It’s Different This Time Summary, Characters and Themes

It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard is a character-driven contemporary romance about old wounds, unexpected second chances, and finding the courage to choose the life you truly want.  The story follows June Wood, an actor whose career and confidence collapse on the same morning she learns that the show anchoring her financial security has been canceled.

A mysterious email pulls her back to New York—the city she abandoned along with the man she once loved.  What begins as a reluctant trip spirals into a forced reunion with her ex, Adam Harper, when they learn they have inherited the home they once shared. As they navigate shared property, buried history, and resurfacing hope, June must face the truths she ran from and decide whether her future still includes the man she never stopped loving.

Summary

June Wood’s life in Los Angeles is already unstable when her agent Theo calls early one morning to announce the cancellation of her streaming show.  Losing her main source of income sends her spiraling back into the financial fear she has carried for years, but she is determined not to uproot her life again.

Her friends Shivani and Zach try to support her, though June can feel panic building beneath the jokes and drinks.  When she checks her bank account the next day, she realizes she has far less than she thought, and rent is looming.

In the middle of her anxiety, June receives a strange email from Mara Davis of Bower & Robbins Accounting, demanding an in-person meeting about legal documents tied to her old New York address at 74 Perry Street.  Something about “monetary benefits” makes June suspicious, but Mara refuses to give details unless June comes to the office herself.

Reluctantly, June books an expensive last-minute flight east, justifying the cost by arranging auditions to write off the trip.

Returning to New York after years away brings complicated emotions.  At the accounting office, Mara reveals that someone else must join the meeting.

When the door opens, June comes face-to-face with Adam Harper, the man she lived with five years earlier and has avoided ever since their painful breakup.  Mara explains that their former landlord has died and, according to his will, 74 Perry Street is now theirs.

The brownstone is worth more than six million dollars.  Although there is no mortgage, they must pay a deposit equal to a month’s mortgage before accessing the property.

June is horrified by the amount, but Adam pays it immediately.  They are required to return for a follow-up signing in a month, meaning they are bound to each other whether they like it or not.

June tries to flee the moment she leaves the office, but Adam catches up with her.  They exchange awkward, tense words about the house and the situation.

They agree to meet at the brownstone the next day.  Back at her hotel, June receives a promising email about acting work but feels too shaken to enjoy it.

The next day, June explores old New York spots and realizes with a jolt how much she has missed the city.  Theo calls with big news: producers of a new revival of Les Misérables want to meet her.

Hope flickers, and she decides to extend her stay.  At 74 Perry, memories overwhelm her.

Adam shows her documents confirming the inheritance, and they debate what to do with the house.  He suggests keeping it as a rental; she resists.

Eventually, he bluntly tells her she could stay in New York for the next month until the final signing.  She pushes back, but practicality wins.

They will live in the house together.

Living under the same roof immediately stirs old tensions.  June tries to settle in, while Adam slips back into small habits she remembers all too well, from cooking dinner to putting on the kind of movie they used to watch.

A flashback reveals their early years as roommates who became inseparable, building their dreams together, discovering affection through small moments, and becoming each other’s emotional anchor.

In the present, June reconnects with her best friend Chloe.  During a meeting with Dan Sackler, the director of the Les Mis revival, she confesses her longing to return to theater.

The meeting goes well—until Adam unexpectedly appears, revealing that he not only works in the restaurant world but owns Alden, one of New York’s hottest dining spots.  June is stunned he never told her.

They argue, tension spilling into frustration and confusion, especially after she misinterprets a text from his coworker as sexting.  Adam corrects her: he is not seeing anyone.

A shift begins when they spend a day together wandering Central Park and the city, sharing memories and teasing conversations that soften the walls between them.  That night, at Alden after hours, they talk with honesty about their fears and mistakes, and long-buried longing finally surfaces.

They kiss, and things turn heated until a coworker walks in, interrupting them.

Another flashback dives into their bond deepening through career highs, Adam’s mother’s illness, and painful loss.  June became part of his family, and grief drew them even closer.

In the present, June decides to surprise Adam by cooking homemade ravioli.  When she visits his condo to borrow a pasta maker, she stumbles upon a box with personal items—and a Polaroid of Adam and his ex Riley in Paris, showing an engagement ring.

The shock devastates her.  That night, she confronts him, leading to a brutal argument about everything left unsaid: why she left New York, why he hid the engagement, and how deeply they hurt each other.

Adam walks out, taking back his key.

At the final meeting with Mara days later, June learns Adam already came in and forfeited his ownership.  If she signs, the house is hers alone.

She does.  Back in LA, she tries to return to her routine but can’t shake the sense that something unresolved lingers.

She accepts the role of Éponine and moves back to New York.

