There’s something so comforting about a story that lets female friendship take center stage. For the Record is full of heart, secrets, second chances—and the kind of slow-burn romance that tests your patience just enough before the payoff. (Note to self: maybe I’m more of an immediate-sizzle-then-soft-and-steady kind of reader?)

It got me thinking… how often are celebrities asked to fake relationships for the sake of image? And more curiously—how often do they hide entire parts of themselves? Secret identities, hidden truths, hearts tucked behind lyrics and contracts. Fame might be glittery, but it also seems exhausting.

The commentary on musicians being taken advantage of hit hard. Because honestly? Whether you’re on a tour bus or in a boardroom, it’s too easy to become just a cog in the machine. Maybe the stage lights are different, but the burnout is familiar.

And for those of you who love the single dad trope? This book is for you.

Shoutout to Jesse Vilinsky for a phenomenal narration—she brings characters to life in a way that makes you want to track down every title she’s touched. Total narrator-crush.

Big thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. This was a fun, thoughtful, slightly spicy summer escape.

Mackenzie Waters and Sam Blaze were once notororious music rivals who not only had sizzling tension onstage, but it followed them off it as well. Two years later, after both of their bands had broken up, Sam traded the rockstar lifestyle for raising the son he didn’t know about and Mackenzie is dealing with a new voice thanks to a surgery and is singing under a pseudonym. You can bet the stage is ripe for plenty of drama as the label had decided the only way to revive their public careers is a joint comeback album.

I expected to like this one a lot more than I did and it was sad to not be as blown away. I didn't feel very connected to the characters, they're decently written but a fair amount of it felt very surface level. I think the most depth was with Sam and some of his issues, but even then I was wanting more from both of them.

Additionally I felt as though the plot didn't have a clear enough focus, it felt like there were too many little side bits that didn't get fully resolved or could have been fleshed out more.

As a listener I think the narrators did very well with everything they were given and I appreciated that the narrator for Sam didn't pitch his voice up too high for Mackenzie. But I still wanted more from the story.

If you are hoping this is Taylor Swift fanfiction, I've got bad news for you. Despite the cover giving Swiftie, the story was a bit more nostalgic to the girl groups and boy bands of my youth. I'm not sure why at one point I started picturing the girls as Totally Spies/ Powerpuff Girls, but it felt right. I'm not sure if this was meant to resound with Gen Z or Millinials, but as 90s kid, I loved it.

For the Record is an enemies to lovers slow burn romance that hits all the right notes!

Bubbly pop star, Mackenzie, and bad boy punk rocker, Sam, were staunch rivals back when their groups used to tour together. After stepping out of the spotlight for a while due to personal reasons, they are each ready to make a comeback. This time, as a duo.

Told through split POVs, we follow Mackenzie and Sam as they reconnect and learn to work together on new music. Their past feelings resurface even stronger this time, but their secrets threaten to tear them apart again.

The chemistry between Mackenzie and Sam is so good, and I love their banter, antics, and tension especially in the flashbacks. Imperfect relationships are also a big focus of the story, and we see the main characters grow as they work to strengthen their connections with each other, family, and friends.

I was excited to see that this audiobook features dual narrators, both of whom I have enjoyed in the past. They do such an incredible job bringing Mackenzie and Sam to life!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing this advance listening copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced copy!

I'm a big Emma Lord fan, so I was excited for another book! This was a fun one. I liked the setting and the history between the main characters. Sam and Mackenzie were both good characters, but I didn't love them or super relate to them. I did love the narrators, though! They both did a great job of reading Sam and Mackenzie's perspectives. Overall, not my favorite Emma Lord book. But a great addition to her booklist and a fun read!

I am so here for the Sam and Mac duo. This book has elements of fake dating, enemies to lovers, found family, secret identity, and celebrity tropes all intertwined. The way Emma Lord writes the characters and their back stories makes all of their decisions so believable. I really value that in a book - especially when the ending leaves you with no questions to ask! I would give this 4.5 stars if I was able to!

Mackenzie Waters, a talented singer and songwriter, used to be part of a girl band with her besties: Hannah and Serena. However, she found out she had a thyroid condition requiring her to have surgery, which altered her voice. This led to her singing under a pseudonym, "Seven", - in which she released seven songs about her past relationships on an app called "Ticktoon" which allows musicians to post songs anonymously. The seventh song was about a past potential love, Sam Blaze - her rival from a boy band she went on tour with. Sam no longer performs due to now raising a young son he hadn't known about.

