the WITH LOVE, FROM COLD WORLD playlist

all 28 chapters + an epilogue

I was really floored this week when I found out that Olivia Waite of The New York Times named With Love, from Cold World one of her top 10 romances of 2023! Like . . . what?!?!

The review says: “I picked up Alicia Thompson’s WITH LOVE, FROM COLD WORLD after hearing raves from people whose tastes tend to mesh with mine. And they were right: This tale of sparring co-workers at a winter-themed tourist attraction in Florida (Lauren: restrained and precise; Asa: charming and secretly sensitive) is one of the most perfect books I’ve read this year. Every moment of secret yearning is put down in exactly the right place, at exactly the right speed. This exquisite book doesn’t feel like it was written: It’s as though it slowly coalesced, words drifting down like snowflakes until, suddenly, the whomping weight hits you like an avalanche.”

I found out about this on Sunday and I still haven’t fully processed it or recovered from it. I had to type out the above twice because I fucked it up the first time and accidentally deleted it, and even typing the words, I’m like . . . surely this writer I really admire who’s written all these reviews I’ve taken to hear can’t be talking about me?

Surreal.

Anyway, I know I posted a whole newsletter only a few weeks ago about not the Feel Bads when you don’t make lists, and then I made this one, which really just goes to show there are ways to look like a clown either way.

But to celebrate, I thought I would do the absolute most indulgent thing I could think of, which is . . . share with you an annotated playlist for With Love, from Cold World that goes chapter by chapter. So, there are spoilers galore, you’ve been warned.

Here’s the link to the playlist on Spotify!

Ch. 1 - “Hello Cold World” by Paramore

Don't need my eyes open, wide/I just wanna feel something

I’ve said it a thousand times, but this was the song that started it all! I’ve been thinking, “Hmmm . . . what would a literal ‘Cold World’ look like?” pretty much since the song came out. You can read a little more of the inspiration behind that if you have the B&N exclusive edition with the pink cover, which includes an essay all about Paramore. For me, this song is a lot about being flawed and messy and overwhelmed by the world but still going out there and giving it your best, which is very thematic to this book.

Ch. 2 - “The Nice List” by Dia Frampton

Can I stay on the nice list?/Santa, tell me the secret

You’ll see that this playlist is kinda an eclectic mix of pop songs and Christmas songs, and it really is what I listened to while I was drafting! This one is dedicated to the moment Asa fucks with Lauren’s To Do list, which really should be illegal . . .

Ch. 3 - “Walls (Circus)” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

And all ‘round your island/There’s a barricade/That keeps out the danger/That holds in the pain

I love this song so much. It’s one of those that makes me cry, but like in that full-hearted joyful way. Lauren has so many walls around her, but she has such a big heart. She sees the walls around the kid she gets assigned as a guardian ad litem, Eddie, and she wants to get through to him even though she doesn’t know how.

Ch. 4 - “Snowman” by Sia

Yeah, you are my home/My home for all seasons

There’s a lot about home in this book, which I’m starting to realize is actually a central theme to . . . most of what I write lol. Lauren’s apartment, where she has full autonomy over her own life but where she’s all alone. Asa’s house, which he shares with housemates he loves but still has things that make him feel a little separate sometimes. The home that Asa can’t go back to, with his parents and his sister.

Ch. 5 - “Winter Things” by Ariana Grande

Hey-oh, I wanna pretend we're at the North Pole/Turning the heat into an ice cold holiday

I discovered this song specifically while I was writing this book, and was struck by how perfect it is! As a Floridian, I can highly relate to the experience of looking for “winter-y” things to do when it’s t-shirt and shorts weather outside. And that’s the promise of the premise when it comes to Cold World, so this is the perfect song for Asa and Lauren’s time together in the Snow Globe (even though they are not yet at the point where they would call each other “baby” lol).

Ch. 6 - “Sidelines” by Phoebe Bridgers

Watch the world from the sidelines/Had nothing to prove/’Til you came into my life/Gave me something to lose

This song came out while I was drafting the book, and if you know how important Punisher was to me writing Love in the Time of Serial Killers, you’ll know what a gift this song immediately was to me. I relate to it so much on a personal level — just that feeling of always being on the outside, always observing, always saying you don’t care when really it’s just a way to protect yourself. And that’s very much how both Lauren and Asa are in this book. Lauren is very aware of how lonely she is and how much she feels like she just doesn’t fit with other people. Asa, on the other hand, masks it much better than Lauren — he hides behind jokes and is superficially friends with everyone, but he actually carries around a lot of pain and vulnerability that he doesn’t let people see. It comes out a bit here when he asks Lauren (casually! so casually!) if she wants to join him and his housemates at the beach, and then he thinks about how maybe he thinks she’s better than him, hell maybe she is better than him.

