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Back to You

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Twenty years ago, Nick Lincoln broke teenager Lynsey Reznor’s heart when he decided to marry another. Now she is back, along with a chance to reclaim her love. But Lynsey wants answers from him that he may never be able to give out of duty and guilt.

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First published January 1, 2012

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About the author

Natalie-Nicole Bates

143 books612 followers
Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author.

Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia.

She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19th century post-mortem photos.

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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Elise Marion.
Author 62 books324 followers
February 13, 2012

Back to You is a quick read that I felt would be good for a rainy day or a cozy weekend at home.

This book had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, for me, it fell short of what it could have been. I liked the idea of the two main characters meeting up again after 20 years, and both still carry a flame for the other. There was just not enough for me to really get into it like I wanted to.

I'll start with what I didn't like:

1. Lynsey didn't seem to have much depth as a character. She was in love with Nick when she was 16, he broke her heart, she left their small town, became a success, and came back to search for a husband. To me, since this is not a historical, her desperation to find a husband within the year seemed baseless. There was never any explanation as to why she felt like she just had to get married right now.

2. Nick and Lynsey's relationship begins when she is 16 and he is 20....it just seemed kind of creepy that she is a teen and he a grown man....in most places you can go to jail for that. It wouldn't have been so bad if Nick hadn't been so self-righteous about another man (24 year old) trying to get with her. Who was he to be so indignant when he was just as wrong as the other guy for even messing with a high school kid.

3. There is not enough interaction or development between Nick and Lynsey. She spends most of her time looking for a husband. SO there's more interaction between her and other guys than there is her and Nick. I would have liked to see more between the two of them.

Now for the things I did like:

1. The dialogue in this book is refreshing. It's realistic and interesting; by far the best aspect of the book. You learn a lot about the characters through their conversations.

2. The main characters are not 20-somethings. I don't come across a lot of romances starring 40-somethings, and I found the idea of a second-chance romance appealing.

3.I liked the fact that this book took place in a small town where people never leave and those that do always come back...it reminded me much of my upbringing and the fact that I still live in the town where I grew up!

Overall, this book was just okay for me, not bad but not all that great. I feel that if we'd been given more insight into Nick and Lynsey's past, this could have been a whole lot more interesting. There is one flashback scene between Nick, Lynsey, and Caleb (the 24-year old) that, to me, was the best part of the book. I think more of this, combined with more interaction between Nick and Lynsey would have made this a far better read.
Profile Image for Cocktails and Books.
4,149 reviews322 followers
February 16, 2012
At twenty, Nick Lincoln was engaged to marry Kim but instead fell head over heels in love with his sister's best friend, Lynsey Reznor. After losing their virginity to each other, Nick left Lynsey to break his engagement to Kim. Instead, he was blackmailed into sticking with the plan and broke Lynsey's heart.

Fast forward twenty years, we find Nick a widower and Lynsey moving back to her hometown of Unity after ending a relationship with a cheating rock star. Needing a place to stay until her house is finished, she ends up in Nick's guest room.

Lynsey finds herself right back in the same problem she had before she left Unity. The boy she used as a rebound after the disaster with Nick, Caleb, wants to pick up where they left off. Nick keeps pushing Lynsey towards fellow police officer Owen. And best friend Suzy is pushing her towards her brother, knowing the two of them were meant to be together. The problem is, no one asks Lynsey what she wants.

Nick is still hung up in the guilt that he never loved his wife, but the girl that he pushed away. He's convinced he's still not what Lynsey needs and pushes her towards everyone else, but never asks her what she wants

A lot happens in this short read and sometimes it felt like things were thrown in there to add a little meat to the story, but then that meat went no where (Suzy divorce, Evan and his rehabilitation). Personally, I would have liked the story to develop a bit more to include the impact of both of those events on Lynsey and Nick. However, it was a good read to start and finish just before going to bed on a rainy night.
Profile Image for Babs.
Author 15 books190 followers
February 22, 2012
My thoughts:

Nick broke Lynsey's heart 20 years ago after he married her sister Kim. Now widowed Nick finds Lynsey back in town and needing a place to stay while her house is being worked on. He lets her use his quest bedroom. Lynsey has left her cheating rock start behind and wants to start over.
Lynsey runs into a lot of problems, first Caleb the rebound guy wants to act like no time as passed and wants to start right back up with her. Nick keeps trying to put Lynsey to anyone but him, Suzy her best friend, pushes her towards he brother. No one has thought to ever ash Lynsey what she wants in her life. While Nick is still feeling the quilt he never loved Kim he pushes even more for Lynsey to find someone else while she is wanting answers.

