I had just finished a romantasy that seriously put me in a slump. I had different ARCs on my Kindle but I knew I needed something light to get me out of the slump and I picked this book. Jokes on me because this book is far from light (in a heartbreaking but also really good way).

It's Different This Time is a second chance romance between two strangers who decided to live together - chef Adam and actress June. For years, they've lived together while secretly pining for each other. They skirted over their feelings until one fateful night where confessions are made but due to some misunderstanding, June and Adam didnt come to a consensus about their "relationship" and just started to fall out. They both started to date other people until it was too hard for June and she upped and left to go to LA to pursue acting without saying goodbye to Adam and completely cutting him off. A few years later, they found out their landlord passed away and left the brownstone to both of them. They spend a few weeks together and feelings come back but the lingering issue of June leaving and what happened in the past hang in the air. This is a story of their past, current and future together.

It's a beautiful love story. I like that the book showcased the past and present. The contrast between then and now was spot on too. Both June and Adam are extremely likable. I like seeing June's POV and understanding from her point of view how everything unfolded. I see her reasoning and fears but dont agree with how she handled it with Adam in the past. I love Adam too but I also did not like how he handled his feelings with June as well. They basically are both imperfect and young. The miscommunication between the two of them was frustrating because they've always been able to tell each other everything and shared a lot of their inner thoughts and secrets together so for them to not communicate through this was hard to read. However, I appreciated how it added to the plot of course. I love how it all came together with June pulling the strings this time. I like all the side characters especially Adam's family and Chloe.

Overall, it's a great love story. The writing was perfect and the pace was just right. It's a romance book through and through and I love that. Such a perfect fall read too!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

I was kindly provided with the arc of this book by NetGalley and the editors in exchange for an honest review, thank you ✨

4⭐️

Ok, this was a very adorable and cute second chance romance between former roommates that became best fiends and after going their lien way for a very long time, now have to be roommates again and having their second chance because they are the love of each others life 🙂‍↔️ and I love a good second chance romance 🙈✨ I really enjoyed the writhing of this book and made me want to keep reading the author and all the books ahead! But, and I hate to say it, I did find a little bit frustrating the way June was with Adam in some points of the book, as an insecure person myself I get her, but I think it was just a tiny bit much and Adam didn’t deserve that much insecurity about the way June felt about him and yup I wanted to shake June a little bit and tell her she need to go for the things that makes her happy no matter what!

That being said, it was a pretty good book and I did enjoyed it, and I think ka a pretty good story for this fall ✨

I don't even have words for how much I enjoyed this book. I read it in less than 24 hours and stayed up WAY into the night reading on a weekday. It was so worth it. For a debut novel, I was blown away and immediately pre-ordered a physical copy because I will definitely be reading this one again.

Something about the way Joss Richard wrote June and Adam's story gripped me from the very beginning. Stumbling into the bookstore she works at, June meets Adam, searching for a book for his mom (and passed down eventually to his sister) to read. Talking about life and their struggles to find a place to live, they decide to live in a beautiful brownstone together. Over the six years they live together, they go from roommates, to friends, to something more they can't quite define. But while June has serious feelings for Adam, she can't risk losing the friendship she loves so much.

Years after a falling out, they find out that the brownstone that they loved so much is now... theirs after the former owner/their old landlord passed away without anyone else to inherit it. The only catch is that they have to live in it together for 30 days before they own it and decide if they want to sell or rent it out. There was so many good things about this book, but mostly the tensionnnnnnn and the emotions I really related with.

June's insecurities with her family life and struggling to feel like she's wanted was a journey and while I don't typically love the back and forth between timelines, every chapter we got closer to the inevitable falling out, my stomach dropped further as if I was going through it personally.

To keep this spoiler free, I'll just say that this emotionally wrecked me and I am super stingy with 5 star reads. If you read and liked Seven Summers, you'll definitely like this. But at the end, you may be like me asking if I finished the book or if it finished me. *cries*

And of course, a massive thank you to Ballantine/Dell for the ARC. I feel so lucky to have been able to read this one early. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a great fall romance read, it had all the NYC autumn feels with a great slow burn friends to lovers storyline. I for the most part enjoyed this book a lot, it had good chemistry and a fun premise that brought these former roommates/friends into a forced proximity after many years apart. I thought the pining and the friends to lovers storyline was done well. The chemistry was definitely well done and I was rooting for the couple throughout. I had some issues with the overuse of miscommunication and with June's decision making, it just annoyed me and did not feel realistic at times. Overall though I enjoyed this book, it had a great fall feel, cozy scenes as well as having some great heartfelt moments.

I received an eARC thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine/Dell. All opinions are my own.

oh my gosh this was the PERFECT fall romance! I loved Adam & June so dang much. I’m a sucker for a second chance story, and this author just blew me away!