Sam is eager to get back into the music scene, but wants to stick around for his son and is interested in doing something that won't require him to go on tour. Mackenzie similarly wants to get back into the public eye as well. Their manager decides it would be best for them to come up with a duo. They need to put aside their rivalry and learn how to work well together. There are a lot of misunderstandings due to each character not fully revealing how they feel, and that trope always annoys me - which knocked off half of a star. However, I see how it was important to reveal in this story line.

Sam has all of the vibes of a protective MMC but with a nice sense of humor. Mackenzie has some major trust issues due to being too vulnerable in the past and believing everything people told her. I listened to this and really loved the narration provided by Jessie Vilinsky and Andrew Eiden. I usually cringe a lot when listening to romance and prefer listening to thrillers, but the narrators did a surprisingly great job on this book! I would definitely recommend this book to others and I actually want to buy it to have so I can read it next time instead of listening to it just to see how it compares.

Thank you to NetGalley and @MacMillanAudio for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

For the Record was such a great listen! It’s got all the things I love in a second chance romance. Tension, banter, history mixed with a lot of fun but still an emotional story set in the world of music.

Mackenzie and Sam used to be rivals in the music scene. Her the polished pop star, him the broody punk rocker. Their bands clashed, sparks flew, and things got messy… both on and off stage. Fast forward two years, and they’re living totally different lives. Sam’s now a full time dad, and Mackenzie is recovering from vocal surgery, secretly putting out music under a fake name. The big twist? A joint comeback album to save both their careers.

The chemistry between them is still there, but so is the baggage. I really liked how their dynamic evolved. It felt messy and real in the best way. There’s a lot of heart in this story, but also some great humor and moments that made me smile.

The audiobook narration was excellent. Andrew Eiden and Jesse Vilinsky brought both characters to life so well. I especially loved how natural and distinct their performances felt. Definitely added to the experience.

It’s a little predictable in spots, but I didn’t mind, it’s the kind of story you sink into and enjoy the ride. If you're into enemies-to-lovers, music industry drama, or anything with big feelings and great banter, this is the audiobook/book for you!

4.25 Stars!

#NetGalley, #ForTheRecord, #EmmaLord, #EnemiestoLovers, #RomCom, #MacMillanAudio

3.5/5 stars

A nice and easy listen that was fun all the way through (with a few bumps along the way) with some Daisy Jones & the Six vibes thrown in. I really liked the other Emma Lord book I've read, The Break Up Pact and this book just moved her up on my list of Auto Buy Authors.

Narration: 5 ⭐ Andrew Eiden and Jesse Vilinsky did a phenomenal job bringing this story to life! I felt a connection with the characters through their voices- they were perfect for these parts! Their speech was clear, they conveyed emotional/dynamic changes extremely well and they both were well-paced throughout the entire audiobook! I thoroughly enjoyed their performance; it was the best part of this book for me!

Let me start with this- I absolutely adore this cover! It instantly got my attention and made me excited for the read! Overall, though, this one was just ok for me. I had high hopes that I was going to really love this entire book, but it just fell flat for me. The writing was more on the juvenile side and even though this was intended to be an "adult" romance, I felt that it fell more into the young adult category. I didn't feel that there was a smooth flow to the story and there was very little character development, and for me, that would have made a huge difference. While this one wasn't for me, I do plan to continue reading Emma Lord's work!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillian Audio for these advanced review copies. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this so much but the writing and story didn't hold up to the premise. Everything just felt off and I struggled to read and finish the story. The eye rolling was real. The narrators, though, were brilliant and wish they had a better story to work with.

Mackenzie is a bit Taylor Swift code, I loved her growth. The back and forth between Mac and Sam was juvenile taunting, but it totally worked here. Sam reminds me of the antagonist kid who’s always poking fun and pulling on pigtails, but who grows up to be a sexy, sarcastic daddy. When I sensed the plot presenting some tropes that are wildcards (could hate it, could love it)…hidden identity and mayyybe 3rd break up, depending on how the reveal shakes out. But this was handled so well, authentically, and didn’t give me the icks. I was invested in this plot and all the side character developments.

