A review by whatsdianereadingmeow
The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa

3.0

Before Sam’s mother abandoned her, she told her not to stay stuck like she did. So Sam relentlessly focused on becoming a pilot and getting out of there. No one would hold her back, including her best friend Damon, who could have easily been so much more. Twenty years later, she’s accomplished her dream of becoming a commercial pilot when she has to go back home to help her grandmother move. While cleaning, she finds her old CD Walkman with a mixed CD that Damon made for her. Every time she plays a song, she gets transported back in time to an alternate reality where she gave in to temptation and she and Damon became a couple. Through these glimpses she gets to see what could have been.

I loved the premise of this story since I’m a total sucker for time travel tropes. The early ‘00s playlist was especially fun. Most of this book was great, but for me, it fell apart at the very end. Suddenly it was all boring mother-daughter drama and the dialog in the last few chapters was seriously so cringy and sappy it was like someone else wrote it.

Thank you, @NetGalley and @HarlequinBooks for my gifted copy.