Book Review: Right Where We Belong

Title: Right Where We Belong

Author: Farrah Penn

Date: 2025

Publisher: Viking

ISBN: 978 05935 28334

Quote: "I do not want Sumner Winchel thinking I've intentionally sought him out."

Delaney is, of course, in love with Sumner. They're keeping it age-appropriate, during their last year of high school, with the focus on academic and intramural rivalries. They have to work together, though, when they find a lost English boy who seems to have stepped out of the nineteenth century wandering around their New York State prep school campus. He's not hard to integrate into their school life, but there's a problem. He really has time-travelled from the nineteenth century. He's the founder of the school. If he didn't stumble into a future America he might not have founded the school. If he doesn't go back to his own time in time, the whole school, including second- and third-generation students like Delaney and Sumner, could blink out of existence.

Lots of science fiction fun and games help Delaney through the late stages of grief (her father, who used to teach at her school, died last year). Age-appropriate flirting with Lord William also seems to help her relationship with Sumner. She has to think about her studies, too, of course, and fundraising...read the book.

If you believe that being "in love" in grade twelve is a happy way for a story to end, you'll enjoy this young-adult romance with a spice of geophysics. Delaney is pretty and romantic, and she also has a life of her own, which puts her romance well above average.

(Fair disclosure: I'm writing this review in July, having received a draft copy, or "galley proof," to read in order for reviews to appear when the book appears in stores. It's expected to reach your local bookstore some time in October. If you don't see it in a store today, pre-ordering books is always encouraging to writers.)