The One She Left Behind: What If Your First Love Got A Second Chance?

by Sloane Waverley

You don’t forget your first love. You just learn how to live without them.

Fourteen years after leaving her high school sweetheart behind in New York, Sara Sinclair is on the verge of the biggest career move of her life. Then she sees Sebastian Harris again - at a glittering London conference neither of them planned to attend.

One look is all it takes.

A decade of distance disappears, and the chemistry between them is impossible to ignore.

Seb is the one who got away - the embodiment of every what if Sara has never been able to shake. And he reappears at the exact moment another man - a tall, charming Englishman - is offering her stability, family, and a future that finally makes sense.

But as old feelings resurface and the lines between past and present begin to blur, Sara finds herself pulled in more ways than one. Because behind the glamour of her rising career, something isn’t right - and someone powerful may be working against her.

Caught between the life she’s building and the love she never forgot, Sara must decide: was leaving her first love behind the right choice… or the biggest mistake of her life?

Set between New York, London, and late-night hotel bars, The One She Left Behind is a sexy, addictive story of first love, ambition, betrayal, and the impossible choices that shape who we become.

Because some connections don’t fade - they wait

226 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2026

Reviews

[Katie]

didn’t love

Quick read and written well enough but I just didn’t enjoy. More coming of age than romance. Didn’t get invested with any of the characters.

[Lydia]

This book pulled at your heart strings. If only every young woman could maneuver from fear to trust. Sara’s transformation was inspiring, and I enjoyed the bumpy ride to get there!

[Teisha R]

I received this as a Goodreads giveaway. I personally don’t think the extended title fits the book when it’s more about the main character trying to find her passion. Yes, there is a little bit of drama, and not all that much romance. I did get more intrigued by the office drama than the romance drama. I think the author put more importance to scenes with the high school crush than she did with the work love interest. You only got vague romance from when she was with Will, but you got moment by moment details when she was with Sebastian. It’s an interesting story, not a wasted read.