Title: The BacktrackAuthor: Erin La Rosa
Pages: 304
Publication Date: July 16, 2024
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary / Fantasy
Synopsis:
Life, rewound …
Nearly twenty years ago, Sam Leto left her small hometown of Tybee Island, Georgia, to pursue her dreams of becoming a pilot. While she’d prefer to keep flying away from her painful childhood memories, her beloved grandmother Pearl decides it’s time to sell the family home. Reluctantly, Sam is summoned back to pack up the house.
The 2000s nostalgia from Sam’s old bedroom hits Fall Out Boy posters, drawers of roll-on body glitter and even her favorite CD player with a mixtape from her best friend, Damon Rocha. Damon was always a safe place and Sam often wonders what if her teenage self admitted her feelings for him back then…
Mysteriously, the CD player still works all these years later. And somehow it has the power to show Sam an alternate version of her life.
Song by song, Sam receives flashbacks from her past—senior prom, graduation, leaving home. But the memories aren’t as she remembers them; they show what could have been. Suddenly, Sam knows exactly what would have happened if she’d taken a chance with Damon—and she can’t help feeling she made a terrible mistake leaving Tybee all those years ago.
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The Backtrack is a charming and nostalgic contemporary romance with great characters and a sweet second-chance romance. Sam has returned to her hometown after 11 years away. Now a successful pilot, she goes home to help her grandmother and ends up facing her ex-best friend Damon, whose kiss she rejected in high school, irrevocably changing their relationship. When Sam plays an old mix tape Damon made, she’s transported into the past and sees what her life would be like if she had said yes to that kiss.
Each song Sam listens to transports her to an alternate past and answers some of her “What ifs.” What if she had kissed Damon on that fateful day? I have to say, the song choices are fantastic. This book as a whole has so much nostalgia from the song choices, hairstyles, and clothing choices – it all took me back! And the more I hear about Tybee Island, the more I feel like I need to visit. It sounds gorgeous, and it’s a fabulous backdrop to the story.
Sam’s grandmother and the other older ladies are fabulous too – so sassy and funny, and you never knew what they were going to say, which reminds me so much of some of my older relatives. They’re all hysterical. lol The romance is also very sweet. Damon and Sam have a wonderful connection, and though their lives went and are still going in very different directions, the feelings didn’t. I wasn’t sure if these two would be able to find their way back to each other, but I sure hoped they did because the chemistry was palpable.
As fun and nostalgic as the plot is, I also really liked Sam’s journey throughout the story. As she packs up her grandmother’s house, she end up unpacking a lot of her feelings about her past, feelings she really hasn’t faced before. It was deep and complex and emotional as she revisits her past, family issues, and a bunch of “What ifs” while taking a serious look at what (and who) she wants in her future. There are some deeper and more serious messages about finding the right person at the wrong time in your life, taking chances, the effects of depression on the sufferer and those around them, and loving yourself.
Special thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.
- The romance.
- The nostalgia.
- The small town charm.
“Having nostalgia is romantic… It’s the ability to never forget something you love.”
- second chance romance
- magical time travel
- small town charm
- friends to lovers
ERIN LA ROSA is the author of Plot Twist and For Butter or Worse, and on her way to writing romance, she’s also published two humorous nonfiction books, Womanskills and The Big Redhead Book. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and four daughters (two humans, two felines). Find her on Twitter and Instagram @erinlarosalit and on TikTok @erinlarosawrites.
This sounds really good. I am glad you enjoyed it so much.
Thank you! 🙂
Excellent review, Julie. I like the idea of all the nostalgia, mixed in with personal growth and reflection. I have this on my TBR already, so am looking forward to reading it.
Nostalgic is not usually paired with contemporary romance, but the idea of this book sounds promising! And I need to meet the old ladies!! 😍
OMG they are fabulous!!! lol