Ch. 7 - “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber

I should be making a list, I know/But I'ma be under the mistletoe

This is where you learn that Lauren kissed Asa under the mistletoe at last year’s Christmas party!!! And she was mortified by it but obviously still thinks about it!!! Should I write this scene because I’ve been thinking about writing this scene.

Ch. 8 - “Boys Don’t Cry” by the Cure

I try to laugh about it/Hiding the tears in my eyes

“Despite what the Cure might lead you to believe, boys do cry,” Asa quips in this chapter. But by this point he’s at least self-aware of the fact that he keeps doing that, joking his way around stuff that he really feels. He’s already getting a little tired of doing that dance with Lauren, because he wants them to be able to really talk, but he just can’t help himself with his little jokes!

Ch. 9 - “Last Christmas” by Wham!

Now I know what a fool I've been/But if you kissed me now, I know you'd fool me again

Seemed fitting for this chapter, where the housemates’ differing opinions on “Last Christmas” versions come out. I think there are some songs that are just MADE to cover, like every version of them is good, they’re just . . . a well-written, classic song. “Last Christmas” is one of those, and people know it because man are there covers! John likes Jimmy Eat World’s for the guitar tone; Elliot is a Carly Rae Jepsen fan forever and always; and Kiki says Christmas music is annoying but admits the Arlo Park version is beautiful (it is!!! and sadly not on Spotify). I put the original version on this playlist for Asa, who is a Wham! purist.

Ch. 10 - “Snow on the Beach” by Taylor Swift (ft. Lana Del Rey)

You wanting me tonight feels impossible

This song also came out while I was working on the book and I was like !!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DID SHE KNOW!!!!!!!!!! The vibes are perfect, the imagery is spot-on, it just really became an anthem for me with this book. But it might have just have been you/Passing by unbeknownst to me — the way they’ve known each other for years without fully knowing each other. I’m unglued, thanks to you — the way they both feel so unsettled by what the other one is making them feel. I can’t speak/Afraid to jinx it — the way they’re afraid to put things into words, lest it ruin everything.

I wrote more about this one in a previous newsletter, where I was still being very cryptic about this book because I didn’t even know what I could say yet.

Ch. 11 - “Late Night Talking” by Harry Styles

We’ve been doing all this late night talking/’Bout anything you want until the morning/Now you’re in my life/I can’t get you off my mind

Harry Styles also released Harry’s House as I was just finishing up writing this book (more on that later). This song felt perfect for this chapter because it’s where they start playing the Random Number Generator game together and getting to know one another.

Ch. 12 - “Losing My Religion” by REM

Every whisper/Of every waking hour/I’m choosing my confessions

This song works on a couple levels. It’s in this chapter that Asa opens up to Lauren about his pastor father, and how Asa was kicked out of the house when he was still in high school and one of his dad’s parishioners caught Asa kissing another boy. So on a literal level, Asa did “lose his religion” that day — not just a connection to his church and community, but also his faith in his parents to be able to love him unconditionally.

Of course, REM has said that this song isn’t about religion at all, but actually about a crush — and it works on that level, too, since this is where it becomes much more obvious that Asa and Lauren are crushing on each other (and probably have been for a while, even if they didn’t fully realize it or admit it to themselves).

This was also the subject of a previous newsletter where I think I talked a little about Cold World but mostly how I was having trouble sleeping and Brenda from 90210 and the time I sang this song for karaoke and realized there are a LOT of mandolin parts where you just stand there.

Ch. 13 - “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer

Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance/Silver moon's sparkling/So kiss me

Okay, I’ll be honest. I didn’t listen to this song while drafting. I listened to another song on repeat (see Ch. 21 lol).

BUT this song has the ability to lift a little bubbly feeling in my chest, and that’s what this chapter does for me, too, from the minute Asa says, “Let me make it up to you,” and I know it’s ON. I also put a She’s All That nod earlier in the book to Lauren in her red dress, so an iconic song from the soundtrack feels right.

Ch. 14 - “Recover” by Chvrches

And if I recover/Will you be my comfort?

They are both really reeling from their night in Cold World! What does it mean!!

Ch. 15 - “Make It to Christmas” by Alessia Cara

Waiting for Santa in my bed’s no fun if you’re not there/And I don’t want to be angry at mistletoes

Technically, there’s a reference to this song later in the book, when Kiki says, “But I don’t want to break up at all . . .and now I’ve put the idea in her head! And I did it by paraphrasing the lyrics to a fucking Christmas song.” This is that song! But since Kiki is also talking about her relationship in this chapter, I’m putting the song here since there’s a better thematic song for the chapter where it actually got mentioned.

