I found this to be a mix of Every Summer After and Into the Blue. Katie and Drew were next-door neighbors and best friends from middle school. They started dating in high school. She wanted to be an actor. He wanted to be president. Then the real-life complications happened in college, and they broke up.

The book goes back and forth between Christmas in the present, back in their hometown, which Katie has avoided for the last five years, and the past leading up to why she’s stayed away for so long. It almost made me think of People We Meet on Vacation and the way Emily Henry held out on telling you what happened. Which, in case you are unsure, I loved about that book.

Told from Katie’s perspective, you know her thoughts and feelings through the entire book. I think this worked really well. You could feel her awkwardness around the town. You could feel her embarrassment when she thought someone wanted her picture and they absolutely did not. You could understand the choices she made, even when I was thinking, Katie, no.

You don’t get that detailed into Drew, however. Though I think if we had both sides, the yearning would’ve been a little much. I do wish I knew more about why Drew moved home and stayed. He explains it to Katie, but it’s not as good as being in his head.

And the yearning. I’m not a stage-five yearner like some people. This is why I compare the book to Into the Blue. They both obviously care for one another and yet are not together. Becca Freeman does an amazing job of giving valid reasons for this, but if either of them had sat down and had the hard conversations, some of this would’ve been solved. However, the truth is most people at their age probably would not have done that, so I felt like it was accurate. You still wish they hadn’t missed out on all those years together.

Overall, I loved their families. This really helped the story, with both of them having great moms and sisters, even if his sister doesn’t like Katie. It made the Christmas party even better knowing the whole small town was basically there for the gossip and the empanadas.

And of course I loved the ending. Not just the happy ever after, but the full-circle moments she brought in too. I thought she did a good job of not just tying a bow on the story, but giving you just a bit more.