How much can change in ten years when it concerns matters of the heart?

Synopsis

Ten years. Two hearts. One love story that never forgot how it began.

Ten years ago, Erin Campbell left Texas without saying goodbye to the only boy she’d ever loved.

Ten years later, he’s the biggest name in country music… and every song he’s ever written is about her.

After losing her mother at eighteen, staying meant facing a life she no longer recognized. So Erin left – her hometown, her grieving father, and Jake Ingram, her best friend, first love, and the future she’d always imagined.

A decade later, Erin has built a successful career as one of New York City’s most sought-after photographers, creating the life she always thought she wanted. But no amount of distance – or success – has been enough to silence the memories she left behind.

When her father needs surgery, Erin returns to Texas expecting to stay only long enough to help him recover. 

Instead, she comes face to face with Jake.

The boy she left behind is now one of country music’s brightest stars, known for writing songs that have captivated millions. Fans have spent years wondering who inspired the heartbreak woven through every album.

Only Erin knows the answer. 

As old memories resurface and long-buried truths finally come to light, Erin and Jake must decide whether the love they never stopped carrying is strong enough to overcome the heartache they never healed from – or whether ten years is simply too much time to ask two hearts to begin again.

Play It Back is a heartfelt second-chance romance about first love, grief, forgiveness, and finding your way home.

Because some love stories don’t end, they simply wait for you to come home.

My review

Ten years ago, Erin Campbell lost her mother and the only way to cope with that loss, was leaving everything and everyone behind in Texas. Not only her father and her friends, but also the boy she loved, Jake. Now Erin has a successful career as a photographer, but the memories and the pain never truly left. And Jake has become a famous country music star, winning award after award with his heartbreaking songs, all about Erin. When Erin’s father needs surgery, Erin decides that the time has come to return home to help her father with the recovery. What Erin did not expect, is that she would face Jake, and that perhaps the time has come to face the past and how much heartbreak everyone has endured by her leaving. And with old memories resurfacing, Erin and Jake have to decide if their lost love is strong enough for a new chance, or if it is too late…

This is the first book I’ve read of this author, and starting with someone new, it always fills me with a little bit of trepidation. Because even if the blurb of a book looks good, will the story itself capture me? Will I like/love the characters? So many questions and only one option to have the answers: just start reading.

And I have to admit, it was a little struggle at the start. I didn’t feel that immediate connection with Erin. Was it because our worlds couldn’t be further apart? Or was is because I haven’t yet faced a grief that big as Erin’s that I couldn’t understand her need to escape ten years ago? I cannot pinpoint it exactly, but those first chapters were not that easy to get through.

But I am a stubborn woman, and I don’t give up that easily, not even on a book. So I kept reading, and suddenly there was a shift and I found myself totally captured by the story and its characters!

Like I said, I haven’t been through a grief like Erin, so I don’t know what my reaction would be in the case of losing my mother. But as Erin sees no other option than leave her home and family and friends, must truly mean that she cannot cope with her heartbreak. How must it feel for someone to not be able to handle the grief, that the only way is to escape?

And being away for ten years… Now perhaps that is something I could comprehend easier, because once you leave, you can make up different ‘excuses’ for not returning. A career that is taking off, not the right time,… and the more you postpone a return, how temporary it may be, the easier it is to keep on having a reason for staying away.

Now, I need to make it very clear that Erin is not a bad person at all. It is just her coping mechanism that made her leave home. Because we see that in fact when her father tells her about his surgery, Erin knows without a doubt that going back home is the only right thing to do.

It is also obvious with a fearful heart that Erin returns to Texas. Because she knows that she hurt people all those years ago, and confrontation is not something she is all that happy d have, with any of them.

I have to admit, that Erin’s father is exactly how I imagined him to be. Because he lost his beloved wife too, and we learn also later on in the book that he struggled with the grief too. But he is also the kind of parent that understands why Erin had to leave. And he more than happy to have Erin back, even if it is just for a short period.

What I also loved about him, is how Jake is still part of his life. Just because Erin left, it doesn’t mean that there is genuine love and care between the two men. And I could clearly see how is was more a substitute father – son relationship.

While I absolutely sympathized with Erin, my heart went out to Jake…

Ten years is like I already said, a long time. And you would think it would be more than enough to get over someone. But with Jake we see that when the feelings are so pure and genuine, heartbreak is not so easy to overcome.

And the songs he has written, what we read about it, for sure are a punch in the gut, so raw, so real and so just Jake…

So Jake, which is also a genuine, caring person. Even ten years ago, while hurt, he comprehended Erin. And upon Erin’s return, he doesn’t behave like seeking for revenge. He still is that kind person to Erin.

Of course the first encounter Erin and Jake have, is an awkward one. It would be strange if it would be all rainbows and unicorns. They did not expect to see each other, especially not at the bar and like that. So of course the both of them do not know what the right thing to say or to do is.

But how awkward that first meeting is, how clear it is that the air needs to be cleared between Erin and Jake. And I found it sweet to read how the initial discomfort from both sides shifts into moments of deep reflection, clearing the air and finding each other again, that bond that there once used to be (and I am here just talking about the bond where they can be honest to each other, to have someone to confide in).

Often and in real life, our first love isn’t the love of our lives, the love we end up spending the rest of our lives with. So seeing how a heartbreak can last over ten years and how it impacts your present life.

This wasn’t always an easy story to read, as it talks about grief and how it can push you away from your loved ones. But it is also a beautiful story to read, as we see how finding the courage to return back home, can turn into a healing process and makes you realize not only what you have been missing, but also what you truly cannot live without…