Heathen & Honeysuckle is a beautifully bittersweet story about first love, second chances, and the aching pull between who we’re told to be and who we truly are. The chemistry between Darby and Leo is undeniable, sun-drenched and nostalgic, with just the right amount of angst. The California setting adds a dreamy, golden haze to their reckless, youthful summer, and the emotional weight of their reunion years later hits with just enough heartbreak. While some plot points feel a bit familiar, the raw vulnerability of the characters and the tension between freedom and duty give this romance real depth. A swoony, emotional read perfect for fans of love that lingers.

Heathen & Honeysuckle by Sarah A. Bailey is book 1 in the Pacific shores series. This is a dual POV and dual timeline (current day and 10 years ago) second chance romance. Darby is spending the summer with her grandma in California, a sheltered 17 year old who has been controlled by her parents her entire life. Leo is an extremely talented surfer who has been trying to live a full life while hiding from his ghosts. Wow. Seriously, I was blown away by this book! The connection and emotional depth the author was able to convey between characters was breathtaking and I found myself wrapped up in their love and world. There are certainly very difficult obstacles that each character has gone through in their lives and the author was able to beautifully articulate their feelings and motivations. I cannot wait to read more by Sarah Bailey!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a gripping, beautiful, and heartfelt story! I've long since wanted to give into this author's work, and I'm so glad I finally dove into this charming second chance love story. This book is peak "it's always been you" energy. With a green flags hero, and heroine who's been through so much, and the most rewarding story of healing and reconnection. Gasp, I'm so in love.

Leo and Darby share a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love—sweeping, emotional, life changing. Their journey is anything but simple, even if the love they share is. Told in dual timelines, the story begins when 17-year-old Darby is sent to spend the summer with her grandmother in the quiet coastal town of Pacific Shores. There, she meets Leo—a soulful surfer with striking blue eyes and a heart as big as the sea. What starts as a sweet friendship quickly evolves into a deep and passionate connection. But just as their bond begins to solidify, Darby abruptly leaves, vanishing from Leo’s life without explanation. He’s left behind, desperate for answers.

Ten years later, just days before her wedding, Leo unexpectedly reappears with a letter and a promise—forcing Darby to confront the past she’s kept buried and choose between the life she’s built and the love she never forgot. She carries secrets, heartbreak, and the real reason she left all those years ago. The question is—can two people, shaped by pain and time, find their way back to each other?

Leo is the kind of romantic hero that stays with you—thoughtful, steady, emotionally intelligent, and protective without being overbearing. Even at 17, his maturity and kindness shine. As an adult, he’s only grown more magnetic, a perfect balance of grounded and irresistible. Darby, once the bright and eager-to-please golden girl, finds her spirit dimmed after years in a toxic environment. Oh my how my heart felt for her. Her summer with Leo opened her up to joy, independence, and the beauty of being fully herself. Now, a decade later, her journey back to that girl—and back to Leo—is so emotionally rich. Heartbreak with healing. It's mesmerizing watching her find her way back to herself, while also finding her way back to Leo.

Darby and Leo’s story is a soul-stirring, beachside romance that captures the whole heart. It's somehow the perfect beachy summer read while also being a heart-piercing, existential one all at once. Sarah’s writing is lush and emotional, and I found the emotional aspects both resonant and authentic. This is such an easy story to fall for (and I just think it would be gorgeous on audio, I think I'll re-read by listening!) What a beautiful story of hope, healing, and second chances.

What to Expect:
-Surfer Hero
-Runaway Bride
-Good Girl x Bad Boy
-Second Chance
-Forced Proximity
-Roadtrip
-Dual Timeline
-right person, wrong time
-it's always been you

This was an ok read for me. I was hoping to enjoy it more than I did, but I couldn’t really connect with the story.

Heathen and Honeysuckle features Darby and Leo, also known as Heathen (Leo) and Honeysuckle (Darby). Their story is told by weaving together their story from ten years ago, when they were teenagers and present day. In the past, they had a whirlwind summer romance and in the present Leo helps Darby escape her arranged marriage.

This was extremely difficult to read. The back and forth of the timelines was very stilted and each time something was furthered in the present we had to go back and reexplain it in the past. It felt like those Fanfiction stories where chapter one would be one characters POV and chapter two would be the exact same chapter but in the other characters POV. It made the book feel super long.

Also, despite the time difference, they both still acted like they were teenagers. Totally fine with their love being just as strong, but it was like they hadn’t grown at all as characters, nothing felt different between the two timelines. Spicy scenes as 27 year olds felt weird because seriously, it felt like they were 17. The words he said were just so cringy, I couldn’t take it seriously because I kept going “you’re 17!”

Anyway, not for me, which is too bad.

🌿 Book Review 🌿
Heathen & Honeysuckle by Sarah Bailey

Southern heat + second chances = one unforgettable slow burn. 🌾💋
Darby and Leo have history—and chemistry that doesn’t quit. Their love simmers with tension, tangled pasts, and moments that’ll leave you blushing.

