SOUNDTRACK A NOTE FROM BETHANY

I believe romantic comedy is one of the greatest genres ever created. Is there anything funnier than love? (I’ll answer that one for you: No. There is not.) And while I now love reading in the genre and, you know, writing in it, my love for rom-coms was first awakened through movies. Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping, The Cutting Edge, When Harry Met Sally . . . , My Best Friend’s Wedding, Bridget Jones’s Diary, You’ve Got Mail . . . the list goes on and on. As I was writing Wooing Cadie McCaffrey, I felt pretty satisfied that I was writing a worthy homage to the genre I love so much. But the fact is, rom- com movies have one distinct advantage over rom-com books. (Well, two distinct advantages, if we can just group Colin Firth, Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, and the rest of them into one joint advantage . . .) Movies have the advantage of music. So many rom-com movie moments are inextricably linked to a that played in the background while the moment was happening and the emotions we felt at the time . . .

The giddiness of seeing Joe Fox deliver daisies to a sick Kathleen Kelly while “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” provides the soundtrack. The hilarity of watching Rupert Everett serenade Julie Roberts with “I Say a Little Prayer” and with the help of some waiters wearing lobster mitts.

The sadness accompanying Hugh Grant as he passes through a year of seasons in Notting Hill with “Ain’t No Sunshine” as his only companion. I wanted to bring just a touch of that to Wooing Cadie McCaffrey, as much I could. These are the that captured the emotions of the story for me. I heard these songs while seeing the action of my characters play out in my mind. In a few cases I chose the songs because of their lyrics, but more often it’s about the feel of the song. The joy. The ambition. The heartbreak. And about that . . . brace yourself. This playlist has its fair share of heartbreak songs. Music can capture every emotion, but, in my opinion, there is nothing better than a good heartbreak song. I may have laid those on pretty thick. Maybe we should have included tissues. I realize not everyone will want to listen to music while they read. That’s okay. Read the book and then go back and put the music with the scenes. Maybe—just maybe—the next time you hear any of these songs, you’ll feel the way you felt when you were reading Wooing Cadie McCaffrey. Maybe the emotions will go just a little bit deeper. And what I really hope will happen is that Will and Cadie will for you, just a little bit more. Just like they did for me. TRACK 1 — “DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME” BY THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS — PROLOGUE I picture this song playing softly—but growing louder—as Will talks to Cadie about Joe Montana and she realizes he’s not like the other guys she’s met. And it would play on until the end of the chapter. This is not an insta-love story, but that doesn’t change the fact that it doesn’t take very long at all for Cadie’s life to be changed by the appearance of Will Whitaker.

TRACK 2 — “BOTH SIDES NOW” BY JONI MITCHELL — CHAPTER 1 This song will carry us through all of the first chapter. “Both Sides Now” captures Cadie’s despair and provides such a heartbreaking juxtaposition against the hopefulness she felt at the end of the prologue. (I credit Emma Thompson’s amazing performance in Love Actually with making this a song that will always make my heart ache.) TRACK 3 — “GONNA GET OVER YOU” BY SARA BAREILLES — CHAPTER 3 I’ll just tell you right now . . . Sara Bareilles is the soundtrack of Cadie’s heart for me. I listened to her music obsessively every time I was writing from Cadie’s perspective. “Gonna Get Over You” is a good indicator of where Cadie is emotionally during the third chapter. She knows what she knows. Her brain has made a decision, and she is simply waiting for the right time to act on the decision. But all it takes is having Will by her side to call everything into question again. She knows she has to move on—and she has no earthly idea how she’s going to do that.

TRACK 4 — “I WON’T GIVE UP” BY JASON MRAZ — CHAPTER 4 Oh, Will. Dependable, loyal, lovable (somewhat clueless) Will. For a large portion of chapter 4, he really has no idea what’s going on. But he knows he loves Cadie McCaffrey, and for him that seems to be enough. I think the sentiment of this song is always part of who Will is, but it’s especially indicative of his thoughts during that last few pages of this chapter. TRACK 5 — “FEELS LIKE HOME” BY CHANTAL KREVIAZUK — CHAPTER 5 Cadie is ready to end things with Will. She’s braced herself. She’s as prepared as she will ever be. Then, once again, she’s in his presence. And it’s not just that things are better. For at least a fleeting few moments, things are good. It’s as if all the unanswered questions are being addressed. All the uncertainty is ancient history. This is just Cadie and Will at their best. Together. And they, unfortunately, allow themselves to get carried away by that in a way they never intended to.

