If Not for My Baby, Kate Golden
If Not for My Baby, Kate Golden
List: $23.00 | Sale: $16.10
Club: $11.50

If Not for My Baby

Author: Kate Golden

Narrator: Ellie Gossage, Eric Nolan

Unabridged: 11 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/05/2025


Synopsis

It’s the duet of a lifetime when a rock star and his backup singer find a new kind of harmony off stage in this sensational contemporary romance.

Clementine Clark isn’t looking for love. Growing up with a single mom who weeps over a new guy each week tends to have that effect on a girl. But Clementine doesn’t mind being the rational one—she’s even buried her musical dreams so deeply within herself that she hardly notices the hole it’s left in her life.
 
That is until her best friend calls her with a life-changing opportunity: to join Irish megastar Halloran on his first US tour as a backing vocalist. Clementine wants to reject the offer, but the pay is enough to 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?

About The Author

Kate Golden is the USA Today bestselling author of The Sacred Stones trilogy. She lives in Los Angeles where she works in the film industry developing movies with screenwriters and filmmakers. When she isn’t telling stories, Kate is an avid book reader, puzzle addict, and game night enthusiast which she hosts with her husband and puppy, Milo. You can find her on Instagram at @KateGoldenAuthor and on TikTok at @Kate_Golden_Author.


Reviews

Curious to see how this one goes - I've loved Kate Golden's romantasy... time to see if she hits with a rock star romance 🎤 Rockstar Romance 🎤 Found Family 🎤 Slight Age-Gap 🎤 Romantic MMC x ‘Loves Not for Me’ FMC 🎤 Dreamy Hozier-Esque Lyrics 🎤 He Falls First 🎤 Chronic Illness Rep Expected Pub Date - 08/05/......more

Goodreads review by Nilufer on May 24, 2025

Oh boy, that stunning, vivid cover, the steam, and the explosive chemistry between Clem and Tom set this entire story on fire, leaving readers absolutely breathless! Imagine a great love story infused with catchy, heartfelt lyrics, a touch of Daisy Jones & The Six and A Star Is Born—with the kind of......more

Goodreads review by megan ◡̈ on August 11, 2025

AHHHH ok listen!!! am i a big fan of rockstar romances? no. BUT I AM A BIG FAN OF KATE GOLDEN ROCKSTAR ROMANCES🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ i am so happy to say i enjoyed this book way more than i anticipated to simply because this subgenre isn’t typically my jam BUT i absolutely adore kate’s other books so i knew if an......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on February 01, 2025

4.5⭐ | This was soooo fecking good! 🤗🤗🤗 I fell in love with every single character in this book. It was so refreshing to not have mean girls in a book, like THANK YOU Kate Golden. Molly & Indy were perfection. TOM... PURE PERFECTION. He does no wrong. The way I was swoooooning when he said "atta girl"......more

Goodreads review by Sophie on August 15, 2025

This Hozier-inspired rockstar romance is sizzling with chemistry that should appeal to fans of the artist – but I regret to inform you he is less a muse here and more a whole blueprint. 🎸 While it has tropes like opposites attract, he falls first, yearning, “don’t touch her” along with found family,......more


Quotes

"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."—Ali Hazelwood, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Deep End

“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.”—B.K. Borison, New York Times bestselling author of First-Time Caller

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.”—Lana Ferguson, USA Today bestselling author of The Nanny

"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."—Julie Soto, USA Today bestselling author of Not Another Love Song

"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."—Alicia Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of Never Been Shipped

"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."—Sarah Hawley, USA Today bestselling author of Servant of Earth

"This book had me FERAL. Soulful. Intoxicating. Transcendent. Sign me up for anything and everything she writes next!"—Jo Segura, USA Today bestselling author of Temple of Swoon

"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."—Kate Goldbeck, national bestselling author of You, Again

“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.”—Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Book Boyfriend

"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."—Lauren Okie, author of The Best Worst Thing

"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.”—Meg Smitherman, author of Thrum

“A smart, sexy rock ’n’ roll tale that delivers both heat and heart.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Romantasy writer Golden’s (A Dawn of Onyx) first contemporary romance is full of passion, heart, and harmony; a standout in the genre.”—Library Journal (starred review)