I just finished "For the Record" by Juliana Smith, and let me tell you, it was an absolute delight! Despite not having read the three prior books in the series, I was completely hooked by the writing and the story. I can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series!

Rachel, the main character, is bursting with depth and personality. Her love of music and her bond with her dad really stood out to me and added so much richness to her character. I was rooting for her every step of the way.

The dual POV and dual timelines were masterfully handled. I was initially worried that I might get confused about whose perspective I was reading or which timeline I was in, but Smith's writing made it easy to follow. The different perspectives helped build a compelling and layered story.

The plot itself is so intriguing. Rachel accidentally marries her best friend Adam in Vegas, and instead of annulling it, they decide to play the system for his military benefits. It sounds simple, right? But watching their platonic, no-strings-attached marriage evolve was incredibly engaging. Adam’s doting husband act starts to blur the lines, and seeing Rachel grapple with her feelings and priorities was both heartwarming and intense.

Adam's perspective added so much to the story. His struggle with wanting to keep Rachel close while hiding a key piece of his life created a wonderful tension. His fear of losing Rachel, despite their unconventional marriage, was portrayed with such sincerity.

Overall, "For the Record" is a beautifully written, captivating romance that perfectly balances humour, emotion, and complexity. It’s definitely earned a spot on my favourites list, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fantastic read.

In the charming rom-com For the Record, Rachel and her best friend Adam accidentally get married during a spontaneous Vegas trip. Instead of getting an annulment, they decide to stay married for Adam's military benefits. What starts as a practical arrangement soon becomes much more. Adam fully embraces his role as a devoted husband, and Rachel starts imagining a real future with him. But as she balances her job and caring for her father, Rachel feels torn.

Adam loves having Rachel as his wife, but he’s hiding a secret that could put their relationship at risk. He knows he’ll have to come clean eventually.

This was my first Juliana Smith book, and I didn’t realize it was part of an interconnected standalone series. If you’re looking for a light-hearted, quick read, I highly recommend it.

The novel includes fun tropes like a marriage of convenience and a grumpy-sunshine pairing. The 'then' chapters beautifully show the growth of Adam and Rachel's relationship. Rachel's moments with her father are especially touching.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing Co-op for the ARC

"She was the kind of woman that made you forget there were even other females out there. "

This was a perfect, cute, easy to read romance which covered elements of mental health and the impact of thereof. It was a beautiful friends to lovers story that gives you all the feels. Juliana does the dual POV perfectly and I love how these give insights to each characters emotions - it just adds such depth to the story.

The tropes were adorably covered:-
- accidental marriage
- friends to lovers
- marriage of convenience

Pick this up for when you are in the mood for a cute friends to lovers that is done brilliantly

I am obsessed with this series. Adam and Rachel marriage of convenience was perfect. This is the book you read when you need a pallet cleanser. When you need a hallmark type feel good book to read. This gave me the warm fuzzy feelings and I loved it so much.

ALL HAIL JULIANA SMITH. I absolutely fell in love with the Well’s Family series last year and I need more! I highly recommend this series. This isn’t my top favourite of them all but I loved getting to know Adam. He’s such a relatable character.

"Don't you think, in some way, you've been mine since the night we met?"

-accidental marriage, friends to lovers, duo pov 💍🎧🎵
-these idiots in love were such a treat but the emotional rollercoaster they put me through 😮‍💨
-thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for this ARC

4⭐️

for the record was one of the most beautifully done accidental marriage romances that I’ve ever read. The romance between Adam and Rachel was a surprise based on the previous books, but you can really see their love from the start. It touched on dementia with Rachel’s father, which was done so perfectly.

This book had me giggling and crying, i wish i could read it again for the first time!

Tropes:
Accidental Marriage
Friends to Lovers
He falls first
dual timelines/pov
grumpy sunshine
slow burn
closed door

This book was so cute and so funny! I had such a great time jumping into this book, getting to know the characters, and falling in love with their love story. Juliana does an amazing job at giving us such a sweet and amazing story that I just couldn't put down. I devoured this book and left no crumbs.

Obsessed with these characters and this storyline!

This was a solid 3 star read for me! It was a cute story with likeable characters. For me it could’ve developed a little more as their relationship didn’t feel like it moved on or progressed much within the book, I also think the characters could’ve had a bit more sexual chemistry for my liking!

I really liked the music pairings for the chapters!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this slow-burn lover to friends to lovers story. Thank you to NetGalley, Victory Editing and Juliana Smith for the advanced reader copy.

