Tag «Author: Quinn»

Series Review: Neon Dreams by Caisey Quinn

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Leaving Amarillo (from Goodreads):
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.

SERIESous’ Top Picks: Must Read Author
Series: Neon Dreams Trilogy
Author: Caisey Quinn
# of Books: 3 (Leaving Amarillo, Loving Dallas, Missing Dixie)
Book Order: Connected but Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Music, Drama, Contemporary
Heat Rating: really warm
Point of View: First Person, Single (Leaving Amarillo); Alternating (Loving Dallas, Missing Dixie)
Publication Dates: March 2015 – October 2015
Source & Format: Public Library–eBook

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I’ve really enjoyed Caisey Quinn’s other two New Adult series. She is really a must read New Adult author for me at this point so I was really looking forward to reading Leaving Amarillo–though I did have some hesitations.

I really liked the Kylie Ryan Series, which is about a young woman trying to make it in the country music world. So I was worried that this series was going to have a lot of similarities…

Yeah…I was so wrong!

The Plot:

I won’t lie, I was expecting a straight-up romance when I started Leaving Amarillo. So I was a little shocked when I saw that the eBook was close to 300 pages long (the average book is about 230-250 pages long). Did that mean that the romance was going to get dragged on? I sure hoped not.

Silly me! You can tell it had been a long time since I read a Caisey Quinn novel because I really should know better!

What I love about Quinn’s novels is that she truly balances the romantic side with the character and plot development. Meaning, she really hits the tri-factor of what a great New Adult novel should be: a strong romance, growing characters and an interesting plot. In other words: New Adult Goldmine!

What I love about the plot is that it spans all the books; meaning it doesn’t get fully resolved in the first two books and there are some lose ends to tie up in Missing Dixie. Which is great! It’s been a long time since I’ve followed a journey with a set of characters in contemporary romance. Most New Adult series focus on a core group of friends but each book is dedicated to two specific people. So you don’t really get to watch the characters you meet in the first book continually grow. I mean, you see their little cameo appearances here and there but my point is that everything usually gets wrapped up within their own books and that isn’t the case here. Leaving Amarillo follows the band, but mostly focuses on Dixie; Loving Dallas focuses entirely on Dallas and Missing Dixie will be the resolution for the band.

Perhaps that’s a little frustrating because you have to wait for the next novel, but is it worth it? Definitely!

The Characters:

I really grew to like these characters. They have so much history between them that at times you feel like the new kid trying to break into their existing group, so it took me a while. Everything builds slowly with these people but by the end you go “where did the last 150 pages go?”.

I was really worried Dixie would be just like Kylie (who I love don’t get me wrong) but I was pleasantly surprised that they really aren’t anything alike. Yes, they share a similar path of finding what they want in life and moments where they take a stand for themselves but they are different. Dixie is much more timid and has to find confidence in herself; which makes her character development so great. I never got annoyed with her and she never rubbed me the wrong way.

And that’s the same with the rest of the characters–well, maybe Gavin who I wanted to give him a little wake-up smack but that’s all part of the romance–I really began to root for these characters as I read their stories which made it so much more enjoyable.

The Romance:

Gah, there was the perfect amount of focus on the romantic side of things. You have all the sexual tension and then the actual “moments” (if yah know what I mean ;)) but I never felt like you had too much of one or the other. And the romance never overshadowed the plot. It complimented it in such a great way that made these books so much fun to read.

My Expectations for the Rest of the Series:

I can’t wait to see everything wrap up in the finale! I’ve really come to care for these characters and I’ve really enjoyed this journey so far!

–December 11– Book #3: Missing Dixie

This was a fantastic way to end the series! I felt like it started a little slow but it did build up it momentum as it went. I really like the direction this story took; it surprised me in a great way and I loved how everything had built up to this grande finale. The romance is white hot–I mean the tension is so there it is almost palpable. Sure, it was frustrating watching these characters not communicate when it would solve all their problems but I want them to succeed SO MUCH it made reading it frustrating in a fun way. Also, I definitely shed some tears with this one! I don’t think there has been a Caisey Quinn series that I haven’t shed a few tears for at some point.