I wanted to see more of other relationships as they affected Nick and Lynsey. The book is on the short side and it was as if the writer was trying to throw a lot into the story to keep it going but went to dead ends at times. Overall the characters and plot are good.
Profile Image for Debra.
3,467 reviews13 followers
October 20, 2018
Back to You

This was a second chance romance. Twenty years ago she thought that they had something t hat would be lasting. But he turned around and married another woman. Now he is a widow and she is back in town from a bitter breakup. Can the two of them still have the same feelings even now? There is outside forces trying to keep them apart. This time around they will have more time to open up.
Profile Image for Isra Starr.
71 reviews17 followers
March 3, 2012
This book, if anything, was a short story. I’m really disappointed in reading this novel and I almost wish that I hadn’t. It’s not because of the fact that it was a bad novel, although it really had its dull moments. The thing that I disliked about this ‘novel’ more than anything was that it had the potential to be a really, really amazing novel, but it fell so very short of its potential.

Back to You started off right with plot line, and while that could be alright in most books, it wasn’t okay in this one. The plot line started off and we knew nothing about the characters, but then all of a sudden we were learning everything about the characters and yet we were learning nothing of intense importance. It was important to learn that Nick had lost his wife, and it was important to learn why Lynsey had moved back to her hometown, Unity, but we didn’t learn things that were actually potentially important about the characters. It took halfway into the book for me to learn exactly what type of writing Lynsey did and when the author initially mentioned that there was a ‘new division’ in Unity, I thought it meant her job, not a housing division.

In addition to that, everyone and their mother was a cop. Street cop, detective, sergeant. Every single guy that was interested in Lynsey had or was in the police force one way or another. The town didn’t seem that big of a town either, so it made absolutely no sense that three people that she’d initially known since childhood were in the police force and then there was another man who she knew from somewhere else who was also in the force. It felt like an overdose of police and it made me wonder if anyone else in the town did anything other than work for the police.

For a novel that wasn’t even 30,000 words, it had a surprising amount of insignificant detail. I mean, it was a great concept to have our Mary Sue (Lynsey) visit her injured friend, Evan (another of the males who was not only on the police force but was also after her), but there was absolutely nothing about Suzy’s divorce that had any relevance to the novel. I breezed through this, mainly looking for a reason to get it done and over with.

Between the bad quality of the PDF (putting the PDF on my Kindle completely ruined the formatting and made it difficult to read) and the downright ridiculousness of the concept of four guys hunting after a girl who clearly had her heart set on the man she’d been in love with since she was sixteen, I felt like I was reading a bad soap opera. Nick and Lynsey exchanged these little sentences that ended or started with words like ‘sweetheart’, ‘honey’ and ‘my angel’ which made it so very obvious that they were meant for each other at the beginning of the novel. And the attempt at sex scenes in here… It was like watching a car crash; terrible, horrible, but unable to look away for fear of missing something important to write about in the review.

Overall, I managed to finish the novel, so I didn’t despise it, but it really could have been something had the author actually sat down and gone over this with some thought and edited it a heck of a lot more. Back to You had the potential to be an amazing novel, but instead it was just a boring, lukewarm short story that made me want to fall asleep rather than read it.
Profile Image for Ruth Hill.
1,115 reviews648 followers
March 4, 2012
This book began as a typical, sweet romance, and I really enjoyed the story. I thought that although it was typical, the premise behind the story was intriguing. Stories of deferred love and second chances always seem intriguing. And the story for about two thirds of the book did just that.

