This unfortunately was a DNF for me at this time. I anticipate coming back to it later in time. But I just could not get into it.

This was such a fun and heartfelt read. I loved the characters and really got invested in their story. The setting within the music industry was really interesting to me, as it’s outside of my experience. I’ve liked Emma Lord’s other books, but this is my favorite so far.

Overall a cute story! I loved the concept. Sam and Mackenzie were certainly meant to be and we can feel that throughout the book. It's a fun journey throughout the book as we learn more about them as individuals and want them to get back together.

Emma Lord is easily one of my favorite YA authors, and this book was no exception. She gets young adults—the emotions, the humor, the messiness—and always brings something fresh to the table. I loved the music rivalry-turned-romance between Mackenzie and Sam, and the added layers of personal growth, family, and second chances made it so much more than just a love story. The comeback album plot was such a fun ride, and I was rooting for them the whole way. Another hit from Emma Lord—I’ll read anything she writes!

Thanks to @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for the gifted audiobook and ebook!

For the Record was okay for me. I think Emma Lord is a great writer, and I adored her YA novel Tweet Cute. I’ve read several of her novels since and enjoyed them, but I’m realizing that I’m not her target audience. So hopefully romance readers in their 20s are obsessing over her novels because she is quite talented.

I love romance novels but am getting pickier in my 40s, and I really am turned off by spicy scenes (I know, the opposite of most people‘s reactions 😆). When it gets explicit, the language most authors use feels cringey to me, and I feel embarrassed, like I’m not supposed to be in the room with the characters.

I also don’t want to read YA much anymore, which mostly leaves me with regency romance as a safe choice. I love those books, but I also love some contemporary options! I don’t need totally closed door romance, but graphic descriptions of intimacy immediately have me skipping to the next chapter. This particular book had a few pages to skip.

Any romance recs are appreciated! I love Annabel Monaghan—I’m totally her target audience.

How could one not fall in love with this book?!?! Just be in love already!!!!!!! Thank you to St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC! This was an amazing read, and while I LOVE the enemies to lovers trope, I was just ready for them to be in love! SO GOOD.

Thank you so much for the early copy of this book!!

I absolutely L O V E D this!!!! Six stars and beyond. It gave me a little bit of modern Stevie Nicks / Lindsey Buckingham vibes and I 100% ate this up. You truly never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you... I would like ten more books just like this please!!!

For the Record takes us on a beautiful, hard, funny, iconic journey of Mackenzie & Sam's story & within the music industry, and with each other. With a history of their bands touring together, the general public shipping them, lots of "Mr. Wrong's," and a child you didn't know you had, this book was impossible to put down. Sam and Mackenzie's chemistry was seeping off the pages and I absolutely fell in love with them immediately. One of my favorite mini tropes in a book is found family, and I loved that not only was the romance off the charts, but the other relationships within the book were so special to the main characters. It was messy & hard, but Mackenzie and Sam fought for their ending and I am such a huge fan of them!!!

I think that this book needed another go through for age level. Even with language/spice, it felt very YA in terms of depth & supposed angst. I wanted to love this but it was a miss for me unfortunately.

This book is a fun, music-filled romance about second chances. Mackenzie is a pop star recovering from surgery that changed her voice, and Sam is a rocker raising a son he just found out about. Years after their 'rivalry' days, they’re thrown together to make a comeback album—and maybe rekindle something more.

I liked how real both characters felt, and the dual POV made it easy to connect with them. The chemistry was still there, and I enjoyed seeing how they’d each grown.

That said, while it was a solid, enjoyable read, it didn’t completely wow me. It was missing that something to make it truly memorable. Still, a sweet story with relatable characters and a nice take on second chances.

Okay was not expecting to love this as much as a I did but what a fun end of summer romance read!! Mack and Sam falling back into each other after years of being in rival bands with simmering chemistry. Their banter was fun and the ending had me teary eyed!

Honestly, I just couldn’t super get into this. Like, I was reading it but not absorbing it. I didn’t really connect to either Mackenzie or Sam, and I felt like there was so much backstory I was missing and never fully got caught up on, especially with Hannah and Serena.

Candy Shard and Thunder Hearts were semi rival bands a few years ago, except one was a punk band and one was a girl group? So like, that doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. And also, I do genuinely hate both of those band names (sorry). Until they both inexplicably broke up at almost the same time. And now Mackenzie and Sam are reuniting after they had this major blow up 2 years ago…that wasn’t really a blow up.

I don’t know, the story kind of felt all over the place to me and just didn’t make a lot of sense. I liked the sticking it to the man with Tick Tune stuff but everything else was kind of meh.

I didn’t feel connected to either of the main characters and this story didn’t really capture or keep my attention. They just felt too surface level for me and I wish they were a bit more fleshed out. It’s already hard to empathize with two famous stars, and I was kind of just rolling my eyes at Mackenzie.

I liked the story overall and how Mackenzie was working to sort of come back after her vocal surgery, but even that kind of felt like it was glossed over by the end.

I liked the dual POVs, the book being split into thirds, and the fact that the "second chance" trope applied to more than just the romance between our main characters, but also to their careers and friendships. It did feel more like YA at times, even though it's marketed as an adult contemporary romance. I don't mind reading YA but prefer to *know* I'm reading it, not *feel* like I'm reading it.

