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Five Years and 2,000 Miles
Can a friendship ruined by a kiss ever recover?
Five years ago, on a trip to visit his father for the summer, thirteen-year-old Leo Meyer made friends with the neighborhood boy Morgan Sloan. Leo got more from their relationship than he bargained for—his first kiss. Confused by his own feelings, Leo decided to cut his vacation short, leaving Morgan and their plans for the summer behind.
Five years later, Leo still has regrets about running away that summer. But he’s given a second chance when he and Morgan both go off to college and fate brings them to the same school. While he’s interested in catching up, Morgan is dating a man who is less than fond of Leo. The last thing Leo wants to do is cause problems in Morgan’s relationship.
Can Leo and Morgan come to terms with what happened between them and navigate friendship, or have they grown apart too much in the last five years?
Five years ago, on a trip to visit his father for the summer, thirteen-year-old Leo Meyer made friends with the neighborhood boy Morgan Sloan. Leo got more from their relationship than he bargained for—his first kiss. Confused by his own feelings, Leo decided to cut his vacation short, leaving Morgan and their plans for the summer behind.
Five years later, Leo still has regrets about running away that summer. But he’s given a second chance when he and Morgan both go off to college and fate brings them to the same school. While he’s interested in catching up, Morgan is dating a man who is less than fond of Leo. The last thing Leo wants to do is cause problems in Morgan’s relationship.
Can Leo and Morgan come to terms with what happened between them and navigate friendship, or have they grown apart too much in the last five years?
- GenresRomanceM M Romance
431 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 29, 2024
46 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 7, 2025
I didn’t enjoy this... it started off interesting but after page 70, I started skimming because it got pretty boring. This is just not for me.
February 12, 2025
4.5 rounded. This is a phenomenal book. It's a book that can be read leisurely, because it deserves to be savoured. It deserves to be read by many more people, and I'm definitely gonna recommend it. There isn't much info about the author neither here on GR nor at the end of the book. I really hope there's a lot more books coming soon. One of my favourite things was that the characters were so realistic. YA and NA are generally not my favourite because adult authors tend to exaggerate so many aspects and the characters' maturity is rarely right. Not here. Duncan did a wonderful job with creating not only realistic characters, but also super likeable ones. No one is obnoxious or too Hollywood high school *cringe*. And not just the characters, the entire university atmosphere was authentic (except maybe the six week winter break, which would have been wonderful to have irl lol). It made me miss those days.
The book doesn't have any triggers listed, so potential readers should be wary of: ; and . This is not a comprehensive list.
Which brings me nicely to the main point of this book: the relationships. . The entire character development arcs of the MCs together and individually was wonderful to read and a believable coming of age.
Moving on. I liked the side characters, especially the fellow students. They were three dimensional without taking over the story. The adults had much less page time, .
So yeah, a really great book that I highly recommend reading. And I cannot wait to see what Duncan writes next!!
[I am back almost 20 days later to say two things: first I loved the story of how Leo began to love the stars and got into astrophysics. And I've been wondering what Sloan's actual eye colour is. We only ever hear it's grey from Leo but is it really grey, or green? Not really important, other than the fact that despite reading several more books since, I still remember and think about this one.]
Progress updates (contain spoilers): 9%; 21%; 22%
The book doesn't have any triggers listed, so potential readers should be wary of: ; and . This is not a comprehensive list.
Which brings me nicely to the main point of this book: the relationships. . The entire character development arcs of the MCs together and individually was wonderful to read and a believable coming of age.
Moving on. I liked the side characters, especially the fellow students. They were three dimensional without taking over the story. The adults had much less page time, .
So yeah, a really great book that I highly recommend reading. And I cannot wait to see what Duncan writes next!!
[I am back almost 20 days later to say two things: first I loved the story of how Leo began to love the stars and got into astrophysics. And I've been wondering what Sloan's actual eye colour is. We only ever hear it's grey from Leo but is it really grey, or green? Not really important, other than the fact that despite reading several more books since, I still remember and think about this one.]
Progress updates (contain spoilers): 9%; 21%; 22%
March 31, 2024
Real Rating: 4.5 stars
I flew through this book so fast. This was truly a coming of age read, with the main characters starting university and being away from home for the first time. This is definitely book for Alice Oseman fans.
Leo takes the more traditional route. He moves out of state for university to change up his life and goes through the usual roommate get-t0-know-yous, the experience of making new (and old) friends, and the feeling of falling in love, truly, for the first time. I really enjoyed his character as he found people to pull him out of his shell and allow him the space to be himself (very introverted, thoughtful, and loyal). I loved the little found family that he found himself in and his friends truly lived out the trend of extroverts adopting introverts.