Series Rating: 4/5

Leaving Amarillo 4/5 | Loving Dallas 4/5 | Missing Dixie 4/5

If you want a New Adult story that is realistic in its approach to the music-celebrity-lifestyle, this is the series for you! This series has a great blend of romance, plot and character development. One of the best new New Adult series I’ve read this year!

Read if You Like: stories about making it big in music, sexual tension, drama
Avoid if You: don’t like overarching plots, want more romance

Girl With Guitar by Caisey Quinn (Kylie Ryans Series #1)
Mayhem by Jamie Shaw (Mayhem Series #1)
Lost and Found by Nicole Williams (Lost and Found Series #1)

Series Review: Kylie Ryans by Caisey Quinn

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

SERIESous’ Top Book Series: Favourite Author
Series: Kylie Ryans Trilogy
Author: Caisey Quinn
# of Books: 3 (Girl with Guitar, Girl on Tour, Girl in Love)

There will be a spinoff series called Second Chances

Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Music, Drama, Contemporary
Heat Rating: warm, gets warmer in later books
Point of View: Third Person

Thoughts on Girl With Guitar:

I’ve been dying to get my hands on Caisey Quinn’s Kylie Ryan series ever since I devoured her Keep Me Still Series. I just loved the heartfelt story in that series so I was looking forward to a similar experience with her other works.

I bought Girl with Guitar (and then it was free the next week on Amazon :P); but I honestly didn’t mind paying the $1 it cost me because I knew I was going to get a good read. And I did! This book was just what I wanted–a romance with great sexual tension and a strong heroine. I easily finished the book in a day because it was so easy to get caught up in everything. To me the romance wasn’t as well developed as in her other series but it wasn’t like it came out of nowhere so I really didn’t mind.

Kylie is a strong and stubborn character and I think some readers might find it a little irritating at times. She has no problems speaking her mind and while I agreed with her observations most of the time, a few times she should have just kept her mouth shut because she came across as a little rude. But I would rather have a slightly overbearing heroine than a timid, whinny little girl any day so I really didn’t mind too much about Kylie’s attitude. I really liked Trace though–and every other character we meet along the way. Overall, it was a good cast of characters.

Girl on Tour differs from Girl with Guitar because this time we get to see more from Trace’s perspective. It alternates between Kylie and Trace though it is still third person narration. I’m glad we get this delivery because I found that there really wasn’t much going on in Kylie’s life to warrant a whole novel dedicated to it alone. We get the same approach in Girl in Love but it doesn’t necessarily alternate on a regular basis.

These books aren’t fast moving plot-wise though they are shorter so you can breeze through them quickly. However, I never felt like there was anything missing from the story because of the books’ page length. They were the perfect length without dragging everything on too much or unnecessarily. Each book blended well with each other and I love the journey we take from start to finish. Overall, I’m very satisfied with this series.

I just want to say that you don’t have to be a country music fan to enjoy these books! I don’t listen to country music in any capacity but I never felt like I was at a disadvantage while reading this book. I also normally don’t enjoy New Adult books that are set in the South because they are overdramatic and tend to lack a bit of maturity but that really isn’t the case here. Kylie is exceptionally mature for her age and I never found any drama to be over the top.

There will be a spinoff series called Second Chances though it isn’t immediately about any of the characters featured in these novels that I can see. I’m really interested to see where it will go so I will definitely be checking it out!

Conclusion:

While I didn’t love these books as much as her other series, Caisey Quinn wrote a great New Adult romance for fans who like stories about musician celebrities, life and family. I enjoyed every minute of these books and am sad to see these characters go but the series as a whole is great. It’s realistic, has some interesting drama and a great cast of characters! Check it out!

Rating: 4/5

Similar Reads:

Eversea by Natasha Boyd (Eversea Series #1)
Strangely Normal by Tess Oliver

Synopsis for Girl with Guitar (from Goodreads):
After Kylie’s dad dies in a freak accident, he leaves her with nothing other than her crazy stepmother, Darla, and the ability to play guitar. When Darla kicks Kylie out and she loses her job all in the same day, she hops a bus to Nashville determined to make her late father’s dreams come true.