I found that Lynsey was a charming, beautiful character that I was able to relate to quite easily. She was intelligent, strong, and not willing to place herself in a position to be hurt again. I liked the fact that she was a celebrated author, and I also enjoyed the fact that she struggled to find happiness in her love relationships for the vast majority of her life.

Nick was a typical guy, and there were times I could have slapped him. I always find it interesting that guys are so tough unless they are dealing with matters of the heart. I felt sorry for his plight, but not too sorry. After all, he brought the situation on himself.

While this story did end the right way for these kind of romances, I felt that the last third of the book was too hurried. I guess the author possibly only wanted to write a novella, but I feel that the book needed a good 50 more or so pages. It seems like the romance happened way too fast, and I would have liked a little more conflict before the resolution.

I also did not like the values portrayed in the book. On the one hand, the characters believed that marriage was best. Nick's first wife was a virgin (and Nick would have been), but she was the only one that was in the book. And she was not painted in a good light. On the other hand, it was clear that sex and even one night stands were pretty acceptable. It was a "good" thing to have sex before marriage. That didn't even seem like something that was a negative. And yet affairs were wrong. And sex seemed to equal love. I guess I tended to get mixed messages on sex and its place in relationships. I know that my standards are normally much higher than the books I read, but I do prefer for there to be a clear message, and I just couldn't see it.

In summary, while the book was a basic, well-written romance, I felt that too much information was crammed into too few pages. I would definitely love to read something else written by this author, but this was just about average.

I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
Profile Image for Cyle.
967 reviews143 followers
March 2, 2012
GENRE: Contemporary Fiction
THEME: Romance/Drama
RECEIVED: For Review for CBLS
BLOG: http://seeingnight.blogspot.com/

REVIEW:
Back to You is a book about past loves that are reunited many years later. I liked the concept of past loves meeting up again and trying to see if they have that spark again. But I felt that the story fell short and I couldn’t get into the book or it’s characters.

Lynsey is a successful writer but can’t seem to find that lasting relationship, especially like the one man she fell for when she was sixteen. But after a failed relationship she decides to move back to her hometown, where she faces her past love and the realization that they still belong together.
Lynsey had a lot of potential as a character but I just couldn’t connect to her with the details in the book. I wanted to know more about her writing and why she was determined to get married so quickly. I enjoyed her interaction with her best friend Suzy, I wished I got more detail with their friendship instead of just having Suzy push her brother at Lysney.

Nick, I liked his character the most. I feel it was because there was more detail about his life as a cop, his marriage that fell apart and is love for Lysney that never faded. I really pulled for this guy to open up to Lysney and accept that he needed her and still cares for her.

Overall this is a short novel, I felt it was rushed and I wanted more from both the plot and characters. There were characters, which I wanted to get to know more about and it would of added more depth to the storyline.. I did enjoy the relationship between Nick and Lysney, it was a sweet romance and held a lot of emotions for both of them. In the end this is just my opinion of this novel and all reviewers have different thoughts on novels.
Profile Image for Tara Hall.
Author 89 books448 followers
September 14, 2012
For a novella, this book packed a lot into its 70-some pages. While I felt that Nick and Caleb were believable characters I could not identify heavily with Lyn, the heroine. She is presented as a successful, independent, intelligent woman with a super successful career, a fabulous house, and tons of money, yet all she can think about is getting married ASAP, and seems to resent that Nick and Caleb didn't marry her (or that she didn't marry them) years before and start a family like her friend, Suzy. But most intelligent, successful self-made women got that way because they put their family plans on hold to pursue all the schooling and training that getting that career entails. I guess I would have liked a little more background about Lyn, to know what she went through in her training, a more detailed account of how she became a success, and when/what prompted her to switch her priorities for her life from her career to family. I did enjoy this book, I just wanted a lot more character development/growth, to see how much these characters had changed in the years Lyn had been away from Unity.
Profile Image for Sorcha O'Dowd.
Author 2 books51 followers
May 8, 2013
This book started off really well, and I liked seeing how the characters developed and how we were gradually given information into what their relationships had been like when they were younger. But whilst the first two thirds of the book were well written with good solid storytelling, I felt a bit let down by the last third as I felt the end of the story was rushed in order to fit with a lower word count. There wasn't closure for all of the issues that had been dealt with in the story, and there were some characters that I would have liked to have seen how their story ended, particularly Suzy's who I felt didn't get the ending she deserved.
There was also the issue where Lynsey felt that Nick wasn't a particularly experienced lover, and she planned to teach him, but then this wasn't addressed as Nick suddenly seemed to have higher standards in the next few chapters.

