The Road to You by Alecia Whitaker

Title: The Road to You (Wildflower #2)

Author: Alecia Whitaker

Publisher: Poppy

Release Date: July 14, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

The second book in the Wildflower series—full of drama, heart, and that country music spirit.

Bright lights…Screaming fans…Cute roadies…Country music sensation Bird Barrett is officially on tour. The months flash by in an exciting whirlwind, due—in no small part—to a certain dreamy lighting tech named Kai.

After the tour wraps up, Bird makes the move to LA, finding herself at the center of a trumped-up rivalry with another country music starlet she barely knows. Meanwhile, Kai’s out on tour again with an indie rock band and growing distant, and Bird has the label breathing down her neck for a new hit song. Finding true love is supposed to be inspiring, so why does penning the next great country pop ballad suddenly feel so hard?

After reading Alecia Whitaker’s Wildlfower last summer, I was surprised to hear that it was the first in a series but I was also curious to see where the story would go. And being the sucker for contemporary stories and country music that I am, I really enjoyed reading The Road to You.

Bird Barrett is getting use to life in the spotlight. After the success of her first album, Bird is getting ready to head out on the road, joining the tour of a country music legend. She couldn’t be any more excited about it. To make things even better, there’s Kai, the cute roadie who seems to want to spend just as much time with her as she does with him. It’s the perfect summer. But once the tour is over, Bird struggles with writing for her next album, constantly fighting writer’s block. And it doesn’t help that Kai is across the country on another tour. What had felt so easy when they were on the road together now becomes a struggle. Falling in love should be inspiring Bird, but she just can’t seem to pour her heart out in a song the way she wants to.

As much as I enjoyed the story when I read Wildflower last year, I couldn’t help but think that parts of the story fell a little flat for me. So I was a little apprehensive going into The Road to You but I was curious to see where the story would go. And I was curious to see how the romance would play out since that was one of my main disappointments with the first book. Where, for me, the romance fell flat in Wildflower, I was satisfied with it in The Road to You. Though I didn’t always think that Bird was in the best relationship, I bought into the romance and it was fully fleshed out. Outside the romance, I loved getting to explore the country music world some more though Bird’s experience. Seeing her figure out the ins and outs of being a celebrity made for a story that was both fun and touching. Of course, that had a lot to do with Bird and everything she went through over the course of the story.

Bird was just as likeable in The Road to You as she was in Wildflower. She was still working on adjusting to her success and fame but she still felt like the same Bird that I met at the beginning of the first book. Granted, there were moments when, much like her parents, I kinda wanted to yell at her because some of her decisions were kind of questionable. But she’s still learning, and she seemed to have it more or less figured out by the end of the book. And then there was Kai, who I wasn’t sure whether or not he would end up being one of those questionable decisions. At first, I was all for Kai and Bird together, but then I wasn’t sure he was the best person for her. It always felt like Bird could never really be herself around him. So even though he wasn’t in this story quite as much, I’m still rooting for Adam if Bird has to be with someone. Everything just seemed easy when she was with him and he seems to really care about her. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that something may happen with them in the next book in the series.

I really enjoyed Alecia Whitaker’s The Road to You, even more so than I did Wildflower. I look forward to seeing what the story will bring in the final book in this series. 

Wildflower by Alecia Whitaker

Title: Wildflower

Author: Alecia Whitaker

Publisher: Poppy

Release Date: July 1, 2014

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

The best songs come from broken hearts.

Sixteen-year-old Bird Barrett has grown up on the road, singing backup in her family’s bluegrass band, and playing everywhere from Nashville, Tennessee to Nowhere, Oklahoma. One fateful night, Bird fills in for her dad by singing lead, and a scout in the audience offers her a spotlight all her own.

Soon Bird is caught up in a whirlwind of songwriting meetings, recording sessions, and music video shoots. Her first single hits the top twenty, and suddenly fans and paparazzi are around every corner. She’s even caught the eye of her longtime crush, fellow roving musician Adam Dean. With Bird’s star on the rise, though, tradition and ambition collide. Can Bird break out while staying true to her roots?

In a world of glamour and gold records, a young country music star finds her voice.

This summer has been great for contemporary stories, and I have been reading as many as I can get my hands on. When I first heard about Alecia Whitaker’s Wildflower, I was really excited to read it. And though the story didn’t end up being what I thought it was going to be, it was still a story I really enjoyed.

Bird has always loved playing fiddle in the Barrett Family Band. For half her life, Bird has been living on the road, playing shows every night with her family’s bluegrass band. But when she sings lead one night when her father is sick, Bird’s life changes. Now that she’s officially been “discovered,” Bird finds herself going from meetings, to photo shoots and spending endless hours writing and recording new songs. But it’s what she wants. Or so Bird tells herself. As much as Bird loves being able to share her music with the world, she can’t help but feel like everything around her is changing. The Barrett Family Band is done, her brothers are thinking of going to college, and just when she thought she was going to be able to be with Adam, that changes too. While everything is changing, can Bird find a way to stay herself in a completely new world?

After having read Open Road Summer earlier this summer, I was really looking forward to reading Alecia Whitaker’s Wildflower. How could I not be? It sounded like it was going to be another story with country music and the potential for romance and that’s just what I wanted. If I’m being honest, there were certain things I expected from this story but not all those expectations were met. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed Wildflower. I loved reading about Bird navigating the world of country music and finding herself and her voice. I loved seeing all the family dynamics in the Barrett family. I loved seeing the role music played in this story, seeing how the music was tied into all aspects of the story. Where I was a little disappointed was in the romance department. From the synopsis, I’d been led to believe that romance would definitely be a part of this story, and as I started reading all signs seemed to be pointing to budding romance. But the more I kept reading, the more apparent it was becoming that the romance was falling a little bit flat. In the context of this story, the romance was not needed in the least, but it just felt like it should have been there, especially when all signs seemed to be pointing to a romance. Even though I was a little disappointed that the romance fell flat, I still really enjoyed the overall story.

I really enjoyed reading Bird’s story from her perspective. Everything that was happening to her was pretty crazy when you stop and think about it. I could tell that she was struggling with how to balance her newfound fame with the life she had before everything all became so crazy. Bird was just a very likeable character. I loved her seeing her amazement over everything that was happening to her, like even she couldn’t believe it. Most of all, though, I loved her relationships with all the other characters. I really enjoyed seeing the relationship she had with her father, how he was by her side through it all, helping her navigate everything that was happening. I also really enjoyed seeing her friendship with Stella develop in the midst of everything else that was going on. The one character I wish I could have seen more of, and this ties in to my slight disappointment with the romance, is Adam. Every time Adam made an appearance, I really enjoyed seeing him and I could tell that he was someone Bird really cared about. So if he could have been more present, I would have been a very happy reader. As it was though, I was still quite happy reading about all these characters.

Though it didn’t quite meet all my expectations, I still really enjoyed reading Alecia Whitaker’s Wildflower. It was a fun summer contemporary read and if you like those and country music, than this is the story for you.