This was so cute and chaotic and had such a solid level of that very specific weird high school nostalgia where you admire it but you’re also a little horrified by it. The depiction of low-rise jeans and axe body spray and tie-front shrugs was so visceral I had a war flashback.

Damon just instantaneously deciding that he was going to reinsert himself as Sam’s bestie despite not seeing her for years was so Down Bad coded and I love him for it. Also, in her absence he still followed HIS dreams and still hoped she was finding happiness with hers.

Sam is so pointy and rough around the edges and I am so here for angry and confused FMCs who are still absolutely adored by their partners because that is real life and grumpy girls deserve love too.

Thank you to Erin La Rosa and Canary Street Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Clearly it’s not just a phase… you can take the emo girl out of Georgia but it turns out also - no, you can’t. Just like our protagonist Sam, I’m a Millennial from Georgia who left as soon as I was done with school. I knew this was going to be an emotional read for me because this *quite literally* hit close to home. This was definitely my favorite Erin La Rosa book yet - not just because of the nostalgia but the lovable characters as well. Sam and Damon’s story was so beautifully done.

I've been a moderate fan of Erin La Rosa. And I was really hoping this book would be it for me that turned me to her full fledged, but that did not happen. The book wasn't terrible, but it fell lackluster for me and the whole magic-esque vibe just didn't work for me

4.5 rounded to 5 "The Backtrack" by Erin LaRosa impressed me with its unique twist on a familiar concept, using timeline hops through a playlist to allow Sam to reflect on past events and "what ifs" while staying in the present. I particularly enjoyed how Sam was able to involve [name redacted] in her experiences, helping them understand what she was seeing. However, the book skimmed over some heavy familial issues and resolved them too easily, which detracted slightly from the overall impact, earning it a half-star deduction.

We all think of the ‘what if’s’... so what if a magic CD player with a disk of early 2000’s alternative rock songs gives you all the answers? It’s "13 Going On 30" (2004) meets "About Time" (2013).

Sam has spent her adult life running from her past at Tybee Island and dedicating her time to her career as an international pilot. She’s brought back after 11 years to help her grandmother move to a nursing home and confronted with her former best friend, Damon. Back in high school, Sam rejected a kiss from Damon, which led to years of ‘what if’s’ that an old CD player comes to life to answer. As Sam gets through the tracks, she starts to wonder if her feelings for Damon might not be gone after all, but maybe she’s a few years too late.

***THE PLOT***
This novel transports us back to the early 2000’s–a time of Dunkaroos, JanSport backpacks, and Lisa Frank, well, everything. I’m personally a big fan of authors including playlists with their books. BUT to have a book that has a playlist in it?? I loved this concept.

Each song Sam listens to takes her to a different scene of her life if she would’ve kissed Damon in high school… and the results…. aren’t so good. She assumes that the two would’ve been made for each other, but she discovers that first they needed to find themselves.

There are also a few subplots including Sam’s grandmother, Pearl, preparing to move herself into a nursing home. Then there’s the fact that Sam’s mother left when she was 13 never to be seen or heard from again. There’s not a dull moment in this book, though some parts might be a little longer than necessary. It does really help get a full view of what the characters are going through.

***THE CHARACTERS***
Sam, as mentioned, is a Twihard international pilot living in Paris. When she comes back, she keeps trying to make excuses for herself as to why she needs to stay away. Her commentary can sometimes be a little out of place, but overall I think she has a great story arc. I love seeing the contrast between alt-Sam and pilot Sam and how she ended up finding herself.

Damon is adorkable. I love that he was an emo kid wearing eyeliner and dying the tips of his hair red. He grows up to open his own brewery, which he’s thinking of expanding. He’s a bit of a mystery, and I would’ve loved to get a bit more of his story when Sam wasn’t there. I do love to see the ways they reconnect throughout.

Pearl is like one of those grandmothers from the movies that is a little goofy and often makes suggestive comments. She does offer good advice and support throughout to Sam, and her love for Sam is very apparent the entire time. It’s a sweet relationship, and I hope everyone can experience it!

This book was so sweet, and I’ve never read anything quite like it! It’s a great romance that definitely had me curling my toes, especially during the hurricane (you have to read it). It also has a lot of sweet moments unrelated to the romance that help with Sam’s overall development which I appreciate. Finally, I am absolutely going to be listening to all of the songs mentioned in this book so I can keep the good feelings going.

Thanks to NetGalley, Canary Street Press, and Erin La Rosa for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Okay I’m going to start with two things I really liked about the book. First, I genuinely loved the flashback scenes. Alt-Sam and Damon were my favorite part of this book and seeing their young love develop was sweet (I don’t even want to talk about the second to last song, I’m pretending that didn’t happen). Second, I thought the element of magical realism with the CD player was really fun and unique. Also the song choices were a fun throw back and it was cool to see how they related to the scenes.