Waitressing and saving her pennies to record a demo, her big break comes when she’s asked to join a tour going down the tubes with once platinum album-selling country music superstar Trace Corbin. But touring with Trace is hardly a dream come true since he’s pretty much drinking his career down the drain. If Kylie can’t pull Trace out of his rut, he’ll pull her and her dreams down with him.

Series Review: Keep Me Still by Caisey Quinn

SERIESous’ Top Book Series: Favourite New Adult Read of 2014
Series: Keep me Still
Author: Caisey Quinn
# of Books: 3 (Let You Leave, Keep me Still, Hold us Close)

Technically, Let You leave and Hold Us Close are novellas, but they are essential to the story of Keep me Still

Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Drama
Heat Rating: warm, then hot
Point of View: First Person, Alternating

Thoughts:

WOW…simply WOW! These books blew my socks away. I devoured them in a matter of hours because I couldn’t put them down!

I’ll start with If You Leave. I didn’t go into this book with high expectations. I figure it would just be another prequel novella that gives us a little insight into a character we get in the main event–boy was I wrong! It can get a little confusing with how this series works because the novellas (Let You Leave and Hold Us Close) play a HUGE role in the series. I would say that they are practically novels in themselves to make this series a trilogy and it is absolutely required that you read Let You Leave before Keep Me Still! If I had read Keep Me Still and then Let You Leave, I would have been very disappointed in Keep Me Still because so much of what happens in Keep Me Still requires the knowledge of what happens in Let You Leave–without Let You Leave, you only get half of the story and the missing half is totally worth it!

When I read the synopsis for Keep Me Still, it gave me the impression that Landon and Layla meet in college when in actually fact they meet first in high school, which is where Let You Leave starts. All I can say is that Let You Leave tugged on my heart-strings and I shed a few tears–it was a beautiful story and made me so excited to read Keep Me Still.

Keep me Still was great, but as I said before, I really only felt that way because I had been exposed to the story beforehand and didn’t feel like I was missing pieces. Keep Me Still felt really short because I truly did devour it. I just love Landon and Layla and their entire relationship so I loved getting to see more of that. Again, I shed a few tears and I always take that as a sign of great a book is. While the ending is a bit abrupt, I didn’t mind it so much and I loved that we essentially get an extended epilogue with Hold Us Close.

Hold Us Close was a great way to end the series. I loved the maturity of the characters and the plot development. I always enjoy books that focus on character development–a good plot doesn’t always have to have very dramatic events: sometimes it can have strong characters that we see grow before our eyes and that is enough to keep the reader interested. I loved watching the journey between Layla and Landon in this novella and the little plot twists we get along the way. Just a fantastic way to end a series!

I also have to write a bit of a plea to Ms Quinn in the hopes that she will publish Skylar and Corin’s novella–I would love to read it and I’m sure that I am not alone!

Conclusion:

You’ll see that I said the word “loved” about a gazillion times in this review: but there is simply no other way to express how much I enjoyed reading this series. It’s everything I love in a New Adult read: strong characters, great supporting characters, fantastic character development and a heart-melting romance. It doesn’t feature petty dramatic events but instead focuses on the growth of two people and the love that they share–cheesy but what I’m trying to say is that the maturity of this series is what really impressed me and I love that that is the focus of these books. A must read for fans of this genre! I will definitely be looking at more books from this author in the near future!

Rating: 5/5

Similar Reads: A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks and Wait for You by J. Lynn (Wait for You #1)

Synopsis for Let You Leave (from Goodreads):
Layla Flaherty had the perfect life, or close to it. Until a stranger gunned her parents down right in front of her, leaving her with seizure inducing PTSD. After years of trying to pass as normal and failing miserably, she resigns herself to being invisible. But new to town Landen O’Brien sees her, and he likes what he sees. Much to Layla’s surprise, he doesn’t freak out when she has a seizure in front of him. He does the exact opposite, calming her until the tremors subside. But Landen has secrets of his own. Secrets that will either bind them together or tear them apart.