I appreciate a good second chance romance book and I just finished one worth mentioning. Still Falling for You by Nina Wynter is one to grab. It's out today.

I admit, I judged this book by its cover and I'm glad I did.

I really enjoyed the style in which this book was written. I found it very relatable and honest.
Essentially, this is about Holly who has just split up with her partner and ia living in a dingey studio flat and she's just about to start a new job.
Which is where she bumps into Alex. He was her boyfriend when she was 17 and we quickly learn that it wasn't a particularly amicable break-up.

I really liked Holly. I could imagine being friends with her. She has great morals and is just trying to get through life.
She has issues with her parents (who doesn't) is desperate for payday and has some truly wonderful friends - the three women as a group are formidable and reading the ways in which they support and lift ea h other up is a beautiful thing.

Thus is such a multi- layered story about all the different kinds of relationships we find ourselves in.

There was the usual miscommunication but not in the predictable sense and although there were a few unlikely scenarios, it wasn't enough to dampen my enjoyment.

I am going to be keeping my eye on Nina Wynter and will be first in the queue when their next book is available.

Absolutely loved this! Holly and Alex haven't seen each other in 10 years, since they broke up in their teens. When they both end up working in the same school, they both lash out, wounded by decade old memories of what went wrong. When Alex ends up as her mentor, Holly struggles to fight what she is feeling.
Will they be able to work together without imploding? Or will the sparks fly in their relationship and rekindle what was lost?

This was such a fun read. Holly is a great character perspective, and I really enjoyed her inner monologues, as well as her relationship with her two besties. I also loved the interpersonal relationships, especially at the school.

ahh where do I begin?? When I started reading this book, I just couldn't put it down after. This book tells the story between Holly and Alex, from Holly's pov, and we get glimpses of their past and present. Everything about this book was just so captivating to read. From Holly's dynamic with her friends to reading her various emotions out on display, I was so intrigued by how this was all going to play out in the end. As a second chance trope lover, I really enjoyed how this book was different from the others second chance novels. Plus, I think it's ~somewhat~ realistic on how second chances would be in real life. Do I think people get second chances in general? Eh, depends. But, I do think this book showcases how hard that aspect is while making you kicking, screaming, and giggling for various reasons you'll just have to read about ;)

Now why I didn't give this book 5 stars despite loving it so much...well there were just a few things that stuck with me that I couldn't shake off while reading it. First, there were some moments in the book I had to reread because I was truly like ???? what is this trying to say?? BUT!!!! these were very, very few moments. I think my big thing was mostly the miscommunication aspect. I thought it was so well done in the book, but I kinda wish Alex and Holly settled their problems and communicated just a bit earlier than when they had. And from there, it would have been nice to get more of their relationship dynamic after settling everything.

Nonetheless, I ate this book up. I really enjoyed reading it despite it not being the usual dual POV I love.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from NetGalley/The Book Guild—thank you!

Holly is starting her NCT year at a new school after being made redundant and discovering her ex-boyfriend's infidelity. True to form, she arrives on her first day drenched from the rain and late—only to be faced with her new mentor, Alex, who also happens to be her sixth-form love.

The premise of this book immediately grabbed me, and I was eager to uncover what had happened between Holly and Alex. The slow reveal of their past was handled well, keeping me intrigued throughout. Holly’s friendships with her besties were another highlight—heartwarming, supportive, and full of fun moments. The book maintains a lighthearted tone while still touching on deeper themes, and there are some brilliant pop culture references (Pushing Daisies, anyone?!).

However, I struggled to fully invest in Holly and Alex’s romance. Their present-day interactions are riddled with miscommunication, and their past relationship, while sweet, felt somewhat underdeveloped. We primarily see them sharing a few conversations in class or on the bus before quickly jumping into something romantic, and I would have loved more moments that truly showed why they were right for each other. What was uniquely them about their relationship? What common ground do they come back to every time?

I also found aspects of the writing style a little unnatural for me. The introduction of 13 named characters in the first 10% felt a little overwhelming, and some word choices pulled me out of the story—such as “road maintenance” instead of “roadworks” and “travel nausea” over “car sickness", as well as some americanisms (Kindergarten, Principal, Vice Principal). There were also a few continuity issues, like Alex’s piercing changing from a nose piercing in the first half of the book’s flashbacks to a lip piercing in the second half. Additionally, the use of marine and Japanese culture-based metaphors seemed like they were hinting at deeper character interests, but this never really materialised, which felt like a missed opportunity.