This one’s all about emotional intensity and that delicious “will-they-won’t-they” fire. 🔥

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Hot, heartfelt, and haunting in all the right ways.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sarah Bailey for this ARC copy!! 🖤🖤

With a well-executed dual-timeline, Heathen & Honeysuckle follows FMC Darby and MMC Leo as they fall in love during one special summer when they’re seventeen and, simultaneously, ten years later, when they find their way back to that same breathtaking love after being torn apart. Crushed by a lifetime of spiritual and emotional abuse at the hands of her parents and haunted by the events that led to her separation from Leo just as their love was truly blossoming, Darby’s story was challenging to read at times. I felt that some important details regarding Darby’s past in particular were withheld too long and the awkward avoidance in the narrative became repetitive and frustrating, however the emotional climax as she unburdens her heart and soul was effective and powerful.

And Leo—gods, Leo, the man you are. It feels like a betrayal to my favourites, but dare I say it: Leo Graham may be the paragon of book boyfriends. I think he *actually* made me swoon a few times, and not just because of his wicked tongue. Despite being burdened by his own trauma and insecurities—and with his heart still in pieces after Darby ran away—Leo doesn’t hesitate to show up for Darby in her moment of need, even fearing he’ll suffer that same all-consuming heartbreak again. Watching Leo and Darby find their way back to each other–and finding their individual selves again through their love—was the most beautiful reward at the end of this beautifully written and utterly heart-wrenching novel that took me on an emotional journey I wasn’t prepared for, but which I am thankful for all the same.

This book was *chef's kiss* perfection. Told in a dual-POV, dual-timeline, we alternate between Heathen (Leo) and Honeysuckle's (Darby's) voice recounting both their friendship and subsequent love affair as teenagers, with chapters that find us in today's timeline. Darby finds herself rethinking her life choices mere hours before her upcoming wedding to the man that her father is grooming to inherit his company. When the boy who spent a golden summer bringing Darby out of her shell shows up offering her an out if she should so choose to take it, we find Darby and Leo learning how to navigate the waters of their friendship a decade after it was torn apart.

The angst. The yearning. The slow=burn romance. The way that Leo Graham would do literally anything for this girl - I wish all men could take a page from Leo's book and simp for their woman the way he does - both as a 17-year-old teenager discovering what love is, and as the nearly 30-year-old man who thinks he will never know that kind of passion in a relationship again. I wanted to rip my own heart out and lay it at the MMC's feet reading this book, his yearning and heartache is that acute. Darby herself is extremely likeable as the lead female, even when I wanted to throw my book and ask her how she could do Leo like that.

The steamy sexual tension in this book is top shelf, and the character growth is everything I could have hoped for. Really, there is nothing negative that I could say about this book.

SPOILERS AHEAD:







While this book does give us a HEA for our main characters, there is definitely angst and drama both implied and straight up given to us on page that makes me really wonder where the stories (and oh, I hope there are future stories!) about the side characters will go. Sarah A. Bailey does a great job giving us a supporting cast of characters (Leo's friends and 'family', and Darby's sister, Dahlia) that I'm fully in love with and behind and I want to see all of their stories and hope for their own HEA as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op, and Sarah A. Bailey for allowing me to eARC read this delightful contemporary romance novel.

“You remind me of honeysuckle. Nectar sweet as honey, like the sound of your voice. But the berries are deceiving—poisonous if consumed.” He shrugs playfully. “Beautiful and deadly.”

“I want to bring you with me because you scare my ghosts away, Darby.”

“Leo,” she breathes. “Stop looking at me like that.” “Looking at you like what, Honeysuckle?” “Like you know exactly what my soul feels like, and you’ve been incomplete without it all this time

“You’re the best kind of bad boy because you’ve got a good soul.”

This!!!! Is!!!! What!!!! Second!!! Chance!!! Romances!!!!! are!!!!! Alllllll!!! About!!!

This was too good, I couldn’t put it down once I started. We follow Darby who is sent to her grandmas in a small town for the summer after her sister gets into some “trouble” according to her dad. Here, she meets the bad boy next door Leo and we follow them in the past and the present as we see their relationship build & what it is today as it is rebuilt, but also what made it crumple.

I like that they had a good reason for why things ended and I love how it was all resolved. I do think Leo was just down bad and went back right away and he kinda just didn’t care for an explanation and was all in it from the get go when she contacted him? Felt a bit like a pushover to me in that aspect. Otherwise, I don’t really have any complaints. There was also a found family in this that I love so much, I’m a sucker for them every time.

5 Stars
I loved this book. It was sweet and loving. Heathen is the perfect book boyfriend. Honeysuckle was a bit annoying at some points but overall I thought it was a sweet story and I was drawn to their story.

This was a very well written book full of love and emotion. I am not usually a fan of dual timeline but I found myself enjoying this one. Leo and Darby had a wonderful chemistry that had you constantly engaged.

