Nellie is headed to California wine country to celebrate the un-wedding of her best friend Cara to her long-time love Ben. Only she's not exactly looking forward to the trip for several reason - she has recently broken off her engagement, the magazine she works at is folding, and she's going to have to see her high school boyfriend, Noah, who left her heartbroken two decades ago. But she's determined not to let her past ruin Cara and Ben's big event. However, she keeps finding herself in Noah's company and he isn't exactly the person she imagined he would be after 20 years. In addition, Nellie's friends never really got the full story of what went down between the two and are left trying to make sense of what is happening between them now. Can they get over the past and find a real future together?

This dual POV was told in alternating timelines giving the reader a fuller picture of what happened between Nellie and Noah in high school and what they've been up to since. I found myself liking HS Nellie a lot more than current day Nellie and liking current day Noah a lot more than HS Noah. I found it extremely frustrating that these two carried a torch for each other for TWENTY YEARS and couldn't just figure it out earlier. Overall it was a fine enemies-to-lovers story, but I didn't find myself really too attached to the characters or the story and I found all of them a little juvenile for supposedly being in their late 30s. Not sure if that was intentional because the story centered around a group that dated back to high school so they were reverting to their high school selves, but nonetheless I didn't find it interesting or compelling. I loved the depictions of scenery and food and was happy to see the confrontation between Cara and Nellie at the end (which I didn't think was actually coming but was long overdue). I think this might have worked better for me if it had only been ten years since high school and the characters were in their late 20s. If I take away that aspect, it was a good enough but not great story. Would recommend to prolific readers of contemporary romances looking for enemies-to-lovers, dual timeline stories, or stories set in wine country, but probably not one I would recommend generally to all readers as there are better titles out there.

Overall: 3.5/5 rounded up
Spice: 1.5/3

Thanks to NetGalley for the early read for a honest review. Nellie had a first love in high school, but she’s basically spent the past 20 years avoiding him. That changes when their best friends, Ben & Cara, decide they want to renew their vows. Nellie wants to mail the trip wonderful for Cara. The book goes between “now” and “then” timelines to let us get to know what happened before Nellie and Noah in high school and how that impacts their relationship now.
Loves: the pop culture references
What I didn’t love: the 2nd change aspect between Nellie and Noah felt rushed.
3.5 stars

Thank you to Gallery Books for the review copy!
I will never look at Cheerios in the same way (swoon).

Nora Dahlia has officially become an auto-read author for me. I loved Pick Up, and Backslide is just as strong—layered, nostalgic, and full of heart. This novel is a love letter to 90s adolescence, complete with Sharpie-covered Jansports, wine coolers, and first love confusion, all wrapped in the emotional haze of a Big Chill-style reunion. As a group of childhood friends reconnect for a long weekend in Northern California, old dynamics resurface, and unresolved relationships reignite—especially for Nellie and Noah, whose simmering chemistry practically jumps off the page. The dual timelines and vivid NYC/NorCal settings ground the story beautifully, and the well-curated soundtrack made my 90s teen soul sing.

What works especially well here is how Dahlia balances that aching nostalgia with honest reflections on adulthood—friendships evolving, careers shifting, and that unsettling “what am I doing with my life” feeling that hits in your late 30s and early 40s. The emotional arcs are heartfelt and relatable, and while I adored the main storyline, I found myself wishing for more time with some of the side characters (Cara and Sabrina especially!). Backslide hits the sweet spot between heartfelt and nostalgic, funny and aching. It’s a story about the people who knew you then, and how powerful it is to be known—and accepted—even as you change.

Read if you like:

The Big Chill or reunion stories with emotional stakes

90s nostalgia, mixtapes, and coming-of-age memories

Second-chance romance with incredible chemistry

Found family and longtime friendship themes

Messy, imperfect, and completely lovable characters in their late 30s/40s

I really enjoyed this book. I love second chance romances and this did not disappoint! I really was intrigued to find out what happened between the MMC and MFC in the past and really enjoyed the entire story. I liked that the 3rd act breakup was quickly resolved. I really really liked the MMC, he was such a great character, someone you automatically love.

