𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧…
🎸 rockstar x his backing singer
🎤 hopeless romantic mmc
🎸 forced proximity
🎤 found family
🎸 he falls first and YEARNS

𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨…
When Irish rockstar Tom Halloran is left short a backing singer for his 8-week US tour just before it starts, small town girl Clementine is given a once in a lifetime opportunity to join him.

𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨…
I loved this book SO much 😭 Here are just a few of the reasons you *must* read it 👇🏼

Clementine & Tom have the most insane chemistry! It’s so rare you read a book where instantly the MCs are 🔥🥵 I’m not usually a fan of insta-lust, but I was instantly rooting for them 👏🏼They have a relationship that is both so intense but also so soft & beautiful 🥹 and I absolutely loved them together 🫶🏼

This is mostly down to Tom - who has absolutely joined my lineup of favourite book boyfriends 👏🏼 He is the most wonderful mmc, I love him - he’s so kind and steady, a massive introvert but in the most endearing way (but also so sexy… pls Kate how do you do it?? 🔥) Also the *yearning* 🥵

I wouldn’t necessarily go looking for a rockstar romance, but I loved the tour setting! (And the fact they’re crammed into a bus for two months!) I love the friends Clementine makes in the other women touring - and it was just one big (mostly) happy tour family 👏🏼

This book has received some mixed reviews because of its inspiration - I don’t really know much about Hozier, so other than the physical descriptions being the same I can’t really comment on whether this book is invasive to him. But personally I was imagining fictional Tom Halloran throughout, not a real person!

I'm a huge fan of Kate Golden's writing and love her Sacred Stones series to bits, Of Not for My Baby. However, I just didn't hit the mark for me.

This contemporary rockstar romance 'inspired' by Hozier felt like it was fanfiction. I know people use that as an insult these days, but this genuinely felt like one of those stories you read where the girl gets casted on tour with the band and falls in love with the singer.

It was cute, but I think Clem's character was very hypocritical and frustrating at times for me. Her inner conflict about putting others first before her and being selfless while at times making decisions that were selfish was confusing. It didn't seem like a "im gonna put me first" kind of situation but rather just her saying one thing and doing another.

Halloran was pretty much just Hozier with a different name. He wasn't inspired by the irl singer, but he literally was the singer in the book. If you're a Hozier fangirl, you'll probably appreciate this a lot more, but I personally found it odd that there were no elements of the character that was his own. The way he talks to the way he describes his music is pretty spot on.

overall, the book was okay for me, I did like that there was fibromyalgia rep and also the side characters, too.

I loved the little text message conversations that happened, too. That was the cutest part for me!

"Someone clearly trampled this man's heart into the ground. And then threw it into a wood chipper."

"One day avoiding everything that could hurt you might just leave you with nothing at all.'

Quick review:

3 stars. It is a fun book, but don't think too much about what/who might have inspired it or get hung up on some of the cringy lines.

Long review:

Look, I think most of us know what we are getting into with most contemporary romance books. MMC is big™, and it must be pointed out at all possible times. MMC wears a Henley and sweatpants, and it's the hottest thing ever. MMC comes off aloof and grumpy, but is really just shy and down bad for FMC. FMC is small and tiny™. FMC thinks she's plain, but she's actually smoking hot. FMC is scared to love and pushes people away. FMC thinks things like:

"He smells phenomenal— more male than all other men combined."

And all these things are fine; we like the routine comfort of it all.

It just got a little odd for me when the FMC was thinking:

"He looks like a handsome mournful druid"

and

"He’s more of a man than any I’ve met. If he told me he ate tree bark and slept in caves, I’d believe him."

Clem, you ok? Or are those comments on a Hozier photo/video?

I'm a massive Hozier fan. I'm always listening to his music. I have his albums. I think his songwriting is incredible. I've seen him live, and it was amazing. But I've never really wondered "what would it be like to date him?" or "what's he like in bed?". And this book feels like it's trying to explore and answer those questions.

I hate being negative about books, and I am fairly easily entertained, so here are some positives.

Was this a quick read? Yes. I got through it in a day thanks to a mix of the audiobook and an e-ARC.