Thank you Net Galley and Macmillan audio for this ALC!

Mackenzie and Sam were former rivals, always pitted against each other as their bands even toured together. But underneath the rivalry there was always an edge of feelings. Years later, their label wants them to team up. But Mack has complicated feelings about it, and there are some secrets she’s not ready to reveal yet.

I didn’t really feel a lot of chemistry with Mack and Sam. I expected there to be more feelings and drama with her bandmates, but it ended up being a lot more simple than I expected. Overall this book was ok. It had me entertained, but I just wanted more from the storyline.

This was cute… and a quick read. I just couldn’t get past it being so corny & childish. It’s giving YA vibes.

***Five Stars***

I. Loved. This. Story.

Andrew and Jesse did a fantastic job at narrating this story. Sam and Mackenzie were so much fun to read about.

This was my first "adult" romance I've read from Emma Lord, and after having read her YA romance novels, I had pretty high expectations. This one delivered.

The characters were likeable, the romance believable, and the ups and downs of their relationship kept me hooked from the beginning.

📚ARC Review 📚

For the Record ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have read several of Emma Lord’s YA books and I liked them so I was excited to try her adult version of romance books. However, this one fell a little flat for me. I couldn’t really connect with the characters and storyline didn’t really flow smoothly with the beginning and then the reconnection with the characters and their relationship. It was a little to insta love for me. I also couldn’t get over the name of the app, TikTune, and how it was always mentioned. Something about it felt cringe to me and that was very distracting. I also felt like there were too many characters/ storylines to keep track of and none were really talked about in depth to really get a feel of what happened. I did like the concept of the book though. I read a mix of the e-arc and listened to the audio. I thought the narrators fit Mack and Sam’s characters well and I enjoyed that it was a dual POV. Overall, it wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t for me.


Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced readers copy and to Macmillan audio for the audiobook. This is my honest and voluntary opinion.

I devoured this book - it was SUCH a cute, second-chance romance. You know what though.. I'm not even sure I'd call it a second-chance romance when they didn't get a chance to try out the romance part the first time!!

Mackenzie & Sam are in rival bands owned by the same record label and to capitalize off of that, the labels tells the two of them to really act it up on stage - teasing, taunting, almost kissing.. the whole shebang but without the grand finale. When huge changes happen in both of their lives.. they simply.. lose touch...until two years later when they're pushed together by the same label to record an album together. As you can imagine, feelings return/rehash but of course these two dummys (love them so much ok) spend most of their time convincing themselves that the other isn't possibly into them the way they are. Of course, Mackenzie doesn't want her heart broken again and Sam has never had a serious relationship before so their walls are high.

I won't spoil the rest, but just know that at one point Sam begs (yes you read that right, *begs*) Mackenzie for something ;)

The narrators for this book were also fantastic - they really brough Mackenzie & Sam to life for me!

The tension! The chemistry!! The history!!

Second chance romance is my fave and this did a great job of sharing Mackenzie and Sam's past in a way that provided just enough context and mystery without it feeling like a very dumb miscommunication from two young (potential) lovers.

I love this much more than Emma Lord's YA work, while those are enjoyable this has been my favorite listen by her so far as she dives into writing adult romance.

The dual narration of Andrew Eiden (aka Teddy Hamilton, my fave 😍) and Jesse Vilinsky kept me wanting to listen to this audiobook any chance I could.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Emma Lord is a YA author who recently started writing adult romance. For The Record reads like a spicy YA novel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't my favorite. Also, while I enjoyed the female narrator of the audiobook, I did not like the male narrator.

Despite this, Lord does a good job writing female and male protagonists with more depth than the typical romance, and this book was no exception, which is why I decided to round up.

Recommended particularly for those who enjoy:
*Famous characters
*Enemies to lovers
*His and her POVs
*Second chance romance
*Books about musicians

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for ebook and audiobook ARCs in exchange for my honest review.

This was a 4.5 for me.
For the Record was such a fun and swoony romance read! I absolutely loved the chemistry between the two main characters—their history together added so much depth, and the back-and-forth banter had me smiling the whole time.

The romance felt real and engaging, with just the right balance of emotional tension and playful flirtation. This one was hard to put down—I was rooting for them from start to finish!

If you love second-chance romance with witty dialogue and heartfelt moments, definitely give this one a read.