Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Leaving Amarillo (Neon Dreams, #1) by Caisey Quinn


Dixie Lark hasn’t had it easy. She lost her parents in an accident when she was young and grew up in a ramshackle house on a dirt road in Amarillo with her ailing grandparents and overprotective older brother. Thanks to her grandfather, Dixie learned to play a mean fiddle, inspired by the sounds of the greats—Johnny and June, Waylon, and Hank. Her grandfather’s fiddle changed Dixie’s life forever, giving her an outlet for the turmoil of her broken heart and inspiring a daring dream.

Ten years later, Dixie and her brother, Dallas, are creating the music they love and chasing fame with their hot band, Leaving Amarillo. But Dixie isn’t enjoying the ride. All she can think about is Gavin, the band’s tattooed, tortured drummer who she’s loved since they were kids. She knows he feels the connection between them, but he refuses see her as more than his best friend’s little sister.

Convinced that one night with Gavin will get him out of her system, Dixie devises a plan. She doesn’t know that her brother has forbidden Gavin from making a move on her-a promise he swore he’d always keep . . . a promise that once broken will unexpectedly change the future for Dixie, Gavin and the band.


4 I-Want-To-Go-To-Austin-Texas Stars
Leaving Amarillo is book one of the Neon Dreams series.
This is my third Caisey Quinn book.  I really love Caisey, I think she’s classy, sweet and very adorable. She was the VERY FIRST author to give me an ARC. **GASP** that was a very long time ago, but I will never forget her.
Her first series I read was Girl on Tour, so it’s only natural that I’m going back to a musical band theme, but this time its folkish-indie rock, which is something I love.
Dixie plays the fiddle in her band.  Her band has her brother, Dallas and her best friend from childhood, Gavin. The three of them are inseparable and they only have one thing in mind.

To get signed by a major label
The beginning starts with a prologue. I hate prologues that have foreshadowing. This is a pet peeve of mine, but this one wasn’t so bad. I didn’t get that much of a glimpse, but I kind of wished I skipped that part.
The band plays in Austin, which is something I love reading. I live in Texas, so I appreciate all the references.
Dixie and Gavin have this crazy chemistry. Gavin wants Dixie and Dixie wants Gavin, but years earlier Gavin promised Dallas that Gavin wouldn’t touch Dixie. I know. This is the angst. Caisey Quinn is known for very angsty reads. I’m trying hard to like angst, but it’s hard for me to get into a book when I want to pull my hair out and slap the characters around.

I understand why Dallas made Gavin promise. If Gavin and Dixie get together, it might mess up the dynamics and it could cause tension in the band. However, because Gavin and Dixie can’t really do anything together, it’s causing a lot of tension and problems. Since tensions are high Dixie is willing to accept anything, even a little bit, she just wants to be loved.
Dixie is a complicated Heroine, she has baggage, issues and she’s in love with someone that she can’t be with. She also loves her brother and she’s willing to put EVERYONE first. I kind of hated but loved her for it. As much as she frustrated me, I loved how caring she is. I loved how much she put Dallas first, as much as HE frustrated me too.
The band is kind of taking off, but everything comes with a price. So with the Dixie and Gavin issue, there’s the band issue and then Dallas maybe finding out about Gavin and Dixie issue.
There are a lot of issues.
A lot of the characters frustrated me. This created a lot of tension, angst and hair pulling on my part. I know readers will gobble this up.


But here, where I am right now, Gavin Garrison is making love to me with his eyes. And I don’t want him to stop. Ever. 

It’s when he takes her hand and slowly slides up the sleeve of her dress shirt so that he can write on her wrist that I lose my mind completely.

He opens his mouth to respond—most likely to deny that he did that tonight—but I place my trembling fingers against his lips, firmly breaking our ten-year unspoken no-touching rule.

But you can’t really have fire. You can’t hold a flame in your hands without getting burned.

He’s not watching you like he’s worried you’ll screw up. He’s watching you like he’s worried you’ll disappear and take his heart with you.

PLAY LIST
1.      I Want You to Want Me – Cheap Trick
2.      One Night – Christina Perri
3.      Dream – Priscilla Ahn
4.      Love Runs Out – One Republic

5.      Bluebird – Christina Perriv 

To Be Released March 17





Caisey Quinn lives in a suburb outside of Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, daughter, and other assorted animals. She wears cowgirl boots most of the time, even to church. She is the bestselling author of the Kylie Ryans series and writes New and Young Adult books about country girls finding love in unexpected places. 


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2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the sweet words & for participating in the tour! I think your classy, sweet, and adorable too! <3

    ReplyDelete