The Playlists of our Fictional Love Stories

Many of the fictional boyfriends we love are rock gods, lyrical geniuses, or seductive singers and when the authors provide lyrics and music it is one more way for us to connect with the story. We can hear the song in our head or see the sexy male lead directly singing to us through a crowd of people.   

Music doesn't just come from the fictional rocker book boyfriends we love, often times it plays an important role as an epic soundtrack of the fictional journey we take with characters through their emotional and physical highs and lows. Authors often add music to our imagination; inspiring an in-depth look into the emotions of their characters and not just for the romance novels featuring rock star leads.

For me, music has played a large roll in my life. Lyrics have picked me up when I’m down, kept me company while I simultaneously dance and fold laundry, and come along on a long drive with the windows down while I look ridiculous singing and dancing with the wind in my hair. Songs evoke emotion and thought, sometimes putting you in a memory-lane vice grip.  When songs are added to our favorite reads it adds another element to the story. The lyrics help us see the emotions more clearly, we can imagine the joy and relate to the sorrow more realistically, and we have a connection through what the music helps us feel.

Some authors use song lyrics to help us understand characters that are struggling with oral emotional expression. Hilary Wynne does this for Alexa in the Alexa Reed Series and Katy Evans with Remington Tate (A champion fighter) in the REAL series. Alexa emails songs to Julian (An alpha millionaire) that reflects the way she feels and can’t say, while Remy plays music for Brooke in a playful or deep manor. In my opinion this adds depth and realism to these character. In our real word we often struggle with what we want to say and expressing our feelings, especially when those feelings scare the living hell out of us. Remy (REAL series) uses songs from popular culture to tell Brooke how he feels when words fail him. Evan’s uses music to help us see inside Remy and gives us a relatable reference from our own world.

Any one heard of Travis Maddox? Yah, I am sure most of you have. Fighter, campus charmer, covered in tattoos, and meets his match with Abby Abernathy. Jamie McGuire is another author I love and this series featuring Beautiful Disaster also has a wonderful playlist. For those of you who like to listen to music while you read, author's like these are doing the work for you. On their websites and places like itunes and Spotify; you can listen to the novels whole playlist. Soundtrack to your reading right there!

We see authors creating playlists for their books more and more.  Samantha Towle uses music for inspiration in her writing. On her website, she has a whole section dedicated to the music in her novels and she tells us, “Music is really important to me. I can’t write without it. Most of my inspiration for my work comes from a line in a song... a music video.” I believe authors feel more connected to their work by adding a piece of themselves with music they carefully handpick for their novels. The Storm series is a wonderful example of a great playlist added to a brilliant book series.  

When authors create playlists for their work we are also introduced to new music and find songs that speak to us. I know I am not the only one who has Googled a song mentioned in a book and fell in love. The author is then providing us with an extra gift besides the talent of their written word. We have a new song that means something to us, to dance or cry to.

Some author’s even implant music links into our ebooks. In the shattered Hearts series by Cassia Leo most chapters correspond to a song, and at the beginning of each chapter there is a link to listen to each song. Doing something like this in our ebooks gives us a deeper look into what is next in the upcoming chapter and keeps our minds guessing. It tells more than just the chapter having a name and we get a better feel for what the author was trying to portray.

I love this idea of authors creating playlists for our reading and listening pleasure. It is a trend that I hope continues. If you haven't read any of the books listed in this post I highly suggest you do so, they are all great reads. 

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Below I have listed a Goodreads list with books featuring awesome playlists and the playlists of authors books I have mentioned:

• Goodreads list of books with awesome playlists: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/29939.Books_and_Music

• Beautiful Disaster™ Playlist — Author Jamie McGuire

• Samantha Towle - The Music: http://www.samanthatowle.co.uk/music

• Katy Evans - REAL - Music: http://www.katyevans.net/books/real/#playlist

From her website:

These are some of the songs I listened to while writing Real. The first two are so meaningful, you might enjoy listening to these particular two songs while Brooke and Remington do. :) 

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“IRIS” by Goo Goo Dolls

“I LOVE YOU” by Avril Lavigne

“THAT’S WHEN I KNEW” by Alicia Keys

“LOVE BITES” by Def Leppard

“HIGH ON YOU” by Survivor

“LOVE SONG” by Sara Bareilles

“IN YOUR EYES” by Peter Gabriel

“KISS ME” by Ed Sheeran

“COME AWAY WITH ME” by Norah Jones

“ALL I WANNA DO IS MAKE LOVE TO YOU” by by Heart

“ANY WAY YOU WANT IT” by Journey

“PULL ME DOWN” by Mikky Ekko

“LOVE YOU LIKE A LOVE SONG” by Selena Gomez

“MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU” by Kelly Clarkson

“FLAWS AND ALL” by Beyoncé

“THE FIGHTER” by Gym Class Heroes

• Hilary Wynne: http://www.hilarywynne.com/

Stay Playlist:

Stay by Rihanna and Mikky Ekko

Again by Needtobreathe

Falling by Tyrone Wells

Red Light by Amiena and Chris Mann

Breathe in Breath Out by Mat Kearney

I'm Sexy and I know it by LMFAO

All ot Nothing by Theory of a Deadman

Brighter Than the Sun by Colbie Callait
Falling In by Lifehouse
Please Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna
Mirrors by Justin Timberlake
Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars
It it Kills Me by Jason Mraz
Watching You Watch Him by Eric Hutchinson
Bailandro Por El Mundo by Juan Magan, Pitbull, and El Cata

Hold On Playlist:

Holding on & Letting Go by Ross Cooperman
Time of Our Lives by Tyrone Wells
Broken by Lifehouse
Say Something by A Great Big World
Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke
Show me by Bruno Mars
Miss Me by Andy Grammer
All of Me by John Legend
Guarded by Kevin Daniel
Sad by Maroon 5
Human by Christina Perri
Get Lucky by Daft Punk

• Cassia Leo - Relentless Playlist : http://cassialeo.com/books/shattered-hearts/