I really struggled to get into this book. At times it felt very Wordy and the inner monologue seemed to never end.
That said, the romance was worth the wait, and that’s the only reason I didn’t rate it lower.
The pacing was consistent and it didn’t rush the two main characters into something that would have felt unauthentic.

I really enjoyed this romance! The chemistry was absolute fireeeee between Nellie and Noah. I enjoyed slowly learning the backstory on high school Nellie and Noah. The group of friends in their 30s was so relatable and brought a smile to my face many times. I wanted more as I finished the one and will read the next Nora Dahlia for sure!

This is for everyone who loved The Ex-Vows.

You have two childhood sweethearts who reunite in California wine country for their best friends’ wedding (vow renewal, actually) and are tasked with helping make the magic happen. Sounds familiar?

I happened to like The Ex-Vows, as did many others, so I think Backslide will hold appeal; in fact, in some ways, it might be a more exciting read, as there is more juicy drama behind the couple’s original split.

However, the FMC, Nellie, can come across as immature, and I’m not sure Noah does enough atoning for his sins. At the end of the day, the guy’s kind of a narcissist.

Tropes:
Second chance romance
Only one room
Forced proximity
Wedding setting

Spice: 🌶

Another quick easy read - an especially great vacation read when you just need an easy read with a cute story! The book flips between present time and the 90s when the characters were in high school. One of my favorite parts was the description of the resorts in present time. Set in wine country in California, it made me want to take a trip! My only complaint is the title of the book. I think another title would have been more fitting to the story.

Thank you Gallery Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you, Gallery Books and NetGalley, for providing me with this advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Backslide” had me engaged in Nellie and Noah’s story right from the start. I loved the alternating POV’s and the “back in the day” and “today” perspectives. The past and present stories wove together seamlessly.

A double timeline and double POV second chance romance- Noah and Nellie connected in high school but something happened to make them archenemies. Now, their friends Ben and Cara are renewing their vows and having a big wedding party. They have a big group of friends that is spread across the country and Nellie doesn't spend a lot of time in Northern California so she has to get her bearings. She curses herself as she notices she is still attracted to Noah, now a orthopedic surgeon for the LA Dodgers (lol).

Great pacing, easy to read. I really felt the chemistry between the MCs. The culture of the 1990's had a lot of nostalgia and charm. Because this was a reunion of sorts we had a larger supportive cast. The frenemy Lydia was a bit too unlikable and as a character I thought she was a bit one sided. The other minor characters really led to a camaraderie and helped moved the MCs forward. I think second chance dual timelines are really hard to pull off, because to not "spoil" the early timeline you have to leave out a lot in the later timeline. But the dialogue and character development was so good that it worked very well.

Fans of dual timeline and Elissa Sussman will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books, the Gallerinas, for the ARC. Book to be published October 21, 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced reader copy.

Nellie Hurwitz should be excited to reunite with her childhood best friends, Sabrina and Cara, at Cara's "un-wedding" to her husband Ben (who also grew up with the girls). The only problem is that going to the week-long affair in wine country means seeing Noah, her first love who broke her heart and whom she hasn't spoken to since she left for college. Once they get to the lavish estate where all the festivities will happen, Nellie and Noah get thrown together over and over, forcing them to eventually face their past.

I enjoyed the dual timelines of the book, taking us back to the pre-cell phone days of New York City, with teenagers who had very little supervision. Both Nellie and Noah are interesting enough characters to follow as teens falling in love for the first time (and when you find out what Noah did to break them up, you really do feel Nellie's pain), but even more compelling as adults who need to learn to get over the childish ways thy viewed their past. Nora Dahlia does a good job of keeping the plot moving and adding snappy dialogue, along with fun secondary characters, into the mix. It's too bad this isn't coming out until the fall because it would be a great book to curl up with on a summer vacation.

Backslide is out October 21, 2025

I'm not usually a fan of dual timelines, but in this book, Dahlia made it work to my liking! We get a great picture of the main characters as young adults navigating romance and then as older adults. The banter is flirty and fun. It was easy to enjoy this story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I was excited for the comparison to Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez, but I’m not quite sure it lived up to the expectation that set. It was still a great read.

2.5⭐️


Nellie Hurwitz no tiene un primer amor. Ella tiene un primer odio: Noé-que-puede-no-ser- nombrado. Y ella se ha negado a hablar sobre lo que implosionó su relación desde que terminó abruptamente cerca del final de la escuela secundaria.