Was there spice? Yeah, and it was pretty good if you're into that. Tom worships Clem, and you love to see it. It's going to be hard not thinking about what Clem and Tom got up to in that hotel room whenever I look at the Lego set I was putting together while listening to that particular part of the book. [ The pre-concert handjob to calm the nerves was a little wild, though. (hide spoiler)]

Was this a fun read? Overall, yes, I had a good time with this book once I embraced the slight cringe I was getting from it and tried to stop thinking of Tom as just Hozier - that might have been a lot easier if Tom weren't a tall, long-haired, soulful, Irish singer.

And the audiobook/narrators did an excellent job.

This book had me smiling so much one of my friends asked me what I was reading (it was the monopoly game). I loved Kate Goldens fantasy trilogy and now she has a fan for her contemporary romances too. I adored the conversations about music in this book and how easy it was to suspend my disbelief and fall into the love story cast for us. I genuinely struggled to put the book down because I did not want to stop reading.

Okay if there's one thing you should know about me its that I loveee romances where one of the characters or both are musicians (hello, Not Another Love Song) and in general Rock Star romances. This one was no exception because I ate this up.

the tension and slow-build up to romance between Halloran and Clementine?? The flirtatious moments?? TOP TIER. Halloran get behind me I will protect you. The way he was so sweet and patient with Halloran, I just can't.

The side characters were also amazing and loveable too and I really hope that this isn't the last time we're seeing everyone (insert: eyes raised).

Cant't wait to pick up a physical copy of this one soon!

Summary

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

Spicy rating: 🌶️🌶️ 2/5

I’m genuinely sad I didn’t enjoy this more as I was so looking forward to it.

It was fine, but average as far as contemporary romances go. The characters didn’t quite feel fully fleshed out and I just never really understood why they liked each other. Just that they did and like there was lots of MMC yearning but like why? Show me. It’s not that the characters weren’t likeable because they were and I did get more emotionally invested as it went on but it was slow.

The 3rd act was much better and definitely carried the story. It’s an easy read but not one I’m craving to read again you know? Super sad as I love Kate’s other books.

Falling for a fictional rock star is not in my 2025 bingo card BUT LO AND BEHOLD HERE WE ARE 💗🎸

I am completely obsessed with everything in this book. A very very well-written story I'm telling y'all (the words you've put in this book has become my bible I need to hear those wonderful lyrics SO BAD)

Halloran is a new book boyfriend and husband periodt. I love LOVE him so much. Imagine being in a yearning/pining contest and this man is your contender? Don't even bother competing this man already won 😔💗

Clementine is such an amazing FMC as well, she's so relatable because the way our minds think alike everytime she's smitten by Halloran is so me. I'm her, she's me. That's it 🙂‍↕️✨️

I love the side characters too and I really truly hope this won't be the last time we're visiting this rockstar universe from Kate!

This is definitely one of my best romance read this year! An anticipated read that did not disappoint! ✨️

If you are looking for a new book boyfriend that will totally rock your world, then If Not For my Baby is THE book. Tom Halloran is your guy 🙂‍↕️🎸💗

This one really got me. I loved all of the characters, but especially the main couple. The tension and yearning was top tier. The slow burn was almost excrutiating, and all the more wonderful for it. It was so freaking romantic that it had me swooning from start to finish. It was a low stakes, almost cosy read, and it had so much heart. I literally couldn't put it down. A new favourite for sure and one I'll not wait long to return to.

If Not For My Baby is such a sweet romance story. The whole book is like one of those wholesome romance films where the edges of the frames slightly sparkle and everything is slightly out of focus. The plot is very simple and we get swept away onto the tour bus and into the MMCs arms. I liked the added role of carer that the FMC had this added to her character and made her likeable. Some of her decision making was very frustrating and who is THAT naturally talented?!? For the MMC I would have liked for him to have been less of a total carbon copy of actual Hozier, a few tweaks would have still kept the vibe but then created a more interesting character. The romance is lovely, it’s full of quick glances and tender moments! The spice is also pretty hot.
Overall is the book realistic, probably not! But did I have a lovely fun time reading it - YES. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-copy. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

₊˚🎸⊹ ˖ 3 stars ₊˚🎸⊹ ˖

“Avoiding everything that could hurt you might just leave you with nothing at all.”

