The Way It Was

Every love story has a beginning. Not every beginning has a fairytale ending.

The Way It Was
by Sophie Mansur-Gupte

Before the betrayal, there was the love story.

They met in high school Algebra—Amelia, sharp and driven, and Jason, quietly complicated. What started as stolen glances and after-school phone calls quickly spiraled into a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love.

But timing was never on their side.

Spanning over a decade, The Way It Was traces the tender, turbulent evolution of a relationship that survived long-distance, jealousy, and growing pains—only to be tested by the one thing neither of them saw coming: temptation.

Told in alternating perspectives and aching with vulnerability, this prequel to It Wasn’t Supposed to Be Like This takes readers back to the beginning—to the memories that built them, the moments that broke them, and the cracks that formed long before the fall.

For fans of Colleen Hoover and Carley Fortune, The Way It Was is a poignant exploration of young love, emotional complexity, and the invisible lines between loyalty, longing, and regret.

Because sometimes, the hardest part of falling in love…
is holding on to it.