Overall, this was a fun and easy read—I finished it in 24 hours! There are some great golden nuggets here, but I think the book could have been a little longer, allowing for more development and depth.

World: 6/10
Characters: 6/10
Writing: 6/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Rereadability: 1/5
Recommendability: 2/5

Final Score: 27/50 ~ 2.75 stars

ARC Review!!!
Thank you to NetGalley and The Book Guild!

The book starts off with Holly's life being thrown into shambles. She's starting off a new job and is trying to get over finding out that her long time boyfriend cheated on her. Not only was he cheating but she caught him right in the act. Throw into the mix that her new mentor at the new job, it's her old ex high school boyfriend.
It's been 10 years since Holly saw Alex and things didn't exactly end on good terms. As the book goes on, we get snippets of the past and see exactly how Holly and Alex ended up not speaking to each other for 10 years.
The plot flows nicely and is a quick read. Very easy to get into and I ended up loving it. I love how throughout the story we see Holly gain confidence and stand up for herself. From telling her scumbag of an ex that she deserves her money and not letting him just walk over her. To standing up to her dad about what she knew all along. And finally Vicky. I clocked Vicky from the beginning!!! I knew that bitch was up to no good. What Holly ended up doing, was well deserved.
There's miscommunication but luckily I was able to somewhat overlook that. There's side characters who are so lovable and make the story even better!
4 stars!!!!

I love a good second chance romance!

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the lingo being from the Southern US, but it was easy to follow!

I really liked the leads Holly & Alex! I do however wish that there was a little more ending. Just another chapter where they talked a little bit more about what happened between then, and also what all they (aka Alex mostly) were up too during those 10 years apart.

Overall it was a good read, 4/5 stars!!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for the ARC read!

Holly is a lovable 27-year-old who just can’t seem to catch a break. She recently ended a relationship and is trying to get her career requirements finished up when she ends up with her high school ex-boyfriend, Alex, as her ECT mentor. Alex is a strait-laced, no-nonsense type, and Holly finds him hard to read but her teaching certification is dependent on him. She slowly chips away at his tough exterior as they spend more time together working for the same school but there are mixed messages sent both ways. Meanwhile, Aaron, Holly’s most-recent ex, makes her life miserable throughout the book. He cheated on her, and owes her money, preventing her from letting go and ultimately moving on. I love how Holly eventually confronts Aaron, near the end, by insisting he give her some of her things. Ultimately this results in her dragging a huge rug to a nearby restaurant. I loved the closeness of Holly, and her two best friends, Lydia and Catherine. I laughed-out-loud that Holly dragged a rug into a restaurant, to meet Lydia for dinner, and Lydia didn’t question it until they debriefed about Alex. That’s true friendship!

Luckily Holly has wonderful friends because her relationship with her parents is not great. Although it’s realistic to believe not everyone has wonderful parents, I sort of felt like this wasn’t a necessary storyline for the book. Holly’s dad was unfaithful to her mother, at a young, and her mother is overbearing and harasses her about her looks, constantly berating her about when she plans to get married. Seems like one of these storylines could have been eliminated without taking away from the overall theme of the book. I do appreciate, however, that her mom admits her shortcomings, eventually, and they are all able to move on.

The dynamic between Holly and Alex was fun and flirty but the on-again, off-again seemed to drag a bit, for me, as well as the the flashbacks were confusing at times. It gave off an It Ends With Us vibe, as it’s clear Alex did not have an ideal upbringing and Holly's parents did not approve. Maybe it would have been helpful to time-stamp the flashbacks? We are all in it for the love story and I feel like this one could have gotten there quicker. The dynamic throughout the book with Holly's high school friend, Vicky, felt forced. I love that Alex steps in, when Holly’s dad has health concerns, and you end up rooting for them to get together despite his tough demeanor. Overall, this was an enjoyable romantic comedy by Nina Winter and look forward to seeing what else she has written!

Thank you to NetGalley and The Book Guild Ltd for this eARC!

I'm a little bit lost on how I feel about this book.
Looking at the positives, I like Nina Wynter's writing! It's interesting, at a good pace, and it makes the characters lovable (for the most part). She also wrote about family issues in a way that was both authentic and nuanced. Showing us that family (and love interests) are not wholly right or wrong despite what things may look like. Moreover, she writes about female friendships in a beautiful way - showing that love is not only limited to family or romance.
That being said, the longer the book went on the less and less I was rooting for Alex and Holly to get together. I still don't see the characters' relationship lasting more than a few weeks. I get the miscommunication trope (at times I even like it) but when the entire relationship is just miscommunication after miscommunication, you stop rooting for the couple. In fact, you stop rooting for the individuals themselves.
All in all, I loved the first 75 - 80 percent, however, the miscommunication continued throughout the book and it became too much. I lost interest in the characters' stories and, therefore, the book itself.
Thank you very much to NetGalley for providing this ARC! All opinions shared are my own.