At first I wasn’t sure I liked the female lead. The term high maintenance was thrown about and I wondered if I would be able to get past that. I am glad I hung on because, in reality, she is EXTRA in some ways but not at all in others. The best part being you are shown why she is the way she is.

The friendship and longing between Rachel and Adam is well written and evokes all the feelings in this marriage of convenience trope. I loved learning about Rachel’s love of records and the reason behind it. I thought the health challenges of her father were extremely well written.

If you’re looking for a substantive romance, check it out 6/22/2024.

The story starts off with the MMC, Adam discovering himself in bed with his friend, Rachel (whom he secretly loves) at a hotel in Vegas, if that wasn’t shocking enough, it gets even better when he notices the giant diamond ring on her finger and the ripped white dress on the floor. Adam and Rachel decide to remain married because Adam is in the military, which means they both could reap of off some of the benefits that they can claim, Adam needs the money for some investment while Rachel needs it for her father who’s suffering from dementia. As they begin living together, there’s no denying the chemistry that they have that’s urging them to cross the line from being roommates to actual husband and wife.

The book started off well and it was very interesting to note that every chapter began with a song, given that Rachel works at the record store and music is a close part of her life. Later on I felt it was a little draggy and I slowed down a bit but then as I continued reading then I got hooked. I would say it was a very sweet love story.

Rachel and Adam have been friends for a long time so there was always an attraction to both of them but neither were brave enough to admit it and eventually when Rachel did, Adam wasn’t exactly the best reactor. I didn’t really like that part much as to why he was being so detached when she finally decided to confess her feelings but then again I’ve had my own share of experience dealing with men who don’t know what they want and they just string you along so that element actually felt real and relatable.

The characters felt very real, they had their own share of pain and struggles. The book always alters between the past and the present so it was nice to see the growth between the characters. I also loved the Wells family’s bond, they were just so loving and fun in a chaotic way. The female friendships in this book was also something that I really enjoyed reading.

Overall, I liked Adam and Rachel’s story and the various cute moments they had.

For The Record was a fun, marriage of convenience, friends to lovers, dual timeline/POV read. Sweet and silly, but not deep. There was some unspoken miscommunication and burying of feelings which annoyed me. Adam was a secret softy.

3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the book!

Juliana Smith only gets better and this one was so simple and so sweet. It hit every box for me— I laughed, smiled, and cried.

I have such a soft spot for the Wells family and just reading all the books in this series has made my love for Juliana Smith as an author grow.
The rawness and sweetness of the characters just makes reading this book feel so cozy. There's no better way for me to describe what reading this book felt like—cozy.

I loved every bit of this book!

Cute romance! Why 3 stars if i did enjoy it? It didnt catch my full attention, the miscommunication was not really enjoyable (yes it sometimes can be, im not a miscommunication trope hater but in this case it didnt feel right) and then end felt somewhat forced to me. Im so sorry.
However, most of the story was enjoyable, and the characters were cute. I also like how its a series following a family. I just wasnt connected to the story much.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book! Adam was such a soft yet strong character that I couldnt help but love. Rachel is so beyond sweet and I just wanted her to see what I saw when reading Adams POV. Juliana Smith has this amazing ability where all of her characters feel so real and make me wish I could be best friends with them.

Loved this. I’m a fan of the this series and I loved this one as well. It was a cute simple cozy read!

love. love. love. everything about them is so perfect. adam and rachel are so soft and sweet and i loved all the representation in this book!!!!!!

Really sweet and fun to read! This book read really quickly and featured some really great main characters. I really enjoyed that they were friends to lovers. Their marriage of convenience was cute and actually worked well. There was tons of mutual pining, tension and sweet moments. They seemed to be quite opposite and it's true what they say...opposites attract! I liked this one a lot!

This was perfect, I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved everything about it! Juliana will always be a go to author for me.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book!

I had already read a book in this series by Juliana Smith and absolutely loved it, but i didn't expect for this one to be even better!!

Adam and Rachel just make beautiful music together (ifykyk) and I hadn't related to a character so much like I've done with Rachel for a long time!!

I feel like sometimes during certain chapters where they were showing the past it got a bit repetitive how they knew they wanted each other but Adam couldn't even form a sentence, but honestly, i ate it up)

I don't have a single complaint about this book, it's gone up on my list of favorite romances this year at least.

I feel like Rachel and Adam's story will stay with me for a long time ❤️‍🩹