While settling into life at Perry, she unexpectedly runs into Riley, who reveals that Adam once flew to LA before his wedding because he wanted to see June.  He returned distant, and Riley eventually ended the engagement because she knew he loved someone else.

June realizes he had come for her, but she never saw him.  With everything suddenly clear, she races across the city to find him.

At Alden, Adam finally admits the truth: he saw June with her then-boyfriend and assumed she had moved on.  He realized he couldn’t marry Riley because his heart was still with June.

June apologizes for leaving out of fear and tells him she has loved him for eleven years.  They reconcile, choosing each other at last.

Months later, June performs on opening night of Les Mis, with Adam and their chosen family cheering her on.  They move forward together, co-owning their home and building a life rooted in honesty and shared dreams.

Years later, married and thriving, they pack up 74 Perry for a new chapter, finding a letter from the old landlord explaining why he chose them: he saw kindness and love in their connection.  The story ends with June and Adam settled into the life they once kept missing, finally side by side where they were always meant to be.

Characters

June Wood

June Wood is the emotional center of Its Different This Time, portrayed as a woman shaped deeply by instability, artistic ambition, financial strain, and an unresolved, decade-long love.  Her defining traits stem from her history of abandonment and scarcity: a childhood marked by a distant, unreliable mother, years of struggling to survive in the competitive world of acting, and a pattern of fleeing from anything that feels too precious.

Despite her wit and sharp humor, she carries chronic self-doubt that colors every interaction.  June’s instinct is always to run at the moment she feels she might be left behind, and this fear silently directs many of her life choices, including her dramatic departure from New York years earlier.

At the same time, she is resourceful, deeply empathetic, and fiercely loyal to the people she allows into her inner world.  Her journey in the story is one of emotional maturation: learning to stop choosing safety over fulfillment, to embrace vulnerability instead of preemptive escape, and to understand that love does not require perfection, only honesty.

By the end, her return to the theater and reconciliation with Adam show her reclamation of self-worth, marking an evolution from fear-driven survival to grounded, deliberate joy.

Adam Harper

Adam Harper is a study in steadiness, devotion, and unspoken heartbreak.  Where June is impulsive and fearful, Adam is patient, grounded, and deliberate, but beneath that calm exterior is a man who has carried unresolved grief and longing for years.

His identity is shaped by three major emotional anchors: the loss of his mother Audrey, his deep dedication to his craft as a chef and eventual restaurateur, and his enduring love for June.  From the beginning, he represents stability, offering her a home, emotional support, and a kind of love that is neither performative nor conditional.

Yet Adam is not flawless; his tendency to internalize pain leads to miscommunication, and his decision to shield June from difficult truths sometimes causes more distance between them.  His relationship with Riley is a manifestation of his attempt to build a life when he believes June has definitively moved on, but even that ends because he cannot force his heart elsewhere.

Adam’s arc shows a man learning to balance steadfastness with vulnerability, to voice his needs rather than simply waiting, and to accept that love can be messy, unpredictable, and worth the risk.  His final willingness to surrender his half of the brownstone symbolizes not loss but clarity: his happiness does not depend on possession but on June’s well-being and, eventually, their shared life.

Chloe

Chloe serves as June’s emotional anchor and one of the few people who sees her with complete clarity.  Grounded, warm, and intuitive, she provides both humor and hard truths.

Chloe is the friend who does not shy away from uncomfortable conversations, calling June out when she spirals and insisting she confront rather than avoid painful realities.  Her long history with both June and Adam allows her to act as a bridge between them, offering perspective neither can manage on their own.

She loves June fiercely but without coddling, encouraging her ambitions while also pushing her to acknowledge patterns of self-sabotage.  Through Chloe’s eyes, the narrative gains emotional ballast; she represents stability, loyalty, and chosen family.

Her support during June and Adam’s most fragile moments reinforces the novel’s message that romantic love may be central, but friendships are often the quiet architecture that holds everything upright.

Shivani

Shivani adds energy, humor, and gentle pressure to June’s Los Angeles world.  She embodies the supportive friend who wants the best for June but doesn’t fully understand the emotional minefield of her past with Adam.

Although she initially appears as a lighthearted presence, encouraging June to date and stay optimistic, Shivani represents a version of June’s life in LA: well-meaning, comfortable, but not deeply connected to her true desires.  Her attempts at matchmaking, her encouragement, and her empathy all help June navigate the turbulence of career uncertainty.

Yet her role becomes even more significant after June returns from New York emotionally frayed; Shivani and their roommate Zach provide the grounding sense of community June relies on while she rebuilds her life.  Shivani highlights June’s growth by showing how different forms of support shape her at various stages.

Zach

Zach is a reminder of warmth, reliability, and everyday companionship in June’s otherwise unpredictable life.  His presence adds levity, and his friendship with June reveals a quiet emotional intelligence.

He shares his own romantic frustrations with her, creating a mutual camaraderie built on honesty and humor.  Zach provides a contrast to the intensity of June’s history with Adam; his problems are grounded, his approach measured, and his affection for June uncomplicated.

He does not catalyze dramatic transformations, but he offers something equally valuable: consistent support that makes June’s world feel less isolating.  In many ways, Zach represents the stability June constructs for herself in LA, a life she ultimately learns doesn’t fully align with her heart but still helped sustain her in moments of confusion.

Riley

Riley is one of the most quietly powerful characters in the book, serving both as a symbol of what Adam tried to build without June and a mirror reflecting June’s deepest insecurities.  Riley is kind, perceptive, and gracious in ways that complicate June’s initial jealousy or resentment.

Her relationship with Adam is built on affection and compatibility, but it lacks the emotional inevitability that defines Adams bond with June.  When June later learns the truth about the broken engagement and Adam’s unresolved feelings, Riley becomes the catalyst for June’s awakening, revealing not betrayal but a story of impossible timing and unspoken love.

Riley’s final appearance, warm and without bitterness, transforms her from a perceived rival into an unexpected source of truth and closure.  She demonstrates maturity and empathy, ultimately helping June understand the depth of Adam’s devotion.

Theo

Theo, June’s agent, embodies the professional push that keeps her dream alive even when she’s prepared to surrender it.  He is persistent, sharp, and invested not just in her career but in her long-term fulfillment.

As one of the few people who consistently believes in June’s talent, Theo acts as a counterweight to her self-doubt.  He nudges her toward opportunities she might otherwise dismiss and is instrumental in connecting her to the Les Mis revival, a moment that reignites her sense of purpose.

His presence throughout the novel emphasizes how mentorship and professional advocacy can serve as confidence scaffolding for someone who battles internalized inadequacy.  Theo’s unwavering belief in June reinforces the story’s emphasis on resilience and second chances.

Mara Davis

Mara Davis operates as the unexpected catalyst whose phone call sets the entire story in motion.  Her character is efficient, no-nonsense, and oddly enigmatic, delivering life-altering information with calm authority.

Though she does not have deep emotional ties to the protagonists, her role is structurally essential: she reopens the door between June and Adam, forces them into the same room for the first time in years, and legally binds them to confront their shared history.  Mara represents the uncontrollable external forces that punctuate life — the unexpected circumstances that undo carefully constructed emotional distance.

Her insistence on physical presence, her secrecy, and her formality confer a sense of gravity to the revelation about the inheritance and reinforce how abruptly the past can resurface.

Audrey and Sarah

Adam’s mother, Audrey, and his sister, Sarah, profoundly shape the emotional foundation of Adam’s character and the intimacy of his bond with June.  Audrey, warm and nurturing even during her illness, becomes a surrogate mother figure for June.

Their connection deepens June’s tie to Adam’s world, giving her a sense of family she never had.  Sarah, deeply affectionate and spirited, makes June feel included and valued, symbolizing the life June both longs for and fears she doesn’t deserve.

Audrey’s illness and eventual death catalyze some of the most vulnerable moments between June and Adam, forging a closeness that transcends romantic tension.  This chosen family dynamic is central to why June’s departure becomes so devastating and why her eventual return feels like a reclaiming of something sacred.

Stanley Hill

Stanley Hill, though largely absent in the narrative, is the quiet architect of June and Adam’s second chance.  His choice to leave them the brownstone reveals a man governed by memory, sentiment, and the desire to preserve goodness where he saw it.

His letter discovered years later shows the depth of his affection for them as tenants and as people who unknowingly brightened his final years.  Stanley’s act is the external miracle that forces the protagonists to step back into each other’s lives, but it is also an emotional tribute to the love and kindness he witnessed between them.

His presence lingers like a blessing over their rekindled story.

Themes

Love as a Lifelong Constant

In Its Different This Time, love functions less as a single romantic event and more as an enduring presence that shapes June and Adam’s entire adult lives.  Their connection isn’t defined by grand declarations but by years of shared routines, mutual influence, and unspoken devotion.

The story portrays love as something that remains steady beneath changing careers, changing cities, and emotional missteps.  Even when June and Adam spend half a decade apart, their choices continue to orbit each other—Adam flying to Los Angeles before his wedding, June’s inability to build a stable life without feeling the shadow of what she lost, and both of them instinctively slipping into old rhythms the moment they are forced together again.

Their love grows from familiarity, from having witnessed each other at their most frightened and most hopeful, and from the foundation of a friendship that never really ended.  The book suggests that certain relationships leave a permanent imprint, and even if the people evolve, the emotional truth between them remains recognizable.