TRACK 6 — “GOING UNDER” BY JUSTIN GAMBINO — CHAPTER 6 The world has been turned upside down, and for Will and Cadie it will never be quite the same ever again. I think this song provides some insight into the silent battle waging inside Will. He, without a doubt, feels as if he’s going under. He’s quickly losing the ability to breathe. He isn’t consciously turning to God in that moment, and that’s something he won’t address until later, but he’s being kept afloat. He’s refusing to give in to the darkness surrounding him, as long as there is any small glimmer of light. TRACK 7 — “FIX YOU” BY — CHAPTER 8 Will is looking back—looking forward—looking wherever he can, trying to figure out what he needs to do to make everything right again. Cadie won’t talk to him, and he feels completely helpless. But he can’t just sit around, waiting for things to change.

TRACK 8 — “CLEAN” BY NATALIE GRANT — CHAPTER 9 When Cadie finally hits rock bottom, God meets her right where she’s at. The consequences don’t go away just because she finally gets real with God, but when she finally gets around to doing what she should have done in the very beginning, the process of being restored—piece by piece— can finally begin. TRACK 9 — “BREATHE AGAIN” BY SARA BAREILLES — CHAPTER 9 By the end of that same chapter, Cadie and Will have found new ways to hurt each other—and it is so unintentional on both their parts. Every attempt at a step forward seems to result in countless steps back. This is another Sara Bareilles song that just captures the state of Cadie’s heart so unbelievably well.

TRACK 10 — “I WANT YOU BACK” BY THE JACKSON 5 — CHAPTER 10 It makes me smile to imagine this song playing in the background during the last couple pages of the chapter, as Will gets his second wind. It’s almost as if Will is providing his own soundtrack in his head. TRACK 11 — “NOBODY DOES IT BETTER” BY CARLY SIMON — CHAPTER 14 This makes me laugh, and I hope you can imagine it the way I do. At the beginning of the chapter, we’ve jumped ahead three weeks. And it’s been three weeks of Will making a ridiculous, over-the-top mess of things— culminating in the biggest mess yet at the start of this chapter. I can hear this song in the background, very tongue-in-cheek, and accompanied by a lot of eye rolls from Cadie.

TRACK 12 — “THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT” BY TONY BENNETT — CHAPTER 15 Cadie. Will. The Staten Island Ferry. The Fliegelmans. Need I say more?

TRACK 13 — “LET HER GO” BY PASSENGER — CHAPTER 17 At the end of this chapter, Will finally has to come to terms with the idea that he may not get Cadie back. Well, he needs to come to terms with that, anyway. Actually doing it is another thing entirely. But there’s no doubt that, by this point, hope is going to be a bit more difficult for him to come by. TRACK 14 — “MANHATTAN” BY SARA BAREILLES — CHAPTER 18 Cadie is attempting to carve out her own life, without Will in it. I told you Sara Bareilles provides the soundtrack of Cadie’s heart, and that is truer with this song than any other. Every note and every word.

TRACK 15 — “LOVE YOU ANYMORE” BY MICHAEL BUBLÉ — CHAPTER 19 Will’s doing a pretty decent job of acting like he’s moving on with his life. For about, oh . . . a minute.

TRACK 16 — “THE POWER OF LOVE” BY HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS — CHAPTER 19 Toward the end of the chapter, Will feels incredibly proud of the plan he’s putting into action, and he imagines that, in a movie, this moment would be accompanied by some great eighties pop ballad. In Will’s mind, this is that pop ballad. TRACK 17 — “LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT” BY BARRY MANILOW — CHAPTER 20 This song is about someone leaving behind the great love of their life and successfully moving on to someone else—until they see that former love and realize they haven’t really moved on at all. That isn’t exactly what’s happening between Will and Cadie, but much of the sentiment is the same—the wondering if there could really ever be anyone else. Besides, this whole section of the story is centered around a Barry Manilow concert! How could I not use it?

TRACK 18 — “IN YOUR EYES” BY PETER GABRIEL — CHAPTER 21 The song is forever interwoven with that scene in Say Anything and the sight of John Cusack simply holding a boom box over his head. Admittedly, Will’s version is somewhat less simple. TRACK 19 — “LIKE I’M GONNA LOSE YOU” BY MEGHAN TRAINOR AND JOHN LEGEND — CHAPTER 22 Cadie receives a letter from Will, and it’s as if her life is flashing before her eyes. Her life with him, her life without him . . . and finally she’s able to put it all in perspective. Then she just has to hope she’s not too late.

TRACK 20 — “PERFECT” BY ED SHEERAN — EPILOGUE In the version of Wooing Cadie McCaffrey that exists in my mind, this song plays as we spend our final moments with Will and Cadie, then fade to black.

TRACK 21 — “LOVE YOU LIKE THE MOVIES” BY ANTHEM LIGHTS — BONUS TRACK This one doesn’t fit within the actual storyline, but imagine this as the song that would play over the end credits. Listen to the words, and then tell me if there could be a more perfect song for Cadie and Will! Designed to be experienced with Wooing Cadie McCaffreyby Bethany Turner, available May 2019.

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