After being away for years, Clara Hill is back in Green Valley. Things are both the same and different for her. Now she’s got the nice house, nice clothes, and funds that she didn’t have growing up, but she still has the same friends, scrappy attitude, and need to take care of her family.

And now the one who broke her heart back then is moving in next door.

Nick Easton, high school English teacher, football coach, and dedicated dad, is happy to be back in a house of his own, but he is not expecting the one-who-got-away to be living next door.

His love for her hasn’t gone away, but will she be willing to give it another try?

At a glance:
- Second chance
- Single dad
- Neighbors
- Secret relationship (then and now)
- Both with family trauma
- Caretaking
- Open door heat
- Cameos by characters from the Green Valley Library series and Penny Reid Universe

My favorite thing about this book is Nick. He’s hot. He’s sweet. He takes care of those around him. And I love a man who does his research.

His children are pretty awesome, too.

Clara has been through A LOT. She’s working on it—or at least is trying to work on it—but she’s prickly and not always mature.

The crux of why this book wasn’t a hit for me is that the two just won’t talk about what happened, so we spend a lot of time with them thinking about what happened / how they haven’t talked about what happened / why they feel the way they do about what happened without actually finding out exactly what happened until late in the book.

And, once the couple does talk about the past, things are resolved quite quickly.

Ultimately, I would have liked to have more scenes of Clara and Nick together and less inner monologuing over the past.

I received an advance copy of the book from Smartypants Romance. All review opinions are my own.