Ch. 16 - “Stop Desire” by Tegan and Sara

Right where I want you, back against the wall/You can trust me I’ll never let you fall

There’s a Tegan and Sara nod in this chapter, with the “if it’s not fun don’t do it” line. And really this song is so hot and so fun to sing and so much about that, C’MON already, I can’t take it anymore, PLEASE can we hook up feeling. Which is definitely the vibe here. (But also, unfortunately, you can stop desire . . . if you’re Kiki walking in at the wrong moment lol. Whoops.)

Ch. 17 - “River” by Joni Mitchell

He tried hard to help me, you know, he put me at ease/And he loved me so naughty, made me weak in the knees/Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on

I feel like this is a melancholy Christmas favorite for anyone who grew up watching You’ve Got Mail. I definitely thought of the ice skating imagery for this chapter, since it’s the one where she and Asa skate with Eddie. But those lines before that one hit, too.

(I could not find the actual song on Spotify, just instrumental or other versions.)

Ch. 18 - “Somebody Else” by The 1975

But I hate to think about you with somebody else

I wrote a whole newsletter about this one already — specifically the Chvrches’ cover of this song, which I listened to on repeat while drafting this section of the book. (And Lauren’s look at the Christmas party is directly inspired by Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches’ look in that video!) As I said in that newsletter, this song just EMBODIES that sick jealous feeling you have inside when you see the person you like with someone else. Asa very much DOES want her body, and it kills him to see her show up to the Christmas party with Daniel.

Ch. 19 - “Blue Christmas” by Elvis

But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas

Another Christmas song with a lot of great covers! I’m partial to Kelly Clarkson’s version, but I’m also currently obsessed with Elvis (BET YOU HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TELL), so I had to put the classic on here. Especially since it’s the one John specifically references, which I am . . . having fun with right now, let’s just leave it at that.

I chose this for Lauren’s karaoke song partly as a nod to Asa’s hair, and partly because of Hayley Williams’ version that I shared with you in last week’s newsletter. It’s a perfect melancholy, lovelorn karaoke song to sing drunkenly at someone when you are being way more vulnerable than you ever would’ve been if you hadn’t drunk three glasses of Dolores’ lethal punch.

Ch. 20 - “Nada Personal” by Soda Stereo

Sinceramente/Sería tan bueno tocarte/Pero es inútil/Tu cuerpo es de látex

This is the song that comes on the radio in Lauren’s car when Asa drives her home from the party. Honestly, it would be so good to touch you, Lauren says to him, and Asa is like, wait, what?? And then she’s like, But it’s useless, your body’s made of latex, and he’s like . . . wait, no really, how drunk are you. And then she reveals that she’s translating the lyrics in the song.

I liked having them surprise each other in various ways throughout the book. Asa didn’t know she understood Spanish, or that she was raised in a house that spoke it a lot; he doesn’t know that she listens to public radio which plays a Latin Alternative Hour at night. He’s learning a lot about Lauren, and he wants to know all of it.

(As a fun/embarrassing-to-me side story, I got into this band because I read a romance novel where the author was clearly VERY into them. Like she named them in the book, in her acknowledgments, maybe even in her dedication? I don’t know, but I respected the passion! So at one point I slid into her DM’s to rave about her book and then at one point I said, “Oh, and I checked out Soda Stereo and I love them!” and she was like . . . what? And that’s when I realized I had read two rockstar romances back-to-back, legitimately loved them both, but crossed up some details. The REST of the compliments were all for her book, I promise! But yeah, she had no idea what the fuck I was talking about Soda Stereo for. She was very nice about it, though, and assured me multiple times not to feel bad. Which, I mean, I don’t, I just think about it and cringe every time lololol)

Ch. 21 - “Thread” by Now, Now

Find a thread to pull/And we can watch it unravel

I listen to a LOT of songs over and over — it’s not just a clever name! But when I’m drafting scenes where I’m trying to live in one emotional space during that scene, I often listen to the same song on repeat. For the sex scenes in this book, that happened to be “Thread” by Now, Now. There’s a drive to this song that I love, and I really did think of a lot of the intimacy between Asa and Lauren in this way — they’re finding those threads to unravel in each other.

Ch. 22 - “No Son of Mine” by Genesis

Well, the years they passed so slowly/I thought about him everyday/What would I do, if we passed on the street/Would I keep running away?

Oooof the way this song wrecks me. This was kinda my anthem for Asa and his past. I reference it directly in the book — when he flashes back to his father telling him, “No son of mine.” The feeling of having left something behind, but knowing it’s out there, and one day you’ll have to confront it. I listened to this song a lot while writing Asa’s confrontation with his dad at his sister’s baby shower.

