‘Sensual, poetic, and full of delicious, excruciating yearning’ Ali Hazelwood
Clementine Clark isn’t looking for love. She’s a talented singer, but she’s set her dreams of stardom – and romance – aside to care for her ailing mother.
And then her best friend calls her with a life-changing opportunity: join Irish megastar Halloran on his first US tour as a backing vocalist. Clementine wants to reject the offer, but the pay would change her and her mom’s life. Overnight, Clementine goes from serving enchiladas at the Happy Tortilla to belting high notes before a cheering crowd.
But the whiplash of trading small-town Texas for sold-out stadiums is nothing compared to the rush of performing with the enigmatic Thomas Patrick Halloran. Poet, introvert, and lyrical genius, Halloran quickly gets under Clementine’s skin. The two couldn’t see the world more differently. And yet, over the course of the next eight weeks on tour, the romantic rockstar might just strike an unforgettable chord in Clementine. But will it be enough for an encore?
A steamy romance of second chances, perfect for fans of Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover, What Is Love by Jen Comfort and The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jiminez.
Clementine Clark isn’t looking for love. She’s a talented singer, but she’s set her dreams of stardom – and romance – aside to care for her ailing mother.
And then her best friend calls her with a life-changing opportunity: join Irish megastar Halloran on his first US tour as a backing vocalist. Clementine wants to reject the offer, but the pay would change her and her mom’s life. Overnight, Clementine goes from serving enchiladas at the Happy Tortilla to belting high notes before a cheering crowd.
But the whiplash of trading small-town Texas for sold-out stadiums is nothing compared to the rush of performing with the enigmatic Thomas Patrick Halloran. Poet, introvert, and lyrical genius, Halloran quickly gets under Clementine’s skin. The two couldn’t see the world more differently. And yet, over the course of the next eight weeks on tour, the romantic rockstar might just strike an unforgettable chord in Clementine. But will it be enough for an encore?
A steamy romance of second chances, perfect for fans of Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover, What Is Love by Jen Comfort and The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jiminez.
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Reviews
Sensual, poetic, and full of delicious, excruciating yearning. If Not For My Baby is the kind of book I love to recommend to everyone in search of an emotionally resonant, profoundly romantic read. A tender, determined, heartfelt look at the vulnerable business of falling in love. Kate Golden wrote a chart-topping hit worthy of Thomas Patrick Halloran
The sultry, sexy, whirlwind romance of my dreams. No one writes an earnestly yearning man quite like Kate Golden. Thomas Patrick Halloran can literally have whatever he wants. This isn't a book you're going to want to miss
If Not For My Baby is the rockstar romance of my heart. Clementine and Thomas's chemistry is palpable, and their romance is off the charts. Kate Golden's contemporary debut is a smash hit, and I hope she never stops writing them
With a romance as mesmerizingly sensual as the lead singer himself, If Not for My Baby sings! Kate Golden is ready for her turn center stage in the romance genre
Nothing makes me feel quite like music does, and this passionate, angsty, tender rockstar romance from Kate Golden lit me up in all the same places. I would go anywhere with this book -- on a tour bus to every major city in America, or all the way to a castle in County Kerry. If Not for My Baby might be contemporary romance, but it reads like pure fantasy in Kate Golden's capable hands
If Not for My Baby is lyrical and stunningly romantic. The music, the poetry, the pining! Tom and Clem are magical together, and I was rooting for their happily ever after from the start. I adored this swoony and sexy love story, and I will read anything Kate Golden writes
This book had me FERAL. Soulful. Intoxicating. Transcendent. Sign me up for anything and everything she writes next!
What can't Kate Golden do? If Not for My Baby completely swept me away with its intensity, softness, and killer soundtrack. I swooned from beginning to end
In equal measures soulful, sexy and sweet as cherry wine, If Not For My Baby is a rhapsodic rockstar romance with a poet's heart. Golden's prose and characters can't help holding the spotlight in this romantic, unforgettable read
Kate Golden can do it all - and her first crack at contemporary storytelling is an immersive, heartfelt, and unbelievably sexy knockout. If Not For My Baby isn't just for music lovers. It's for any reader who's ever wondered how much brighter life might be if they finally got out of their comfort zone
Painfully romantic, gorgeous, gorgeous prose, laugh out loud funny, I literally cried multiple times, INSANE original song lyrics by Ms. Golden herself... A top contender for fave read of 2025