First Emma Lord book and it didn’t disappoint! Ahhh! Loved the banter and chemistry between Sam and Mackenzie.

The MMC was in a punk band. Need I say more?

Okay, I shall. This was fun. A bit of enemies to lovers with two famous singers but also enough side plots to keep the story moving. Also the main characters are in their 30s which I love.

It got spicy around 2/3 of the way through which I should have been prepared for since it’s not one of her YA books, but I wasn’t.

This feels like a quintessential summer read.

This was such a fun experience! Mackenzie and Sam, two musicians who were in rival bands and have the chemistry of a lifetime. On stage, while amping up the rivalry, but also offstage. I could fully feel the tension between the two of them. And the slow burn??? Chefs kiss.

Both have their own secrets but want to open up to one another and some points had my stomach hurting for them. I enjoyed seeing snippets of their past while they try and work together years after not talking to each other. There were a few points I had a little trouble figuring out if we were in a flash back right away but it eventually became clear. Overall, it didn’t take away from the story and I truly love the concept of the story.

I cannot finish this review without mentioning Ben and Rocket. Ben, Sam’s son, loves making weird treat combos at his mom’s bakery. It was fun finding out what he’d come up with next. And Rocket, a quiet teenager who wants to make music. His arc on the side of our main story was emotional too. I kept rooting for him throughout the entire book!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

4.25⭐️ the fmc is named Mackenzie and is blonde so of course I loved it (but really it was so good)!

This is a second chance romance between two famous singers. It follows Mackenzie a former girl group popstar and punk rockstar Sam Blaze who used to tour together and clash on stage. Now years later they are tasked with writing together as a new duo.

I will say I am always skeptical going into romance books with musicians because I get second hand embarrassment very easy, but this was everything I ever wanted in a popstar x rockstar romance! There were no lyrics or singing moments that made me cringe which was such a relief.

The romance in this was great but I have to applaud the plot because that had me hooked! The talk of the music industry, friendship, band mates, song writing, it was truly captivating. Especially the last 30% of this book, I was glued to my kindle because it was so addicting! I was full on grinning at the end and definitely shed a few tears.

Highly recommend this romance!

Thank you St. Martin’ press and netgalley for an e-arc!

⭐️ 5/5
First person POV

Mack’s journey feels so real as she navigates the highs and lows of fame, her personal struggles, and her relationships. I loved watching her figure out her complex feelings and find out what really matters to her.

The romance is just perfect—sweet, swoon-worthy, and layered with emotional depth. The chemistry between Mack and Sam is undeniable, and I found myself cheering for them the whole way through. It’s not just about the romance though; the book also dives into important themes like self-identity, loyalty, and the pressure of being constantly in the public eye.

Thank you St Martins Press and Griffin for providing me an ARC of this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

love this book story plot was great and loved the characters within the book. I would love a physical copy of this book. Love the writing style.

I really, really liked this book. Emma Lord did an excellent job writing the two main characters and gave them rich back stories that allowed for so much personal growth.

Lord’s writing is descriptive without being cheesy. I often find that the famous people trope can ooze with cheese, but For The Record doesn’t at all. It’s sweet, passionate, and reflective. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honour opinion.

Life is always changing colors, but what we have is golden.” I love the music industry tropes: band drama, producer/label tyranny, lyrics that are aimed at another, and how in the end, the money and fame isn’t the end game. Minor and major characters capture your heart in this one, and I love how the parts of the book read like an album/ playlist. This book is a fun read with a lot of representation and layers to the two original bands. Definitely worth the read!

I cannot express enough how excited I was to receive this arc and it didn't disappoint!!!

I love Emma Lord's books, but struggled with her last adult book. This one was leaps and bounds better. I was obsessed with Mackenzie and Sam's individual stories. This is not just a book about two rock stars. We are thrown into the current moment, but slowly start to unravel their complex backstory and how they hated one another (or maybe they didn't)? Mackenzie is struggling with her new voice and the project she is working on in secret, Seven. The world is obsessed with Seven, but nobody knows who she is - not even Sam. Sam is struggling to be the father that his dad wasn't all while protecting his son from the limelight.

Over time, these two end up creating new music together and find out that they've always secretly admired each other. This gets complicated with record labels, messy old contracts, the limelight and so much more.

I loved this read and would highly recommend it for anyone looking for more than just your average romance book!

Absolutely adored this. Chemistry between two main characters is so important for me and my goodness Mackenzie and Sam were crackling from the start. I also loved the friendship between Mack, Hannah, and Serena and how there was some conflict explored there as well. Overall really loved this book and will be recommending it to others.

What a sweet book! I have not read any of Emma Lord's books before, so this was a happy find (and I'll be sure to look for more of her books). The back history of Sam and Mackenzie and their hate (love) for each other lends a wonderful backdrop for their second-chance romance.

This book very much reminded me of Daisy Jones and the Six but with more romance involved. A fun, quick and sweet second-chance romance.

very cute. very daisy jones and the six. loved the romance between the 2 MC and loved that there was no 3rd act breakup/ fun and quick read.

This is my first book from Emma Lord, and I will be going and reading more when I need a little boost. Such a fun, quick read.

A very sweet second chance romance set in the music world. I love pretty much any book about music/musicians and this was no exception. I do wish that we got more lyrics or full songs to really connect to the characters a bit more. I also would have loved more flashback scenes of them on tour together. The epilogue though- perfection!

Thank you to NewGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This one sat on my Kindle for awhile because I’d gotten a little tired of the popstar/music romance. Then I finally cracked it open and finished it in one sitting.

What a delightful venture into adult romance for Emma Lord! I’ve enjoyed the YA books I’ve read from her, but I think this one is my favorite. I really loved Mackenzie and Sam’s relationship and the slow burn of it all. Their history was fun to learn about and seeing them actually get to know each other was super cute. I loved Mackenzie’s friendship with Hannah and Serena and Sam’s with Ben and Lizzie! I also liked the industry storyline, which some romances go a bit too heavy handed on, but I thought this was great.

The ending was adorable and joyful! Loved how everything wrapped up. My favorite music romance in quite a while! 4.5 stars

Emma Lord hasn't failed me yet and For The Record proves that when it comes to immersive worlds, characters to root for, and electric chemistry, there's little comparison.

Billed as a rivalry to redemption, I can see how people might be disappointed in the lack of "enemies to lovers" of it all; if you're looking for angry, spiteful, obsessive MC's who spend pages and pages of hating each other before the inevitable breakdown, you're going to be disappointed. What you'll find instead is a slight form of miscommunication but most, misjudgements that work together really well for the set up that Lord's created. Mackenzie Waters and Sam Blaze are two popstars all grown up, both having endured being the center of the pop universe as baby-faced teens and are now working towards creating careers as adults. I am SUCH a sucker for celebrity/fame adjacent stories and Lord's popstar set up scratched all right itches for me. I loved the way that the two of them never really felt like enemies, nor did they ever feel as if they were true competitors. They're forced to work together "for the fans" while still clearly dealing with the feelings that they both have, and are trying to ignore. The subplot relationships for each of the main characters feel real, something that is especially impressive considering that it's a dual POV. There are some threads that I think I would've loved to have seen more of, yet it never really feels like it's lacking anything. The story flows together, just as the love does, and to me, it was so much more exciting to know that the real conflict between Sam and Mackenzie wasn't a misunderstanding or a dumb, dramatic blowout, but the fear of what it means to be truly vulnerable with someone, made even more poignant as two internationally known popstars.

One of my favorite things about being a long-time reader of Emma Lord's work is seeing how much absolute growth and development she's gained as a writer; her work from Day 1 has been something I've deeply enjoyed, but seeing how much richer her characters are and the casual, but totally intentional way that she builds a world is something that I'll never get tired of. I genuinely believe each new thing Lord rights becomes my new favorite, and this is no exception.

Final rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved the setting—two musicians, each in a separate band, forced to tour together to boost publicity. Along the way, they develop a relationship that’s both rivals and lovers, with audiences eagerly rooting for them to end up together. But when something drives them apart, they each decide they can never be with the other. Two years later, fate (and public demand) forces them back together once more.

As someone who loves shipping couples, this story felt like a dream come true. I hope my ship has a happy ending. Seeing the audience react to their interactions was so much fun—it mirrored exactly how I feel when I ship couples myself!

The enemies-to-lovers dynamic between the FMC and MMC is sizzling with tension and chemistry. They both know the other isn’t the most logical choice, yet they can't resist. Beyond the romance, I also appreciated the strong focus on friendships and family. It was great to see the FMC build a happy and fulfilling life even without the MMC, adding depth to her character.

Overall, this was such a fun, engaging read—I had a fantastic time!

*Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This is my second Emma Lord novel after Tweet Cute (which I adored), and now I'm kicking myself for not checking out the rest of her catalogue sooner. This book gives all the same swoony feels as her YA debut (with a few steamy scenes that are common in the adult romance market) from lovable protagonists to their genuine love connection.

Dual POV is a hard sell for me in romance novels, but I really enjoyed it here. Dare I say I actually liked the man's POV more than the woman's? That almost never happens. But Sam was a great lead. I loved how Emma Lord made his relationship with his son a direct parallel to his relationship with his estranged father. Seeing him come to terms with that feeling of abandonment and using it as a strength to never let his son go through the same thing was really touching. And his love for Mackenzie was prevalent from the beginning. This man had me giggling over how whipped he was. It was adorable.

Mackenzie was also fun to read about. Despite being a famous singer, her struggles were highly relatable. Whether it was friendships, romantic relationships, or just her relationship with herself, I can see a lot of people reading her story and thinking, "Yup. I've been there." Made it easy to root for her, both in her career and her relationship with Sam.

Of course, a romance book can't work without the romance itself, so I'll just say that I was hooked on these two from the jump. Even from those early chapters, it was obvious their connection ran so much deeper than physical. They truly saw each other, the good and the bad, and that made them fall for each other that much harder. Not much else you can ask for.

(Also the epilogue was stupid cute.)

This book is a fun, quick read with a lot of charm, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me in terms of resolving the main conflicts. The rivalry between Mackenzie Waters and Sam Blaze was super intriguing, and I loved the idea of them coming together for a comeback album after years apart. The rockstar backdrop definitely gives it a unique vibe, and Emma Lord does a great job creating a lighthearted, easy-to-read story.

That being said, the problems they face throughout the story felt a bit underwhelming. The tension between them was there, but I didn’t feel like it was fully explored or resolved in a way that left me completely satisfied. I was hoping for more emotional depth or growth from both characters, especially with the buildup to their big reunion.

Overall, it’s a sweet, quick romance with some fun moments, but I was hoping for a bit more from the story. Perfect if you're looking for something light and cute, but not the most impactful read if you’re after something with a bit more substance