I couldn’t put this down! Second chance romance set in a dreamy brownstone in NY city. Such a great duvet novel! Easily 5 stars!

MY HEART! And this is a debut?! It was heartbreaking, honest and romantic all at the same time. It shows how important it is to choose living and not fear, to speak up for what you want and not run away to protect yourself. It's perfectly fall too, which makes this feel even more like a movie.

I think this is perfect for fans, not of romcoms, but of deeply human stories.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House for my ARC of this wonderful debut!

4/5

4.5/5
If I had been asked to review this book when I was about 1/3 of the way through, I would have given it 2/5 stars. But what a turnaround and ending! June's story arc and the evolution and self discovery she goes through during the book is well written and really draws the reader in. And Adam.....what can I say....he is just a wonderfully written MMC. Fall vibes....but not super strong. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.

This book is for the theater kids, the girlies who dreamed of falling in love with their best friend, and the ones who love second chance with character growth across 12 years.

I can't begin to put into words how absolutely stunning this book was. It blows my mind that this is a debut novel. Joss if you see this, I love you and your brain and I never want you to stop putting words on a page!!

What happens when two former roommates, best friends, are left with the brownstone in New York they rented as post grad young adults? And one of them now lives in LA? And they have years of unresolved conflict? And now they're staying in their old place, forced to revisit old memories and feelings? Do they sell? Do they rent? Do they stay?

This book was heartbreaking, addictive, and charming, all while making you fall absolutely head over heels in love with June and Adam and their long winded love story. It deals with the reality of having insecurities as a young adult, and how they influence all your relationships. It handled death and grief, and the complexity of navigating love through it all. While it may have been easy to be frustrated with June for her decisions, unfortunately, I really understood her and resonated with her thought process. She never felt loved, or gave love the way Adam did and that scared her and honestly thats really real of her. It also may have been easy to blame Adam for their initial, but he just wanted the love he saw going up and June simply couldn't do that for him at that time. GOD rehashing this is bringing me to tears again okayyyyyyyy...

If you can't tell I adored this book to pieces. June and Adam's story tore me to fucking PIECES and then gave me a big fat hug and put me back together. The writing was so good I felt sick to my stomach by how raw all the emotions were.

Thank you a million times to Dell Romance, Joss Richard, and NetGalley for the arc!!

It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard 🤎🍂

Two former roommates are drawn back to their beloved New York City brownstone home when their landlord passes away unexpectedly. Despite the years that have passed since their estrangement, unresolved feelings still linger between them.

This second chance romance will have you kicking your feet as you read friendship develop into something more. I really love when characters develop a friendship first. The relationship feels so much deeper and less insta lovey. I will say, I was close to throwing my book across the room a few times. The miscommunication was EXCRUCIATING. Their relationship was similar to those portrayed in movies such as Love Rosie, My Best Friends Wedding (which is mentioned several times in the book), & One Day. It’s so painfully obvious that they should be together but they just don’t voice it!!! But hey, you know the author is good at what they do whenever you find yourself rooting for the MCs to get together and live happily ever after!

Congrats to Joss Richard for a wonderful debut book & many thanks to NetGalley and Dell Publishing for this eARC!! 🤎

The characters, the plot, the nostalgia. 10/10 👏🏻👏🏻. I absolutely love the writing and ate this book up in a day. Also not me crying in the epilogue because I loved their landlord. Will absolutely read more of there book moving forward. I’m so thankful for NetGalley always supplying me with absolutely banger of books!

Can you be homesick for a place you’ve never lived? That’s how I felt reading It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard. While this book is a sweeping story of second chances, found family, learning to be honest with yourself, and emotional growth, it’s also a love letter to New York City and Broadway.

The way Joss weaved the story of Adam and June, allowing us to see where they are and where they’ve been, and the love they both had for each other, yet also the fear and trauma, was what I crave in a second chance romance. The feeling of being in your twenties and fumbling along suddenly being an adult, and forging lifelong relationships, but also still trending into the behaviors of adolescence, feeling like if you don’t seize any moment, you can you’ll be left behind by your peers. Looking back at those years in your thirties, the hurt you caused by trying to survive, but also how deeply you care about those people who were there with you. I loved it all but really it comes down to the backdrop of the city for me.

I found myself sitting in Marie’s Crisis with Adam and June, vividly seeing the old queen who is about to come out from behind the bar to do her solo. I could smell and feel the old carpet of the theatre lobby under my feet, and as the excitement and murmur of the crowd builds on our way to our seats. The fresh breath of an October morning when the whole city is before you, and a new day is starting. That’s what I felt reading this book. I miss the city, but reading this book I felt, even just for a little bit, that I was back there living alongside June and Adam.

Thank you Joss for this story, I can’t wait to see what you do next!