Sloan, in contrast, is only moving an hour away from the neighbourhood he grew up in. In a year-long relationship, he moves in with his boyfriend and deals with all the growing pains that come with that. As he makes new friends and learns more about the man he moved in with, he learns the true meaning of unconditional love and support. I loved him so much, and I wanted to hug him so badly.
Colette, Justin, and Max, along with Leo and Sloan's respective family and friends, were so much fun and were fleshed out well. I loved seeing them explore university and all it has to offer them as the book progressed and we saw their growth as well.
As a whole, this book is entirely character driven and joining them through their freshman year was rewarding, emotional, and fun. I'm so sad that their story is over, but I am so looking forward to Ivy Duncan's books in the future!
Rep: MC is colourblind
TW: emotional abuse, drug use, alcohol consumption, violence, sexual content, vomit; mentions sexual assault
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 3/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
eARC obtained via Reedsy Discovery in exchange for an honest review and remuneration.
I flew through this book so fast. This was truly a coming of age read, with the main characters starting university and being away from home for the first time. This is definitely book for Alice Oseman fans.
Leo takes the more traditional route. He moves out of state for university to change up his life and goes through the usual roommate get-t0-know-yous, the experience of making new (and old) friends, and the feeling of falling in love, truly, for the first time. I really enjoyed his character as he found people to pull him out of his shell and allow him the space to be himself (very introverted, thoughtful, and loyal). I loved the little found family that he found himself in and his friends truly lived out the trend of extroverts adopting introverts.
Sloan, in contrast, is only moving an hour away from the neighbourhood he grew up in. In a year-long relationship, he moves in with his boyfriend and deals with all the growing pains that come with that. As he makes new friends and learns more about the man he moved in with, he learns the true meaning of unconditional love and support. I loved him so much, and I wanted to hug him so badly.
Colette, Justin, and Max, along with Leo and Sloan's respective family and friends, were so much fun and were fleshed out well. I loved seeing them explore university and all it has to offer them as the book progressed and we saw their growth as well.
As a whole, this book is entirely character driven and joining them through their freshman year was rewarding, emotional, and fun. I'm so sad that their story is over, but I am so looking forward to Ivy Duncan's books in the future!
Rep: MC is colourblind
TW: emotional abuse, drug use, alcohol consumption, violence, sexual content, vomit; mentions sexual assault
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 3/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
eARC obtained via Reedsy Discovery in exchange for an honest review and remuneration.
May 21, 2025
The premise of this book sounded good, and I love a second chance romance. However, there were quite a few things that I had an issue with in the book.
- The length of this book. Why was this book 444 pages? I could understand in a fantasy romance where the world building takes a while, but in a contemporary college romance? It didn't seem necessary, in my opinion.
- The casual SA. Anytime a person has to be coerced/ persuaded/ intimidated to 'put out' as Sloan says it, without their continuous enthusiastic consent, it's not s*x, it's assault. And it happened so many times in this book with no content/ trigger warnings prior that would let the reader know to expect this.
- The spelling of brunet vs brunette. I know this is a small detail, but the spelling of this word is switched up randomly in the book and it is not consistent. It appears on page a lot more than you would think.
- The description of the black character as black when the other characters are never described, so are we to just assume they're white? We need a little more diversity in characters, why are 99.9% of them white?
- WHY did Sloan's parents ever agree to their son living with a whole ass college senior while he's a freshman? They met when he was 16! And that's not enough of a red flag??? They were 'dating' when Sloan was in highschool and Drew was a junior in college 🙃 I'm not blaming Sloan, because he's just a kid, but the parents really should've seen Drew's behavior for what it was- grooming.
- I felt like Sloan's and Drew's relationship went on for waaaay too much of the book (over 75%), considering the book was not that couple, but about Sloan and Leo. And it is not reasonable to assume that Sloan would want to jump into another relationship the second he breaks up with his emotionally abusive ex. He needs therapy and time to heal from that.
- Why did Leo have the personal number of his highschool teacher, text him frequently, call him by his first name, and go over to this man's house/ out for coffee with him??? HE'S A GROWN ASS MAN TEXTING A 17 YEAR OLD
Overall, I just felt a little misguided by the synopsis, as it lacks anything about the emotional abuse/narcissm/ DV that is experienced in this book by Sloan. I love a happy ending, but this one wasn't healthy and I feel like Sloan/ Leo needed to be a whole separate book or something. Also, it was never mentioned outright, but Leo seems to be possibly on the autism spectrum and that neurodivergence should be celebrated and used to represent some of the people who may be reading this book, not hidden and used to make this character look unfriendly or 'weird'.
