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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
This book definitely surprised me in the best way. I have never read any work by Sarah A Bailey but after this book I will be reading absolutely everything she writes.
This is a dual pov and dual timeline. This follows Leo and Darby from when they are spending a summer together as teenagers but it is also in the present 10 years later as adults. Darby was sent to live with her grandmother for a summer after this happen with her family. She comes from a weathly prominent family in Kansas so she is out of her comfort zone in a small beach town in California. Immediately on her first day she meets the boy next door, Leo. He is considered a heathen and troublemaker from her grandmother. After some persistence from Leo, they become fast friends and immediately develop a crush on each other. They have an epic summer romance but Darby goes home and never speaks to him again. Flash forward 10 years later and we are at her wedding and Leo is in the audience. She must now choose if she wants that one true love or the life her father wants for her.
This is a dual pov and dual timeline. This follows Leo and Darby from when they are spending a summer together as teenagers but it is also in the present 10 years later as adults. Darby was sent to live with her grandmother for a summer after this happen with her family. She comes from a weathly prominent family in Kansas so she is out of her comfort zone in a small beach town in California. Immediately on her first day she meets the boy next door, Leo. He is considered a heathen and troublemaker from her grandmother. After some persistence from Leo, they become fast friends and immediately develop a crush on each other. They have an epic summer romance but Darby goes home and never speaks to him again. Flash forward 10 years later and we are at her wedding and Leo is in the audience. She must now choose if she wants that one true love or the life her father wants for her.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I usually enjoy a second chance romance and time skips, but this one felt a little too excessive, especially the time jumps every other chapter. Most of the book is focused on the fmc healing and working on her traumas and I felt like the mmc was too perfect. The revelation at the end was pretty lackluster. However, there were still some really sweet moments and the romance was deep and rich. I want to read the other characters’ stories.
⭐ 4.75
🌶️ 2.5
🥵 Spicy chapters: 22, 32, 34, 37, 39, 47
📚 Tropes/Themes: flashbacks/dual timeline second chance, first love, it's always been you, the one that got away, soulmates, epistolary, right person wrong time
👀 Dual POV 1st person
💔 Triggers: Toxic family relationships, parental emotional abuse and neglect, miscarriage, death
🛍️ Available: Now
💬 Well this was an emotional roller coaster. Like how dare this book rip my heart out of my chest and then put it back together like that😭😭. It might take me a minute, I'm still processing this and I'm sorta at a loss for words on how to describe what I loved about it.
Ok, I clearly loved this story 🥹 it's incredibly emotional and swoony and angsty. (My FAVESSSSS) I thought I was going to make it out alive without crying and then the backpack happened 😭 so you probably need tissues to read this.
Idk this is exactly the kind of book I go feral for. I just can't even describe the perfection that is Leo. He's just so sweet and kind and 😩. All the green flags. Emotionally mature and an old soul who has already dealt with more than his fair share of heartache. He's what book boyfriend are made of.
And Darby, I loved her so much. Everything last heartbreaking thing went through and came out stronger on the other side.
I loved how the story jumped back in time to follow the start of their relationship, and then jump back to the present as they found their way back to each other. Like this writing really just sucked me in and had me in a choke hold. Their chemistry was SO GOOD. The spice is 🤌🏼I just can't recommend it enoug
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🌶️ 2.5
🥵 Spicy chapters: 22, 32, 34, 37, 39, 47
📚 Tropes/Themes: flashbacks/dual timeline second chance, first love, it's always been you, the one that got away, soulmates, epistolary, right person wrong time
👀 Dual POV 1st person
💔 Triggers: Toxic family relationships, parental emotional abuse and neglect, miscarriage, death
🛍️ Available: Now
💬 Well this was an emotional roller coaster. Like how dare this book rip my heart out of my chest and then put it back together like that😭😭. It might take me a minute, I'm still processing this and I'm sorta at a loss for words on how to describe what I loved about it.
Ok, I clearly loved this story 🥹 it's incredibly emotional and swoony and angsty. (My FAVESSSSS) I thought I was going to make it out alive without crying and then the backpack happened 😭 so you probably need tissues to read this.
Idk this is exactly the kind of book I go feral for. I just can't even describe the perfection that is Leo. He's just so sweet and kind and 😩. All the green flags. Emotionally mature and an old soul who has already dealt with more than his fair share of heartache. He's what book boyfriend are made of.
And Darby, I loved her so much. Everything last heartbreaking thing went through and came out stronger on the other side.
I loved how the story jumped back in time to follow the start of their relationship, and then jump back to the present as they found their way back to each other. Like this writing really just sucked me in and had me in a choke hold. Their chemistry was SO GOOD. The spice is 🤌🏼I just can't recommend it enoug
h
Why in the HEATHEN AND HONEYSUCKLE have I not read this until now? This was so good.
I am not too sure how long this has originally been out but it caught my eye in it’s rerelease and I am forever happy it did 🥹 this is the perfect example of a first love forbidden summer romance. Oh it was so good. AND AND AND usually I don’t jump into dual timelines right away because I find that you end up caring about one timeline way more but this might be the first that I was equally as invested in both past and present timelines.