Durante dos décadas, Nellie y Noah han logrado evitar verse, pero el concierto ha terminado cuando sus respectivos mejores amigos, Ben y Cara, planean una renovación íntima de votos en un viñedo en Sonoma, California.

Nellie está decidida a evitar que la historia antigua arruine el viaje que Cara ha trabajado tan duro para planificar, pero los barrios peligrosamente cercanos traen a relucimientos sentimientos que tanto Nellie como Noah han encerrado cuidadosamente durante años. Incluso en medio de los ojos en blanco, snipes y torpeza de su proximidad forzada, los dos no pueden sacudir la atracción embogadora que siempre han compartido.

Escritos en líneas de tiempo alternas, las adolescentes Nellie y Noah se desmoronan en la Nueva York de la década de 1990, mientras que, en la actualidad, luchan con si, a pesar del bagaje del pasado, todavía hay algo real e inacabado que se está gestando entre ellos.

En última instancia, ¿pueden encontrar una manera de avanzar? ¿O retrocederán y volarán las cosas para siempre?


.


La historia no funcionó para mí ya que sentí que Noah realmente no aprendió, es más ni siquiera vio como algo malo lo que hizo y se excusó con su edad.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest

I was so excited to get my hands on this ARC! I love 90’s nostalgia and enemies to lovers aspect! It was easy to read and I really loved the fun romcom vibes with the mix of a deeper plot and the heavy topic of forgiving, I definitely recommend!

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

A compellingly written romance - I was drawn in by the ups and downs of the story as Nellie and Noah dealt with forced proximity, as ell as the interwoven backstory revealing how they got to the start of the "present" timeline in the book. Their tension and banter was delightful. I also quite enjoyed the development and exploration of friendships that Noah and Nellie have with people from their past. I would highly recommend this as. a second chance romance/forced proximity story to all.

Reviewed for NetGalley.

Nellie is heading to her best friend's wedding, all the while hoping against hope to not run into her first love, Noah.

While their relationship explosively ended 20 years ago, she has never spoken the reason to anyone, even her best friends.

But when she is thrown together with Noah time and time again over the course of the wedding week, Nellie's hard shell against Noah begins to crack.

It was nice to see some deeper storyline in the past than just the typical high school miscommunication.

Two for two, I have really enjoyed Dahlia's books to date.

Nellie Hurwitz does not have a first love she has a first hate...Noah who may not be named. So the story starts. Told in alternating timelines from teenage 1990s New York to present day and despite baggage they need to decide if they have something. I enjoyed the duel timelines so much and remembering the past. The second chance romance and enemies to lovers worked for me here. I felt like this was well written with great and witty banter. The characters were interesting and well developed. Overall a fun romance read and I will for sure pick up the author's next book!

This romance novel is all about second chances! It revolves around a female main character named Nellie and a male main character named Noah. They haven’t seen one another in decades! In the past, these two were in a relationship in high school and it ends quickly because of something Noah did. Due to it ending so quickly, they avoided each other at all costs. Nellie ended up hating Noah for what he did to her. They become enemies! This novel has dual timelines, as it goes back to the 1990’s and then to the present. In the present, Nellie and Noah end up seeing each other again, after such a long time. Being in their 30’s now, they both get invited to their best friend’s vow renewal ceremony.

They are now forced to see each other and ultimately start talking about what happened in the past and slowly begin to rekindle. As they slowly begin talking to each other, they try to get over the past and move forward. This book explores themes of reckoning with the past, sparks and attraction, the power of memory and character growth! So, will they be able to get over the past and have a happily ever after ending or is the past too much for them and they decide to go their separate ways? Overall, I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars

This is a fast paced, easy to read book. It is well written, came with a clear thesis and was well paced. It left me feeling satisfied with the conclusion and the overall storyline. I really loved the 90’s nostalgia in it! I really enjoyed the dual timelines. While loving the main characters, I didn’t really care for the side characters.

I think fans of Abby Jimenez, Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood would enjoy reading this book! Be sure to check the content warnings!

Thank you to NetGalley. author Nora Dahlia and Gallery Books for this electronic arc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is expected to be published on October 21, 2025!