I am delighted to be part of the blog tour for Summer under the Stars! It’s a feel good summer read focussing on friendship, family and finding yourself! Author Kate Mallinder shares insight into her playlist for this book! Also included is the link to check out the tunes!
The song assigned to my stop on the tour is a classic and widely known one, especially for the Friends fans out there- “I’ll be there for you by The Rembrandts”!
Why I Made a Playlist for Summer Under the Stars
Summer Under the Stars is about four good friends on a road trip through France a year after their GCSEs. Life has changed—they’ve changed—but they’ve got this one summer together to make memories. A trip of a lifetime. But when you’re in close quarters, navigating both literal and emotional detours, will friendship be enough to hold them together?
I’m not the same age as my characters anymore, but every time a song comes on the radio from when I was 17, I’m pulled right back—driving around with friends, staying out too late, laughing at nothing and everything. It’s amazing how music can do that. Like scent, it brings you not just to a place, but to a feeling. That’s musical memory. It’s time travel powered by emotion.
So when Firefly Press asked me to put together a playlist for the book, it felt completely natural. The story is full of music—references to songs, singalongs, soundtracks to the moments that matter. It’s something every great road trip movie has: windows down, hair flying, everyone singing at the top of their lungs. That scene almost always ends up in the trailer for a reason.
How I Chose the Songs
I had to include Madonna—after all, the gang name the stowaway kitten Madge after listening to one of her songs. I added big sing-along ballads, a few modern tracks, some classics, and even a bit of musical theatre (because let’s be honest, at least two of them would be obsessed with Wicked).
But the heart of the playlist is Feels Like I’m Falling in Love by Coldplay. We played it nonstop on our own family road trip last summer, and now it’s forever linked to that feeling of freedom and promise. In the book, the friends sing it in the car between campsites, headed toward Marseilles. It’s catchy and uplifting—not just about love, but about standing on the edge of something huge. The kind of change that shifts how you see everything afterward. A perfect coming-of-age anthem.
There’s Queen, because that’s what Nell sings in the bakery back home. There are songs about summer, sunshine, open roads, and growing up. In the story, Hetal makes the playlist—and she’s a perfectionist—so I tried to channel her. She’d want something for everyone, but she’d also care about the emotional arc. She’d follow a theme.
More Than Just a Soundtrack
Above all, I wanted the playlist to feel like the story itself: something hopeful, joyful, and full of heart. The kind of songs you’ll want to sing with your own friends—on the road, or just when you’re dreaming of the next adventure.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Y9Iv5lVt0feOgYkeNcpjD?si=bxi9pHd9RNyXspaUspHlgg&pi=Y0_gqd_pR_Kgn
My Shelves Are Full 