Thank you so much Sarah A Bailey and Victory for the ARC.

4 Stars.

I loved this book when I read it for the first time and I loved it when I read it for the second time. I'm definitely going to read it again for the third time when it's officially summer!

This book reminded me of the indie coming of age movies I would watch in middle school in the absolute best way. The adult content was also written so beautifully, this has to be one of the few 5 star reads for me that actually contains sexual material and keeps the love story unique and genuine. I need the physical copies of these ASAP!

THANK YOU NETGALLEY 🙌🏻

Swoon-worthy. Beautiful in every sense of the word. Maybe not fully realistic but just the idea that a man could exist like Leo Graham is enough for me 💖

When 17-year-old Darby is sent away by her overbearing, controlling, abusive parents to stay with her grandma, she doesn't expect to meet the love of her life.
Ten years later, she finds herself hours from marrying someone she doesn't love. When her sister whispers a nickname to her that she hasn't heard in years, she is given the opportunity of a lifetime to reclaim her life and nurture the one who got away.

Book rating 4.5 stars
Spice 2

I am a sucker for “it’s always been you” and second chance.

This book was everything I didn’t think I needed. Also, what took me sooooo long to dive into this book!?

I got the arc through NetGalley, I read along and listened to it on audio.

Long live Darby and Leo. Those two went through the motions and stuck with it. Their hearts always connected to each other even with the ten year gap.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for giving me the opportunity to read Heathen & Honeysuckle in advance.

Definitely gonna read book two soon! Bumped it up on my TBR!

In my opinion, second chance is the hardest trope to write successfully, but this book did it! The is a perfect book beach/poolside read! Certain aspects of this book reminded me a lot of the Notebook (her family keeping them apart, letter writing).
I loved the flashback chapters and they really made me fall in love with the characters. Jump forward to present day and you can see how they have both changed but they still kept their core characteristics. Graham is so down bad and isn't afraid to show it with his actions, words, and grand gestures. I loved seeing Darby's growth. Really shows that it doesn't have to always be linear and that's ok. Her parents really manipulated her and she was able to come into her own.
I really love a runaway bride moments. The forced proximity of the road trip was the perfect choice for these two to reconnect and rekindle their romance.
We got to meet some of the characters from the next books and I will definitely be reading those this summer!

What a great story of first love, loss and second chances. I really enjoyed it! Leo was just a dream. There is runaway bride, first kiss, secret tattoo…..all the good stuff!
It will tug on your heart. When you find out all the secrets, you will be crushed. But Leo swoops in and makes everything better.
I highly recommend this book!

3.5 stars. this was so cute I really loved so much about this. the duel timeline makes it impossible to put the book down. they were really sweet, a little cringey at times but will definitely be reading the rest of the series i’m so excited for elena and augustus’ book!! four squeezes, i’ll keep you safe!!

“You’d wait a whole year just for me to come back?” “I think I might wait my whole life for you to come back, Darby. Something tells me there would be no point in trying to move on from this, because I’d end up searching for you in every place I go, in every person I meet, aimlessly wandering until I find you again.”

second change/ runaway bride/ road trip/ dual timeline/ it's always been you

Oh no, I am not okay after reading this book—in the absolute best way. I’m such a sucker for a “one who got away” trope, and Heathen & Honeysuckle hit every emotional note I crave in that kind of story. It’s heartfelt, nostalgic, romantic, and just angsty enough to keep you flipping pages late into the night.

From the moment I read the blurb, I had a feeling this book was going to get me—and I was right. But once I actually met Leo and Darby on the page, it was game over. Their summer together in Pacific Shores is one of those golden, unforgettable love stories: sweet, sizzling, and full of moments that made me smile and ache in equal measure. You can feel how deep their connection runs, even as teenagers. And then Darby leaves, just like that—and neither of them ever fully moves on.

Darby really stood out for me. She’s a woman torn between what’s expected of her and what she truly wants. Watching her wrestle with that—especially as her wedding to a man she doesn’t love approaches—was heartbreaking and so real. She’s been living for everyone but herself, trying so hard to be “good,” and it was impossible not to root for her to finally choose herself. Leo, meanwhile, is the kind of book boyfriend you don’t forget. He never stopped loving Darby, and when he returns with that letter she never meant to send, everything comes rushing back.

Yes, some plot points are a little convenient, but honestly? I didn’t care. The emotional payoff was more than worth it. The characters are so well-drawn, the pacing is spot-on, and the way Sarah A. Bailey weaves love, regret, hope, and healing into every page is just beautiful.

If you love second-chance romances, “one who got away” angst, and stories that make your heart ache in the best possible way—Heathen & Honeysuckle is for you. It’s easily going on my top reads list. I loved it, melted for it, and I’m still not over it.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Page & Vine for the ARC—I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

I loved Leo and Darby’s story so much! I never wanted to put it down but alas work made me put it down most the time. I can’t wait for this to finally be released and the sequel!