When We Meet Again by Hayden Hall

Instant attraction heartbreaker. Luke and Rafael meet on Luke's eighteenth birthday and their lives are never the same again.


From the When We Meet Again blurb:

Rafael owns my heart. He stole it with the first clumsy bump in a Parisian bookstore, and I never asked him to return it.

He gifted me a night to remember, a night that shaped the person I would become. And then, I lost him. I lost every trace that could have helped me find him. Until fate meddled again and put Rafael and me on the same cross-European train through the Alps.

But if I hoped that some divine hand guided us to one another, I was terribly mistaken.

Our second encounter sparked a decade of failed attempts and missed chances. For years, I yearned to be with him, and for years, something took him away. Our lives are so intertwined that we will never be free of one another. And yet, each time I see him, my dream of a happy ending fades a little more.

Is stealing moments with Rafael enough to live on? Can I survive on glimmers of hope? I don’t think so.

It’s time to take our happy ending away from fate’s hands. It’s time to break this cursed cycle once and for all.


Reed Kaye's review:

I love this story. Every author I follow has a book I read and reread and this is one that is now on that list.
Luke is celebrating his eighteenth birthday when his first introduction to Rafael happens. This is the start of a life changing event that both boys have no idea about. They both only know there is this instant attraction and they are not mature enough to deal with it.

Years pass, fate intervenes and now these two men have choices to make that set the path of their future but fate also seems to interfere.

This is one of the stories that is so well laid out that I felt the heartache of each step in these two characters' lives. It would have taken one little decision on one of their parts to have made their history so different. This is a what if story I love.


SNik's review:

Standalone. Second chances. Slow burn. Dual POV. 

A chance meeting in a bookstore in Paris leads to a night that shapes everything to follow for two young men. Luke is entranced with Rafael, but one stolen night and another chance meeting years later has them intertwined in a series of brief moments in time spent together that spans years with missed opportunities and longing. This story was beautifully written focusing on the experiences shared and the feelings that bloom between Luke and Rafael. 

There is a dream-like quality to this story, both men accepting that the timing never seems right and holding on tightly to the relationship they have in each moment that they are together. If you accept the story as it evolves, where these men allow the tide to push and pull them instead of dictating where their relationship should go, this book will evoke all kinds of heart wrenching emotions. The yearning and hope and unwavering love throughout years of missing each other, Luke and Rafael find that they are each other’s touchpoint. This is a slight departure for Hayden Hall from his popular athletic and college series having a more serious tone, and it was a wonderful romantic read.

Heather's Review:

What if you keep finding and leaving your one true love?  A chance meeting, missed opportunities, different paths... until something gives and there's a chance for it to work? This was a beautifully written book that spans over a decade and gives us hope so many times, just for it to be dashed... but in the end, a hard won HEA.

This book is a departure from what I usually expect from Hayden Hall, but it was amazing, which just goes to prove that sometimes writing your passion is the way to go!


When We Meet Again is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription