MISSING DIXIE (Neon Dreams #3) by Caisey Quinn-Series Review & Book Tour
Missing Dixie
Neon Dreams #3
by Caisey Quinn
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Genre: new adult, contemporary, romance, musician
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 27, 2015
Fighting for redemption…
I’ve lived most of my life in darkness, beneath the shadows of secrets and addictions. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt the only girl I’d ever loved-the one who brought me into the light. In my entire life I’d made one promise-a promise I’d intended to keep. I’ve broken that promise and now I have to live with the fallout. Dixie Lark hates me, and I have to tell her that I love her. I also have to tell her a truth that might destroy us forever.
Can she love me even if she can’t forgive me?
Learning to move on…
Gavin Garrison broke his promise to my brother and he broke my heart in the process. I may never love anyone the way I’ve loved him, but at least I won’t spend my life wondering what if. We had our one night and he walked away. I’m finally beginning to move on when my brother’s wedding and a battle of the bands brings us back together.
Our band is getting a second chance, but I don’t know if I can give him one. How do you hand your heart back to the person who set it on fire once already?
••••••••••••
REVIEW: MISSING DIXIE is the third installment in Caisey Quinn’s new adult, contemporary NEON DREAMS romance series focusing on the members of the country band Leaving Amarillo. MISSING DIXIE is the continuing story of fiddler Dixie Lark, and the band’s drummer Gavin Garrison. Dixie and Gavin’s storyline began in book one- Leaving Amarillo. MISSING DIXIE should not be read as a stand alone as there is too much backstory and history revealed in the previous two installments.
Told from alternating first person points of view (Dixie and Gavin) MISSING DIXIE focuses on the rekindling of the relationship between Dixie and Gavin, but not before Gavin must face the demons from his past. At the end of LEAVING AMARILLO Gavin is about to head out on tour with Dixie’s brother Dallas but Gavin has second thoughts and finds himself trying to correct the sins from his past. MISSING DIXIE follows Gavin as he condemns himself to a life without the woman he loves in order to clean up and make amends for everything that went wrong. The reader is front and center as Gavin berates himself for the childhood that was out of his control, and the mother who is unable to get clean and sober.
MISSING DIXIE is a storyline of second chances for Gavin and Dixie, as well as Gavin as he must tell Dixie everything that happened the year she went away. Gavin’s past is mired in drug addiction, sex, alcohol abuse, and a need to escape into the abyss leaving Gavin broken and feeling unworthy of love and success. Gavin fears rejection from the only woman he has ever loved. There is plenty of drama, tension, self-hatred, back and forth, and a definite lack of communication especially as it pertains to Gavin’s past and his current situation. Gavin’s failure to communicate leaves too much to misinterpretation and misunderstanding. The secrets Gavin’s keeps close to his heart are destroying everything he has with the woman he loves. There is some definite reader anxiety as it pertains to Gavin’s inability to tell Dixie the truth. Dixie is willing to forgive and forget; she is a woman who loves her man-unconditionally.
MISSING DIXIE is an emotional and heartbreaking storyline about two people who have known one another for most of their lives. Gavin’s backstory is tragic; full of abuse, neglect, drug addiction and shame. Dixie and Dallas became Gavin’s family; his lifeline when everything began to spiral out of control but Gavin’s mistakes could find our hero losing all that he holds dear-a second chance with Dixie and the band finds Gavin at a crossroads when the past comes back with a vengeance. We will be introduced to a young boy-seven year old Liam-whose own life is eerily similar to the trauma of Gavin’s past but the resolution is technically flawed.
Caisey Quinn writes a passionate story of family and friends; moving forward and letting go; forgiveness and falling in love. The premise is a roller coaster of emotions, anxiety and stress; the characters are colorful, impassioned and heartbreaking; the happily ever after fast forwards the storyline several months to several years.
Copy supplied by the publisher through Edelweiss
Reviewed by Sandy
I wish I could give you this.
Right as I’m about to look away, her gaze collides with mine. My heart swells in my chest. I have so much to say and no words to say it.
