Mix Tape is a gloriously nostalgic story of first love. Sheffield, 1978. Alison and Daniel are besotted with one another. They share a love of music and their love is intense and pure. But events in Alison's life lead her to run away and she emigrates to Australia. Time moves on and so do Alison and Daniel. Both married to other people, they nevertheless never forget each other. When Alison becomes a successful writer, Daniel sees her Twitter account and feels compelled to reach out. They send one another songs that will take them right back to their Sheffield days. As they become consumed with thoughts of one another, Daniel decides to throw caution to the wind and travel to Oz to surprise her. When they are reunited they discover their long dormant feelings come flooding back. Despite the carnage they will leave in their wake, they are unable to return to their lives. Their love is written and they cannot give one another up again. A beautifully written, poignant and heartfelt tale that will leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Given the chance to find a Lost love, would you?
The story begins and before you know it you're lost in the story of Dan and Alison. Thoroughly enjoy the story line, the characters are likeable although i don't condone affairs,however the topic was dealt with delicately but still felt for the spouses and wondered if they'll be a sequel?
The story of lost love and a passion for music, which I googled if I didn't know the tune and listened to while reading, which created a great ambiance. (some even made it to my play list too)
would highly recommend reading, many thanks to netgalley for the arc.

A fantastic book ! I especially liked the song references which appear throughout the book . I enjoyed Ali and Dans story and the way the book moved from past to present.
Thank you to Netgalley, and Random House Uk for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

Novels featuring music as a theme or focus, always feature fairly highly on my 'to be read' pile. Music is a huge part of my life, equally if not more than books and reading, so this novel really appealed to me.

Mix Tape is a beautifully written account of teenage love, heartbreak and the challenges of adult life.

Alison Cooper is a famous novelist, settled with her family in Adelaide, Australia, miles away from her teenage life and love Daniel Lawrence. The pair parted in their teens when Alison was convinced to leave her broken family, but couldn't tell Daniel the reasons why.

Daniel Lawrence is a successful music journalist living with his partner and Son in Scotland who learns of Alison Cooper's success when his Mother gifts his partner her best selling novel. Daniel hasn't thought about Alison in years, but suddenly seeing her name and author's photograph takes him on a journey back to 1970's Sheffield where the two were largely inseparable.

He has never quite gotten over her leaving and spontaneously contacts her with a link to a song via Twitter. She responds with a shared favourite of theirs and the two message back and forth until Daniel sends Alison a message that will change both of their lives forever.

Without giving too much away, and you can call me an old romantic if you must ... but I do believe that some things are meant to be, and Alison and Daniel's story isn't as unbelievable as some critics have said. I thoroughly enjoyed Mix Tape, and it kind of makes me want to go back to being a teenager and hoping that someone I fancy will make me a tape!

As a bit of a footnote, there is an official Mix Tape spotify playlist for anyone not familiar with the songs. Definitely recommended as a accompaniment!

I chose to read this book as the title was a blast from the past for me and reminded me of the many mix tapes I used to make. I wasn't really prepared for what I went on to read; thinking the book was going to be just a straightforward lighthearted retro look at the 1970s.

Alison was Daniel's girlfriend in Sheffield in the late 1970s - their ages were similar to my own, all the music they listened to was my music - apart from Daniel's favourite band the Comsat Angels who seem to have passed me by. But my fave band Echo and the Bunnymen and the Human League get lots of mentions - it took me right back.

The first hard hitting part of the book was when we find out the reason for Alison leaving Sheffield in the 1970s and more about her brother Peter. Never even saying goodbye to Daniel she left him at a loss as to what happened. I thought back to that time and how different things were then and how you had no way to contact someone with no mobile phones.

I was surprised and saddened by the events in Alison's young life wondering how in those different times I would have coped. We get to fast forward to 2012/13 to the lives of Ali as she has become, and Dan. On different sides of the world each with their own life to live, and yet through the power of music they become united once again.

I found it clever of the author to set the book in 2012/13 as it made the events more realistic at the age Ali and Dan would have been. I thought the book was very well researched even down to Huey Morgan being on Radio 6 at the right time of day!

The book is rich with dialogue and description, but not an unnecessary word appears. It was a joy to read and will stay with me for a long time to come.

When I saw the cover and read the blurb for this book, I was really excited to read it. It sounded like something I would really enjoy as I love stories that flash back between teenage years and present day. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t quite for me. I found it all a little too downbeat which wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Daniel’s dad aside, I can’t say I really warmed to any of the characters particularly. It was clearly written by a huge music fan, but again, many of the references went over my head, however I’m sure that if you were a teen in the late 70’s, the nostalgia and musical references would be right up your street.

