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emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cancer
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This story was sweet but also pretty sad and heavy. Definitely not as lighthearted and fun as the previous books.
As with many other second chance romances, there was a ton of emotional baggage, poor communication, and people wasting precious time for absolutely no reason.
As with many other second chance romances, there was a ton of emotional baggage, poor communication, and people wasting precious time for absolutely no reason.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The finale! I love Rio and I love second chance so this was guaranteed to be a highly rated book for me. I thought there were parts that felt a bit drawn out, or pauses in the momentum of the story that left me a bit concerned it wasn’t going to land as a 5 star read but in the end I think the story was great. The miscommunication and the back and forth along the past memories for rio and Hallie were sweet and romantic. I wanted more spice for sureeeee from them but as it’s the end of the series it was great to be around the crew.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content
Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, Gaslighting
Minor: Alcohol
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Cancer
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
🎶 Second chance
❤️ Childhood friends to enemies to lovers
🎶 Forced proximity
❤️ Slow-ish burn
🎶 Golden retriever MMC
❤️ Girl next door
🎶 First love
❤️ Then and now
🎶 It’s always been you
Rio DeLuca has been one of the funniest, most endearing, and most animated side characters in the Windy City series, and now we get to see behind the curtain. We get to see what makes him, him, and what’s behind the guy we’ve grown to love so much over the past four books.
Rio is the ultimate golden retriever, going the extra mile for anyone he loves. Even though he and Hallie try to resist the pull they have towards each other, there’s no denying that they belong together. They try to hate each other, they try to hold the past against each other, but it’s simply no use. You can feel the love they share; it’s palpable through the words on each page.
Rewind It Back is the perfect conclusion to the Windy City series, and I didn’t want it to end.
83 → 38 ❤️
“When we listen to next year’s playlist, I want this song to be on there so we can rewind it back however many times we want to and remember this.”
“You've had me hooked since the day you became the girl next door.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity
Minor: Medical content
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Alcohol
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I straight up hated this, but at the same time I felt like it took me through every emotion on the spectrum. So idk where that leaves me. I would've said it had 3⭐ potential because Hallie was less annoying than Kennedy, and Rio was less annoying than Zanders, but the plot of this was so .....lazy and halfbaked while being ridiculous at the same time.
I don't really care for second chance romance even though I clearly keep consuming it, but this one felt both lazy and warranted at the same time. The amount of flashbacks in this is ridiculous. A chapter flashback happens every 2 chapters, and all it does is make you roll your eyes because it breaks the flow of Hallie and Rio coming together in the present. I get it, they were childhood sweethearts but like most of their emotional connection came from the damn flashbacks and it was clearly just used as a way to not have to write about them as adults. Annoying.
In addition to the flashbacks, this was boring AND repetitive. OMG! The way the same dialogue and phrases happened over and over like wtf is going on. I started to feel like I was losing my mind. Examples:
- there are numerous paragraphs where Rio recounts how every couple from the other books met and it's like...literally everyone reading this has read the whole series. I don't need you to keep telling me how everyone met each other, and even if i did, doing it more than once is still unnecessary
- at the end of the book there's a few pages of Rio recounting the entire plot of the book we literally haven't even finished reading yet. Like what in the meta? STOP! It was giving "i have to meet a word count" and served no purpose than making me want to rme.
- Hallie and Rio have been broken up for 6 years and you won't be able to forget it because the phrase "six years" is said 73 times in this story. Can you see me screaming??? Please, tell me ONE MORE TIME how long they've been apart!! I think i might've forgotten!!!
- This one is small, but the way the outfits were overly described was sending me. Rio was giving fashion police with the way he kept detailing Hallie's fits. Also, there was a weird obsession with mentioning how someone had on a beanie and how a small part of their hair was peeking out. The beanie descriptor is used 6 times in this book and really that's too many imo.
The next gripe, the characters virtually had no personality outside of their flashbacks. Rio is shoved in our faces in every book with loud, goofy, and "class clown" energy but in this one he just existed. Literally none of that energy was present here. Hallie had more personality, but even the basis for hers was "she's a cool girl that likes making mixtapes" and really, the mixtape thing was also too quirky and had me doing mental math trying to figure out what year this was taking place in. Her first mixtape has TLC on it, and it's a cassette tape, but she's 25 in present day...which means she would've been born in 2000......and not old enough at 13 to be making cassette tapes with TLC songs on it or to be having a whole ass boombox that played cassettes, but like this rant is getting too long.
Hallie really almost was worse for me because she had so many identifiers that fell off halfway through the book. The whole point of this story is that she's trying to become an interior designer and ends up working on Rio's house and she works PT as a bartender to make ends meet. She should've just been a bartender. There are so many moments in this story where she wants to/or does refuse doing work for her interior design firm (HER MAIN JOB) because "I can't miss my shift at the bar" like what? Do you want to be an interior designer or not? Her priorities were so off.
Now....this is where I really have the most beef with this story. The reason behind the breakup is so fucking ridiculous AND obvious that it felt insulting to me and the characters in the story. The whole reason they break up is because Hallie see's HER MOM leave Rio's parent's bedroom because she's (the mom)sleeping with his dad, and Rio's mom gets mad at Hallie for not telling her and basically tells Rio that Hallie is a pos and he has to break up with her.....which he does. Not to mention this all happens in a flashback 10 seconds after Hallie's dad is diagnosed with blood cancer......wtf????. ABBY JIMINEZ CALLED!! SHE WANTS HER TRAUMA OUTLINES BACK!!! like girl wtf is this!! This pissed me off so bad 😭 Like no WAY this is the reason yall broke up.......and honestly that in itself warrants a second chance because I also wouldn't want to fuck you with after you did me dirty like that but this all just felt so unnecessary.
