The Backtrack

La Rosa (Plot Twist) plays a supernatural game of “what if?” in this cute contemporary set off the coast of Georgia. Samantha Leto left Tybee Island after high school, determined to see the world and not wind up trapped in the kind of small-town life her mother lived. Her one regret is never acting on her attraction to her high school best friend, band geek Damon, before she left. After 10 years away, Sam, now a commercial pilot, returns to Tybee to help her grandmother pack up her childhood home—and Damon, now a local brewery owner and more attractive than ever, proves unavoidable. Seeing him again makes Sam wonder: did she make the right choice, pursuing her career dreams over what might have been? Fortunately, she has some otherworldly help in answering this question. While cleaning out her bedroom, she finds an old CD player that “transport[s] her to an alternate version of the past” for the duration of any song she plays, allowing her a glimpse of what a relationship with Damon would have looked like. This magical element is clever, but La Rosa builds enough non-supernatural backstory between Sam and Damon that it almost feels superfluous. Still, there’s no denying the chemistry between these would-be high school sweethearts. This goes down easy. (July)