Running Back to You

by Sarah Henning

A usually-honest ninth grader fibs about having been kissed then rushes to lock lips with someone before her lie is uncovered in this charming and relatable middle grade rom-com.

Millie hates liars. Ever since her mom lied to their family about the six-month affair she was having, Millie has pledged to always tell the truth, no matter what. But when her classmate Logan asks her—in the middle of study hall with everyone listening—whether she’s kissed anyone, she panics. She panics and lies, saying she has.

Afterward, Millie spirals. She hasn’t only broken her most important rule, she’s done it badly. Millie’s sure everyone knows she was fibbing. The only way out is to make reality catch up to her lies by changing her kiss status and getting a boyfriend…as quickly as possible.

But Millie’s mission keeps getting foiled by Logan, who suddenly seems to be there at every turn. Millie starts to wonder why Logan cares so much in the first place. Could it be that when he asked about her first kiss, it wasn’t to embarrass her at all?

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Contemporary

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2025

About the author

Sarah Henning is a recovering journalist who has worked for the Palm Beach Post, Kansas City Star and Associated Press, among others. While in South Florida, Sarah lived and worked through five hurricanes, which gave her an extreme respect for the ocean. When not writing, she runs ultramarathons, hits the playground with her two kids and hangs out with her husband Justin, who doubles as her long-suffering IT department. Sarah lives in Lawrence, Kansas, which, despite being extremely far from the beach, happens to be pretty cool.

Reviews

[Amina · Rating 3 out of 5]

✰ 3.25 stars ✰

“Because his was the face I wanted to see.”

Not so relatable for me in terms of the first kiss aspect, due to my religion and culture, but... it was nostalgic. 🥺 It happily brought back all the memories of what it was like to be a fourteen-year-old and just feeling the difference of looking at your male classmates through a different lens - a weird new feeling and sometimes uncomfortable, but still cherish-able approach.

Every girl needs a 'boy'-friend like Logan. What a dear. What a sweetheart. 😍 Even without the 'crush', to have someone you can be yourself and comfortable in their presence without false pretenses or second guessing what you're gonna have to say or act. I enjoyed seeing the two of them spending time together, Millie oblivious to his affections for her, while she's blinded by her own desire to thwart the false allegations she led on in a moment of weakness. 😊

“I still know I lied about both the kiss and the boyfriend. I’m a big fat liar.”

I get that. Righting the wrong takes time and effort. 🏃‍♀️ But in that time and effort, it was very sweet to see the lengths Logan went to help Millie out. Whether it was with improving her running time, or crossing the hurdles, patient and supportive, but still honest and caring, an old soul in a gangly six-foot body. It's adorable. It's like a no-brainer!~ 😘 it was obvious who the real MVP was - except for Millie. I felt the realness of Millie then struggling with her ill-fated attempts for that first kiss. 💘

How she waffled with her own altering perspective of her impressions of Casey, her brother's bff, suddenly seeing what a stud he is and the right guy to have that memorable lip lock with. The perfect package! 🥹 But imperfections tend to exist where we least expect them. Millie confronts those challenging emotions and changes the hard way. Her quiet anger and jealousy of her best friend not being that best friend anymore, the fluctuating tendencies of her twin brother, who's warring with his own anger towards their mother, and the warm flutters she was suddenly experiencing around Logan. 🥰

“I mean, let’s look at it this way—you’ve kissed someone, right?”

I understand how Millie's mom's cheating was one of the reasons why Millie was so adamant in living up to her nickname of honest Abe, but I don't think that particular storyline was treated well. 😕 It felt underdeveloped and more like a lingering resentment that even her change of heart in seeing the connection between her behavior and her mother's own explanation for it did not resonate with me.

I did not like that Casey had to be the bad guy. It could have been more heartfelt and sincere, if the actions and feelings were true, rather than the ugly truth coming out. 😒 It felt like a disservice to their friendship, and also a convenient way to paint Logan as the bigger person and the better choice. Even without the good merits that he was racking up, it would have been fair enough if Millie could have seen it without knowing that bit.

