The Rewind

 The Rewind (2022) by Allison Winn Scotch

Synopsis (from the back of the book): Two exes wake up together with wedding bands on their fingers--and no idea how they got there. They have just one New Year's Eve at the end of 1999 to figure it out in this big-hearted and nostalgic rom-com from New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch.

When college sweethearts Frankie and Ezra broke up before graduation, they vowed to never speak to each other again. Ten years later, on the eve of the new millennium, they find themselves back on their snowy, picturesque New England campus together for the first time for the wedding of mutual friends. Frankie's on the rise as a music manager for the hottest bands of the late '90s, and Ezra's ready to propose to his girlfriend after the wedding. Everything is going to plan--they just have to avoid the chasm of emotions brought up when they inevitably come face to face.

But when they wake up in bed next to each other the following morning with Ezra's grandmother's diamond on Frankie's finger, they have zero memory of how they got there--or about any of the events that transpired the night before. Now Frankie and Ezra have to put aside old grievances in order to figure out what happened, what didn't happen...and to ask themselves the most troubling question of all: what if they both got it wrong the first time around?

So....I picked this out because I needed a plot that took place in a single day for a reading challenge. And the synopsis sounded pretty interesting (especially in contrast to some of the others I investigated). But honestly, this really wasn't my kind of book. I thought that there might be a more intriguing answer to what happened on the night that Frankie and Ezra couldn't remember. But it just wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped for. And honestly, I really didn't care much whether they got back together or not. Their story didn't grab me and make me in any way invested in these people. At times, they annoyed me and I found it hard to believe the ending in the way it was handled. I will say SPOILER....

that I was glad to see Mimi (Ezra's current girlfriend) exit the stage. She was pretty manipulative and got Ezra into the relationship based on a lie--that did not go down well at all. 

If you like relationship stories that go from hate to love in a fairly quick, pretty unrealistic way...then this might be right up your alley. ★★

First line (Prologue): Frankie Harriman took a long last look in the mirror on the back of the bathroom door of her decently appointed hotel room.

First line (1st Chapter): Frankie awoke to a headache that felt akin to a leech sucking the blood straight from her spinal chord.

Last line: And then, in what felt like a small miracle given how far they'd come, he pressed PLAY.