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.
Purchase Link – https://a.co/d/06nl3Inp
Excerpt
Play It Back is told primarily from Erin’s POV, but I couldn’t resist throwing in a few chapters from Jake’s perspective. And honestly? They’re some of my favorite chapters in the book. Maybe because they’re a little swoony, or maybe because getting inside Jake’s head gives readers a whole new perspective on their story.
This particular chapter holds a special place for me because it was the very first one I ever wrote from his POV. And through all the different drafts and revisions, it’s one of the chapters that has stayed remarkably close to its original form.
So, what can you expect? A guy who’s been in love with the same girl for years, a girl he hasn’t seen in a decade, and a country music singer-songwriter who makes a living writing love songs. The catch? Those songs just happen to be about Erin, the one who got away.
I think I’ve said enough. I love this chapter, and I hope you do, too!
Jake
I dreamed about Erin again last night.
In the dream, everything is the way it used to be. The air is warm. The world feels simple. She’s right there beside me like she never left.
This time I held her a little tighter.
Like some part of me knew what was coming. Like if I kept my arms around her long enough – tight enough – I might be able to hold the morning off but it didn’t work. It never does. Because she’s always gone when I wake up.
People ask me all the time what it feels like to write music.
Interviews. Fans. Random strangers who think the answer is something poetic.
I never tell them the truth. Because the truth is – I feel everything. Sometimes the songs come out happy. Sometimes they’re sad. But most of the time, if I’m being honest, they all circle back to the same place eventually.
Her.
It’s always her.
She’s in the songs I wrote back when nobody knew my name. Back when it was just me and an old guitar and a notebook full of things I didn’t know how to say out loud.
Hell, she’s in the new ones too.
Different words.
Different chords.
Same damn girl.
I haven’t seen Erin in years but that hasn’t stopped my brain from holding onto every little detail like it’s afraid I might forget.
Truth is, it’d be easier if I could.
The way she laughed when something really caught her off guard.
The way she’d go quiet when something was bothering her, like she could just close the door on whatever she didn’t want the world to see.
The way she used to look at me – like I was the only person in the room.
I shouldn’t remember any of that.
And I definitely shouldn’t still remember her.
But I do.
So I write.
Author Bio – My name is Sara Palacios and I write contemporary romance and women’s fiction with emotional depth, layered family dynamics, and characters who are messy, hopeful, and just a little bit stubborn. Outside of writing, I’m usually reading, watching baseball, trying to keep up with my two kids, and pretending I can squeeze one more book into my already mile high TBR pile. I live in Texas with my husband, and our two kids.
