With Rewind It Back, Liz Tomforde gifts readers a heartfelt conclusion to her best-selling Windy City sports romance series. The novel brings us back to Chicago ice and into the lives of two former lovers, Hallie Hart and Rio DeLuca, whose shared past returns to the surface like a song you can’t forget. Told with Tomforde’s signature warmth, wit, and emotional nuance, this book is a masterclass in second-chance romance—and a powerful exploration of what it means to truly come home.
It’s rare to find a romance that lingers long after the final chapter, but this one plays on the soul like a familiar melody, stirring up memory, longing, and joy in equal measure.
The Story: From First Love to Final Chapter
Hallie Hart was Rio DeLuca’s everything—his childhood best friend, his first love, and the girl who vanished from his life after a devastating breakup at nineteen. Now, six years later, Hallie is in Chicago for an interior design internship, determined to make a name for herself and leave the past behind. But fate has other plans. Not only is her new neighbor Rio himself, but the house she’s been assigned to redesign? His.
As old wounds reopen and dormant feelings reignite, Hallie and Rio are forced to confront the echoes of their past—song by song, room by room.
This isn’t just a renovation project—it’s a reckoning.
Hallie and Rio: A Love Rewritten
Tomforde crafts both protagonists with incredible emotional depth and psychological realism.
Hallie is guarded, driven, and still healing from a loss that few understand. She’s passionate about her work and fiercely protective of her independence, but the vulnerability simmering beneath her strength makes her achingly relatable. Her journey is one of grief, guilt, and rediscovery—not just of Rio, but of the version of herself she left behind.
Rio, on the other hand, is not your average sports romance hero. While he’s a beloved hockey player and certified heartthrob, it’s his emotional maturity and quiet persistence that make him magnetic. His devotion to Hallie never really faded, and his struggle to move on has left him emotionally stranded—until she returns.
Together, they share a bond that’s not just romantic but deeply human: tender, broken, and slowly pieced back together.
Emotional Arcs and Standout Themes
What sets Rewind It Back apart isn’t just the romance—it’s the emotional authenticity that pulses through every chapter.
Here are the key themes that drive this novel:
- Second Chances: Tomforde doesn’t hand her characters an easy reunion. Their reconciliation is hard-earned and steeped in unresolved hurt, which makes their eventual peace that much more rewarding.
- Grief and Emotional Isolation: Hallie’s experiences with her ailing father and the emotional isolation she endured form a raw undercurrent to her character arc.
- Forgiveness and Growth: Both characters must forgive not just each other but themselves, learning that love sometimes means healing before reconnecting.
- The Role of Music in Memory: The use of mixtapes as emotional markers adds a poetic rhythm to the story. Each track represents a phase in their history, and these musical moments are gorgeously woven into the narrative without ever feeling gimmicky.
From Playbooks to Playlists: A Narrative Rich in Symbolism
One of the most memorable structural devices in this novel is the recurring use of mixtapes—Hallie’s tradition of making them for Rio every birthday. Even after their separation, she continued the ritual, and each one becomes a sonic scrapbook of their relationship.
This choice transforms Rewind It Back into more than a love story—it becomes a meditation on the ways we preserve, revisit, and sometimes rewrite our memories. The metaphor is extended beautifully through scenes like:
- Rio replaying the final mixtape alone in his car
- Hallie discovering he kept every single one
- The revelation that he signed with Chicago instead of Boston just to stay close to her—marking that choice with a final track on his own mixtape
These moments are intimate and impactful, elevating the emotional stakes without resorting to melodrama.
The Windy City Series: A Legacy of Love
Tomforde’s Windy City series has always been about more than romance—it’s about community, connection, and choosing love in all its messy forms. Here’s a brief refresher on the journey leading up to this final installment:
- Mile High – Zanders and Stevie’s opposites-attract chemistry kicked off the series with turbulence and charm.
- The Right Move – A cozy, slow-burn story that saw Ryan and Indy blossom from roommates to lovers.
- Caught Up – A delicious single-dad romance featuring Kai and Miller, filled with vulnerability and chaos.
- Play Along – The fake-dating trope reached new heights with Isaiah and Kennedy’s sizzling story.
- Rewind It Back – Hallie and Rio bring it full circle, with a love story rooted in history, pain, and the enduring power of home.
Tomforde doesn’t just reference the past characters; she brings them back with purpose. Their presence adds weight and warmth to the world, reminding us that no love story exists in isolation.
Strengths of the Novel
- Emotional Complexity: This isn’t a surface-level second-chance romance. It delves into the deep-seated insecurities, traumas, and life changes that accompany growing apart—and growing up.
- Writing Style: Tomforde’s prose is cinematic yet grounded, full of rich sensory details and natural dialogue. Her pacing feels intimate rather than rushed, allowing the characters space to breathe and evolve.
- Romantic Payoff: The final chapters are filled with moments that feel earned: Rio’s declaration on the rooftop, the mixtape reveal, and Hallie’s decision to finally stay instead of run.
Minor Critiques
While the story is emotionally compelling, its middle portion does suffer from a slight lag in pacing. Some interior monologues—particularly Hallie’s ruminations—could’ve been streamlined for tighter progression.
Additionally, the predictability of certain beats (like the final “big gesture” moment) may not surprise veteran romance readers. However, the execution of these tropes is sincere and elevated by the emotional weight behind them.
Fans of This Book Will Also Enjoy:
- Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino
- The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
- Say You Still Love Me by K.A. Tucker
- In a Jam by Kate Canterbary
If you enjoy second-chance romances with rich emotional payoff and characters who feel like family, Rewind It Back will hit all the right notes.
Final Thoughts:
As the fifth and final chapter in a beloved series, Rewind It Back does everything it needs to—and more. It gives closure without severing emotional threads. It invites nostalgia without drowning in it. And it feels lived-in, heartfelt, and sincere.
This book isn’t just about rewriting history—it’s about choosing to live in the present, with eyes open and heart wide.
Whether you’re returning to the Windy City for one last ride or discovering it for the first time, Hallie and Rio’s love story will pull you in and remind you why we fall in love with love stories in the first place.