I really enjoyed this book. It was a cute fall read that was both heartwarming and funny. I loved the characters of Allie and Ryan, and their banter was hilarious. The story was also very relatable and relatable, which made it easy to get invested in. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun and enjoyable read.

The book was… okay. I wanted to love this book based off of its description + cover, but it just missed the mark for me. The characters seemed immature for their age range and I found myself getting irritated at them a lot, honestly.

Some scenes felt .. clunky?
I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book.

Music geeks & Brooklyn lovers, unite! ✨ This is a very cute, quick & easy read filled with lots of nostalgia. The male main character is adorable with an abundance of southern charm and that golden retriever boyfriend energy. The female main character is all NYC sass to the max (which ofc, he loves 👀💃).

These characters seemed very compatible until we got to the intimacy and then things felt a little forced/clunky. The interaction gave off a vibe like they both just wanted to be friends & didn’t know how to back out of the situation, even though we were being told otherwise. There was too much hesitation & almost too much consent/permission asking (I know, crazy - not something you usually hear). But honestly, even after the awkwardness, I was still rooting for them.

While it did momentarily take me out of the story, I wouldn’t say that one aspect being slightly off was a deal breaker in terms of enjoyment. This book had a lot of other things working for it… the cozy Brooklyn cafe vibes, a fun plot & amazing side characters, plus lots of great music references (you best believe I made a Spotify playlist with all of them).

This was an all around fun read! Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC 💛

Unfortunately, I was not a fan of this book. Allie was pretty bland and her only character trait was being a musician. Ryan was basically a golden retriever, but not a good one. He was pretty annoying throughout the whole book, and during their first meeting, he called Allie by a name she didn't like, and when she told him not to, he went ahead and called her that a few more times, and she was pretty rude to him, and somehow they still became friends and then more?

The main couple was disappointing, but the side characters/couple weren't any better either. Ren and Anisha were also bland. Anisha asks Allie about Ren, to where Allie tells her that Ren is not the settling-down type and doesn't do relationships, and not to go for them, but Anisha does it anyway and somehow that ends with Ren telling Allie that Anisha is the one for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing the ARc.

I had a very hard time with this book, mostly due to the main characters and their individual personalities. Ryan is overly effusive and already a huge fan of Allie and her former band. He comes off as very strong and in your face, most of which was a huge distraction for me.

I was also very bored. The writing and the relationship are dry and there was nothing that could have fixed this terrible dynamic. Instead this book drags you through the issues to the other side. It very very confusing who people were and making sure I didn't call any of them over.

Everyone did an amazing job with this episode.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I wanted to like this book, based on the premise, but neither of the characters were compelling or interesting enough to want to follow through to see how they end up together.

☕️Slow Burn with Missed Sparks☕️
⭐️⭐️⭐️🌶️

Make Me A Mixtape by Jennifer Whiteford had such potential with its punk rock vibes, coffee shop charm, and a dash of nostalgia, but it struggled to hit the right notes for me. Allie, former lead singer of the now defunct punk rock band The Jetskis, is now recording covers in her Brooklyn apartment while working in her aunt’s coffee shop. When Ryan, a longtime fan of her band recognizes Allie when she delivers his coffee & cookie order, I was ready for some fun chemistry.

But halfway through, I was left waiting for something—really kind of anything—to happen. Allie and Ryan keep tiptoeing around each other for what felt like forever. There were some sweet moments, like Allie opening up about her family and them bonding while hanging with mutual friends, but the pacing was all over the place. The first kiss at 65%? I’m all for a slow burn, but this one didn’t have the tension to pull it off.

Ryan, despite his connection to Allie’s past, felt like a bit of a mystery the whole time. And while the last quarter of the book finally brought the emotions and heart I’d been waiting for, it was too little too late. The sweet twist at the very end saved it from being a total miss, but overall, it felt like a mixtape that just needed a few more hits.