Holly is just starting a new job after being let go from her last one due to the school funding. She is starting at a new school as a teacher in her final course of school. She just moved into a studio apartment that likely hid a dead body at some time during the course of its life. So, obviously, it’s in great shape. Once she starts at school she runs into her first love, Alex, who is also the grumpy boss and her new mentor. He was one that whole-heartedly broke her. It’s been 10 years and she’s had relationships since then so she’s definitely over him and fine. Right? Of course she is. Well, maybe?

I really enjoyed this story! I loved Holly. I love someone who makes ridiculous comments and is relatable clumsy. Somewhere towards the beginning of the book she says something like “I’m not usually this clumsy” and then proceeds to be throughout the rest of the book. I really enjoyed her friends. They were so supportive and showed up for her when she needed help, but when they were struggling, Holly also stepped up and helped them and made sure they knew she was there for them no matter what was going on with her. I just loved seeing good solid female friendships.

I enjoyed Alex’s character as well. I could feel his conflicted feelings throughout the book, but you didn’t really understand why until almost the end of the book. He was just so sweet!

I was completely invested throughout the entire book and I loved that there were parts of the story that went back to Holly and Alex when they were teenagers and their relationship. It was really cute! I wish that we understood a little bit more from Alex’s perspective though. I was so confused as to why he was struggling so much with his emotions. I would have loved to have Dual POV throughout. There was a lot of push-pull throughout the book and they are both 27 years old…. just communicate with each other!

Lastly, I was SO disappointed that there wasn’t an epilogue! I literally tapped the last page several times because my brain did not comprehend that there was, in fact, nothing more. I just love an epilogue to give me a little glimpse into their future.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced reader's copy of Still Falling for You by Nina Wynter.

I was excited to read this book because it features two of my favorite tropes: second-chance romance and grumpy/sunshine dynamics. Plus, who doesn’t love a story about their first love slipping away? However, I have to be honest—I didn’t love this book as much as I hoped. I found myself considering DNFing it multiple times because it felt a bit mundane. That said, I’m the type of person who can’t DNF a book, no matter how much I might not enjoy it, because I have to know how the author wraps it all up. There were moments when I just wanted to put Holly and Alex in a room and yell, communicate! If they had communicated from the start, this story would have been a novella, and I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Holly's life is a mess. Her boyfriend cheated on her and she lost her job. The new job she works for her assistant principle is her ex boyfriend and he seems to be still holding a grudge from 10 years a go.
For the first half of this book I was really enjoying the tension between the two characters. It really felt like an enemies to lovers situation. But unfortunately in the back half is when things started to fall apart. Alex was very wishy washy with his feelings for Holly the whole time. The characters have been hiding on go a grudge for 10 years built on a lie someone else told them. Lack of communication/miscommunication trope is my least favorite and sadly this book had that in spades.
The main reason I was interested in this was because Holly is a teacher so I did enjoy the couple of times we got to see her interacting with her students and teaching lessons.

I, unfortunately, was not a fan of this book. I expected this to be a romance and it was more chick lit/young adult since there was no romance whatsoever until about the 90% mark and nearly ever character acted like a dramatic teenager. Alex was a jerk for most of the book and even though his feelings were valid, it didn't excuse his mean behavior towards Holly. They both lacked communication skills and had they simply tried talking like rational adults, they could have solved a lot of their problems sooner so we'd get to enjoy a little romance. Then there is the whole 'mean girls' drama going on at their school where it seems all the other teachers can do nothing but talk bad about each other behind backs and be catty. Again, these are teachers, not students, acting this way. Because there is no romance until the very end of the book, we really don't get to see how Holly and Alex were as a couple. There's no epilogue to give us a glimpse into their life after finally deciding to date either, which was disappointing.

I like a good enemies-to-lovers and second chance romance, but this was not it. If you are into YA/college-age chick-lit but with late 20-somethings, then you may indeed enjoy this and it may just be a 'it's me, not you' thing. I believe this is a new author and I wish her the best in her future books. I had no issue with the writing itself, just the characters.

