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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
š¶ Second chance
ā¤ļø Childhood friends to enemies to lovers
š¶ Forced proximity
ā¤ļø Slow-ish burn
š¶ Golden retriever MMC
ā¤ļø Girl next door
š¶ First love
ā¤ļø Then and now
š¶ Itās 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 whatās behind the guy weāve 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, thereās no denying that they belong together. They try to hate each other, they try to hold the past against each other, but itās simply no use. You can feel the love they share; itās palpable through the words on each page.
Rewind It Back is the perfect conclusion to the Windy City series, and I didnāt want it to end.
83 ā 38 ā¤ļø
āWhen we listen to next yearās playlist, I want this song to be on there so we can rewind it back however many times we want to and remember this.ā
āYou've had me hooked since the day you became the girl next door.ā
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 3ā 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 š 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 š 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 š„°š„µ Hallie š
This book was the perfect ending to the Windy series. Iām 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. š„¹ Well done Liz.
This book was the perfect ending to the Windy series. Iām 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. š„¹ 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
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
Dare I say this was my favorite book in the entire Windy City series?! Rio is such an amazing MMC with such good depth to his storyline. I was worried because he came off as such a cornball in the other books, but this softer side of him was sooo endearing. I was ready to hate Hallie for breaking his heart, but I ended up really liking her and feeling connected to her storyline as well.
This was an adorable second chance romance and a perfect ending to the series. I'm really not ready to say goodbye to these characters, but I find a teeny bit of solace knowing Monty will have a standalone book in the future. This is hands down my all-time favorite romance series.
This was an adorable second chance romance and a perfect ending to the series. I'm really not ready to say goodbye to these characters, but I find a teeny bit of solace knowing Monty will have a standalone book in the future. This is hands down my all-time favorite romance series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Medical content
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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
She did it again! I have given every book in this series five stars, and Rioās book is no exception. I loved it every single second of it. I have been looking forward to this book for so long that it could have easily fallen short with how high my expectations were, but it was absolutely perfect!
We first met our main character Rio in Mile High, the first book in the series. And he was such a lovable character that I immediately fell in love with him, and couldnāt wait to see him get his happily ever after. And all he wanted was to find his person too, but Liz wasnāt just going to hand us his happy ending so easily. Rio got to watch all of his friends fall in love before it was finally his turn in this last book. And in the end, the wait was worth it because it made it all that much sweeter.
I loved his and Callieās story too! Their history was unexpected for Rioās character but soon made sense. Their flahback moments were so cute! The road back to each other was beautiful too. It also helped reveal this extra depth to Rio, and what was under that goofy, playful, and somewhat hopeless guy was actually a broken hearted man who was desperate to find the kind of love heād already had and couldnāt move on from. And I loved how as we got to know Callie, so much about Rio made sense. She was his missing piece š„° I loved her character and it was sweet how well she fit into the group!
This was the perfect ending to the Windy City Series! We got little tidbits from all the characters and couples. The friendships between the characters were also highlighted so well, one of the best found families in a series. It was bittersweet at times and the nostalgia definitely got to me. And the best part was that because Rio was a witness to every coupleās story he was able to take us back to all of their beginnings in the most beautiful way! I was a teary mess by the time I finished the last page, and I wouldnāt have wanted it any other way.
So thereās nothing more to say than a big thank you to Liz Tomforde for bringing us with her to the windy city and making us fall in love with these characters for five books. This is now my absolute favorite romance series of all time and it is the standard by which I will measure them all from now on š
We first met our main character Rio in Mile High, the first book in the series. And he was such a lovable character that I immediately fell in love with him, and couldnāt wait to see him get his happily ever after. And all he wanted was to find his person too, but Liz wasnāt just going to hand us his happy ending so easily. Rio got to watch all of his friends fall in love before it was finally his turn in this last book. And in the end, the wait was worth it because it made it all that much sweeter.
I loved his and Callieās story too! Their history was unexpected for Rioās character but soon made sense. Their flahback moments were so cute! The road back to each other was beautiful too. It also helped reveal this extra depth to Rio, and what was under that goofy, playful, and somewhat hopeless guy was actually a broken hearted man who was desperate to find the kind of love heād already had and couldnāt move on from. And I loved how as we got to know Callie, so much about Rio made sense. She was his missing piece š„° I loved her character and it was sweet how well she fit into the group!
This was the perfect ending to the Windy City Series! We got little tidbits from all the characters and couples. The friendships between the characters were also highlighted so well, one of the best found families in a series. It was bittersweet at times and the nostalgia definitely got to me. And the best part was that because Rio was a witness to every coupleās story he was able to take us back to all of their beginnings in the most beautiful way! I was a teary mess by the time I finished the last page, and I wouldnāt have wanted it any other way.
So thereās nothing more to say than a big thank you to Liz Tomforde for bringing us with her to the windy city and making us fall in love with these characters for five books. This is now my absolute favorite romance series of all time and it is the standard by which I will measure them all from now on š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This story completely wrecked me in the best way.
I thought Isaiah was the most golden retriever of the group.
But I was wrong. Rio is the softest, sweetest manāfunny, loyal, and so hopelessly in love. We need to protect him at all costs. ALL.
The audiobook is beautifully narrated in duet by Megan Wicks & Connor Crais.
Tropes:
Second chance
I thought Isaiah was the most golden retriever of the group.
But I was wrong. Rio is the softest, sweetest manāfunny, loyal, and so hopelessly in love. We need to protect him at all costs. ALL.
The audiobook is beautifully narrated in duet by Megan Wicks & Connor Crais.
Tropes:
Second chance
Interior designer / hockey player
Hopeless romantic MMC
Found family
Girl next doorā¦ again.
Content warnings
Cancer
Infidelity (not between the MCs)
Infidelity (not between the MCs)
Hallie and Rioās history runs deep. Childhood best friends, first love, years apart, and now theyāre thrown back together when sheās hired to design his house.
I swoon so much. Watching them slowly find their way back to each other, through pain, misunderstandings, and so much loveāit just got to me.
This story isnāt just about romanceāitās about healing, growing, and holding on to the people who feel like home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity