HALLIE
When I was eleven, my family moved next door to his. When I was thirteen, he was my first crush. When I was sixteen, we fell for each other. And when I was nineteen, we broke each other’s hearts.
Six years later, I’ve landed an internship with a big-name interior designer in a new city. Unfortunately, that city just so happens to be the one he plays hockey for.
I thought Chicago was big enough to avoid him, until I get the surprise of a lifetime and unknowingly move in right next door. Even worse? The renovation project I’m assigned to in hopes of turning that internship into my full-time dream job…It’s his house.
But how am I supposed to update his bachelor pad into a family home when we can’t even stand to be in the same room? I may have loved Rio DeLuca once, but I’m not that same girl anymore.
The Windy City Series had been on my to be read list for quite some time, but I had yet to settle down with a Liz Tomforde book until Rio DeLuca showed up. Had I read the books in order, I would have understood more of his place within his friend group, but, it was not difficult to catch up and dig in to his story. His story is of first love, heartbreak and second-chance romance.
Hallie Hart, an up-and-coming interior designer, returns to Chicago to take a chance on a career-defining internship. She had no idea she’d be back in Rio’s orbit, until she moves in next door, and discovers her first major renovation project is his bachelor pad he would like turned into his family home. You see, Hallie and Rio were next door neighbors growing up. He was her first crush at 16, and they broke each others’ hearts at 19. It’s been six years since she was face-to-face with him, and now she is forced to bring unresolved emotions to the surface to work by his side.
Rio DeLuca, a professional hockey player, is quiet for the most part, unlike some of Tomforde’s previous heroes. He’s fiercely loyal to those he loves. Once he lets someone in, he is all in. He is dedicated, consistent, and calm under pressure. Carrying a quiet leadership, he is respected by his teammates. Rio feels like a refreshing reminder that strength can be quiet, loyalty can be heartbreaking, and real love can sometimes take years, and pain, to get just right.
Their reunion is to be expected: emotionally jarring. Rio is cold and guarded, visibly bitter. Hallie is anxious and apologetic. The tension between them is instant. It’s laced with betrayal, hurt, and curiosity. Rio doesn’t know why Hallie broke his heart and walked away six years ago, but he refuses to let her walk away this time without answers.
His home remodel forces them into frequent interaction, with site visits, material decisions, layout discussions, etc., which allows them to converse and slowly chip away at that emotional ice block entombing them both.
Their story weaves between the past and the present: with teenage memories, like rooftop stargazing, first kisses, and mixtape rituals, to the now, with resentment, angst, and guilt. Music plays an integral role in this book, almost like the third main character. Growing up, Hallie made Rio a birthday mixtape every year, and he still has all of them. He listens to them constantly. They still mean something to him. Now looking back through previous books, Rio is always seen carrying around an old school boombox. No one ever knows why…until now. It’s the only thing that will play those tapes, and he just can’t let that go. But what he doesn’t know, is that Hallie has continued to make them even when they were apart.
“I pick a song when something cool or important happens so I can remember it. Then when I want to relive a moment, I rewind it back and start the song from the beginning.”
As renovation progresses, they revisit the past, ask difficult questions, and navigate awkward, but intimate reconnections. The professional setting becomes a safe space for emotional breakthroughs. Room-by-room, renovations mirror the slow rebuilding of trust between them. But both must forgive themselves and each other before they can move forward: Hallie for withholding life-altering secrets, and Rio for abrupt abandonment and emotional withdrawal.
A pivotal, emotional confrontation and heartfelt admissions help them break down those final walls built over the past six years. Their final mixtape exchange symbolizes closing the past and opening to a shared future. Their bond transcends the second-chance romance trope. They’ve regained trust, rekindled their love for each other, and laid a new foundation for a mature relationship.
“Spoken or unspoken, I’ve always loved you.”
Rewind It Back is a slow-burn, heart-centered journey from childhood innocence, through betrayal and healing, to a tender, hard-earned reunion. If you are a fan of a love story that takes time but is worth the wait, then this is the story for you.