Upon finishing this novel, I think it’s safe to say Halloran is a Hozier insert wholly and unequivocally, not merely inspired by him. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Hozier’s music, but it’s uncomfy having a whole book written based on a real-life person - especially one that values their privacy (funnily enough Halloran likes his privacy too, who would have thought?). To be clear, fanfiction is not my issue here, it’s the fact that this is to be profited off of which feels exploitative.

Whilst ‘exploitative Hozier fanfic’ is certainly a substantial criticism to have, I only had a couple other minor complaints, not that I can tell you them though because they’ll spoil the story ✌🏻. But, for the most part I was able to enjoy the book for what it was - a soft, romantic love story between singers on tour.

Halloran was so gentle with Clementine it made my heart cry. Even when he thought she wasn’t fully interested, he always looked after her. Maybe that’s the bare minimum, but in this day and age I fear it’s really not🤧.

“She's just... she needs me, you know?"
“I don't blame her,” he says, brushing his knuckles over my cheek. “You're very easy to need.”

Clementine pushing Halloran away was frustrating to read, but then I realised I’m the exact same (oops)😭🤚🏻. She was such a painfully relatable character - the kind of person who hates love because it’s doomed to fail/doomed to cause pain every single time, and yet is somehow secretly and ashamedly the biggest romantic.

Overall, it has been such a struggle trying to form a fair rating for this book. If one of the main characters hadn’t been so blatantly based on a real person, I could have enjoyed this uninhibitedly, but alas he was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the ARC.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7772771372?book_show_action=false

This book will live in my head rent free until the day i die. The yearning, the spice, the tension, the twists. everything about this book was addicting!

Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC 😊

4.5/5 ⭐️ Rounding up to 5 ⭐️
This review might be a little biased because I'm already a big fan of Kate Golden!

I read If Not For My Baby in one sitting. Although the plot was nothing new (similar to A Star Is Born but with a HEA), Kate still knows how to pull in and hook a reader into the romance. Making the big bad rockstar into a big marshmallow who only has eyes for our FMC and a little 'touch her and die' (except he's a softy who wouldn't actually kill anyone) made If Not For My Baby a light hearted romance, perfect for a lazy day read.

Along with the romance, Kate's writing of the dialogue for our MMC was just beautiful. He's poetic, insightful, introspective and philosophical. The banter between our MMC and FMC is flirty and hilarious. I love the meaningful and open conversations they have as well.

When Kate pitched this as a Hozier inspired Romance novel I was aa good as on my knees crawling through broken glass for it.

I'm not a huge romance girly but BOY HAS SHE MADE ME ONE. This book will have its own shrine on my shelves as it well deserves.

The book sang to me from page one and like it was laced with something I couldn't not put it down.

If you love music, romance, yearning ethereal men with Irish accents and stunning writing you would be doing yourself a favour picking this up.

Easily in my top 5 reads this year, thankyou so much to the publishers and netgalley for letting me read this masterpiece prior to publication.

If I described the protagonist of this novel as existentially adrift and messy, how fast would you run to read? If you, like me, are actually obsessed with characters for whom trust, love and general life-ing come hard, then If Not For My Baby is SO the book for you.

Clementine -- a hectic little commitmentphobe theatre kid is drifting through life in her small Texas town until she receives a life changing offer to sing backup for (explicitly Hozier-coded) indie superstar, Halloran.

What follows is a sweetly decadent slow-burn of a rockstar romance with our skittish little gremlin female lead being patiently and swoonily L O V E D.

It is important here to underscore the slown-burny-ness of this novel. The lead characters barely interact until around 20% which, ostensibly, leaves quite a lot of catching up to do in terms of building chemistry. Luckily, Golden is more than up to the task.

I was thoroughly and absolutely invested in the relationship between Clem and Tom. The heat between them is second only to the genuine, eloquent emotion they share. Golden has done mystic indie folkrock fans proud here in fitfully capturing the cadence of a romance with the kind of poetic balladier that could write "no grave can hold my body down, I'll crawl home to her."

100/10. All the stars.

You should read this book.

I usually struggle with any romance that involves a musician MMC or FMC. I think it’s because I struggle to imagine any of the songs / musical aspects without outwardly cringing?