That being said, this book really wasn’t for me. Friends to lovers and second chance romances are always hard tropes for me. I feel like they often rely on a relationship that was built off page and you’re just supposed to trust what you’re told about their dynamic rather than it being shown to you. This book has that exact problem for me. I found myself unconvinced and uninterested in the love story between adult Sam and Damon because I was never shown why these two people as adults are meant to be.

I found it really hard to like any of the characters in this book. Sam was a lacklustre FMC and oscillated between finding her selfish, annoying, or worst of all just plain boring. As for the MMC Damon, I just needed more. He was really cute in the flashback scenes and if this had been a YA novel I would have loved it but I needed way more from adult Damon to justify how crazy into him Sam was.

This book also deals with conflict in the weirdest ways. There are some serious familial issues and betrayals in this book and I don’t feel like any of them got the depth they deserved to be believable or to have satisfying resolutions. In general the approach to conflict seemed to be everyone makes mistakes, get over it. Even the eventual conflict between Sam and Damon, both in the past and in the present felt crammed into last few chapters of the book. The ultimate resolution felt rushed and the central issue this couple faced was solved with one conversation that could and should have happened way earlier. I think we could have spent less pages rehashing the visions associated with each song over and over again and devoted that time to more meaningful resolutions between the characters in this book.

Nostalgia overload! This story is filled to the brim with songs from “back in the day” that will happily play in a loop for the rest of the night. I loved the memories that each of these songs conjured up in my foggy memory. I felt like I was living a parallel reality with Sam, and it brought up my own “what if” questions too, which is always fun to daydream about. Life is full of crossroads, especially as a senior in high school and as much as you think you know it all, you don’t and that was fun to ride along with Sam’s alternate journey through the road not taken.

Erin is hilarious (also IRL!) and while I relished Sam’s individual relationships with Damon and her grandmother, I also was drawn to the humor that she brought with her side characters too! Byron and his kilt and Jessie and her… drawings made me lolollllll and brought a lightness to some otherwise super serious scenes. Overall, an enjoyable read that I plowed through in a day filled with whimsy, second chances and lots of great music. I’m going to listen to that Spotify playlist asap.

Time travel, second chance romance, and a wonderful feminist twist. We’ve all had those “what if” moments and this book dives straight into the deep end of that rabbit hole. It starts slow, but man did it end strong!

Sam needs to get out of her small town and she’ll do anything to achieve her goal - including turning down her high school crush. But years later when she has to return to her small hometown, she starts to wonder if maybe she made a mistake. What would have happened if she took that leap? What would have happened if she stayed?

This one hit home in so many ways. I loved the magic of seeing the past in a different perspective as well as the fantastic supporting characters. Like 13 Going on 30 (but in reverse), this book is a love letter to our younger selves.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin, HarperCollins, and The Hive for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Erin La Rosa does it again *heart eyes*

I loved this "it's always been you" friends-to-lovers romance, and I was smiling from ear to ear reading this.

Highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book! As an elder emo, The Backtrack was a delight to read! It gave me 13 Going on 30 vibes but for 2000s emo kids, and all of the song references were perfect. The story follows Sam Leto, a pilot who finds herself back in her hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia when she is asked by her grandmother to help pack up the house. While home, she stumbles upon her old CD player with a mix CD inside from her best friend Damon Rocha. But it's not just any CD, it's one that shows Sam the "what if" that has haunted her since leaving.

The nostalgia throughout this book was my favorite part, and I was loving all of the references to things that were part of my high school years. It read like watching a friends to lovers rom com movie, so that made this a fun journey for me (and this is a favorite trope of mine). But what I liked outside of the romance aspect was the self-discovery and learning moments Sam has. She gains so much perspective during her return home.

Sometimes I almost wanted certain things to be a little more prolonged to really build the tension between Sam and Damon, but it was still very much there regardless. Overall, this was a fun read that I think millennials will especially enjoy.

This book was cute. Who doesn’t have that “what if” scenario that the wonder if they’d made one choice differently how would it change how their life turned out.
I liked that it had a conflict outside of the relationship that gave the FMC more depth.

The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for review. My opinions are my own.

5/5 stars

I LOVED this story and finished it in about 12 hours. The only reason it wasn’t quicker is because I fell asleep. Dang nighttime.

I was NOT an emo kid but I am familiar with most of the music featured in this book. The premise is that Sam returns to her hometown about 15 years after leaving and finds her old CD player with a mix that her high school best friend Damon made for her. while listening, she has flashbacks of alternate memories of things that COULD have happened… but didn’t.

