REVIEW: Backslide by Nora Dahlia

In Backslide by Nora Dahlia, When Nellie got an invitation from her best friend Cara to attend a vow renewal–an un-wedding–in California’s wine country, she couldn’t wait. Getting out of NYC for a week is just what she needs. Her life seems to be changing in every way, and she needs some time and space for clarity. But Nellie also realizes she’ll have to finally see her first love Noah, who is Cara’s husband Ben’s best friend. She’s still ticked off at Noah for the way things ended a little over twenty years ago when they were teens. Now in her late 30s, you’d think Nellie would have moved on from her attraction to Noah. But as soon as they both touch down in Sonoma, not only do their tempers flare but their attraction is also making it difficult to think straight. As they ever so slowly start to communicate and eventually rehash the events that led to their breakup, Nellie knows Noah is who she’s been missing all these years. And he’s who she’s meant to be with. If they can figure out the logistics.

“You…love me?”
Noah grins at me, takes my hand in his strong own. “Nell. Of course I love you. I’ve always loved you. I was just too young and stupid to know what to do about it.”

Noah had some worries leading up to Ben’s un-wedding. Mostly about seeing Nellie again after so long. He was correct that she’s still harboring some ill will towards him. And probably rightly so. But what surprises him most is that Noah still feels a visceral connection with Nellie. One that is oh so similar to how they were in high school. Their lives have moved in very different directions. And they even live in opposite parts of the country. But Noah knows that if he can get Nellie to understand where his head was at the last time they were a couple, he might just be able to prove how much he’s grown and is capable of now. Because she’s always been the one. He didn’t recognize what he was missing without her in his life until this week together in Sonoma with all of their friends surrounding them. And Noah will do anything to keep Nellie close, to show her how much she truly means to him.

‘First love, last love.
That’s what I think as I stare into the face of this beautiful woman, in whom I can still see that girl I fell in love with a trillion years before.’

A second chance romance set in California’s wine country with animosity, sparks of attraction, and an un-wedding celebration? Count me in. Nora Dahlia layered in the charm and intense emotions in her newest novel BACKSLIDE.

‘Our hands graze each other. And it’s like an electric shock when we make contact, lightning scorching its way through me. Decades, years, eons–and this boy still does that to me.’

CW: View Spoiler »Cheating, recreational drug use, parental death (historical), childhood abandonment (historical) « Hide Spoiler

I’m always happy to read a second chance romance. And Nora Dahlia created an epic story for BACKSLIDE that saw the main characters, Nellie and Noah, having been estranged for a little over twenty years get thrown together to celebrate their shared friends’ un-wedding. I really enjoyed the fact that everyone around the duo (aside from the two antagonists) knew it was going to be tricky with them in the same place and tried to smooth things out. I wish we would have got to know some of those secondary characters a tiny bit more. But it was a group effort to keep Noah and Nellie from imploding in each other’s company at times.

I’m going to be honest that in this dual timeline, dual POV story where we followed teenage Nellie and Noah and then during the present day as adults, I think it was watching them fall in love as teens that touched me the most. Dahlia so accurately conveyed that feeling of falling for someone for the first time. The ups and downs. And she showed how close of a bond Noah and Nellie had–until it all fell apart. As adults, they both had trust issues and carried a lot of harsh feelings from their past. It was tough to see them struggling to get along while they were in California for Cara and Ben’s celebration–kind of vow renewal but without family there, only friends.

Attraction was never an issue for Nellie and Noah. It was learning to put each other first and communicating they needed to work on. And I think after several snafus–some funny, some cringe-worthy–that immaturity that interfered when they were teens gave way to a more mature view that slowly helped Noah and Nellie move past all that happened a couple decades ago. The ending Dahlia gave them fit who they are perfectly. I think readers will grin, sigh happily, and leave the final page feeling satisfied.

QOTD: Have you been to a wedding celebration that lasted more than a day (maybe a weekend or a week)?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: October 21st, 2025 | Gallery Books |

The author of the “sexy, smart, and sweetly satisfying” (Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Pick-Up returns with a second chance romance perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez! Exes are thrown together at their best friends’ wine country un-wedding and forced to reckon with their past…and lingering sparks.

Nellie Hurwitz doesn’t have a first love. She has a first Noah-who-may-not-be-named. And she has refused to talk about what imploded their relationship since it ended abruptly near the end of high school.

For two decades, Nellie and Noah have managed to avoid seeing each other—but the gig is up when their respective best friends, Ben and Cara, plan an intimate vow renewal at a vineyard compound in Sonoma, California.

Nellie is determined to keep ancient history from ruining the trip Cara has worked so hard to plan—but dangerously close quarters bring up feelings both Nellie and Noah have carefully locked away for years. Even amidst the eye rolls, snipes and awkwardness of their forced proximity, the two can’t shake the heady attraction they’ve always shared.

Written in alternating timelines, teenage Nellie and Noah fall together and apart in 1990s New York, while, in the present day, they grapple with whether—despite the baggage of the past—there is still something real and unfinished brewing between them.

Ultimately, can they find a way to move forward? Or will they backslide and blow things up for good?