- The length of this book. Why was this book 444 pages? I could understand in a fantasy romance where the world building takes a while, but in a contemporary college romance? It didn't seem necessary, in my opinion.
- The casual SA. Anytime a person has to be coerced/ persuaded/ intimidated to 'put out' as Sloan says it, without their continuous enthusiastic consent, it's not s*x, it's assault. And it happened so many times in this book with no content/ trigger warnings prior that would let the reader know to expect this.
- The spelling of brunet vs brunette. I know this is a small detail, but the spelling of this word is switched up randomly in the book and it is not consistent. It appears on page a lot more than you would think.
- The description of the black character as black when the other characters are never described, so are we to just assume they're white? We need a little more diversity in characters, why are 99.9% of them white?
- WHY did Sloan's parents ever agree to their son living with a whole ass college senior while he's a freshman? They met when he was 16! And that's not enough of a red flag??? They were 'dating' when Sloan was in highschool and Drew was a junior in college 🙃 I'm not blaming Sloan, because he's just a kid, but the parents really should've seen Drew's behavior for what it was- grooming.
- I felt like Sloan's and Drew's relationship went on for waaaay too much of the book (over 75%), considering the book was not that couple, but about Sloan and Leo. And it is not reasonable to assume that Sloan would want to jump into another relationship the second he breaks up with his emotionally abusive ex. He needs therapy and time to heal from that.
- Why did Leo have the personal number of his highschool teacher, text him frequently, call him by his first name, and go over to this man's house/ out for coffee with him??? HE'S A GROWN ASS MAN TEXTING A 17 YEAR OLD
Overall, I just felt a little misguided by the synopsis, as it lacks anything about the emotional abuse/narcissm/ DV that is experienced in this book by Sloan. I love a happy ending, but this one wasn't healthy and I feel like Sloan/ Leo needed to be a whole separate book or something. Also, it was never mentioned outright, but Leo seems to be possibly on the autism spectrum and that neurodivergence should be celebrated and used to represent some of the people who may be reading this book, not hidden and used to make this character look unfriendly or 'weird'.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2024
This book was a joy to read. It's filled with relatable characters, moments that make your heart squeeze, and a villain (maybe that's a strong word for him, but he certainly felt like a villain) that you're desperate to root against. It captures the anxieties of being a first year college student, and the complex emotions that can come along with unhealthy relationships. I loved getting to read about Sloan and Leo coming to terms with their feelings for each other, and both of their character developments as Leo comes out of his introverted shell, and Sloan begins to realize he deserves better than what his relationship with Drew is giving him. A perfectly paced slow burn that makes you root for the couple so much that you can't stop turning pages. I'm really looking forward to this author's next work!
April 22, 2025
This book was a roller coaster, to say the least. Leo, sweet, previously innocent Leo. Oh how you were one of the saner characters in this “story”. Ok so this book is about these to kids Leo and Morgan/ Sloan. They knew each other as kids but after something happened, they stopped being friends. Five years later, they meet each other once again in college, my homie Leo was single as a pringle, and Sloan got him poor self into a emotionally abusive relationship, with my opp Drew. So some stuff happens ( like a wall getting punched or whatever) and the homies were back at it. It was going really well and then they got together, i was waiting for this to happen and then Leo got punched in the face by Drew bc he was checking out at the store before him. If I were to type about my problems with the book, we would be here all day. So just ask me irl.
July 6, 2025
I started this book and wasn’t expecting much of it to be honest. I was wrong, I can’t believe how good it is! Loved the story, the characters and the writing. I’ll recommend to anyone who ask from now on!
November 23, 2025
An engrossing story
Liked the characters. They seemed like people you would know in real life. The story was believable and not sappy, which made it more enjoyable. With some authors the characters say I love you in the second chapter lol.
Liked the characters. They seemed like people you would know in real life. The story was believable and not sappy, which made it more enjoyable. With some authors the characters say I love you in the second chapter lol.
January 31, 2025
This was very, very YA/NA and very, very drawn out… But if you don’t mind these things, it was otherwise a pretty good book.
April 2, 2025
Awesome Story 👏
This was a very long book and I enjoyed all of it. I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes a slow burn romance 😊
This was a very long book and I enjoyed all of it. I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes a slow burn romance 😊
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews