Verdict: A yearning-soaked stud/stud second-chance romance set inside a recording studio, with two masculine-of-centre Black heroines readers call rare and real, held back by music-production jargon that loses some readers early and an ending that leaves people wanting more of the couple.
Best for: Readers who want a slow burn built on history rather than meet-cute, who read second chances for the ache of what went wrong, and who can ride out a first act heavy on mixing-desk detail to get to the chemistry.
Heat level: ★★★☆☆ (3/5 — open door; derived from reader reports, since romance.io has no entry)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 — a 4.34 Goodreads average across just 67 ratings, with advance readers prominent and music jargon the one recurring complaint)
Tropes: Second chance, stud/stud, exes and former best friends, slow burn, forced proximity, workplace romance, musician and producer, opposites in temperament, dual POV, heavy yearning.
Track Four Is Not About You by L.M. Bennett is the second book in the self-published Hot Mic series, a contemporary lesbian romance released in April 2026 and set in the hip-hop recording industry — and its collision is Bishop, a rapper whose new album is falling apart, walking back into the studio of Shiloh Ellis, the precise, guarded producer she ghosted four years ago and the only person who can save the record.
It holds a 4.34 average across 67 Goodreads ratings, and a 4.2 on StoryGraph from a small sample, with no Goodreads rating below three stars. That is a strong start for an indie second book, and the praise is unusually specific about why: two Black stud heroines on the page and on the cover. The review pool is also young, and a visible share of it came from early copies. Both of those facts are worth holding together before you start.
What Is Track Four Is Not About You About?
Track Four Is Not About You is a second-chance romance in the fullest sense — Bishop and Shiloh were best friends, creative partners and more before Bishop left without a word, and the book is about whether that can be rebuilt with an album deadline standing in for the matchmaker. It is also a workplace romance where the work genuinely matters. Song structure, takes, demos and mixes are not wallpaper here; readers say the book’s emotional stakes are wired straight into the production process, and that the technical detail is the price of that.
Bishop is swagger and deflection, a star whose career is wobbling and who knows exactly whose ear she needs. Shiloh is control: sharp button-downs, a pristine studio and boundaries she built specifically so this would never happen again. Both women are masculine-of-centre, which the author states outright in the book’s description, and the story runs in dual first-person POV. Readers praise both voices as distinct, and one notes the book quietly shows how differently the two would be treated if one of them were femme.
What Makes This Stud/Stud Second-Chance Romance Work
- The representation: The most consistent note in the reviews. Readers describe two Black masculine-presenting lesbian leads as something they rarely find, and several praise a cover that shows it too.
- Yearning as the engine: “Tension” and “yearning” are the recurring words. Readers keep describing near-misses and a slow burn one reviewer says burned twice.
- Music as a love language: The idea that a song on the album might be about Shiloh — and what it costs Bishop to record it — is where readers say the romance and the plot lock together.
- No manufactured prejudice: One stud/stud reader says outright that, unlike many in the subgenre, this one does not lean on homophobia or stereotypes for conflict. The friction is theirs alone.
- A slow burn with a payoff: Reviewers say the wait is long and deliberate, and that when it lands, the spice reads as a reward rather than the point.
Book Synopsis
Four years ago, Bishop disappeared from Shiloh Ellis’s life without warning and without ever explaining why. Since then, Bishop has become famous and Shiloh has become the producer other artists queue for. Neither of those outcomes has fixed what the silence broke, and neither woman has said so to anyone, least of all to herself.
Now Bishop’s new record is in trouble. The songs are lifeless, and nobody around her can say why. Shiloh can. It is the raw, unguarded sound the two of them used to make together before the money and the distance, and she recognises it instantly in one struggling demo. She has every reason to refuse the job. She takes it anyway, on her own terms, with the rules drawn tight.
What follows is months in a small room with the person who hurt you most — long sessions, late takes, and music that keeps saying things neither of them will say aloud. Bishop hides behind charm and jokes; Shiloh hides behind the console and the schedule. The album starts to come together, and so does everything they buried with it. The open question is not whether the record gets finished. It is whether Bishop will finally explain why she left, and whether Shiloh can afford to hear it.
My Review
The pairing is the best thing here, and it is not just the novelty of it. Stud/stud romance is still thin on the shelf, and Bennett writes two masculine-of-centre women who are not versions of each other: Bishop is chaos and charm, Shiloh is structure and restraint, and the book gets its best scenes from watching those temperaments collide over a mixing desk. The readers who came for the representation stay for that contrast, and the praise for it is close to unanimous.
The second real strength is how the music carries the feeling. A second-chance romance lives or dies on whether the history feels heavy, and tying that history to a song on the album gives the yearning somewhere to go. One Goodreads reviewer puts it simply: “this book understands yearning.” Several others praise Bennett’s prose as confident and vivid, and credit the dual first-person voices with keeping both women sympathetic even when they are being impossible.
Where it struggles is the way in. The most repeated complaint — and it is the only one that recurs across independent reviewers — is the density of music-production detail, especially early. Readers who otherwise loved it say the opening was hard to get into, that the terminology goes well past the basics, and that they got lost in it. Around that sit smaller, single-voice notes: two readers wanted a chapter or two of the couple’s past rather than having it explained; one wanted clearer physical descriptions of the leads; one three-star reader simply couldn’t settle into the style. The ending draws the gentlest criticism, and it is telling — several readers say they wanted more of Bishop and Shiloh together before it closed.
One expectation to reset: the numbers are excellent, but they are early numbers. The book is five months old, a noticeable share of the written reviews came from advance copies, and many reviewers are already Bennett readers. That does not make the praise wrong — the specifics are consistent — but a 4.34 across 67 ratings is a different kind of evidence from the same average across thousands. If you are new to Bennett, calibrate slightly; if you are already a fan, this is exactly the book the reviews say it is.
My honest note: A rare and genuinely felt stud/stud romance whose yearning earns its high rating, taxed by a technical first act and an ending that stops a beat early. If studio jargon bores you, push through the opening chapters — the reviews say the payoff is worth it. If you came for two Black studs finding their way back to each other, this delivers.
| Element | In Track Four Is Not About You |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Bishop & Shiloh Ellis — rapper and producer, both studs, exes and former best friends |
| Core tropes | Second chance, stud/stud, slow burn, forced proximity, workplace romance, musician and producer |
| Setting | The contemporary hip-hop industry — a recording studio and a make-or-break album |
| Heat level | 3/5 — open door, late in the book (derived; no romance.io entry) |
| Series | Hot Mic book 2 of 3 — different couple in each book; reviewers report no cliffhanger |
| Content notes | Explicit sexual content, abandonment and ghosting in the backstory, a side situationship and other romantic interests, career pressure (reader-reported; StoryGraph shows no content-warning summary) |
How Spicy Is Track Four Is Not About You?
About a 3/5. romance.io has no entry for the book, so this number is derived from what reviewers actually describe. The picture is consistent: the sex is on the page and explicit when it arrives — one reviewer quotes a line that leaves no doubt — but it comes late, after a long burn, and readers frame it as a reward rather than a recurring feature. One StoryGraph reviewer rates the spice 2.5 out of 5, another calls it “soft spice,” and a third praises the spice at the end specifically. That is an open-door book with a limited number of scenes, not an explicit-and-plentiful one.
The only thing worth flagging in advance is the wait itself: if you want early, frequent heat, this is not built that way. No reviewer I found flags specific kink or consent concerns. For open-door romance at the same level, Wherever Is Your Heart and In Her Spotlight sit in the same band.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want stud/stud romance with Black leads and no homophobia-driven plot, you read second chances for the ache of the history, you like a long slow burn with a payoff at the end, and you enjoy stories where the work itself — here, making an album — carries emotional weight.
You may want to skip it if: heavy technical detail in the opening chapters will lose you, you need to see the couple’s past on the page rather than hear it explained, you want frequent explicit scenes, or you like a long, lingering ending with the couple settled.
In short: a rare pairing and real yearning, with a technical first act as the entry fee.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
There is no viral moment here, and the discourse is small. What exists is a loyal author readership and a steady trickle since April: 67 Goodreads ratings and 20 written reviews, 52 Amazon ratings, and a handful of StoryGraph reviews with a 2% did-not-finish rate. Discovery runs through Bennett’s existing fans — several reviewers open by saying they buy whatever she writes — through advance copies, and through the book’s placement in Kindle Unlimited. The specialist sapphic site I Heart SapphFic ran an author feature at launch rather than a critical review, and at least one BookTube reviewer has covered it; I found no trade or major-blog reviews. The ebook is also in public-library OverDrive catalogues. The Goodreads distribution is tight: 46% five stars, 41% four, 11% three, and nothing lower.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The representation first. Reviewer after reviewer says two Black masculine-presenting leads are something they rarely find, and one Amazon reviewer calls it “raw and real, full of emotions” as a Black lesbian reader tired of fetishised portrayals. Second, the tension: “yearning,” “tension” and “slow burn” dominate the praise, and one reviewer describes near-miss scenes that left her holding her breath. Third, the writing — several reviewers call Bennett’s prose vivid, confident and well-researched, and praise the two first-person voices as clearly distinct. Readers also love the Bishop–Shiloh contrast, chaos against structure, and one StoryGraph reviewer recommends reading alongside the book’s companion playlist.
What readers argue about and complain about: Music jargon, above everything. It is the only complaint that recurs across independent reviewers — at least four readers say the production detail is heavy, technical or hard to get into early on, most of them four-star readers. Second, the backstory: two readers wanted flashback chapters of Bishop and Shiloh’s first relationship instead of having it explained. Third, the ending, framed as appetite rather than failure — several say they wanted more of the couple at the close. Single voices raise the rest: one reader couldn’t picture the leads physically, one couldn’t get into the style. The genuine split is over the drama. Some readers relish how messy the characters and side cast are; another praises the book for having no unnecessary drama at all.
The series question worth asking first: Each Hot Mic book follows a different couple, and reviewers who started here — including one reading Bennett for the first time — report no trouble following it. Bishop first appears in The Art of Going Rogue (book 1), which averages 4.15 across 62 Goodreads ratings, so this one is the stronger-rated entry. Kissing the Opps (book 3, August 2026) turns to rival rappers Cam Wolfe and Romi Dulce and currently sits at 4.63 from 27 ratings. Read in order if you want the cast to build; start here if the stud/stud premise is what drew you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Track Four Is Not About You a stud/stud romance?
Yes. The author’s own description calls Bishop and Shiloh two masculine-of-center women, and reviewers consistently describe it as stud x stud. Both leads are Black studs, and the cover shows them that way.
How spicy is Track Four Is Not About You?
About a 3/5. There are explicit on-page scenes, but they arrive late after a long slow burn, and readers describe the heat as soft to moderate. romance.io has no rating for it yet.
Does Track Four Is Not About You have a happy ending?
Yes, as far as reviewers report. Bishop and Shiloh find their way back to each other and no reviewer mentions a cliffhanger. Several readers say they wanted more time with the couple at the end.
Do I need to read The Art of Going Rogue first?
No. Bishop is introduced in book 1, but each Hot Mic book centres a different couple, and a first-time Bennett reader reports following this one without trouble.
Is there an audiobook?
Not that I could find. Amazon lists Kindle and paperback editions only, and Libro.fm does not stock it. The ebook is in Kindle Unlimited.
If You Loved Track Four Is Not About You, Read These Next
For another stud/stud romance centred on Black masculine-of-centre women, Stud Like Her by Fiona Zedde is the closest match, with more heat and an age gap. If the second chance was the draw, Then & Now works the same exes-reunited ache through a dual timeline, giving you the backstory chapters some readers wanted here. And for two masculine-of-centre women finally acting on years of pining at the same heat level, Wherever Is Your Heart is a tender, shorter option.
For more in this register, browse our butch/butch lesbian romance guide or the full Book Reviews collection.
The Bottom Line
Track Four Is Not About You sets out to give two Black studs a full-length, grown-up second-chance romance, and mostly does it. The representation is rare and handled without leaning on prejudice for conflict, the yearning is real and sustained, and the music gives the history somewhere to live. It also asks you to wade through dense production detail early, tells rather than shows much of the couple’s past, and closes before many readers were ready to let the couple go. If you want stud/stud romance written with care and a slow burn that pays off, it is well worth the album’s runtime. Check Track Four Is Not About You on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Track Four Is Not About You ranks as a standout indie stud/stud second-chance romance — rare in its representation and rich in yearning, taxed by a jargon-heavy opening and a young review base, and best approached for Bishop and Shiloh’s slow return to each other rather than for high heat.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ 4.34 average across 67 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ No Goodreads ratings below three stars
- ✓ Small, advance-copy-heavy review pool so far
Romance ★★★★☆ 4.3/5
- ✓ “Yearning” and “tension” dominate the praise
- ✓ Slow burn readers say pays off
- ✓ Music ties the history to the plot
- ✓ Two readers wanted past-relationship chapters
Characters ★★★★☆ 4.1/5
- ✓ Two Black stud leads readers call rare
- ✓ Chaos-versus-structure contrast widely praised
- ✓ Distinct dual first-person voices
- ✓ One reader found physical descriptions thin
Writing ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Prose called vivid, confident, well-researched
- ✓ Studio scenes immersive for non-musicians
- ✓ Several reviewers praise the style outright
- ✓ Music jargon the one recurring complaint
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 4.1/5
- ✓ Four years of hurt carry real weight
- ✓ Near-miss scenes keep the tension live
- ✓ Representation lands for Black lesbian readers
- ✓ Backstory told more than shown
Heat Level ★★★☆☆ 3/5
- ✓ Explicit on-page scenes, per reviewers
- ✓ Arrives late, after a long burn
- ✓ Readers call it soft to moderate
- ✓ No romance.io rating; derived from reviews
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ Couple reunites; no cliffhanger reported
- ✓ Book 3 follows a different couple
- ✓ Reconciliation described as tender
- ✓ Several readers wanted more time at the end
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Companion playlist for a second pass
- ✓ Hot Mic book 3 already out
- ✓ Included in Kindle Unlimited
- ✓ No audiobook for a listening re-read
Find it on AmazonListen on Libro.fmListen with AudibleBuy at Bookshop.org
The store links on this page are affiliate links: we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.