As someone who has spent many hours creating mix tapes, and who remembers the lyrics to songs both new and last heard 40-odd years ago, I loved this book! I recognised some of the songs, and listened to the unfamiliar ones on Spotify...

Setting the book partly in the UK and overseas added another dimension to the plot. I won't spoil the book by giving away any more plot details, but I found Alison and Dan's stories very compelling, and their backgrounds totally believable. The characterisation was excellent - some characters were lovable, others entirely the opposite.

This would be a great read for a holiday or journey, or when you just want something quite light (not too light though!) to read.

I'll happily read more by this author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

I'm afraid I didn't really enjoy this one. I found it too difficult to invest in the relationship between Daniel and Alison – and the hurt that they cause to others – when there seemed to be no chemistry or substance beyond a teenage relationship. I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy this (and I've seen it receiving very good reviews), but it wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review. I am not really sure how I feel about this book. I think the fact this was based on the "one that got away" was sweet but I have trouble seeing how anyone would leave their life time partners just to go back to their first love after just a couple of days. Also I am not a huge music fan so although the sending of songs seemed significant to the couple sadly this was lost on me not knowing the songs well enough to really get the deeper meaning implied. Perhaps I am old fashioned but I would have preferred them both to end their relationships if unhappy and then seek each other out starting an affair seemed too low and I am not sure any good strong relationship can be built on that foundation. Overall not a book I would recommend sadly.

This is a really great book - it ticks a lot of boxes for me: dual narrator, multiple locations and time periods, great music, characters I want to know more about. I loved how quickly I was sucked in and and caught up in the lives of Alison and Daniel. I feel bereft now that I am finished. I initially feared it might be a little predictable but there are so many great supporting characters and plot lines to keep things moving and interesting that I just wanted to keep reading and not put it down. Highly recommend!

You never forget the one that got away. But what if ‘what could have been’ is yet to come?

Daniel was the first boy to make Alison a mix tape.

But that was years ago and Ali hasn’t thought about him in a very long time. Even if she had, she might not have called him ‘the one that got away’; after all, she’d been the one to run.

Then Dan’s name pops up on her phone, with a link to a song from their shared past.

For two blissful minutes, Alison is no longer an adult in Adelaide with temperamental daughters; she is sixteen in Sheffield, dancing in her skin-tight jeans. She cannot help but respond in kind.

And so begins a new mix tape.

Ali and Dan exchange songs – some new, some old – across oceans and time zones, across a lifetime of different experiences, until one of them breaks the rules and sends a message that will change everything…

Because what if ‘what could have been’ is yet to come?

Mix Tape is told over two timelines and three locations about a couple of teenagers whose lives are torn apart in the late 70's when Alison disappears from Daniel's life without a trace and no explanation, that is until he sees her name appear on social media many years later and decides to follow her, what happens next is more than he could ever have imagined, but how will it end?

This is a love story filled with nostalgia, heartache, love, hopes & dreams and with some great music tracks thrown in along the way, I found myself googling the ones I didn't know, to hear what they were and loved many of them. The book started off a bit of a slow burner but soon built momentum, until I got to the point where I didn't want to put it down, and when I did I was constantly thinking about when I could pick it up again. I loved how the author portrayed the characters of Daniel and Alison and made them so believeable, how they showed their feelings for each other with something as simple as a song, but these songs meant so much more to them and I adored Alison's relationship with her brother Peter. It was a change from my usual genre of psychological thrillers, albeit a very welcome one. I would definitely recommend.

I'd like to thank Random House UK Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Alison and Daniel were childhood sweethearts. Their brief romance in late-70s Sheffield when a shared love of new wave music brought them together, was passionate and intense but ended abruptly when Alison apparently disappeared off the face of the earth. Fast forward 30 years and Dan is a relatively successful music journalist and Ali is living in Australia and has just published her first novel, which is taking the publishing world by storm. They are both in long-term relationships and have children who are just at the stage of leaving the nest. When an old friend tips Daniel off about Alison’s success he contacts her via Twitter, sending a link to a song which meant a lot to both of them. Alison responds, with another meaningful tune, and they begin a game of musical ping pong from opposite sides of the world. But of course it doesn’t stop there ....

I have mixed feelings about this book, although overall I enjoyed it. The first half was wonderful. I loved the post-punk late 1970s vibe and the namechecking of lots of fantastic new wave bands of the era, and the detail of the backgrounds of the two main characters, particularly Alison’s tragic family life, was very well observed.
It’s hard to go into detail about what I didn’t like so much without dropping a spoiler. Suffice to say I thought that the effect of Dan and Alison’s actions on their families was glossed over somewhat. I’m not sure whether as readers we were supposed to cheer for them and wish them well, but I felt that if both sides of the story had been told a little more it would have made the story more rounded and convincing.