Love is shown not as a magical resolution but as a steadying force that makes healing possible.  The novel’s ultimate argument is that enduring love is not about perfection or uninterrupted closeness but about two people who, after every detour, still understand each other more fully than anyone else ever has.

Fear, Avoidance, and Emotional Self-Sabotage

June’s journey demonstrates how fear can quietly dictate a life.  Her tendency to run—leaving New York, abandoning Adam without a real explanation, burying herself in roles that offer distraction rather than fulfillment—reflects the long-term effects of instability and emotional neglect in her childhood.

Her reflex to leave before she can be left again shapes nearly every major decision she makes.  The book reveals how avoidance allows wounds to fester instead of fade, creating misconceptions that calcify into barriers between people.

Adam’s silence about his engagement and his own grief also shows how avoidance can masquerade as self-protection while quietly corroding relationships.  Both characters repeatedly withhold truths because they believe they are sparing the other pain, when in reality they are deepening misunderstandings.

Their eventual reconciliation is possible only when they confront the full scope of what they avoided: unspoken resentments, buried insecurities, and the childhood fears each carried into adulthood.  The narrative portrays emotional courage not as a single moment of confession but as an ongoing willingness to stay present even when vulnerability feels unbearable.

The Search for Identity and a Sense of Home

June spends much of the novel trying to understand who she is without external validation.  Her identity has long been tied to her work, making the cancellation of her show feel like a personal collapse rather than a career setback.

Returning to New York forces her to confront who she was when she left: a young woman who felt undeserving of love, fearful of failure, and uncertain where she belonged.  The brownstone at 74 Perry becomes a physical representation of identity—its inheritance pulls her back into a version of herself she tried to abandon, while its eventual acceptance symbolizes the moment she chooses a stable, rooted life over constant emotional retreat.

Adam’s evolution also reflects the theme of self-definition.  His rise from line cook to acclaimed owner of Alden shows a man determined to build a life strong enough to hold the weight of his grief, ambition, and longing.

Through their shared history and eventual reconciliation, the book suggests that identity takes shape not in isolation but through the people and places that have shaped one’s emotional world.  Home becomes less about geography and more about where one feels understood.

Career, Ambition, and the Cost of Dreams

Ambition drives both June and Adam, but the story pays close attention to what ambition demands.  June’s life in Los Angeles reflects the unstable grind of acting work, where success can turn to uncertainty overnight.

Her return to theater is not just a career opportunity but a reclamation of something she abandoned out of fear.  The Les Mis revival represents a path she once believed she wasn’t strong enough to walk.

Adam’s career as a chef shows the opposite arc: consistency, dedication, and years of effort that slowly sculpted him into a respected figure in the culinary world.  Yet his professional success does not shield him from emotional loss or prevent personal regret from shaping his choices.

The book emphasizes that ambition can sharpen insecurities when one’s sense of worth becomes entangled with external achievements.  By the end, June and Adam find a healthier balance—ambition no longer pushes them apart or masks deeper wounds.

Instead, their careers become extensions of the lives they are finally able to build together.

Healing, Closure, and Breaking Cycles

The novel explores healing as a gradual unraveling of old patterns rather than an instantaneous shift.  June’s emotional growth is shaped by repeated confrontations with the parts of her life she avoided: Adam’s engagement, her own abandonment of New York, her fraught relationship with her mother, and her long-standing belief that she must choose between love and stability.

Adam’s healing involves openly grieving his mother, acknowledging the loneliness he carried after June left, and understanding that devotion doesn’t require suffering.  Their reconciliation represents more than romantic fulfillment—it signals the moment they both refuse to repeat the emotional cycles that once controlled them.

The rediscovered letter from Stanley, left unread for years, symbolizes the final emotional thread tying past to present.  In choosing each other again with clarity and maturity, June and Adam prove that closure is not about erasing the past but about integrating it so it no longer defines them.

Fate, Chance, and the Unexpected Paths that Form a Life

From the inherited brownstone to the timing of the Les Mis revival, many of the book’s pivotal moments arise from chance.  Yet the story avoids treating fate as mystical; instead, it frames chance events as catalysts that expose truths the characters have long ignored.

The inheritance traps June and Adam in a situation neither planned but both needed.  The unexpected reunion forces them to confront questions they ran from for years.

Even Adam’s past decision to fly to Los Angeles, only to turn back without speaking to June, becomes part of a long chain of near-crossings that shapes their eventual future.  These coincidences show that life’s turning points often appear chaotic, but they lead people back to the relationships and places that hold unfinished meaning.

By the end, fate is not shown as a force that predetermines outcomes but as the unpredictable momentum that nudges people toward the choices they were always capable of making.