I enjoyed this! I enjoyed the female friendships, family dynamics plus the romance. It was really intriguing and I liked being along the ride during their writing process!

This was a fun second chance, enemies to lovers romance. Mackenzie, a former pop star is looking to restart her musical career. But, in order to do this, she has to team up with her former rival and punk rock band member Sam. I loved the banter and chemistry between Sam and Mack, and how they had to learn to trust each other after not doing so in the past. It was a fun, fast paced read that I really enjoyed!

Spiciness: 2/5 🌶️

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC!

i’m so happy i snagged this book when it was available, it feels like im early to a party. this was SO good and i loved every second.

This was a fun, cute second chance romance! Mack was in a pop band and Sam was in a punk rock band. They’d sung together in the past but when their bands broke up, they never spoke again. Two years later, they are given a chance at a comeback but they have to do it together. Writing all new songs for their duo debut and Mack’s rule is — no love songs.

Thanks St Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a music rom-com following former rival musicians who reconnect for a joint comeback. I liked the characters and the banter but I felt it was difficult to connect to the story because the subplot and characters created more confusion for me than enhancing the story. Overall, it was sweet and a pretty quick read.
I think readers who like music/celebrity rom-coms and second-chance enemies to lovers will like this.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Alright here's what I'm going to say, there's a bunch of music romance novels out right now so my standards were pretty high and to be honest this book just didn't meet the moment for me. I know readers are going to love this book but for now I'm going say this was the book for me.

Thanks to St. Martins Press for the ARC.

while this book was by no means bad there was something totally missing for me that i still cant quite put my finger on. i held off on doing a review on this one after finishing it a few weeks ago because i was completely stumped on why even though i didnt hate it, i by no means loved it and often times found myself struggling to connect or care about these chracters 🥲

it was a quick and easy read, sometimes entertaining but it was just not memorable. nothing about it stood out to me the way i had hoped it would. it could completely be because i am not the biggest fan of books set around music though i am trying to give it more of a shot these days. i think this is one of those books id like to try again in the future with the audiobook, i think that them being brought to life may help me connect more with the characters and story

EMMA LORD IS THE QUEEN!

I don't think I've ever finished an EL book disappointed. I swooned so hard, I was constantly smiling while reading and fell in love with our main characters.

Absolutely adorable!

Second chance romance with a dash of enemies to lovers, For the Record is a great read about two rock stars whose stars are fading.all they need toteignite their careers is to team up. They learn that what they thought was love unrequited, was really only love afraid to shine. If you're looking for a great beach or cold weather read, this is a nice choice.

For the Record follows Mackenzie and Sam, two rival music artists who have avoided each other for two years but now to save their careers and appease their record label are forced to work together to make new music.

The tropes:
- found family 👯‍♀️👦
- Close proximity 🛶
- He falls first ❤️
- Second chance romance 🎼
- “Enemies” to lovers 🎸
Spice Level: 2🌶️

The book has lots of the classic tropes I enjoy and the premise of two music stars needing a recharge to their careers was fun. But I felt like there wasn’t enough of a conflict to keep me hooked to what was going to happen next.

I liked the banter between Mack and Sam, especially the pool scene where they both started to open up to each other. The glimpses back to when they first met was fun, but I really would have loved a whole chapter devoted to a flashback so we could get a true sense of how they interacted as a rivals. The last few chapters were
well written and played out like a classic rom-com movie in my head.

Overall I found the book fell a bit flat for me. but if you’re looking for an easy Happily Ever After, with very minimal bumps in the road, this book might be for you. Thank you to St. Martin’s press for providing this book for consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this! I ADORED IT. 5/5 stars for me.
Mackenzie (a former pop princess) and Sam (a former punk baddie) with an old enemies rivalry are reunited by their label to produce a duet album. Mack has faded away, hiding behind a singing alter ego in this worlds tik tok while Sam has embraced a quiet life as an unexpected father. As you can guess, traveling down memory lane (the songs all represent old 'haunts' of their entangled lives) brings them from enemies to 'just having fun' to lovers.
I really loved that this was told from both POVs, as understanding their attraction to each other really needed both lenses to really anchor the chemistry. There's a ton here on the music industry and how wonderfully awful it can be, which I found super intriguing. The cast of characters, particularly the rest of Mackenzie's band, were done really well too: there are some clear friendship focuses that I think really help to drive who these two are as humans.
I don't read a ton of musician stories, as so many times the romance and plot depth gets lost in discussing lyrics and melodies, but here I think it is perfectly balanced. You get to be inside their heads as musicians, as lovers, as individualized people: I just adored this from beginning to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

This was a cute read about two former rival musicians with a past, both of whom are looking for a comeback, who come together to record an album as a duet. Emma Lord is such a comfort author for me and I love the way she develops her female protagonists- Mackenzie was the most compelling part of this book for me, and I loved the sideplot of her anonymously releasing music under a pseudonym. Definitely felt the Swiftie inspiration with her. I didn't love Sam's chapters, though- so many of his lines felt so cliché to me, and his character didn't seem to match the complexity of Mackenzie. I also feel like perhaps his character got reworked along the line, because he definitely came off as a country singer but was described as a punk rocker- never really got that vibe from him. I also would've loved to see more of the story delve into Mack and Sam's days with their former bands. Overall, a fun slow burn.

SO cute, I liked this book! The enemies-to-lovers trope with the music/rockstar theme was something I really enjoyed. The story was fast-paced and easy to get into, which made it hard to put down. However, I felt some of the side plots could have been developed more. For example, the mention of Mackenzie not having a close relationship with her parents throughout the book, but by the end, they're suddenly at her wedding with an improved relationship. It felt like there could have been more details of this relationship.

Overall, it was a great read, and I’m definitely excited to read more of Emma Lord’s books in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! This book will be published on August 12th.

I’m not going to lie, I was in a major book slump when I picked this book up. However, what I wasn’t expecting is for it to be so dang good that it put me into ANOTHER major book slump. Mackenzie and Sam’s chemistry is number one on the Billboard charts!! I felt like seeing both POVs made it so that I really felt like I knew them.

A fun read with some little twists along the way!

Brief overview:
Mackenzie, a former girl group pop star, is given an opportunity to re-enter the spotlight. The only catch? She has to team up with her former rival and tour mate, Sam. As Mack and Sam revisit their old haunts, they may revisit some old feelings too.

My thoughts:
This gave me bits of Honey mixed with current events and of course some cute banter and a little spice. Definitely a fun read for those of us that like rom-coms and loved choosing which Spice Girl we were with our friends.

Was I sobbing at 10:30pm finishing this book, yes. Did I love every minute of it, also yes. The banter between Mack + Sam was one of my favorites — a slowwww burn with a redemption second chance love, this rockstar romcom absolutely delivered! But also, when can I get my hands on this imaginary album?🎶

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the
ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book!! There was so much to like. But bottom line for me was this book was all about relationships! The obvious thing was Mackenzie and Sam. Their relationship was so sweet and they had such good chemistry.
But I loved so many of the other relationships in the book. None of them were perfect and had their own flaws, but they felt real! I appreciated a bit of a redemption arc with Caspar and Sam and Mackenzie and her parents - we can only imagine that slowly those relationships will rebuild.
The only thing that could have made this book any better was an actual playlist to go along with it!

I adore Emma’s writing and always have a blast reading her books, For the Record is no exception. I’m a mood reader in the mood for a rockstar romance and this one delivered that and more. It added the complexity of a them both being famous with a second chance romance mixed in. I subtracted a star as I think some of the side characters/ plots could have been left out but the main characters needed a little more emotional depth. But overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!!
I love Emma Lord’s writing and this book was no different. I fell in love with the characters and the world of music was so fun to explore. All the lyrics and things were so clever. I could see hints of things that reminded me of real artists but I don’t think the couple was based on a real couple. (Watch me be so wrong) It was spicier than the past books I’ve read by her so just be aware if you are not a fan of that.

For the Record by Emma Lord is another absolute gem—heartfelt, charming, and full of the signature warmth I adore from her books. With music, romance, and a journey of self-discovery, this story hits all the right notes. Emma Lord never misses, and this one is no exception!

This was pure joy on every page!