Why we’re excited
Frankie and Bobby grew up next door, competed at everything, became best friends, fell in love and then split badly at eighteen. Now, eleven years on, Frankie has the successful life she wanted far from home, until a summer back at Lake Himmel puts her beside Bobby again and makes her ask what really broke them apart.
Christina Lauren is the pen name of writing partners Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, whose hits include The Unhoneymooners and In a Holidaze. Second-chance love with a rivalry at its root is familiar ground for them. Fans of slow-burn summer romance should mark the date.
On our most-anticipated list since 26 October 2026. See all the most anticipated books →
What to know about The Best I Ever Had
We have reviewed 6 of Christina Lauren’s books, with an average score of 4.1 out of 5. The one we rated highest is Love and Other Words (4.5★); the most recent is The Romance Revival.
It sits at No. 18 on our May 2027 most-anticipated list, which ranks the month's books by how many readers have saved them.
From the publisher
Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Paradise Problem and Love and Other Words, returns with a sweeping romance about first love, second chances, and the one summer that changes everything about both.
Frankie Flowers and Bobby Falco have spent most of their lives trying to outdo each other.
As neighbors turned academic rivals, they grew up competing over everything. Somewhere along the way, rivalry became friendship, friendship became love, and then, at eighteen, everything between them fell apart.
Eleven years later, Frankie has built the exact life she once dreamed of—far away from her tiny hometown. She’s successful, independent, and has perfected the art of not looking back. But when she finally returns to Lake Himmel for the summer, she discovers that some things haven’t changed nearly as much as she'd like.
The lake is still there. The house next door is still there. And so is Bobby Falco.
Bobby is no longer the boy Frankie remembers, but being around him still feels dangerously the competition, the banter, the uncanny way he sees straight through her. And as old feelings resurface, Frankie begins to wonder if the one thing more dangerous than their old rivalry is discovering what really ended it.
Description supplied by the publisher.
We haven’t read The Best I Ever Had yet. When our review goes up, it will replace this page.