I’m sorry.
I’m trying.
I love you.
She doesn’t even flinch at the turmoil I know is probably apparent on my face. She just gives me a confident smile and a knowing look as if to say, One day.
One day that will be us. A future.
A forever.
I fucking hope so.
I just have no clue how we’ll ever manage to get there.
_____________
LEAVING AMARILLO
(Neon Dreams #1)
by Caisey Quinn
Genre: new adult, contemporary, romance, musicians
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 17, 2015
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.
•••••••••••
REVIEW: LEAVING AMARILLO is the first installment in Caisey Quinn’s contemporary, new adult Neon Dreams romance series focusing on twenty year old musician Dixie Lark, her brother Dallas, and the man that she has loved for close to ten years Gavin Garrison. Dixie, Dallas and Gavin make up the band Leaving Amarillo.
Told from first person point of view (Dixie) LEAVING AMARILLO follows the Dixie, Dallas and Gavin as they wander the minefield of musical stardom. A chance entry into a five day music festival finds the trio on the cusp of making it big but Dixie begins to feel uneasy when their new manager makes a change to the direction of the band.
Meanwhile, Dixie’s relationship with Gavin takes a step towards something sexual when Dixie offers Gavin one night-no strings- knowing that there will never be any going back once the couple have crossed the line between friendship and sex. Gavin has loved Dixie since the day that they met but a warning from Dixie’s brother not to cross the proverbial line has found Gavin on the outside looking in. Gavin’s earlier years are heartbreaking and traumatic, and he has always had Dallas and Dixie at his back but changes in the band will find our hero losing everything he has always wanted when the band’s new manager pulls the members apart before they have a chance to make it big.
LEAVING AMARILLO is the introductory storyline that focuses on heartbreak and betrayal; anguish and regret; loving and letting go. Caisey Quinn writes an emotional tale that will merit a tear or two for a woman whose life is about to change when the man that she loves searches for his future in another direction. LEAVING AMARILLO is an entertaining and enjoyable storyline about two tortured souls whose lives are about to change.
Reviewed by Sandy
____________
LOVING DALLAS
(Neon Dreams #2)
by Caisey Quinn
Genre: New Adult, contemporary, romance, musicians
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 16, 2015
Dallas Lark is so close to achieving his dream of making it big in country music that he can taste it. Arriving in Nashville after signing with sexy, successful manager Mandy Lantram, his life goes from tragedy and turmoil to one lucky break after another—except it isn’t really luck because Dallas has sacrificed everything for his career, leaving behind his band, sister, best friend, and high school sweetheart, Robyn, in the pursuit of fame.
Robyn Breeland is a successful marketing coordinator and promotions specialist for a thriving liquor distributor out of Texas. She loves every aspect of her job: coming up with new ideas, traveling, hosting promotional parties and exclusive events—until it brings her face-to-face with the man who broke her heart, prompting her to erect a steel cage around it.
When their paths collide and they’re forced to work together, Dallas and Robyn realize that the old spark they thought they’d extinguished might still be a burning flame.
•••••••••
REVIEW: LOVING DALLAS is the second installment in Caisey Quinn’s new adult, contemporary Neon Dream romance series focusing on the members of the band Leaving Amarillo. This is lead singer and guitarist Dallas Lark, and marketing coordinator Robyn Breeland’s storyline. LOVING DALLAS can be read as a stand alone but for back story and cohesion I recommend reading the series in order.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Dallas and Robyn) LOVING DALLAS is a second chance storyline for two people torn apart by secrets and lies. Several years earlier Leaving Amarillo were about to head out on tour, and Robyn backed out at the last minute saying it was Dallas’s chance to make it big, and she wasn’t going to ruin his chances of success. Fast forward to present day where Robyn is now the marketing and promotions coordinator for Dallas’s tour-a tour that finds Dallas alone on stage without his original band. What ensues is a rebuilding relationship between Dallas and Robyn-a relationship mired in secrets, jealousy and another potential threat from an outside source-Dallas’s manager continues to interfere in his private life-pushing our hero towards the top of the charts.