Overall a good fun quick read, that you can while away an evening with if you're looking for a teensy bit of angst and a happy ever after. 3.4 - 4 Stars
Profile Image for Misty Rios.
63 reviews14 followers
June 20, 2013
Back to You is a very sweet story, perfect if you are looking for a quick afternoon dose of romance.

Pros: It was an easy read and it flowed well. Likeable characters. The concept was great, but it did need a bit more development.

Cons: There were a lot of unnecessary details about the characters lives which played no part in the rest of the story. It was a little unrealistic, considering that all the men in this small town seemed to be cops, and that a strikingly beautiful, successful, rich woman was in such a rush to settle down with the first available bachelor willing to have kids with her.

Verdict: I didn't feel like I wasted my time reading this book because it has an interesting story behind it. I did however feel like it was underdeveloped and could have used some more depth. In general it was quite predictable.
Profile Image for Aine Massie.
Author 5 books84 followers
July 12, 2012
While short, this was a good read. The story is, sadly, all to real. Guy makes descision, doesn’t bother to tell girl, leaves girl heartbroken, . . . The difference is that 20 years later they get a second chance.

The story is very ‘real’ and enjoyable and I love the ending! It’s also nice to see a story where the male isn’t smooth and makes dumb mistakes. Thankfully for him, Lynsey loves him enough to look past his bumbling atempts to fix their lost love.

A fun and HOT read for all romance lovers!
Profile Image for MaDonna Lemmen.
36 reviews4 followers
May 22, 2012
Guilt kept Nick from being with Lynsey. He was stuck in a marriage he didn't want. Years later they have another shot, if they can admit to each other how they feel.

This was my first read from Natalie-Nicole Bates. Back to You was a fairly short romantic read. It was very sweet and the characters were all likable. I've read mixed reviews about this book but I enjoyed it. I won this book and also a perfume solid made for the book. It smells as sweet as the book is.
Profile Image for Heather.
1,141 reviews2 followers
May 23, 2013
I had high hopes for this book after reading an excerpt on a blog. It's a story about long lost lovers being reunited. I loved the concept, but didn't feel like the author followed through enough. The story was definitely too short and I wanted/needed more. There was trouble with all the characters and most of it was left unresolved. I'd like to see what happens with everyone in the story including the two main characters. I guess I felt the story ended too abruptly. .
Profile Image for Liza.
447 reviews8 followers
March 27, 2015
Blegh. Vapid, see-through characters, shallow interactions, predictable plot (I mean, aren't they all? But this one I found irritating to boot). Dude gets unflatteringly possessive at the end. Apparently marriage fixes everything. The sister is a trainwreck that doesn't redeem itself. If the story were longer and had more time to develop... I still probably wouldn't have been into it. Started out okay but by the end there wasn't a single character that I liked.
Profile Image for axola.
293 reviews7 followers
May 28, 2013
This could have been published by Mills and Boon. While reading it I remembered when I was 12 and used to read my mum's stash of those kind of titles. The story was simple, but underdeveloped and the characters were quite plain.
Profile Image for Joy Whiteside.
4,920 reviews114 followers
April 28, 2014
I could not put it down, this was such a good book. From the moment that I picked this book up, I was hooked.

It moved along at the perfect pace, not to fast nor to slow, has interesting characters and a great story.

A must read.
Profile Image for Tori.
2,844 reviews476 followers
May 2, 2013
If you like romantic contemporaries where heroine is so beautiful the men in town fall at her feet, the hero is a dud, and marriage is the ONLY end game...then this book is for you.
Profile Image for Denise.
50 reviews
June 14, 2013
A super fast read. I hoped it had more depth in the character's and there lives.
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