2024 is truly the year of exception debuts and this latest from a new Canadian author is no exception. Set in a Brooklyn suburb and featuring Allie Andrews, a former hit band member of The Jetskis, who now works as a barista and is wanting to reconnect with her old bandmates. She becomes friends with Ryan, who helps her track down Jessie, the one who Allie has the most regrets about fighting with. This is also a love letter to 90s music, mixtapes and friends to lovers romance. Great on audio and a perfect fall to holiday season read. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Read this contemporary romance if you like:
✨New York City setting
✨reverse grumpy x sunshine
✨musicians
✨friends to lovers
✨found family
✨happy ever after

Thank you Net Galley and Penguin Random House for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

My thoughts 💭

👍🏼
I loved the nostalgic vibes this book gave off! The old music, the cassette tapes, the punk rock clubs: it felt like going back to a simpler time!


👎🏼
The use of the miscommunication trope in this one made the romance feel very YA and amateur, despite these characters being in their 30's.

3 ⭐️ ARC review - Make Me A Mixtape - Jennifer Whiteford

This was a super cozy and quick read! I loved the nostalgic vibes I was getting from the punk music scene to the songs that were mentioned throughout the book. Allie was a little frustrating at times because it seemed like she was still stuck in her teenage years and wasn’t sure how to handle relationships/friendships, but she grew on me. Overall I thought it was a cute read!

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

First off, I was very excited to read this book. The cover caught my eye at first, then the summary of the book hooked me.

Unfortunately, I DNFed at 34%. There were a few things I couldn't get over: there were terribly long sentences of just overwhelming descriptions of random things, the banter was a bit corny, and the characters just seemed boring. There was nothing that made me want to keep reading- not even when they thought they found Jessi. That scene alone took me a week to get through.

The story is very promising, but it could do with a lot of changes.

A book about a Punk-rock turned Barista meeting a sound tech who not only helps her to revisit her musical past but also charms her along the way. This was a charming, cozy romance. Allie and Ryan were both heart warming characters and I definitely enjoyed their chemistry. It was a cute romance to read during fall and a good palette cleanser. Liked it.

My thoughts on this book are a bit complicated... overall however, this wasn't for me.

To start with the positives: the vibes and nostalgia of this are so much fun. The New York/coffee shop setting felt so perfect for the start of my fall, cozy reads. The musical references made this feel so fun and nostalgic. It was also a very short/quick read and I blew through it so fast, which was especially pleasant to help me out of this slump I've been in.

Unfortunately, the characters in here were a bit flat for me. I didn't really ever feel attached to either main character, both due to the storyline, as well as the story length. I just didn't really care much about them on a personal level, which makes it really hard for me to root for a romance.

My main issue here however was the writing. It was very redundant and simplistic. This was already a super short book, and I feel like it could've been cut in half just from removing things we've already said. There were so many descriptors that were said 500000x as well that I was thinking man, could we not find any synonyms?? It made it a bit irritating to read and feel like I was going in circles with these characters.

Overall great concept and vibes, but sadly not my favorite. 2.5 stars rounded down.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House Canada | Doubleday Canada and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This books was so cute!! Allie and Ryan were adorable. I seriously ate this book up. Allie is a former punk rock star and is kind of trying to escape her past when Ryan shows up. He helps her come out of her shell and make her see there is more to the world than hiding. I LOVED Ryan. Let’s just start off with that. He is the sweetest, silliest, green flag of a character I probably have ever read. I honestly really loved Allie too. She was so real with her feelings and such a strong character. I think their friendship/relationship was perfect and they balanced each other so well. This book was an adorable sweet read and I’m so thankful I got this Arc from Netgalley.

If cozy romance were a mixtape, Make Me a Mixtape by Jennifer Whiteford would be that perfect blend of nostalgic punk rock, warm autumn vibes, and a slow burn love song that makes your heart do a little two-step.

It’s a love letter to music, second chances, and the idea that sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself. Oh, and did I mention it’s basically got a former punk rock goddess and a big hearted sound tech falling in love over coffee? Yeah, get ready for this one!

Allie Andrews, former punk rocker turned barista, has buried her wild music days deep in the past. She’s got her Brooklyn café gig, her apartment full of ‘80s cover songs, and a no nonsense attitude that basically says “I’m fine, leave me alone.”

