The Backtrack is the perfect romance for millennials to read if they're feeling nostalgic about their high school years. After reading this, Erin La Rosa became an autobuy author for me and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa is a contemporary romance story that has a touch of magical realism to it in the form of visions of how things might have been. The visions bringing up the past are triggered from an old CD player bringing a lot of nostalgia into the story with the soundtrack of the main character’s earlier life.

Sam Leto left her hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia nearly twenty years ago now with the dream of becoming a pilot. Sam saw her dreams come true and has been living in Paris as she flies around the world traveling nearly non stop but when her aging grandmother Pearl calls Sam for help she immediately knows she needs to return home.

Sam’s one regret after leaving Tybee Island was leaving behind her best friend, Damon Rocha. Sam knew though that the pull of becoming a pilot and not being trapped on the small island was greater than anything she could have had with Damon beyond friendship but there was always that little niggle of doubt of what could have been so when Sam picks up her old CD player and is transported back to those moments with Damon she can’t help but want to see more and more.

Having read another book by Erin La Rosa in the past which was strictly contemporary romance and really enjoying it I was immediately drawn to this new novel with the added touch of magical realism with being someone that enjoys mixing things up in my reads. This was a great second chance love story and I loved that the author chose to form this around music that would relate to the actions in the story and was completely engaged in watching how the alternate version of the couple would have been. Definitely an author I will return to again in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

this was such an original concept and a delight to read! there were definitely times when it felt more women’s fiction than romance, and i would have LOVED more attention on the development of sam and damon’s relationship. i appreciated the exploration of the complicated relationship with her mother, but boy, i would have eaten up more time focused on the couple. the time travel was so fresh and inventive! super fun and quick to read

Time travel books usually aren’t my thing but this really worked for me. I loved the chemistry between the two MCs. Super cute and cozy.

3.5 rounded down to 3

Erin La Rose takes readers on a journey of What if a person made a decision to go one way instead of another?

Wonder if you had done something different at a point in time, what your life would be like? Sam left her small hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia to not only pursue her dream of becoming a pilot, but taking her mom's words to heart not to get stuck there. When Sam arrives at her grandma's place her bedroom has not changed from when she was in high school. Walls covered in 2000s nostalgia including mix CDs. When she finds her old Walkman, with a CD she never played she decides to take a listen. The song transports her back to one moment in her life where she has always wondered What if? What if she would have kissed Damon, what if they would have become more than friends? With her magical Walkman Sam is about to find out.

This is the second book that I have read by La Rosa and I like that she keeps it real (I mean as real as one can with a time travelling Walkman) both the people and the relationships that she portrays in her books just feel real. I would not call this a romcom, this book will take a reader through a lot of emotions and not just happy ones, there are quite a few low points in the book, that you can’t help but feel for the characters. For Sam returning home, brings up the all the memories and questions of what could have been.

I'm not sure if I cheered for Sam and Damon in their relationship, in either timeline.

I honestly didn't feel the chemistry between them at all, I really just felt the friendship between them and nothing more. I understand that they love each other but not the same type as a more serious relationship. I like that La Rosa didn’t make it all rainbows and unicorns for the choices Sam and Damon did/didn’t make, there were tough times ahead in both timelines I don’t know if I even liked Sam or Damon in either timeline either as they both made some choices that I see as red flags for their relationship, from only caring about oneself, their own wants/needs to cheating, just added to not liking them or their relationship.

I will admit that I struggled with this book to being with, as it was slower than I thought it would be. However, the farther I got into the book I really wanted to know how each timeline would end up.

This book is a complete trip of nostalgia with all the song choices, the fashion and what was cool in the 2000. I question the song choices as it was supposed to be this big mixed CD that showed how much Damon wanted to be with Sam but a few songs in there were questionable for what Damon wanted to achieve.

Although I struggled at time with this book, overall, I enjoyed it. I may not have been a fan of the relationship between Sam and Damon I love the rawness and realness that La Rosa put in the book, not all relationships are easy.

Enjoy!!!

Break out your old mixtapes and burned CDs... this one is a trip down memory lane with the soundtrack of all your questionable decisions playing in the background. Told between past and present timelines, this is a story of finding your way back. If you ever listened to emo all day, this is a book you'll love. But it also has Fleetwood Mac, so you'll feel better about yourself in the end.

Cute friends to lovers, with a second chance and some time travel. Grandma Pearl might’ve been my favorite character, she was hilarious

This story was very cute. I am not the BIGGESTTTT fan of a friends-to-lovers romance, which I did not realize going into this story, otherwise I would not have requested it. However, I DO enjoy magical realism. Overall I felt like the writing and the pacing was well done. The characters were relatable, the story was nostalgic, and the idea of time travel behind the songs was genius. Will definitely be recommending it to those who love a friends-to-lovers/second chance romance trope.

