(17 reviews)
$4.99
The Long Way Back
by Star Again
Language: English
Categories: Fiction » Romance » Adult
Content Rating: Older than 17
James Vandael got the impossible: a second chance.
After dying old, alone, and full of regret, he wakes in 2003 as his twenty-year-old self, back in the room where his first life began to fall apart.
This time, he refuses to disappear.
Armed with discipline, memory, and the hard lessons of a wasted life, James begins rebuilding everything from the ground up: his body, his studies, his future, his finances, and the relationships he once kept at a safe distance.
Leuven becomes the beginning of the life he never dared to want.
Medicine. Martial arts. Money. Desire. Old friends seeing him differently. New women noticing what he used to hide. A future that no longer feels completely closed.
But a second chance is not the same as wisdom.
James can study harder, train harder, invest earlier, and make better choices than the frightened young man he used to be. He can become stronger, sharper, calmer, and harder to ignore.
That does not mean he knows how to live.
The Long Way Back is a slow-burn, character-driven do-over novel about self-reinvention, romance, ambition, intimacy, and emotional consequence. This is not a fast-paced adventure or instant-power fantasy. The style is introspective, dialogue-heavy, and deliberately vivid, with sharp exchanges, reflective prose, and a more thoughtful pace.
Progress is earned slowly: through study, training, discipline, mistakes, desire, and the painful work of being truly seen.
For readers who enjoy intelligent second-chance stories, complex characters, emotional realism, martial arts, medical-school ambition, slow-burn romance, and prose with weight, this is a do-over story about more than changing the future.
It is about becoming someone who can finally stay present inside it.
Because success can protect James.
It cannot heal him.
And the hardest part of his second life may not be winning.
It may be learning how to be alive.
Review Book
Reader Reviews
tompitt
Please Can I Have More
Reviewed it on July 8, 2026
Very well done. Very sharp dialogue. How many days before you publish part two? Thank you for this, Tom
Thank you, Tom. I’m very glad the dialogue worked for you. Part two is already planned, and I’m working on it now. I do not want to promise an exact date too early, but James’s road definitely continues.
persecutor
Amazing Story
Reviewed it on July 7, 2026
Character driven D0-Over Romance that required me to look up locations in and near Belgium. Great colloquys I frequently had to reread to comprehend. I also desire sequels to carry James at least through the six years of Medical school in Belgium (3-year Bachelor of Science and a 3-year Master of Science in Medicine).
Thank you, persecutor. That means a lot. I’m especially glad James’s complexity, the dialogue, and the Belgian setting worked for you. The medical-school path gives him a long road ahead, and I’m very grateful that you want to see more of it.
walkingintherain6
Slow Road To Respectability
Reviewed it on July 6, 2026
The 'slow road' reference is not a discouragement, as this is more of a character study than an adventure tale. James is complex and subject to second-guessing himself, which makes the suspension of disbelief easier for a do-over story. I enjoyed this book and I hope to see a sequel soon.
Thank you very much for the thoughtful review. I’m especially glad James’s complexity and the slower character-focused road worked for you. A sequel is planned, and I really appreciate the encouragement.
sistelit1
Captivating storyline, well worth the price!
Reviewed it on July 13, 2026
Summarized: The storyline is great, the character of James has real depth, dialogue needs work. More detailed review below.
I bought the book after reading the first few chapters on SOL, and as mentioned the storyline is captivating, and the characters are mostly great, but the dialogue is the biggest weakness of the book. From the authors other comments here it seems the intention was a style of "heightened dialogue", but on the page it just seems stilted, mechanical and not how anyone talks to each other in real life.
In addition (and not to pile on) there is simply too many characters which only purpose seems to be to somehow look straight into James' "soul" and being able to analyze and critique his actions and motivations even if those actions are not even performed yet, but merely planned/intended. In my opinion any eventual sequel would be better off if you either eliminated or drastically changed the character Saar, she's just not needed, and serves no real purpose with Marieke around. What the cast of characters need (again, in my opinion) is someone who's more contrasting to James analytical nature, basically someone who's just warm and accepting.
Overall a good book, and worth the purchase and read, but with potential for improvement going forward. Looking forward to the announced sequel.
PS: The text message conversations worked great on SOL, as there you got them as "pictures" of conversations, but download the book as an epub-file and that goes away and all you're left it with is lines of text that makes it more difficult to follow.
Thank you very much for the thoughtful review. I'm really glad you enjoyed the story and felt it was worth the purchase.
I also appreciate the detailed feedback. I understand what you mean about the heightened dialogue and the cumulative effect of several characters analysing James. Whether readers enjoy that style seems to be the most divisive aspect of the book, so it's useful to hear where it did and didn't work for you.
The note about the EPUB text messages is especially helpful. They were originally designed for the web version, and I can see how that formatting loses clarity in an EPUB. That's something I'll definitely improve going forward.
-: The Epub. Should be fixed. If you donwload again let me know if it is. -
Thanks again for taking the time to write such a detailed review, and I hope you'll enjoy Book 2 as well.
damonby
Solid and well written.
Reviewed it on July 11, 2026
A very dialogue driven story. If written by a non native English speaker it is even more impressive. It is written in a very terse style. While I enjoyed the tense enter play of smart conversations, sometimes they were just too smart. Hard to explain why that matters.
Thank you, Damonby. I really appreciate that, especially the comments on the dialogue and style. English isn’t my first language, so that means a lot. I also understand what you mean by “sometimes too smart.” It’s a fair observation, and finding the balance between heightened dialogue and natural conversation is something I’ll keep working on. Thanks for reading and for the thoughtful review.
That's NOT an ending.
Reviewed it on July 11, 2026
Great. Hard to follow text msgs conversations.
Thank you for reading and for the 4-star review. I’m glad you enjoyed the story. You’re right that Book 1 ends with the larger journey still continuing, and I appreciate the note about the text message conversations. That’s helpful feedback, and I’ll keep it in mind for the next books. Thanks again!
pmiller009
hard to follow
Reviewed it on July 17, 2026
conversation is dis-jointed like listening to two people with speech impairments, does not flow like a real life.Only conflict is in his head.
Thank you for giving it a try, and for taking the time to say so honestly. I really appreciate you reading.
kroft1967
Not bad but not for me
Reviewed it on July 8, 2026
It is compelling in a way and well written. However, humans don't really act and talk like most of the characters in this book. At least not consistently. The main female character in particular is someone I can see being interested in at first. However she is the very definition of high maintenance and would send me running screaming after a short time.
Thank you for reading and for putting this fairly. I’m glad the story still felt compelling in places, even though the dialogue style and Marieke’s character dynamic did not work for you. I appreciate you giving it a try.
pencek
found the writing difficult to access
Reviewed it on July 8, 2026
No doubt this author is a talented writer. But unfortunately, I did not enjoy his writing style. Can't recommend this one, though from the description I thought I would enjoy.
Thank you for giving the story a try, pencek. I’m sorry the style wasn’t for you, but I appreciate the fair and thoughtful way you put it.
i_like2_sail2
boring
Reviewed it on July 7, 2026
God I wish I could get my money back from this purchase.
I’m sorry the book didn’t work for you, but thank you for giving it a try.