Book Review - Leaving Amarillo by Caisey Quinn

Title: Leaving Amarillo (Neon Dreams #1)

Author: Caisey Quinn 

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: March 17, 2015
Format: e-book

Genre: NA, Contemporary, Romance 

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis:

Nashville meets New Adult in Neon Dreams, a dramatic, sexy series from bestselling author Caisey Quinn, about a country band’s rocky road to fame—and the ambition, dreams, and love of the people who make the music.

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. 

Thoughts: 

For those of you who read a post I had a while ago about my love for NA, this hasn't changed one bit, as it is I thought it would be fitting for me review this one for y'all because I LOVED IT. I mean country music AND a contemporary romance rolled into one!? What's not to love!? Breaking this down into categories now. 

Characters: Dixie Leigh Lark - This girl is a real hellfire and I loved that about her, she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go for it even if it is Gavin. She's also not dumb enough to allow her personal feelings to stand in the way of what's right for the band. Plus this girl can play a mean fiddle and if her inspiration came from the Greats, then I really have no problems!

                  Gavin - Not wanting to do anything he isn't supposed to that would cause drama, made him a well liked character with me. Yeah I wish he would have man'd up a bit in the beginning and just said it like it was but it was nice to see him come to terms on his own time. His backstory was one that I felt along with it. 

                 Dallas - This man right here! He wants what's best for him and the band and will make sure that they become the very best, even if it does mean pinching money for the longest time. He's the big brother that most people would love to have. 

The plot itself was well written and is honestly one of the best representations of the music industry that I've read, its not all glamour and easy. Its a hard, tough world to catch your break into and Caisey managed to capture that with this band. In reality this novel reminded me a lot of the show Nashville. Yes I am a Nashville addict! The romance was hot and wonderfully written and I don't think I can look at ice cream the same way again. Honestly this has taken a place on my favorites shelf from now on and I will be getting a physical copy because I love it so much.

The ups and downs and the feels all around especially with the ending left me wanting more and thankfully more is what I got with Loving Dallas. Caisey Quinn you have sung one hell of a tune with Leaving Amarillo! I'm going to be starting Loving Dallas shortly because I really do need to know what is going to happen! 

Overall rating is a 5/5 stars!

Carnival by KB Nelson Box Set Anniversary Release Day Sale

RELEASE DAY

Carnival: The Complete Series Box Set (Carnival, Carnival Nights, Amusement) 

by K.B. Nelson

AVAILABLE NOW!

In celebration of its' one year publishing anniversary, KB Nelson is celebrating Carnival with an amazing deal! For a LIMITED TIME only, grab this Amazon-exclusive box set of all three novels in the Carnival series for ONLY $0.99! 

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Charlie should be packing her bags for college, but the life ahead of her isn’t one she’s certain she wants. Maybe that’s what led her to sleep with a perfect stranger at the county fair. Finding out he was a carnie was like winning the bonus round of the world’s worst game.

Blue grew up in the carnival, never staying anywhere long enough to call home. He never thought of himself as the type to seduce a local, let alone fall in love with one, but his impulsiveness got the better of him this time. He should go where the carnival takes him, but for the first time he’s not sure if he wants to follow.

When he makes the decision to stick around, Charlie eagerly follows him down the rabbit hole; into a world with no regard for consequences or regret. Most of all, he shows her that home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling they can create and share. For a price. Because the higher the roller coaster goes, the faster it all comes crashing down.

 K.B. Nelson

I grew up on a farm in Ohio, but that's not very interesting, is it? When I'm not writing you can find me doing one of two things; getting lost on highways or getting lost in the lives of fictional characters. If my heart had two feet, one foot would be in romance and the other solidly in geekdom. I hope you'll all follow me on my journey through this carnival they call life. I promise there will be a happy ending. 

Find K.B. Nelson

Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Goodreads *

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ARC Review - All It Takes - Sadie Munroe

Title: All It Takes
Author: Sadie Munroe
Publisher: Sadie Munroe
Release Date: June 30, 2015
Format: E-ARC
Genre: New Adult
Rating: 3/5
Amazon

Nineteen-year-old Star Collins never intended to return to her hometown, Avenue. That part of her life ended when she was nine years old, and child services took her away from her hoarder mother. Her mother chose her stuff over her daughter. That part of her life was supposed to be in the past.
But her mother has just passed away and Star finds herself giving up her summer to quietly clean out her old home. She just wants to sell it and move on with her life. However, things aren't going the way she planned. With her dyed-black hair and tattoos, she's attracting almost as much attention from the small town residents as Ash Winthrope, the guy who was just released from prison.
All Ash wants is a chance to start over. He screwed up and he knows it, he's going to have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life. But he's stuck in Avenue until his parole ends, and no one, not even his own parents, wants anything to do with him. Nearly out of money and completely out of options, Ash takes the only job he can, helping Star haul stuff out of her mother's house.
Neither of them expects anything to happen between them, or for their lives to change. But sometimes meeting the right person is all it takes.

 Thoughts:

 All It Takes is one debut into the NA world that I enjoyed. The story was unique because I haven't stumbled upon one that involved hoarding and have the plot centered around on how to deal with the aftermath in a case of hoarding. This topic right here was one that I wasn't sure if would have worked or not and in this case it definitely worked. Even the group of characters were unique, I mean yes they followed some of the few stereotypes that are typical with the NA genre and small town scene but it worked.

Star being one of the MCs has to deal with her mother's house after her mother has passed away and her mother having been a hoarder. Star is the type of character who knows she needs help to clear away all the junk but at the same time, she knows that she can't afford to get as much help as she needs, and she doesn't want the town to know. Overall Star is a strong young woman who has managed to overcome a lot in her 19 years and still knows that she has a lot ahead of her.

Ash on the other hand is trying to put his life back together. It was nice for his story to be told because it gave insight into another topic that I don't see much of in books. He too had a lot to overcome after moving back into town himself, after being away in prison for the last 5 years of his life. Both of these characters and the rest of the cast of supporting characters all played their roles in the ways that made sense and at the same time bugged me that some of them could be so self centered and judgmental.

The plot itself was original with all the hoarding and the being in prison, but what really got me was the ending because I didn't see that coming. Throughout the whole book I was thinking that really nothing major was going to happen and then the next thing I know, a major plot twist was thrown in right before the ending and made my brain go into overdrive trying to figure out what happened and what was going to happen.

Overall this was an enjoyable debut into the NA genre and I can't wait to see what Sadie has in store for her next novel.