Tomorrow is release day for The Only One! I’m so excited to share Rilla and Mason with you. Today you get a sneak peek in the form of the book’s playlist.

Of course, this is a country playlist, because it’s part of The One Trilogy. And of course, Brad Paisley is featured more than once, because I <3 him big time. I especially wanted two of his songs on here because they speak to a delicate topic: Christianity. It’s something that plays a fairly big role in The Only One; Rilla’s been raised in a strict church, and part of her journey is discovering what faith means to her and how much her upbringing should influence the rest of her life. I liked Brad’s songs Those Crazy Christians and Me and Jesus because they deal with that struggle in a real way.

Colin Raye’s On The Verge has always been to me the musical epitome of a man just about to fall in love. I went a little old school with Hal Ketchum’s Stay Forever; I just happened to hear it, and it captured their dance scene perfectly.

There are two Suzy Bogguss songs. One is a little older, her cover of Chicago’s If You Leave Me Now, and the other is from her latest album, a cover of Merle Haggard standards. Both are haunting and beautiful.

It was while listening to Suzy’s musical that I came across another cover, this one by the late Mindy McCready. She’d remade Long, Long Time which had been one of my very favorite bittersweet songs when I was a teenager. I love how Mindy re-did it.

I love this playlist, just as I love this story. Go check out the playlist here and get ready for Rilla and Mason tomorrow!