Romance

Review: The Way Back To You by Hayden Fox

June 14, 2026

Synopsis:

Kendall chose survival over love.

Three years ago, she walked away from Kai—the only man she’s ever loved—keeping a life-changing secret that shattered their future. Now she’s a single mom, determined to protect her son at all costs…even if it means never telling Kai the truth.

Kai has spent the last three years outrunning heartbreak. A driven, type-A professional hockey player, his life looks perfect from the outside—but he’s never recovered from losing Kendall. And deep down, he knows he never will.

When Kendall suddenly reappears, the past he tried to bury comes rushing back. But this time, she’s not alone.

As buried truths come to light, Kai and Kendall are forced to face the love they lost, the pain they never healed from, and the family they might still have a chance to become.

In the end, some loves don’t fade…they wait.

Review:

This is a book I had really high hopes for. It started out by grabbing my attention immediately. We meet Ken and her 2.5-year-old son. Being a single parent is not easy, and the daily challenges that come with that came across very well. We also meet Kai, who finds out that she kept his son from him, and when he confronts her about it, they both have to face their past and find a way to move forward.

The dual POV (at the end we get a brief 3rd one) and the switching between past and present helped to highlight the connection between the two of them. They started out as childhood friends and evolved into something more during their teenage years. If you want to see a couple in love that feels believable and has you rooting for them to find their way back to each other, this is the one. I believed every bit of their love story and understood why the connection is still there when they meet again after a few years of no contact.
Ken never learned to love herself, and being Black came with a unique set of challenges while growing up. Kai never considered the colour of her skin to be relevant. Both of them had to face the reality of their relationship over the years, and this was portrayed very well.
Their attempt to find their way back to each other came with a lot of unique hurdles to overcome. They cannot ignore what happened, but they also want to move on. I was rooting for them.

If the story had stayed focused on that and on them building a future together, I would have enjoyed this book so much more. The last third just didn’t resonate with me. The consequences of one person’s actions didn’t fit with everything that came before. I did not understand why this was added as a story arc. I wanted the focus to be on Ken and Kai to overcome the trauma of the past together and come out on top, and this deviation tainted the journey for me.

🌙 Recension: The Way Back To You by Hayden Fox
📚 Genre: Romance
📅 Release Date: June 16, 2026
📗 included in Kindle Unlimited
📱 Read as: Kindle
💸 I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 508
⭐️ 4/5