Loved this story!! A classic back in time romance but with a twist. I love how she could jump on and out of time, when they’re usually stuck. I enjoyed all of the 90’s references. And the characters were not fluffy at all. They had a realism about them. Would recommend to a friend.

This was so fun! I love a good dual timeline story, especially when it's mixed with a dash of magical realism. Add to that the way certain songs can bring back such vivid memories that you feel like you are reliving it, and I am ALL IN!!!!! I love that the characters didn't take themselves too seriously at the same time coming across as actual adults, even though they may not have their whole lives figured. While there were some heavy topics in this book, they didn't take over the whole story.

Only giving 4 strs because I felt it could have used a content warning for miscarriage and a parental issues

✅ friends since childhood Sam & Damon, friends to lovers, second chance romance
✅ Now adults, Sam returns to her small hometown of Tybee Island, GA. As she reminisces about her childhood, she finds an old CD that Damon created for her back then. As she listens to the songs, she sees an alternate version of what could have happened if she had given her feelings for Damon a chance
✅ your mid-aughts pop punk playlist is the perfect accompaniment
🌶️: mostly off page (which surprised me because the author’s last book was on page if I recall correctly)

I'm a sucker for a time travel(ish) type of book when a character gets to revisit a time in their life and see what could've been. I read just about everyone of them that I come across to varying levels of enjoyment. This one was a good one. I really liked the story and thought it was well done.

There’s just something about this that didn’t work for me. I wanted to love the references but even they felt forced at times just in their flashback conversations, verging on nostalgia bait maybe? To be clear I highly recommend this author’s other romances, for butter or worse especially, this one just wasn’t a hit for me.

Friends to lovers is my favorite trope but that doesn’t mean if a book has it I love it automatically. I really didn’t feel the chemistry between them and it had me wondering if they really were better as friends.

I will read this author again, this one just wasn’t a hit. Thank you to Harlequin for the try/eARC.

The concept was cute. Music, but with a Midnight Library vibe. I just wasn't invested enough in the story or the characters. 2.75 stars.

This was my first Erin La Rosa book and the minute I saw what it was about, I had to read it.

Sam Leto left her small town and best friend 20 years ago and when her grandmother calls her because she’s selling the family home, Sam reluctantly returns. Once she’s home, she finds an old CD player that shows Sam what her life would have been like if she made a different choice regarding her best friend Damon.

The early 2000 nostalgia was so fun and if you’re a fan of emo/punk music, friends to lovers, second chance, small town and magic realism, you’ll love this one!

To be honest I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book at first. But the more I kept reading the more I didn’t want to put it down. The nostalgia was everything to me, especially since these were the songs I used to listen to when I was younger. I appreciated the mental health representation. Sometimes the writing fell flat especially in the beginning. Overall I enjoyed this one!

Thank you to Canary Street Press and Netgalley for this e-arc. Also thank you to Dani and Erin La Rosa for letting me participate in the traveling arc! All thoughts are my own.

This book is a nostalgia bomb for those of us that are emo kids at heart and for that, I truly appreciated it. However, I'm not sure if this book will be memorable after a little while.

The Backtrack follows Sam, who is back in her hometown after leaving in a hurry to explore the world ten years ago. But when she left town, she also left behind her best friend Damon. Damon has always been a "what if" in her life: what if she kissed him way back when? what if she stayed behind? While cleaning her room, she finds a old mixtape from Damon and discovers that when she listens to the songs, she's transported to a timeline where these questions are answered.

While I appreciated the absolute banger playlist and the concept of this book, I struggled to truly connect with it. I didn't really find a lot of chemistry between Damon and Sam in the present day and it was a bit hard to truly root for them. But I absolutely loved this time travel idea and it was fun to listen along to some of the song's Erin picked! The visions Sam got were so interesting to imagine and I was on the edge of my seat especially towards the end.

If you were a pop punk kid that remembers when Warped Tour was on concrete parking lots, I think you'll enjoy this one. It's not my favorite, but I still enjoyed myself while reading.

I wanted so bad to love this book. The premise had so much potential! The idea of listening to old songs from your youth, and seeing flashbacks of how things could have turned out differently.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me. I wasn’t feeling very nostalgic and I found that I didn’t really care for the characters. As a music lover, this one had so much potential to be a five star read for me.

To put it very simply, this book is like the poem "The Road Not Taken", just an extended version. When FMC Sam returns to her hometown and begins pondering her life decisions, she listens to an old CD which makes her see flashbacks from her past, if she made a different decision. The concept is quite wonderful, but that's all I have to say for this book. The characters were very basic and had barely any chemistry. The writing wasn't all that engaging either, The book's also supposed to be nostalgic, with it's references and flashbacks and I was not the intended audience. If you don't have similar experiences as these characters either due to a different age or culture, you may struggle to connect.

I love everything Erin writes! This is another spectacular read that will give you allllll the nostalgia and delivering on the 13 going on 30 movie vibes! This sweet rom-com is not to be missed!