While second chance romances are not my favorite trope, I really enjoyed the way this story was approached. The story was a bit whimsical, the banter and tension were well done, and enough mystery was left about what happened in Alex and Holly’s past that made it easy to get swept away in the book and finish it in one sitting.

The book begins with Holly and Alex being thrown back into each other’s lives for the first time since their break up ten years prior. Their previous relationship and what went wrong are revealed over flashbacks throughout the book.

Holly and Alex each have a kind and loving heart that they have learned to guard over the years in different ways. Holly has protected her heart by not allowing herself to fully open herself up emotionally to her partners, while Alex hides his vulnerable side with brooding silence and bitting comments. The two are supported by loving and supportive friendships with strong female characters that have become a found family.

The miscommunication trope heavily permeates the entire book, however, at times the failure to communicate seemed a bit forced in an effort to prolong the story at times. Overall, I did enjoy the book.
—
✏️ Debut novel
📓 Second chance romance
✏️ Grumpy x sunshine
📓 Lovers to enemies to lovers
✏️ Primary school teachers
📓 Found family
✏️ Strong female friendships
📓 Miscommunication
✏️ Banter
📓 Tension
✏️ Cheating (not between main characters)
📓 Alcoholism (referenced, familial)
✏️ Fade to black
📍England, UK
—
Thank you The Book Guild & NetGalley for this complimentary ARC - all thoughts are my own! 📚
Publishers release date 2/28/2025

I really enjoyed this book about first love and second chances! Was an enjoyable, easy read that had me wanting to bang the 2 main characters heads together! However , I totally got it all! Loved all the characters apart from 2!

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thankyou NetGalley, the author and The Book Guild Publishing for an arc copy of this book.

I loved this second chance romance! There was so many aspects that were really well done and definitely improved the reading experience. I read this in under 24 because I was so hooked to our storyline and our two main characters Holly and Alex. Holly has just started a new job as a teacher where her former teenage boyfriend will be her mentor. This shocks Holly and she learns to navigate this new job as well as having Alex as her grumpy mentor. I really enjoyed both of our main characters and loved reading the flashback moments of their teenage years and their relationship ten years ago. I think this aspect added a lot to our storyline and we were able to understand our characters on a deeper level. Another aspect I loved was Holly friends and how the friendship continued to grow and displayed genuine female bonds throughout. I was itching to find what had happened to ruin the connection between Holly and Alex during their teenage years and the mystery of this was suspenseful! However, I would loved to see more of Alex and Holly towards the end and even an epilogue. They ended up together but it felt really rushed, I would’ve loved to see where they are ten years from now.

Thank you Netgalley and The Book Guild for the eARC in exchange for a review. I received a complimentary digital copy of this book. This was my first Nina Wynter book. I was worried at first being from the US if the British reference would be difficult to follow but they were very well written into the story. Holly and Alex, young love that consumes your heart and never lets go. This book will bring you back to those teenage feelings and expose them in your adulting world.. Holly finds through her trials how to speak up for herself and still stay true to who she is. The book does go from past to present a few times, ,it happens without any warning or notice and I found myself scratching my head for a few paragraphs before I would realize we were in the past. I feel some of the back and forth between the side characters could have been several pages less. This was an overall fun and easy read. 3.5 stars ⭐️

I really enjoyed this book! As someone that lives in the US, I was worried I wouldn’t understand some thing but that did not happen, there was plenty of context when needed. I really enjoyed the storyline and the complicated emotions and topics covered. Great writing and dialogue.

oh holly and alex where do i begin? i did enjoy this book so much. a second chance romance done really well.
the teacher element was an original one and added layers to the book and allowed the past to be brought into the mix too.
there is so much relatable to this plot too. its all about how things can be messy, or how things that happen with love can form and change us forever. and sometimes how mixed communication can wrongly change our feelings!
our couple were really sweet in their own rights. they both had baggage which i could totally sympathize with. noone was a good guy or bad guy it just got a little complicated and needed both of them working together, or each other to figure it out.
i love the side characters in this one too. the friendships were fabulous.
really great read and anyone who loves a swoony yet not cliche or icky romance will love this book just as much i did. top recommendation for sure.

When Holly begins her new job as a primary school teacher, she is shocked to find that her ex-boyfriend from high school, the love of her life, is the assistant principal. What follows is a journey of Holly and Alex bumpily finding their way back to each other. The book is single POV, with many flashbacks to high school.

I read this book as an Advanced Readers copy via NetGalley. It publishes on Feb 28, 2025.