OUR WAY BACK TO ALWAYS
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets Morgan Matson in this effervescent romance about childhood best friends reconnecting that’s full of sunny days, warm nights, first kisses, and mended hearts.
Luisa (Lou) Patterson grew up across the street from Sam Alvarez in the small, quirky town of Port Coral. They used to be inseparable–until the most disastrous (and embarrassing) middle school serenade ever, and Lou and Sam haven’t talked since. Sam is now the golden boy with plenty of friends, while Lou is an anxious gamer and secret romantic who’s happiest on her own. But when her older sister gives up a scholarship to Princeton to have a baby and work at the local botanica, all of their mother’s expectations are now riding on Lou’s shoulders.
She’s retaking her SAT’s, signed up for way too many AP classes, and her sights set on colleges with fancy names like Duke and Vanderbilt. But when she finds the bucket list she and Sam wrote together as kids, before Sam’s father was diagnosed with cancer, she’s shocked to see that she hasn’t accomplished any of the goals she’d set for herself. Go to a party? Nope. Pull the greatest prank of all time? Still no. Learn how to be a really good kisser? Definitely not.
Torn between the future that her mother, sister, and younger self planned for her, Lou sets out to finish the list, and in a stroke of destiny or fate, Sam decides to tag along. Still trying to stay afloat amid the grief of losing his father, Sam himself is staring down a future that feels all too close, and is coming far too fast. But with the bucket list to guide them, Sam and Lou might just be able to find a way through the future, and also a way back to each other.
Available October 19, 2021
Praise
“Thoughtful, vibrant and full of warmth, Our Way Back to Always hit me right in the solar plexus of feels. I cried for Sam, cheered for Lou and swooned endlessly as these former best friends found their way back to each other in a new and lovely way. I could spend all my life in Port Coral and never want for anything more.”—Erin Hahn, author of You’d Be Mine and Never Saw You Coming
“I loved returning to Port Coral and getting swept away by Lou and Sam’s sweet love story about second chances and new beginnings. I’m forever a fan of Nina Moreno’s work.”—Kristina Forest, author of I Wanna Be Where You Are and Now That I’ve Found You
“Come for the perfectly messy beach town romance, stay for the healing of generational trauma, the profound exploration of growing while grieving, and a lovable underdog victory that will have you straight up cheering out loud. No one does the intersection of swooning and sobbing like Nina Moreno.”—Tehlor Kay Mejia, author of We Set the Dark on Fire
“My heart swelled when I read this story. Both main characters’ struggles and their growth throughout was realistic and poignant, and you will be hooked from the start with the story. Featuring complicated family issues, as well as exploring love and friendship as a teen, you will be blown away by Nina’s book, especially if you love yourself a great contemporary read full of a lot of emotional elements.”—Aurora Dominguez, contributing writer at Book Riot and Frolic young adult expert
“This beautiful novel will show readers that there are many different paths one’s life can take, if only we remember to appreciate every moment. YA romance fans will not want to miss this one.”—Booklist, starred review
“The friends-to-lovers story is comfortably familiar and absolutely enjoyable. A coming-of-age story with a good balance of humor and romance.”—Kirkus Reviews
“This warm romance showcases teens working on their mental health in an emotionally realistic way…. A comforting, feel-good read, with an endlessly hopeful message of being true to yourself.”—SLJ