We Are Not The Same

Perfect for fans of The Summer of Broken Rules and You Have a Match, this sun-drenched coming-of-age story blends lighthearted summer fun with a heartfelt exploration of female friendships and personal identity.

Aspen has spent her life feeling like the average girl next door—until Henry. Dating him has given her a new spark, and this summer, she’s ready to step out of her shell. When Henry invites her to spend the Fourth of July at his family’s cabin in northern Arizona, she jumps at the chance. Small-town charm, new adventures, and meeting his closest friends? It all sounds
perfect. What she doesn’t expect is Matilda—the girl who seems effortlessly at home in Henry’s world, making Aspen question if she truly belongs in it at all or if she’s simply falling short in a game she never agreed to play.

Matilda has spent every summer in Odell, where everything stays the same—the parades, the traditions, and most of all, Henry. For years, their will-they-won’t-they dynamic has felt like a slow-burning certainty. This was supposed to be the summer it finally happened. But when Henry arrives with Aspen, Matilda isn’t just forced to rethink her future with him—she’s forced to rethink why she’s spent so long believing she needed him in the first place.

As the town’s annual parade marches on and sparklers burn to embers, Aspen and Matilda will have to decide if proving themselves is really worth losing themselves—or if there’s more to their story than the boy between them.