Thank you to Bantam Dell for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own!

This was an angsty and emotional romance that will satisfy all of the second chance romance lovers out there. I had a hard time putting this one down as I was very intrigued by this dual timeline and I wanted to know what had happened between June and Adam to get them to where they were.

One of the things I really loved most about this was Joss's talent at transporting the reader into the world of NYC in the fall. So many of these settings were so vivid in my mind that I was right there with them, watching June and Adam interact at the table next to me. A lot of times I thought to myself that this felt like I was watching a 2000s romance movie; I could easily see this to be rewritten to the big screen.

My reticence to give it 5 stars boils down to the third act breakup and how frustrated I was. With second chance romances, it's almost always due to miscommunication and that just isn't satisfying to me as a reader. But I think if you're a big fan of those romance books that sometimes tend to lean more towards "women's fiction" (think Emily Henry!), you'll really like this one.

An amazing debut! I can’t wait to read more books by Joss Richard in the future. I love second chance romances and this one was done so well. It was great to see how June and Adam found their way back to each other by moving back into the NYC brownstone that they used to live in. I highly recommend this one!


Thank you to NetGalley and Dell Romance for the eARC!

This was a fantastic debut novel. I loved the friendship between Adam and June. I adored how they were able to maintain such a wonderful friendship with such strong feelings for each other. I also loved Adam’s family and the love they have for June. But I hated the 3rd act breakup. It really felt beneath both of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell Romance for this ARC!

ARC Review

First off, this book was exactly what I needed. I selected this book personally because of the cover, but the writing and story within were just as fun, Now, in previous books I have read, I have struggled with dual timelines throughout a contemporary romance novel. Not because it’s difficult, but because I just want the story to move on. However, this was done fantastically. Next, the characters, June and Adam, felt true. Felt real. Their dynamic wasn’t forced, it was natural and I loved that Joe’s Richard used a dual ownership for a house to bring them together back from the past. I really enjoyed this and I can’t wait to see what else this author has in store because this being their debut novel is excellent!!!

Tropes:
Contemporary Romance
Dual POVs and Timelines
Second Chance Romance

Thank you to NetGalley, Joss Richard, and Ballantine for this chance to read this novel

This novel releases September 30, 2025

My review is posted on Goodreads, with a link below because it has some mild spoilers. I gave it a 2.5 out of 5 stars (rounded down) on both here and in Goodreads. I want to preface by saying I didn't hate the book, the romance just wasn't my cup of tea. I go way more in depth as to why this is the case in my Goodreads review, so if you'd like to read it with the spoilers the link is available. I'd be interested in checking out future works depending on what she writes next, but this book wasn't for me. "It's Different this Time" could be the perfect second chance romance for you to kick off the fall season with, though, so I'd recommend checking it out if it peaks your interest!

Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7888220310

3.5 or 4 Stars can’t decide!

NYC Setting
Friends to Lovers
SLOW BURN
Found Family
He’s a chef she’s an actress

I will definitely be reading more from this author, this being a debut is honestly insane.


🌶️
Bit spicy at parts but skippable. Ch. 23 and maybe one more can’t remember.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.75

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲:

☆ Romance
☆ Dual Timelines
☆ Forced Proximity
☆ Slow Burn
☆ Friends to Lovers

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:

First of all, I am absolutely floored that this is Joss Richard’s debut novel. The writing style is easy to follow while also being full of raw emotion and witty banter. The pacing flows beautifully, the New York City setting is absolutely spectacular, and I felt emotionally attached to all the characters that the story stayed on my mind even when I wasn’t reading.
The tension, yearning, and angst were all top tier for me. The only reason this wasn’t a full five-star read is because of the miscommunication trope. I personally despise that trope. Don't get me wrong, I completely understood why it was necessary for the plot, but it still made me want to smash my Kindle into a brick wall.
If you are looking for a romance with autumnal vibes, I highly recommend picking this one up.

✨️ Thank you so much to NetGalley, Ballenttine, and Dell for the advanced copy of this heartfelt book in exchange for an honest review.

𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀:

-The quotes referenced are from an advanced reader's copy and may not reflect the final version. Please refer to the finished copy for accuracy.-

"But wishing things were different is no use - people leave and people disappoint you. It's those who have yet to realize that whom I feel bad for."

"Blood doesn't mean you're family."

"There's no way to preserve anything forever. Trust me, I know. You win, you lose ... but you can't do either unless you take a chance."

"We're all just people looking for love and doing the best we can."

I’m so impressed that this was Joss Richard’s first book. It was amazing, and I rated it 4.5 stars, which rounded to 5 on Goodreads. This book gave me all of the emotions, and I couldn’t stop reading it. This was the perfect fall read, and thank you so much to Net Galley & Ballantine for this ebook ARC in exchange for my honest review.