not gravitate to small town romances, however this book was so charming, and the third point perspective added to that.

As I mentioned before, this book was very fast- paced. As someone who can typically gravitate to more details, this was a great break. I feel that this left for more imagination, and is absolutely perfect for someone starting to read, or needs a cute spring read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon + Harper Voyager for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Publishing for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Clay Creek, Arkansas is a small town like any other, where everybody knows everyone else there. Mylie and Ben had been best friends and neighbors since grade school, but while Mylie flourished in their cozy little town, Ben felt suffocated by it and longed to explore the world. When they graduated from high school, despite feeling as though they could have been more than friends, Mylie planted her roots while Ben set off to Chicago to take his chance in a big city. Ten years later, Ben returns to Clay Creek to settle his mom and grandfather’s estates and to sell their home there. His plan is to sweep quickly in and out of town as if passing through, but will he still feel the same way once he’s in Mylie’s orbit again?

This was a sweet, cozy little love story. The characters were endearingly adorable and their easy familiarity with everyone in Clay Creek draws the reader in and makes them feel like they are a part of it all. I loved that Mylie was strong and independent, while still demonstrating compassion and empathy. Ben is headstrong and stubborn, but also kind and giving.

While the plot line was somewhat predictable, it was paced well and kept my attention throughout. Though not overly dynamic, the characters were charming and utterly likable. If you love a small town, friends to lovers romance that will make you smile, then I highly recommend this book for you.

A Very cute, small town second-chance, friends-to-lovers romance. It has all the things! I enjoyed Miley and the cast of characters that filled up her world.