5 Stars for the Series!
I adored this collection - The entire cast of characters are complex, riddled with the issues that I can imagine afflict a rock band. Each member has had a roller coaster journey, leaving us to wonder if they can survive themselves and the fame they've created? Their salvation may rest in one very unlikely woman.
I've reviewed each book individually:
Summer Sky (#1):
Though the title and cover leave you to feel this is a light romance, it's not. Both Dylan and Sky, our main characters, are just trying to find a way to survive. Dylan and his addictions escape to a beach home his family visited before fame assaults him. Sky retreats to her grandmothers home after fleeing what she thought was an enviable life.
As they escape their worlds, a car crash brings these two broken souls together.
Sky is a strong woman facing the fact that she has made her life and her boyfriends life happen. But now that he doesn't want it, what does she do? She picks herself and dusts herself off, knowing that the next chapter in her life needs to be written with eyes wide open.
Dylan is a parched man, choosing between the desert and the sea. The desert is the life he's been leading, the sea is the past - and possibly the present? At the sea he finds childhood tokens that lead him to wonder if he can be more, have more, find the boy who took delight in such simple pleasures.
Sky and Dylan's paths cross, and a relationship of sorts emerges. She represents all that he doesn't know how to have, but wants, and she has no idea who he is, which leaves his drama unknown.
This is a definite five-star read. I promise you'll want to read book two, so buy it!
Falling Sky (#2):
This book left me feeling like I was holding onto a ledge, my fingertips always slipping. Emotional highs and lows, epic in proportion, since Dylan's life is crazy and Sky is trying to decide if she can separate the rock star from the man and if not, then what?. The rock star's bandmates add to their relationship troubles, as does the press. They find happiness and tenderness for short bursts, but as with real life and real change, it doesn't come easy or without a price. One moment they have it all, and then it's lost. Their time together is as powerful as their time apart.
Ms. Swallow writes an excellent saga about imperfect people seeking to overcome the past and the emotional and torturous journey she takes us on is spell-binding.
This is a must read, with a well deserved five stars.
Summer Star (#1.5):
People are broken. The how's and the why's often more complex and deeper in the psyche than we can ever imagine. How can someone who endeavors to be rational justify the irrational to themselves over and over? Again, Ms. Swallow takes on an emotional journey, where Dylan takes on the enormous task of overcoming himself. Sky continues to be his North Star, and though she loves him, he's walking a tightrope that is wearing everyone out.
The disparity in their lives, he a wealthy rock star, she who takes work at temporary agencies to make ends meet, is the constant reminder of the work Dylan needs to do in order for her to truly trust him, to truly enter his life. He hates her poverty, hates that she won't take his help and that leaves us knowing he is capable of more than his self-absorption.
This book is the journey where we find out if Dylan will be able to make healthy decisions when he is away from Sky or if she is another form of addiction. Again, 5 Stars.
Thoroughly engaging, page to page, I would recommend this series above pretty much everything else I've read in many months. Absolutely riveting, so be prepared - you'll forget to stop reading.
You will re-read this series over and over.
