Leaving Amarillo by Caisey Quinn

Title: Leaving Amarillo (Neon Dreams #1)

Author: Caisey Quinn

Publisher: William Morrow & Company

Release Date: March 17, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Nashville meets New Adult in Neon Dreams, a dramatic, sexy series from bestselling author Caisey Quinn, about a country band’s rocket 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 to 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.

I love country music. I love the TV show Nashville. I love New Adult. And I love romance. So really, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that I would be interested in reading Caisey Quinn’s Leaving Amarillo. And it also shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that I got hooked on this story, really enjoyed it and it left me asking for more.

Since her parents’ death, the only thing Dixie Lark has ever really wanted was to play fiddle for the band she formed with her older brother, Dallas, and Gavin, their best friend. And after a few years of playing whatever gigs they could get, they are finally getting their chance at a big break. It’s everything Dixie should want. But instead, she can’t stop thinking about Gavin, about the connection she feels between them, wondering if he feels it too. Dixie believes that if she can have just one night with Gavin, she would be able to get him out of her head and focus on the music. And she has a plan to make it happen. But her plan has unexpected consequences. Consequences that affect her, Gavin and the band.

This is not necessarily a well-known fact about me, but I love country music. Granted I’ve only just really started listening to country music in the last few years, but it’s quickly become one of my favourite genres of music. But me loving country music is not the point of this post. The point of me saying that I love country music is that it’s what originally drew me to Leaving Amarillo. The moment I heard it was about a country music band and it was compared to the TV show Nashville, I knew I had to read it. Add to the fact that it’s a sexy NA and I was sold. Once I started reading, I was sold on this story. I was sucked in, and couldn’t stop reading, getting all caught up in the band drama and the romantic drama and just everything about this story. And the romance was HOT. There was some serious chemistry between these characters and it leapt off the page. Or at least it did for me. There was this one scene that involved ice cream, and well, let’s just say that it got me thinking about ice cream in whole new ways. My only issue with Leaving Amarillo, which is not really an issue all things considered, is that when the story ended I immediately wanted more. It’s the first book in a series, and the sequel can’t come soon enough. I NEED to know what happens next.

I really liked Dixie. And I really liked Dixie’s descriptions of Gavin. But I’ll get to that in a moment. I enjoyed reading Dixie’s story. How all she really wanted was to play music with her brother and her best friend. How she always worried about her grandfather. She was just someone trying to find her place while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her best friend. And I could totally understand her feelings for Gavin. I would have gladly just read descriptions of Gavin, because, well, he was majorly hot. Or he was the way I pictured him in my mind. But it was about more than just the fact hat he was hot. I wish that I could have read some of this story from his perspective because I wanted nothing more than to find out more about him. He was incredibly sweet with Dixie, but he also had this edge to him and I wanted to know more about where that edge came from. And I’m hoping I’ll get what I want in future books. And speaking of future books, I’m a little worried about Dallas, Dixie’s older brother. He seems to have the best intentions where his band and his family are concerned, but I’m afraid of what he might do to get to where he wants. And I’m afraid of what his actions might do to the people around him. But I’ll just have to wait and see and keep my fingers crossed that everything works out.

If you love country music and sexy new adult books than you definitely want to check out Caisey Quinn’s Leaving Amarillo. I really enjoyed this story and I’m curious to see where it will go in the next books, Loving Dallas and Missing Dixie.