It Should've Been You
Twenty years. Two versions of herself. One love she can’t seem to forget.
At fifteen, Aurora Ridgefield fell for Gale Montgomery—intense, brilliant, and reckless in a way that made her feel alive for the first time. Then he vanished, leaving behind heartbreak and a thousand questions she’s never dared to ask.
Now twenty-five, Aurora has built a life around safety and certainty with her steady boyfriend, Sage. Marriage. Kids. The kind of love that’s supposed to last. But when she stumbles across her old teenage journal, she’s pulled back into the world she shared with Gale—and the version of herself she buried when he left.
As the years unfold and Aurora and Sage’s marriage is tested by loss, longing, and the quiet ache of unfulfilled dreams, she can’t shake the question that has haunted her since she was sixteen: what if the love she can’t forget is the one she was meant to have?
Told across two timelines, It Should’ve Been You is a deeply emotional story about first love, the choices that shape us, and the courage it takes to let go—or to fight for what was never finished.
About Rebecca
Rebecca Rome is a traditionally published self-help author under her real name and a high school English teacher living in New Jersey. It Should’ve Been You is her first work of fiction, heavily inspired by her own true story. Rebecca has wanted to tell “Aurora’s” story with “Gale” since she was sixteen and even wrote an online version that she now hopes no one will ever find. Little did she know at the time that the story of Aurora and Gale was far from over. She’s currently working on her third book—a dual point-of-view romance starring a brooding rock star and, of course, the older brother’s best friend.
When she’s not writing or teaching, Rebecca can be found lifting heavy weights, curling up under a warm blanket with a hot beverage, watching ’80s slasher movies, listening to her impossibly emo music, or spending time with her family.
Rebecca is currently seeking representation.