I toggled between listening to the audiobook and reading the e-book and liked both options. While I didn't *love* this story, I liked it and think it'd be a good fit for those looking for a sweet & easy read that follows two musicians learning to work together again.

*Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an eARC (delayed as it may be--'tis life lately). As always, all opinions are my own.

For her adult debut, Emma Lord really hit this one out of the park. A second-chance romance with a dash of frenemies to lovers this gave me elements and vibes of Daisy Jones and the Six, but with much more relatable and endearing characters. I think the romance element was actually a side story to the wonderful character development and plot. There are two pretty spicy scenes throughout the book, so overall that was not a heavy focus.

“We’ll write a thousand songs trying to capture this”
- you are in love by taylor swift you finally have a story

I LOVED this !

anytime i find a book that even halfway reminds me of daisy jones vibes I have to read it , this was nothing like what I thought it would be. I meant I went in mostly blind and it was everything and more .

The romance , the pining , the songs .

There were a few things I didn’t like - long chapters and tick tune.. oh please name it something different that doesn’t sound like tiktok.

But push through the long chapters because the story is amazing

This is an adult contemporary romance set in New York City with a music industry backdrop.

The book has dual POVs. Mackenzie/Mack is a former pop girl band member. Sam is a former front man for a popular punk rock band.

This book is super cute. It is a second chance romance, enemies to lovers story.

In the past Mackenzie and Sam had a staged feud. Now they are being forced to work together.

I really enjoyed Mackenzie. Her friendships with her former band mates Hannah and Serena were terrific. Mack has a secret that few know, which caused her voice to change. I really liked this part of the story. And the secret identity aspect was definitely one of my favorite parts of the book.

Sam is a single dad. His son Ben is one of the cutest/best parts of the book. I really liked Sam. And his banter with Mack was so fun.

This was an enjoyable book. I loved that the music industry was such a big part of the story. The romance was good, although I don’t love miscommunication. But otherwise this was such a good read.

Bitter rivals, Mackenzie and Sam, were once darlings of the music world until everything went wrong.. Years later they both need a comeback. And the best path to success is making an album together. A cute romance that will have you cheering for these two!

An angsty second-chance story between two rival musicians?!? Sign me up!

I haven’t picked up an Emma Lord novel, but I’ve heard tons of buzz, so I had to give For the Record a try. Mackenzie Waters and Sam Blaze have an electric rivalry on the stage and a growing attraction behind the scenes, but when Sam learns he has a son and both bands disband, the idea of Mackenzie and Sam abruptly ends. Now, two years later, Mackenzie and Sam decide to join forces to make their comeback, but as old sparks fly, the two must face the music.

As a huge fan of second-chance romance and the occasional rockstar romance, I was super excited to get my hands on a copy of For the Record. Both Sam and Mackenzie had such huge life changes in the two years since their musical careers took a pause. With Sam stepping up to be a present dad for his son. Which was super cute and endearing! And Mackenzie coming to terms with her new sound after a needed surgery. I really enjoyed seeing their journey back into music and the rekindling of their relationship.

While I enjoyed For the Record, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I couldn’t help but feel like the plot lacked more depth. The situation between Serena and Mackenzie didn’t have as much of an impact, nor did the Seven plotline. Mackenzie was apparently heartbroken because of Sam, but we never saw where exactly that came from. She never seemed to have any apprehension towards him after he supposedly tore her heart to shreds. This novel could have benefited from a dual timeline so the reader could connect more to Mackenzie's and Sam's second chances in both music and romance. I still had a fun time and will be on the lookout for more novels by Emma Lord.

The book made a huge impression on me because the characters feel so real that it seems like you know them personally, and their mistakes and victories hurt and rejoice along with you. I really loved how Mackenzie, with all her inner fears, pride, and self-irony, gradually opens her heart, even though at first it seems like the past has burned all the bridges for good. Sam appears so different from the memories—more mature, deeper, and yet just as stubborn, and their encounters are filled with that tension that makes you read holding your breath. The author masterfully shows how old resentment and unspoken words can stand between people for years, yet a single moment of honesty can change everything. Their slow closeness, moving from witty banter to moments where looks speak louder than words, gives the feeling that a second chance is not a cliché but a real choice that requires courage. I appreciate that the characters aren’t idealized: they get angry, doubt, make mistakes, but that’s exactly what makes them so real and relatable. The atmosphere of music, the stage, and creative searching amplifies all the emotions, from jealousy to tenderness, so much that you can almost feel them physically. And when they finally allow themselves to be honest with each other, you realize: this story is not just about love but also about healing and accepting oneself.

Thanks NetGalley for opportunity to read that ARC. All opinions are mine.

⭐⭐⭐ = 3.5/5 Stars

This was my first Emma Lord book and it was enjoyable but I can’t say I loved it. Despite the little bit of spice and language, it felt every YA instead of an adult book. I finished the book and could only describe it as cute. The concept of the story was fun and intrigued me but I think I didn’t really believe the love story. I didn’t get sucked in to the characters and feel the chemistry. It felt like something was lacking. Overall, It didn’t knock my socks off but I enjoyed it. I read most of it and listened to a bit of the audio too. The narration was really well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fun enemies to lovers romance! Characters have real depth and issues and don't necessarily have it worked out b in the end. This is not closed door but not left wide open either.