Darby moves to spend the summer with her grandma in a small seaside town when she’s 17 where she meets Leo, a flirty surfer. She was a good girl, he was a ‘bad boy’ - can I make it anymore obvious? 🏄 this teenage summer love made me nostalgic for high school summers lol
Something divides these two and fate (and letters and a sister) bring these two back together 10 years later. A runaway bride and a road trip is good for the soul and reconnecting with your teenage love.
OH it was good. Please read this this summer / it’s so perfect for the warm weather ☀️ can’t wait to dive into book two. This found family has already solidified a place in my heart.
I am not too sure how long this has originally been out but it caught my eye in it’s rerelease and I am forever happy it did 🥹 this is the perfect example of a first love forbidden summer romance. Oh it was so good. AND AND AND usually I don’t jump into dual timelines right away because I find that you end up caring about one timeline way more but this might be the first that I was equally as invested in both past and present timelines.
Darby moves to spend the summer with her grandma in a small seaside town when she’s 17 where she meets Leo, a flirty surfer. She was a good girl, he was a ‘bad boy’ - can I make it anymore obvious? 🏄 this teenage summer love made me nostalgic for high school summers lol
Something divides these two and fate (and letters and a sister) bring these two back together 10 years later. A runaway bride and a road trip is good for the soul and reconnecting with your teenage love.
OH it was good. Please read this this summer / it’s so perfect for the warm weather ☀️ can’t wait to dive into book two. This found family has already solidified a place in my heart.
- second chance
- dual timelines
- runaway bride
- good girl x "bad boy"
- road trip
- no third-act breakup
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
- dual pov
This made my second-chance, dual-timeline heart so happy!
We meet Darby and Leo during an unforgettable summer in Pacific Shores. As their love blooms, Leo pushes Darby out of her comfort zone and helps her grow into someone braver and freer. But just as things feel perfect, she's forced to leave him behind, and the real reason slowly unravels in the past timeline.
In the present, Leo shows up at Darby's wedding (with a bit of help from her sister), and she does the only logical thing—runs away with him. Cue the road trip back to where it all began, giving them time to reconnect and finally face what drove them apart.
There are so many beautiful moments: the "it's always been you" energy, the fact that Leo kept her ring, their matching tattoos (!!), and the way he defends her again and again. He wants her to chase her dreams, not the life her parents tried to script for her. With him, she gets to be her whole self, and that kind of love? That's gold.
Also… the spice? It's spicing. One scene in particular lives rent-free in my brain.
If you're a second-chance romance lover, Heathen & Honeysuckle is a must-read. No breakup, just two soulmates finding their way back to each other 💛.
Thank you, Page & Vine, for the early copy!
- dual timelines
- runaway bride
- good girl x "bad boy"
- road trip
- no third-act breakup
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
- dual pov
This made my second-chance, dual-timeline heart so happy!
We meet Darby and Leo during an unforgettable summer in Pacific Shores. As their love blooms, Leo pushes Darby out of her comfort zone and helps her grow into someone braver and freer. But just as things feel perfect, she's forced to leave him behind, and the real reason slowly unravels in the past timeline.
In the present, Leo shows up at Darby's wedding (with a bit of help from her sister), and she does the only logical thing—runs away with him. Cue the road trip back to where it all began, giving them time to reconnect and finally face what drove them apart.
There are so many beautiful moments: the "it's always been you" energy, the fact that Leo kept her ring, their matching tattoos (!!), and the way he defends her again and again. He wants her to chase her dreams, not the life her parents tried to script for her. With him, she gets to be her whole self, and that kind of love? That's gold.
Also… the spice? It's spicing. One scene in particular lives rent-free in my brain.
If you're a second-chance romance lover, Heathen & Honeysuckle is a must-read. No breakup, just two soulmates finding their way back to each other 💛.
Thank you, Page & Vine, for the early copy!
This has pretty high ratings in general, but I just don't get it. Am I dead inside?
DNF @ 50%
Book 2 was on my TBR I think in March? April? Didn’t get to it (actually I sort of did, and read like 2 chapters and the writing felt weird but I was feeling a bit slumpy so I thought it was me and didn’t even acknowledge the attempt). Figured book 1 is on audio so why not?
Why not indeed.
This is just not for me. I don’t like the narrators. I don’t like the characters. I don’t like the writing. I’m really not liking the past and present and I’m not usually someone bothered by that (when it’s done well). I just have zero desire to continue on, and I looked up spoilers and I’m good. I’ve seen what I needed to see.
Book 2 was on my TBR I think in March? April? Didn’t get to it (actually I sort of did, and read like 2 chapters and the writing felt weird but I was feeling a bit slumpy so I thought it was me and didn’t even acknowledge the attempt). Figured book 1 is on audio so why not?
Why not indeed.
This is just not for me. I don’t like the narrators. I don’t like the characters. I don’t like the writing. I’m really not liking the past and present and I’m not usually someone bothered by that (when it’s done well). I just have zero desire to continue on, and I looked up spoilers and I’m good. I’ve seen what I needed to see.