Although it sounds like a really sweet rom-com from the book synopsis, I believe there are also some deeper themes included. The idea of finding your own self before sharing your life with someone else, no matter how much you love them, is also explored in the book, as is the idea of being with the right person at the wrong moment.

i had such a fun time with this honestly. like i looooove a magical realism romance (like ashley poston) and i ate this up. it took me a while to get to it which is my bad but it was so fun and i loved all these music recs, it was just a fun little piece of history. i'm rooting so hard for sam and damon post-novel.

3 ⭐
Sam goes back to her hometown to help care for her grandmother. She runs into her childhood best friend and slight feelings of regret surface. While reminiscing in her childhood bedroom at home, she finds a cd player with songs that Damon created for her that she never listened to. On a whim she turns it on only to be thrown back into her past and relive different decisions and memories, making it possible to change her past and future.

I really wanted to love this one, but honestly it fell shorter than my expectations. I binged the book in one day, it was most definitely a short and sweet read, but the writing was so bland. I struggled to get through it. The only thing I really loved were the throwbacks to early/mid 2000's emo kid music and media. It reminded me of my middle/high school days and it was a fun time.

However, the characters were not relatable or really anything worth it. Sam runs away from her problems and pretends everything is alright, while Damon didn't have anything going for him. He felt like your stereotypical "generic male love interest". Everything about this book was really just alright at best.

💿magical realism
💿flashbacks/time travel-ish
💿emo nostalgia
💿friends to lovers

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for the complimentary ARC of The Backtrack for an honest review.

I really enjoy this author! Her books are so wonderful and sweet! I loved the characters and story line for this one! The dynamic of the MMC AND MFC were perfect! I can’t wait to read more from her!

The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa is a fun and nostalgic romance with a bit of magical realism that really hooked me. The story follows Sam, a successful pilot who returns to her hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia, to help her grandmother. While there, she finds an old CD player that takes her to alternate versions of her past, allowing her to re-live moments with her childhood friend, Damon, and explore “what if” scenarios. The 2000s vibe and the songs La Rosa picks really add to the emotional depth of the story. The characters are relatable and well-developed, making the journey feel both touching and real. While some parts are predictable, it’s still an enjoyable and thought-provoking read, especially if you love romance mixed with a bit of magic and nostalgia.

This book was a very nice love story. The flash backs tying her to her feeling for her love interest from the past to future really helped you feel connected and feel the love she had for him. It was a cute way for the story to be written, definitely different from other arcs I have read. 4/5

Given such a unique gift to be able to go back in time and right wrongs and learn and grow. This was actually really beautiful.

I'm in the minority but I loved high school. I loved this nostalgic backtrack to high school and the idea of what if? What if we went back and did it all again. Loved this!

This was cute and so nostalgic for me. Sam returns home for the first time in a decade to help her grandma pack up her house. She runs into her former bff from high school Damon and she discovers that there are some feelings for him. A “haunted cd player” that shows her an alternate reality via an emo playlist Damon made for her really has her trying to figure some things out. Friends to lovers, lightly spicy, a couple very hilarious octogenarians. This was fun!

I loved this book and couldn’t put it down! It’s another hit from Erin La Rosa! I loved the vaguely supernatural element throughout

I’m super late in reviewing this as an ARC but it was so cute! I felt all the vibes from being a teen myself with the flashbacks of the music, the fashion, the trends, etc. it was great! I also loved the reconnection in the present, the backtrack to the potential past based on one pivotal moment, and that sometimes what if wouldn’t have taken you where you thought and how sometimes you are just right where you need to be! There was such a quirky group of characters that popped on and out, plus some healing with family and coming to grips with the choices being the right ones. I enjoyed the love story, the family story, the friend story, and the bit of a fun—how cool if you could explore your what ifs with a magic cd player?!

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.