Synopsis:

Temperance Jean Madigan and Duncan Brady have never gotten it right. After one radiant, secret summer together when they were eighteen, they’ve been on-again off-again ever since. Now, despite red-hot chemistry and TJ’s closeness with Duncan’s family, they’re virtually strangers, only capable of adversarial banter, awkward small talk―and the occasional messy hookup.

When a wedding at the Brady’s vineyard lands TJ there for the summer, their mutual avoidance strategies prove impossible. The last thing TJ wants is to be under those angsty, heated glances Duncan thinks he hides. And for Duncan, having fiery TJ constantly close is the ultimate distraction that he absolutely can’t afford. When forced proximity begins to chip away at their armor, buried tensions resurface, old wounds urge confrontation, and once-in-a-lifetime love demands one last chance to finally get it right.

Right Where We Left Us by Jen Devon gave me all the summer romance feels I’ve been hoping to capture but haven’t quite been able to find so far this year. Her follow-up to Bend Toward the Sun, Right Where We left Us exudes the longing of star-crossed lovers, chemistry that leaps off the page, and a cast of characters worth rooting for—all the things I like best in my love stories

Duncan Brady wasn’t for her. He was made for folly and flirtation. Together they were binary stars built vivid and hot—unstable by nature and destined to catastrophically explode.

Just as I’ve seen many other readers say, I’m not sure why these two books aren’t promoted as a series. They most definitely are, practically picking up where the last one ended, just focused on a new couple within the Brady family universe. You could probably get away with reading this one without reading the previous book, but you might find yourself a little lost among all the characters. (And missing out terribly!) The Brady family is a big one. And even though I read the previous book, I still had to stop and jot down the family tree to refresh my memory. Once I did, I had everyone straight for the rest of the book.

In Right Where We Left Us, we get Duncan’s and Temperance’s story. Duncan is the youngest Brady brother, while Temperance is the younger sister of Maren, who married Duncan’s older brother Patrick. (See, I warned you it can get confusing!) A second-chance romance, Duncan and Temperance had a “secret” romance the summer they were eighteen, one that was so powerful they still haven’t gotten over it fourteen years later, often finding themselves unable to stay away from each other when thrown together for family gatherings. The reason these two can’t just be together is slowly revealed and I was relieved that it was a worthy reason. 

Sometimes when I read romances where our leads have pined for each other for years and years, it seems unbelievable. But I believed Duncan and Temperance. For one thing, they’ve continued to be in each other’s orbit, having to see one another often, and secondly, it was believable because they were so young when they first fell in love; it took time for them to understand their strong emotions.