Overall though life isn’t perfect and stuff happens, I’m still very glad I read the book.

I found this book a little slow to start with, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It’s not the most exciting book I’ve read, but I loved the songs, taking me back to my own youth.

I really enjoyed Mixtape from start to finish. The music is an added bonus, and I found myself curating my own playlist and listening to the tracks mentioned as I read - little did I know that Transworld actually made one and it's on Spotify!

The plot is lovely, with great description and heartwarming moments. I gasped, I laughed and I nearly cried at points. The characters are rich and easy to like, and the settings are beautifully described.

An ideal, immersive fiction/music experience that I would really recommend for anyone who loves good music and good stories.

I enjoy stories with a hefty bit of emotion and a moral dilemma, so 'A Million Dreams' by Dani Atkins did not disappoint!
The story is based around two couples. Pete and Izzy are separated, but remain the doting parents of Noah, a much-wanted child conceived using IVF. Beth and Tim had just a few short years together and several failed attempts at IVF before Tim died of cancer; there is one frozen embryo remaining, Beth's final link with Tim, and Beth wants to try and conceive Tim's baby one last time - even if Tim is gone.
BUT, here's the dilemma; due to a mix up at the fertility clinic, Beth's last remaining embryo has been used and her dream of being a mother now belongs to someone else!
A very believable story in the modern day world of IVF, embryos in storage and designer babies. Inevitably human's err - but this human error comes at enormous cost to Beth.
The first half of the book was the most enjoyable in my opinion; it lost a little of its emotional weight as the story progressed which due to the very nature of the content would be difficult to sustain over hundreds of pages. Otherwise, a very good read.

This would have been a 5 star read for me had it not been for the first third of the book which was so littered with music references that it threatened to put me off.
I understand that music is at the heart of this novel and the heart of the relationship between Alison Connor and Daniel Lawrence and that without it, it wouldn't makes sense. I simply preferred the other 2 thirds where music was still important but not overwhelming the storyline.
Allison's childhood is impoverished in many ways whereas Daniel's, the boy she falls for at a party, is not. Growing up in Sheffield it is clear that Alison has to look after herself albeit with the protection of her older brother Peter, until life becomes unbearable for him. The tale of this brother and sister is traumatic. Full of bigotry, homophobia, violence, alcohol addiction and squalor these two are survivors. But only one can get away and that is Alison, who having suffered one final act of abuse, leaves and breaks Dan's heart.
Alison ends up a McCormack, living a very comfortable existence with Michael, a surgeon. They have two grown up girls and live in Adelaide. Dan meanwhile is a music journalist living in Edinburgh with longstanding partner Katriona and they have a grown up son Alex. Dan also has a houseboat in London, the Crazy Diamond. The two are literally worlds apart.
Alison makes the big time as an author and all of a sudden the pair begin a Twitter exchange of meaningful songs. With lots of travel, deception and heartbreak this is an unusual love story spanning decades. It is also a wonderful embodiment of human relationships and the power of love.
Will there be a happy ending? Read and find out!

I absolutely adored this book and would easily rate it as one of the best books I’ve ever read. Sometimes a book just clicks with you and this is certainly what happened with this book. I’ll try my best to tell you all the great things about it without coming across as too much of a fan girl but I can’t hold any promises!

At it’s heart this is a beautiful, tender love story which was wonderful to read about. How many if us have wondered about our old boyfriends and what could have been? This book gives the reader a chance to live precariously through its characters and I have to say I loved every moment of it. Even though both characters are in other relationships, it soon becomes obvious that they aren’t really happy and I found myself hoping that they would get together and have a happy ending.

As a huge music lover I always love books that combine music into the story, especially when it is music from my youth. I think it helps draw you further into the story and allows you to vividly picture the scene as you might even have been in a similar situation yourself. This was definitely the case in this book as some of the songs featured were ones I remembered from school disco’s (particularly Belle and Sebastian which I haven’t listened to in years). It was great to rediscover some old favourites and find some new music too.

Interestingly the story is told from the point of views of Ali and Dan with flashbacks from their relationship as teenagers which helped me to understand more about their lives both in the past and in the present. I really enjoyed following their story and laughed and cried alongside them. Towards the end I found myself rationing how much of the book I read per day as I really didn’t want the story to end which is always a sign of a great book.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author and I’ll definitely be reading more books by her in the future. I highly recommend this book to everyone as I think it would appeal to many different types of reader.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Hayley at Transworld for my copy of this book.

