He was my first love.

My first heartbreak.

The boy who made the one mistake I’ll never forgive.

Roderick Wilder and I grew up side by side—two kids tangled up in music, mixtapes, and lyrics that felt like they belonged only to us. Then he destroyed everything we had and disappeared, chasing a future without me.

Twelve years later, he’s back.

Not the rising star I remember, but a man who’s broken, scarred, and desperate to rewrite his story.

The problem? I’ve already started falling for someone else—an anonymous stranger I trade late-night messages with, sharing lyrics and reliving the bands that shaped us.

He feels safe.

He feels new.

He feels like everything Roderick isn’t.

But soon I might need to choose between the stranger who makes me believe again . . .

and the boy who once destroyed me.

From USA Today bestselling author Claudia Burgoa comes a nostalgic second-chance romance of mixtapes, dial-up confessions, and the one boy who broke her heart before the world ever knew his name.

(Not So) Simple Lyrics is an emotional, nostalgic second chance which features your favorite tropes:

🎸Slowburn
🎸Rockstar
🎸Bad boy
🎸First love, childhood crush, it’s always been you
🎸Wounded /Damaged / Tortured Hero
🎸Epistolary novel
🎸Redemption