“My heart wobbles, and I feel so… unsure. About I don’t know what. Everything?”

I'm an early 2000's tween/teen. I know social media rarely gives the real look at how kids behave irl, and I also know that the focus was on Millie's track and hurdles and operation first kiss, but even the lack of constantly being glued to their screens was strange. 🤔 The kids' own interests aside, the rarity of the phone even being of use was odd. And I get that it's fine not to include it as much, but even the dialogue lacked any slang or lingo that fit the present time.

So as much as I do agree with the author that upper middle grade romcom reads are scarce, as the current gen have to rely on older romcom flicks to get that fix, I still found some points lacking. Relatable themes aside, I still did not believe their conversations and interactions to be realistic enough; like it was out of touch with the time, if that makes sense. Ofc, I could be very much wrong with my own assumptions, but that disconnect made it less of an impressive read than it could have been. 😞

[Diana of Shelved by Strand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freshman Millie has had a major aversion to lying ever since she discovered her mom's affair. She's totally mortified when she lies without thinking to her classmates when she's put on the spot and asked if she's ever been kissed. Millie can't handle living a lie, so she hatches a plan with her bestie Hannah to both get her first kiss and a date to the spring dance.

As a middle school teacher, I LOVED this book. This is exactly the type of upper middle grade / lower young adult romance my 7th and 8th grade girls want. They ask for romance books all the time, but most of the ones that seems to end up as Netflix movies or Amazon series are more appropriate as older YA. Was the scheming and dialogue above what a typical freshman is capable of? Of course -- but that's exactly why my readers love these "aspirational" rom-coms. Running Back to You is every bit the escapist fun as the oft-referenced "10 Things I Hate About You" and other movies.

Finally, as a former track coach, I loved how accurate all the track meets and practices were. Romance + sports = perfect.

Thanks to NetGalley and Aladdin for the eARC.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun rom-com about Millie, who hates lying, ends up telling Logan that she has kissed someone when she hasn’t. Her best friend, Hannah, says we need to find a boy for you to kiss. They decide on Caleb. Millie and Hannah join the track team where they see Logan as well. Logan does hurdles, and they find that Millie is good at hurdling. When he helps her practice, they go for ice cream, and Millie finds she likes hanging out with Logan. Caleb asks Millie why are you hanging out with Logan. Is Caleb interested in Millie? One day when Millie is with Logan she tells him she lied about her first kiss and didn’t kiss anyone. When Millie has an injury, Caleb helps her and seems about to kiss her, when Logan shows up. What happens? Does Millie end up kissing either boy?
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, really enjoyable YA book.

Super honest Millie is caught in a little lie about having a boyfriend and being kissed; video-taped and circulated around school. Unsurprisingly, when you try and fix a lie with more lying it usually gets worse before it gets better.

Between 4 and 5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Aladdin and Sarah Henning for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Running Back to You in exchange for an honest review. Approx 300-350 pages. Release date is Sept 9, 2025.

[Jordan Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept I loved most about this story is that (almost) every character is a good person; this book gives you multiple people to root for and explores varying levels of developing relationships. There’s a “first love” element running throughout, but also the emotions involved with navigating friendships and family. Plus track and field references combined with tons of ice cream? An absolute total win!

[donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the arc via netgalley. This is your traditional trope of girl trying to ensnare boy when the right boy is right in front of her. The story is set around the track team and she is a hurdler. Reminded me of my own high school experiences except my school must have been smaller as we did not have 200.people or a jv vs varsity split. Loved the references to the movie 10 things I hate about you. Enjoyable nostalgic middle grade read

[Jennifer Iacopelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Running Back to You revels in the reality of awkward adolescence in this charming, hilarious and heartwarming coming of age story. Full of friendly hijinks and sporty shenanigans, Millie and her friends find themselves, and each other, at the finish line along with a first kiss or two!

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Review to be posted closer to publication date.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

High school characters (but friendly enough for middle grade readers), romance, friendships, track.

Terrific for 6th grade and up readers looking for a romance.

More of this, please!