Back to You: Then

After suffering an abusive childhood, Samantha Maguire has one goal: to stop the cycle. With a full ride to NYU and a budding friendship with her roommate, Lena, underway, Sam is determined to build a new life for herself that includes good grades, getting into law school, and working to save the kids like her who never had a fighting chance. The one thing she hasn't counted on is Lena's gorgeous jerk of a brother. Undermining her resolve at every turn, Stefan is nothing but a regret she is better off without.

For his part, Stefan Dalcescu isn't going to give his little sister's new BFF the slightest time of day. A playboy who tattoos the hearts of his conquests on his arm, the soon-to-be law student isn't looking to settle down or be a hero. Much to his annoyance, Sam works her way under his skin, and Stefan has to reign in his past to convince her that a future is in the cards.

But when Sam is drawn into the Dalcescu syndicate's web of crime, they must both confront whether the family she has become a part of is any different from the one she left behind. Is her friendship with Lena and romance with Stefan worth everything that she will lose? Is Stefan's want of the one girl he shouldn't have worth the forfeiture of his birth rite? Is there a future where they both get everything they want?

Back to You explores the outrageous highs and devastating lows of young love while offering a peek into the Romanian organized crime organization known as the Brigazi. Told in two parts, Then confronts Stefan and Sam's early love as college sweethearts that resolves in Now, where the story picks up five years later. A formidable entry into mafia romance that stands up well to Faultline and Tempered, Mia Michele weaves suspense, sensuality, and intrigue into a story that pulls you in and never lets you go.

Reader Advisory: Back to You: Then is the first of a two-part duet and ends with a cliffhanger. Topics of abuse, assault, rape, and domestic violence are presented. Reader discretion is advised.