Sweet Home Amarillo

Leaving Amarillo is one of those books that was repeatedly suggested by other avid readers.  Everyone went on and on about how great it was.  Finally, I downloaded it in my Kindle app and decided to see what all the hype was about. 

The author, Caisey Quinn, is genius!  This story of sweet southern gal, Dixie, and the drummer in her brother's band, Gavin have an attraction like no other and Quinn does a great job leading the reader through the turbulent getting-together phase of their relationship in this book.  You see Dixie and Gavin have grown up together because Dixie's brother Dallas and Gavin have been best buddies since they were kids...and Dixie has long had a crush on Gavin.

Gavin has a sweet nickname for his buddy's sister, calling her Bluebird, an adorable and endearing term of affection. Their relationship is full of back and forth, push and pull, and both get frustrated easily.  They realize being in a relationship is harder than they realized, but they both desperately want to be together.  The question is, will Gavin's secrets keep them apart?  Can Dixie get over her fears?

This story was great, really.  It pulled me in right away and I truly loved the dynamics between the two main characters, and of course the brother, Dallas too.  The relationships between all of them were complex but believable and easy to relate to as well.  I could see this really happening.  In fact, I'm sure this story has been played out in real life more times than I can imagine.  That's what makes it so beautiful too.



Loving Dallas picks up where Amarillo leaves off, except now we get to meet and get to know the brother Dallas a lot more.  It also goes more in depth into who the redhead is and what she means to Dallas.  We learn that the beautiful redhead is Dallas' ex, Robyn, who left him and broke his heart.  He never lost feelings for her...and we discover that she might just still have feelings for him too.

I was truly excited to dive into the second book in this series after reading this one, titled Loving Dallas.  I knew I was going to absolutely love it and race through it just like I did Amarillo. Unfortunately, that was not the case.  For me, Dallas was kind of boring.  I don't know if my expectations were just too high after devouring the first book or what, but it just didn't hold my interest as much.  I found myself sort of forcing myself to keep reading. It's not that it was a bad story, but it wasn't filled with as much emotion or drama like the first one.  It didn't feel as fast paced either.

None of that is to say that I didn't like Loving Dallas because I did like it...I just didn't love it. 

Now I am just anxiously awaiting the release of the last book in the trilogy, Missing Dixie, which is due out in October of this year. Hopefully the Gavin and Dixie action will be just as fast, exciting, and as hot as the first one!  Come on Caisey, don't let me down.  End this long story on a high note!