Enter Ryan Abernathy, sound tech, Jetskis superfan, and walking sunshine. When Ryan stumbles into Allie’s life (literally), he’s not just here for coffee. He recognises her as Allie Jetski, the lead singer of the legendary (and long disbanded) punk band, the Jetskis.

Cue the awkward nostalgia and Allie’s snarky walls going up faster than you can say “one-hit wonder.” But Ryan’s not your average fanboy, he’s charming, relentless, and absolutely determined to help Allie rediscover her love for music. What starts as an awkward coffee delivery turns into a hunt for her old bandmates and, along the way, a reawakening of her buried dreams…and feelings she’s not sure she’s ready for.

This book has all the grumpy x sunshine energy you could ask for, with Allie’s tough exterior slowly cracking under Ryan’s relentless good vibes. And Ryan? He’s basically the human equivalent of that one song that always makes you smile, no matter how many times you hear it. The chemistry between them builds like the perfect slow jam on a mixtape, and by the time you get to the big crescendo, you’ll be all in on this quirky, heartwarming romance.

But the romance isn’t the only thing in play, Allie’s got some serious decisions to make. With her aunt selling the café and her past coming back to haunt her (in the form of punk rock memories and emotional baggage), Allie’s faced with the ultimate choice: stick with the safe, comfortable life she’s built, or risk it all for the music and the man who just might bring her back to life.

Make Me a Mixtape is more than just a rom-com; it’s about rediscovering yourself, dealing with past regrets, and the power of music to heal old wounds. It’s cozy, it’s charming, and it’s full of little moments that will make your heart hum like a well loved record. Plus, the Brooklyn café setting, the punk rock references, and Ryan’s absolutely swoon worthy determination to help Allie see her own worth? Total chef’s kiss.

DNF. Based on the reviews I've read, it sounds like I did myself a favor not finishing. I couldn't get past the writing style and the main characters. I had a hard time connecting with Allie and Ryan. Allie was too prickly for me. I found her a little immature. I thought Ryan was forced into the stereotypical "golden retriever" role. His behavior and clumsiness just weren't doing it for me. I also wasn't a big fan of the third-person POV. Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Canada for the ARC.

This was sweet and lighthearted. My only complaint is that these characters in their 30's were annoyingly immature.

It's a beautiful cover and the premise seemed very promising, especially when considering the nostalgia factor but I struggled to relate to the characters and to get into the overall story of the book. DNFed about 25% in unfortunately.

"Make Me a Mixtape" follows Allie Andrews. Ten years ago, Allie was part of a punk all girl band that dissolved when things were said and Allie was crushed. She ran back to her aunt Mindy and got a job working at her café in Brooklyn. When Allie goes to deliver a coffee order to an office that makes podcasts (why would these people have an office....anyway) she meets a man named Ryan Abernathy who recognizes Allie and is a fan of her music. Ryan drops by the café and starts to push Allie into making music and reaching out to her old band mates.

Allie was exhausting. She's in her 30s and kept acting like she was brand new to people and relationships. It did not work and her behavior throughout the book got on my nerves.

Ryan was not very developed. It took til the 43 percent mark we got any type of backstory on him. Allie falling for him immediately didn’t even make sense when you read about her prior romances. It just limped along. Also, honestly, Ryan bugged me. Him ignoring Allie's request to stop calling her something that she didn't like and he kept doing it bothered me. And his doing the love bombing (that's what it was) but then the I don't know if we can be more crap was too much.

The mess with Mindy made zero sense and I just gave up on it after a while. How much money do you supposedly have that you can live in France for several years? I just went...sure.

Ren was an okay character, but them and Anisha felt like they were in a whole other book at times.

The book dragged and at one point I reread Allie telling Ryan something she had told him several chapters earlier. And it was like that for most of the book it seemed. I would go, didn't they talk about this? Or they talking about it again? It just got so boring.

I will say one positive, Whiteford does a great job of making me feel like I am in Brooklyn during the fall and winter. The description of things hit me with a nostalgia feeling. But not enough to make me give this book more than 3 stars.

The ending just read super unrealistic. For a lot of the characters honestly. I was more interested in Ren and Anisha honestly (and even that didn’t feel realistic).