Enter Damon now. Their friendship is rekindled. It’s confusing because of the flashbacks. At the same time, Sam is trying to go through her old room while helping her grandmother move into a retirement community.

Again, LOVED this book! I’ve been waiting for it for a while as I follow Erin on IG!

I think this is Erin LaRosa’s best book to date. I loved For Butter or Worse, and liked Plot Twist, but this one had a lot more depth and character development than her previous books. The ending was also satisfying - without spoilers there was some realism to it.

I could totally see this book becoming a movie, that’s how much I enjoyed it. I’ve already head-cannoned Lily Tomlin as the grandma, Pearl.

This was so cute and brought back so many memories of high school!! And I obviously still listen to most of this music without shame so bonus points

Oh! My! Goodness! Erin does it again! I just absolutely adored this book and I just loved Grandma Pearl. She’s not a regular grandma, she’s a cool grandma!

I was hooked by the very first page when the author named one of my favourite songs from the 2000s! My millennial heart couldn’t love this book anymore than I already do!

Sam left the town of Tybee, and Damon behind twenty years ago to chase her dream of becoming a pilot. Present day, her grandmother decided she was going to sell her childhood home and Sam goes back to Tybee to help. Sam goes into her childhood room and finds the CD player with the last mixed CD her best friend, Damon made for her. The CD player still works after twenty years and each track she listens, brings her to “what could have been” world of her and Damon.

This has 13 Going on 30 vibes and so much nostalgia (at least for me) that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I devoured it and I cannot wait to see what else Erin writes because I’ll definitely be buying it!

This book comes out July 16th so make sure to go pick up a copy because this is such a cute read! Thank you to Erin, Justine from @canaryhousepress and @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like I got whiplash reading this! As a millennial I certainly got all the early 00s music references. This was a ton of fun and great for a one sitting read.

Who doesn't love a good time swap with reality book!

Two childhood friends drift apart and one moves away from their small town, only to return many years later. She comes across an old CD player -(Do kids even know what these are now?) - and finds it only runs for her..... without batteries. Boom! She is magically transported to an alternate reality.

We all wonder what life would be like from minor or major choices in our lives. Sam gets a chance to see first hand, and maybe realizes her old friend was actually right for her.

This one is creative, fun, and mesmerizing - 4 out of 5

Solid premise, but the characters left this book with much to be desired.

A magical CD player that shows a life that could have been with the one that got away? One that shows a life that isn't entirely perfect, where dreams fall through and relationships are tried, but you still have a person you love? Phenomenal. The addition of early 2000s emo music? Even better. Add in a dash of "it's always been you," and you've got a perfect recipe.

Alas, the characters were just...not it. They both fell flat to me. Maybe I've just been lucky to read so many romances with FANTASTIC character development, but it was frustrating to see such one-dimensional characters. Like, of COURSE she had to live in Paris, right? And that she was the Best Female Pilot and he was the Best Male Brewer in the Whole Wide World. They were the Only Quirky Kids to ever exist. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not a millennial? But the side characters weren't any better, so maybe characters just aren't this author's thing.

C'est la vie. The plot device was still great. I think this would make a great movie.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. And if you excuse me, I'm going to go blast some Death Cab.

truthfully, i found this a little undewhelming—probably because my own expectations were a bit high. the premise itself was really what’d new me to request it—i mean, a cd player that transports you to an alternate timeline that answers your biggest what if? friends-to-lovers? teenage emo phase? it had all the elements of the perfect romcom. i’m a sucker for what-ifs and alternate timelines, and am one (unfortunately) to love lingering in it. however, despite how interesting the plot was, the writing was kind of difficult to engage with.

while it seemed really promising, the execution kinda fell flat. i didn’t really find myself rooting for anyone here, nor did i find myself really invested in the romance. i just don’t think the characters were fleshed out in the right way—which led to the resolution and development of the romance being lackluster. i think my biggest gripe here is how the mental health angle was played out—kind of rushed, despite it being such a major plot point, and in that sense, it felt a little insensitive and unbelievable. i think a part of me is so used to other authors being able to flesh out their characters really well that this book felt so frustrating. i wanted to know what happened next, yes, but it doesn’t mean that i was invested in the characters. some parts of it felt unnecessary too; kind of like filler scenes that didn’t merit much to the overall plot. i just feel like with such an interesting plot line and set up, this could have played out so differently.

a miss for me, granted, i think my expectations were a bit too high. if you want to explore romances with this future/alternate reality, i’d suggest reading the good part by sophie cousens instead. thank you netgalley for my arc!

I thought the overall idea was super interesting! However, the writing and characters seemed very plain. They didn't really stand out too much compared to other books. Neither were relatable either, so it kinda just seemed like a binge read.