I was driving home from work the other night and ‘Oh Yeah‘ by Ash came on the radio. I was immediately transported back to 1996 and to my friend’s 15th Birthday Party. It was late July, gloriously hot and I vividly remember a group of us in the back garden of her parent’s house with this song blasting on the radio. Music. It’s a powerful stimulus isn’t? It can move you through place and time to a different world and can unlock memories that have stayed hidden. I love to listen to music when I read and there are certain songs which, when I hear them, place me straight back within the pages of a book. Listening to In Colour by Jamie XX takes me straight back to lying on a sun lounger in Portugal devouring Jilly Cooper’s back catalogue, whilst Børns album, Dopamine takes me back to the pages of the 1970s New York depicted in Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Fire.

Mix Tape, by Jane Sanderson explores the power of music, taking us on a musical ride from the late 1970s to 2012/2013. Jane Sanderson uses songs as a method of communication between Dan and Ali, two people for whom a conversation is far too difficult. They live on opposite sides of the world, he is a music journalist who lives in Edinburgh with his wife and 18 year old son. She is a novelist, living in Adelaide, Australia with her husband and two daughters, whose most recent book has found worldwide fame. In 1978 they were both teenagers living in Sheffield and they were in love. Music was the thing that they both loved most in the world apart from each other. They listened to it lying on his childhood bed and they danced to it at parties, and now three decades or so later, they’re using Twitter to send each other links to songs. Nothing else. No words. No conversation. Just links. But music is a powerful drug, and as they communicate over thousands of miles the songs, and their meanings, get under the skin of both Dan and Ali.

Jane Sanderson has created an engaging and nostalgia filled book about first love and how that leave an indelible mark upon you. I was pulled into the lives of both Dan and Ali, watching as they went about their daily lives, interacting with their spouses and families and pretending to themselves that this communication with an ex thousands of miles was utterly harmless. I was willing them to find each other again, but also, I just really loved being transported to their shared history via the music they were listening to.

The descriptions of the music are beautiful and, despite not knowing some of them, I could hear them in my head. They are vividly depicted and it is evocative and transformative communicating the mood and emotions of the book brilliantly. I was so engrossed in the music that I had to look them up and listen along as I was reading (there’s a playlist from the author here if you fancy). Listening along really added a little something extra to the experience for me.

Written with a dual timeline of now and then, we are privy to Ali and Dan falling in love and his family welcoming her with open arms. Her home life is difficult and these flashbacks are, at times, brutal and heartbreaking. It is an unflinching portrayal of a young woman who is having, quite frankly, an absolutely awful time of it. Dan is her one bright point, he is the thing which keeps her going and he provides her with much needed normalcy in a life which is anything but.

This book made me weep a little. It is more than a love story – it’s about family and roots and how tightly those things take hold. It’s about finding and making a family of your own, whether that is from friends or from a partner and it’s a love letter to the power of music.

Begins with Daniel and Alison in 1978 as a romance blossoms in their teens. Kept me gripped as it only gave you a snapshot of one evening so was intrigued to find out more. Love the mixtape idea, Daniel made one for Alison as teens.

Cut to 34 years later and Alison is living on the other side of the world in Australia and Dan is in Edinburgh. Both adults never kept in contact which is clear when Dan now a journalist stumbles across her Twitter and realises Alison is now famous - the way he acts clearly stirs up interest in him and possibly old feelings. So he clicks follow. Alison has a similar response when seeing her notification of a blast from her past.

What follows is teenage life told from both view points woven between their current very different lives they both lead. Present day and past. Present day sharing songs back and forth creating their very own playlists.

A story of first loves, what if's and the one that got away. Alison did the running and ran to the other side of the world to escape her family life in Sheffield leaving Dan heartbroken all those years ago and never getting closure to knowing why. She has kept her family secrets to herself and tried to blank them from her memory and build on a blank slate.

With each song shared it feels there is a build up to an intense phone call? Actually email conversation? A face to face meet?

Both have family commitments such as children and partners but will this stop them from grasping a second chance at first love. Can teenage first love be as real as an when your an adult, or will it forever hold a rose tinted glow.

It’s a love story with teeth. Not your average story of falling in love. The two main characters already have long term partners and I wasn’t sure if Alison and Daniel would get together in the end, and if i’m honest, I don’t know if I wanted them to. The book is set in both the past and the present, filling in the details of the their teenage life, and for Alison it wasn’t a very happy one, with Daniel and his family being the only good thing in it. Now, thirty years later they are back in touch and we find out if they will get their happy ending.