However, I did really enjoy reading this book.

Tom is such a patient and caring MMC. He was consistent the whole time and is the epitome (took me 5 minutes to figure out I hadn’t made up that word and to find the spelling of it) of yearning.

Clementine is such a loving, giving FMC. She’s spent her whole life living for her mum and everyone around her, and now she finally gets to experience life for herself.

I found this book to be an easy, fun read. There was no forced romance or friendships, and you got to see the upside of the music industry, but also some of the downside. The paparazzi, the way the music managers can be, the entitlement of some people etc.

I also only just realised this is a Hozier fan fiction? Love.

Okay, so If Not for My Baby follows Clementine, who’s seriously going through it, she’s juggling a waitress job while trying to take care of her mom, and life’s just kind of...a lot. Then out of nowhere, she lands this wild opportunity to be a backup singer for Halloran, this broody, soft-spoken Irish folk musician. Clementine’s totally not here for romance, she’s way too practical for that, but Halloran is all soulful eyes and quiet charm, and you know where that’s headed...

I really liked all the characters, they felt super real and easy to connect with. That said, the romance did feel a little fast for me (but hey, you know how I am with insta-love, it’s not always my thing).

Still, I’d totally recommend it! It was a fun, emotional ride, and I was hooked the whole way through.

If Not for My Baby was an emotional whirlwind of a rockstar romance and I loved every second.

The tension between Clementine and Tom was so beautiful to watch unfold, with their dynamic being incredibly raw and so authentic. Their developing relationship felt so passionate and gentle at the same time, not wanting to spook one another but also wanting to never part. I adore books where a character is lost and is in need of a muse, and the most unlikely inspiration pops out of nowhere and is utterly perfect.

Kate Golden knows how to write amazing books, and her contemporary romance debut proved that in so many ways. From the rockstar romance, to a hopeless romantic male lead, to the found family we had in the side characters, and to the soulful music... it truly was an remarkable book.

Kate Golden just knows how to write emotion.

It goes without saying that this romance is one of extravagance, a story of life on the road and broadway and all the glamourised areas of the music industry. But within that comes a story of such love for music, writing, and emotion. I typically dislike stories centred around music, but this book was so grounded in its love for it - in finding meaning through music - that it was hard not to fall for its thrall.

In Clementine I found a character mirroring my own skittishness. How easily she showed the contrast between hoping and feeling so much that it’s terrifying to allow it. How comforting it was to read a romance where that’s ok. The stakes were fairly low, it was easy reading without huge swathes of drama, and there was something deeply soothing about that.

This book is an easy read that feels like…a cosy whirlwind, if such a thing could exist? Life on the road, the few weeks of never stopping, told almost exclusively through the small moments of peace and camaraderie.

3.75⭐️. I love Kate Golden’s Sacred Stones trilogy, so I was very excited to see what her romance debut had in store!

We follow 24 year old Clementine, a musical theatre enthusiast and talented performer who put her dreams on hold to support her mother, who suffers from fibromyalgia. She gets an unexpected opportunity to work as a backing vocalist for superstar, Halloran, when her friend has to back out at the last minute. Having never known her father, who left her 16-year old mother when he found out she was pregnant, Clementine has no desire to find romantic love. However, upon meeting and getting to know Tom (Halloran), Clem can’t help but develop feelings for the sensitive Irishman.

This was a quick and enjoyable read. I loved Tom, found Clem to be a really relatable FMC and there was a great cast of side characters. As a music lover (and a musical theatre lover), the setting of this book was right up my alley. That being said, I didn’t know that it was inspired by Hozier, nor do I really know Hozier or his music that well (beyond Take Me to Church), so I just took it at face value.

I love how down bad Tom was, although would’ve appreciated a slower burn to start and potentially his POV so I could’ve understood what drew him to Clem from the start. I might have to listen to the audiobook at some point, just so I can hear Tom’s Irish accent! 😍😂

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC copy. I have enjoyed Kate Golden's books in the past and this one was no exception. I found it a lovely hopeful, cosy romance that was very easy to get emersed in. It had it's good share of drama and slow burn tension whilst also keeping a fast pace. If you like romance novels I thoroughly recommend this book 4/5.