The second chance aspect felt warranted (more than the usual "we were high school sweethearts" second chance foundations) and the vibes of "this person knows you completely" were good but everything else about this pissed me off too badly to like it. It was just too ridiculous. It really felt like she only wrote this because people begged her too. The sports barely existed (less than the other books) and Rio just travels "for work" off page. Annoying, annoying, annoying.
I did enjoy the emotional tension somewhat even though I think they were super chummy far too quickly for a second chance trope but like, the payoff emotionally worked in context.
I don't know. Or do I? I hated this lol. I might reread it in the future but idk, almost 600 pages of nothing but flashbacks with a stupid breakup twist and a character who didn't need to have his own story. Go girl give us nothing.
Official Ranking:
Caught Up
The Right Move
Mile High
Play Along
Rewind It Back
I don't really care for second chance romance even though I clearly keep consuming it, but this one felt both lazy and warranted at the same time. The amount of flashbacks in this is ridiculous. A chapter flashback happens every 2 chapters, and all it does is make you roll your eyes because it breaks the flow of Hallie and Rio coming together in the present. I get it, they were childhood sweethearts but like most of their emotional connection came from the damn flashbacks and it was clearly just used as a way to not have to write about them as adults. Annoying.
In addition to the flashbacks, this was boring AND repetitive. OMG! The way the same dialogue and phrases happened over and over like wtf is going on. I started to feel like I was losing my mind. Examples:
- there are numerous paragraphs where Rio recounts how every couple from the other books met and it's like...literally everyone reading this has read the whole series. I don't need you to keep telling me how everyone met each other, and even if i did, doing it more than once is still unnecessary
- at the end of the book there's a few pages of Rio recounting the entire plot of the book we literally haven't even finished reading yet. Like what in the meta? STOP! It was giving "i have to meet a word count" and served no purpose than making me want to rme.
- Hallie and Rio have been broken up for 6 years and you won't be able to forget it because the phrase "six years" is said 73 times in this story. Can you see me screaming??? Please, tell me ONE MORE TIME how long they've been apart!! I think i might've forgotten!!!
- This one is small, but the way the outfits were overly described was sending me. Rio was giving fashion police with the way he kept detailing Hallie's fits. Also, there was a weird obsession with mentioning how someone had on a beanie and how a small part of their hair was peeking out. The beanie descriptor is used 6 times in this book and really that's too many imo.
The next gripe, the characters virtually had no personality outside of their flashbacks. Rio is shoved in our faces in every book with loud, goofy, and "class clown" energy but in this one he just existed. Literally none of that energy was present here. Hallie had more personality, but even the basis for hers was "she's a cool girl that likes making mixtapes" and really, the mixtape thing was also too quirky and had me doing mental math trying to figure out what year this was taking place in. Her first mixtape has TLC on it, and it's a cassette tape, but she's 25 in present day...which means she would've been born in 2000......and not old enough at 13 to be making cassette tapes with TLC songs on it or to be having a whole ass boombox that played cassettes, but like this rant is getting too long.
Hallie really almost was worse for me because she had so many identifiers that fell off halfway through the book. The whole point of this story is that she's trying to become an interior designer and ends up working on Rio's house and she works PT as a bartender to make ends meet. She should've just been a bartender. There are so many moments in this story where she wants to/or does refuse doing work for her interior design firm (HER MAIN JOB) because "I can't miss my shift at the bar" like what? Do you want to be an interior designer or not? Her priorities were so off.
Now....this is where I really have the most beef with this story. The reason behind the breakup is so fucking ridiculous AND obvious that it felt insulting to me and the characters in the story. The whole reason they break up is because Hallie see's HER MOM leave Rio's parent's bedroom because she's (the mom)sleeping with his dad, and Rio's mom gets mad at Hallie for not telling her and basically tells Rio that Hallie is a pos and he has to break up with her.....which he does. Not to mention this all happens in a flashback 10 seconds after Hallie's dad is diagnosed with blood cancer......wtf????. ABBY JIMINEZ CALLED!! SHE WANTS HER TRAUMA OUTLINES BACK!!! like girl wtf is this!! This pissed me off so bad 😭 Like no WAY this is the reason yall broke up.......and honestly that in itself warrants a second chance because I also wouldn't want to fuck you with after you did me dirty like that but this all just felt so unnecessary.
The second chance aspect felt warranted (more than the usual "we were high school sweethearts" second chance foundations) and the vibes of "this person knows you completely" were good but everything else about this pissed me off too badly to like it. It was just too ridiculous. It really felt like she only wrote this because people begged her too. The sports barely existed (less than the other books) and Rio just travels "for work" off page. Annoying, annoying, annoying.
I did enjoy the emotional tension somewhat even though I think they were super chummy far too quickly for a second chance trope but like, the payoff emotionally worked in context.
I don't know. Or do I? I hated this lol. I might reread it in the future but idk, almost 600 pages of nothing but flashbacks with a stupid breakup twist and a character who didn't need to have his own story. Go girl give us nothing.
Official Ranking:
Caught Up
The Right Move
Mile High
Play Along
Rewind It Back
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rio Deluca 🥰🥵 Hallie 💕
This book was the perfect ending to the Windy series. I’m impressed with the love Hallie and Rio had since they were kids. They had a detour but found each other again. Ryan confessing his love to Rio. 🥹 Well done Liz.
This book was the perfect ending to the Windy series. I’m impressed with the love Hallie and Rio had since they were kids. They had a detour but found each other again. Ryan confessing his love to Rio. 🥹 Well done Liz.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Cancer
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Infidelity