Ch. 23 - “I’m With You” by Avril Lavigne

Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new/I don’t know who you are, but I’m with you

When Lauren says “I’m with you” to Asa, it’s low-key a reference to this song! I also think it’s such a simple but powerful sentiment, to be with someone.

Ch. 24 - “Lover” by Taylor Swift

And you’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me/And at every table, I’ll save you a seat

I love this chapter because it’s just Lauren and Asa being in love and happy, having these intimate moments just the two of them where they confess their feelings and talk about their pasts and start becoming bolder with each other, and then also these moments of home and found family on Christmas morning with Asa’s housemates.

Ch. 25 - “Another Year” by FINNEAS

The future could be bright though no one's sure about it/And if the ending's sad, at least these times we've had/The good outweighs the bad, you wouldn't know without it

One of the true joys of drafting this book was that I discovered a LOT of Christmas music through it! Songs that get at that slightly melancholy/bittersweet feeling that always hits me around this time of year, songs that were a lot of fun, songs that my kids love . . . I was never a Christmas music person, and then I listened to a bunch for this book and I’m really grateful for what it’s brought into my life. This was one of those songs I don’t know that I would’ve ever found if not for my deep dive.

Ch. 26 - “Back to December” by Taylor Swift

These days I haven't been sleeping/Staying up playing back myself leaving

This is one of my favorite break-up songs, I think. You can just really feel the regret for a relationship that ended where you know you didn’t handle it right, and you wish you could go back in time and fix things. There are a lot of lines that get me in this song, but for some reason the way she sings, These days I haven’t been sleeping always gets to me. I also sing it a lot when I haven’t been sleeping lol.

I know third act break-ups are controversial, and ones due to miscommunication the most controversial of all, but Asa and Lauren really push on each other’s wounds here. She’s convinced he’ll eventually reject/abandon her, so she’s sensitive to it when she thinks it’s happening. He’s convinced he’s not good enough for her, and is scared that she’ll wake up one day and realize it. In my mind, this was never going to be a MASSIVE break-up. They would’ve found their way back to each other no matter what. They just needed a bit of space to assess everything and see that they could trust the other one to be there for them.

Ch. 27 - “Matilda” by Harry Styles

You can let it go/You can throw a party full of everyone you know/You can start a family who will always show you love/You don’t have to be sorry for doing it on your own

This was a song that literally unlocked something for me. Lauren DID need to realize that people were ready to show up for her. She needed to see it for herself, and she needed to show Asa that she was brave enough to take that leap.

Ch. 28 - “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus

So I put my hands up/They’re playing my song, the butterflies fly away

One day I will make Lauren’s playlist of songs that just include “party” in the title, because that’s hilarious to me that she would soundtrack her party that way. (And SUCH a Lauren thing to do.) Asa feeling all happy and relieved that Lauren wants him back and trying to kiss her against her bedroom door and being like, wait, what is this downer music you are playing at your New Year’s Eve party????? And it’s “when the party’s over” by Billie Eilish.

Epilogue - “Let’s Get Married” by Bleachers

And I know it’s hard enough to love me/But woke up in a safe house, singing, “Honey, let’s get married”

This is the song that Kiki starts to sing (because all the housemates know about Asa proposing to Lauren, OF COURSE, he’s been talking about it for weeks), and Asa has to be like shhhhhhhhh could you not??? I have mixed feelings on epilogues that feature engagements, weddings, kids, etc., just because I don’t always think that those need to be the only bastions of commitment and love. That being said, they are valid life choices that a lot of couples make for themselves! In Asa’s case, he’s ALL IN, Lauren is his family, he craves making that official as soon as he can.

Also! In case it’s of interest to you (I assume you’ve already read the book if you’ve made it this far, so maybe not? But maybe you’re looking for a gift for someone, I don’t know!) My local indie Tombolo Books is doing a special With Love, from Cold World holiday bundle — basically, if you order by 12/13, you can get a signed/personalized book; the art print/postcard/sticker sheet designed by Jenifer Prince; a package of hot chocolate (probably Swiss Miss, just going to be real with you); and a holiday letter from me where I talk about some of my favorite romances of 2023 and some I’m anticipating in 2024. Just put any notes for personalization in the comments to your order!

I’m not going to do my “Currently” sections this week only because oooooof this newsletter took me so long! And is so long!! Sorry! Just know that music-wise, it’s still almost all Elvis; I started listening to an audiobook about the Koch brothers tangentially because of a romance novel but it’s too fucking boring/depressing I have to not; I’m reading Alison Cochrun’s 2024 release Here We Go Again and OMG HAVING SO MUCH FUN; and I’m STILL watching that fucking Elvis movie because it’s OVER TWO HOURS LONG and I keep not having enough time to string together lolol. I can make any movie a miniseries if I put my mind to it.