Dallas and Robyn were high school sweethearts who promised one another the world. But the summer following graduation found Robyn looking at a different future-one that involved a family emergency back home. As Robyn said goodbye to Dallas Lark, Dallas believed everything about his love for Robyn had been a lie. The $ex scenes are erotic and intense. Robyn and Dallas have several years of makeup $ex to explore.
LOVING DALLAS is a fast paced story of second chances; a tale about fated lovers who will reconnect after several years apart. The premise is impassioned; the characters are tragic and intense; the happily ever after is a long time coming.
Reviewed by Sandy
A NOTE FROM CAISEY QUINN
When I look back on the year it took to write this series, it feels like a blur. A beautiful, bright, neon lit blur. I have to confess that I didn’t know exactly how the Neon Dreams series would end when I began writing it. I knew the band would finally make it big. I knew that they would never want to share their backstory but that it would be a story worth telling. What I didn’t know was how real their hearts and souls would become to me. While Liam may not be Dixie and Gavin’s biological son, I did learn this year that family truly does come in the form of people who love and support you in both the best and worst of times and that it’s not always comprised of people who are related by blood or marriage. Liam was born from that discovery.
When Dallas went on the road and Dixie stayed behind, some people were outright angry. I was. At both of them. I was confused about why this felt right. I didn’t know Liam existed yet. I didn’t know he was going to be wandering by an old house in the backside of Amarillo alone and afraid. I didn’t realize that Dixie had to be there giving piano lessons to other kiddos so that Liam would hear and be drawn to her.
Everyone was exactly where they needed to be—even when I hadn’t yet realized it.
So my first big thank you is for you, for those of you who read this series and allowed me to figure it out as I went. For each of you who leaves a review somewhere—anywhere—and tells a friend to read it, thank you times two. Times ten. Times infinity, as my daughter says.
My second thank you is to my editor, Amanda, who didn’t tell me to take a hike when Liam entered the picture and it meant a rewrite of the second half of the book and that I wouldn’t make my initial deadline. I love you. I thank God for you, for your always having my back and for allowing me to write the story I believed in, the way that I needed to write it.
Thank you to my agent, Kevan, for also not dropping the crazy lady who said “So . . . my life is a mess and I need this book to go a different way and I am going to hunker down into the bat cave until I get it right.” Promise not to do that again . . . at least not on purpose.
To the members of CQ’s Road Crew and the Backwoods Belles, you ladies have been my family this year. You have been my light in the darkness, pulling me out of one of the toughest and most devastating situations I’ve ever been in. I literally don’t know if I could do my job without your unconditional love and support. Scratch that. I couldn’t. I know I couldn’t. Same goes for the bloggers who share, review, post, and rant and rave about all the book things. I love y’all. To the moon and back and around again.
To the amazing authors I am blessed to call colleagues and friends, thank you. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, to even get to know you much less read your work and have my books read and loved on by you, but I’m glad I did it—whatever it was!
Lastly, to anyone who supports music and musicians in general, thank you for existing. Music matters. The epilogue from Liam is very much nonfiction in my world, and I have someone I love dearly that I believe was saved by music. You know that feeling you get when you hear that song—that one that causes you to step off the treadmill or pull the car over or freeze in place and hold your breath and strain to hear because it reaches that deep, dark, hidden place where your secrets dwell—it’s a real, tangible thing, that feeling. It connects us—especially when we are positive no one else in the entire world could possibly understand what we’re going through. And let’s face it, life is better with a soundtrack.
Thank you to every single person who had a hand in helping this series about a small-town ragtag band become more than I ever dreamed it could be.
Thank you for making my dreams come true.
Caisey
Caisey Quinn lives in Nashville, Tennessee and is the bestselling author of the Kylie Ryans series and several other New Adult Romance titles. Her Neon Dreams series about a country rock crossover band paying their dues in life and in love on their rocky road to fame is now available from Avon/William Morrow.
Connect with Caisey:
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