Fantasy : Nashville Stardom 
 Reality : Bad costumes and a grabby Elvis wanna-be. 
 2.5 stars. I think I'm starting to understand a little bit why Echols has a faithful following. I'm not entirely positive that she's the author for me, but at least I think I get it now. 
 I'm sure that Echols probably mixes it up quite a bit more from the little bit I've read, but the style I've witnessed so far is simple, quiet, and slightly offbeat. I can respect that. Often, the beauty is in the details. The general atmosphere of these books is well-planned, to the point where I can easily visualize the surroundings in my head. 
 Where I find that I've gotten hung up along the way has been with the characters. Quirky and different characters are great, but something about quirky and different still needs to be accessible or easy to relate to. I honestly couldn't relate to Baylie and Sam in this book any more than I was able to with the characters in the last book of Echols' that I read. 
 Even so, I could ignore some of the apathy which I had for the characters because I found myself wondering how everything was going to play out. 
 Most everyone has a dream. What do you do when other people around you are fulfilling their dreams and you are not? This is the issue plaguing Baylie and Sam. Their end goals might not have completely matched up, but both of these characters were fumbling around in the dark, hoping for more than the hand which life had dealt them. 
 Throw in some awkward musical performances, a crush which might be going nowhere, and some major trust issues, and you know the ride is going to get bumpy along the way. 
 I give the author credit for reigning the issues in before we tipped the scales into scary-drama territory. While some of the character behavior was downright sketchy, I was okay with some of the explanations given. Really, it was all handled in the end, even if the process of getting there was kind of off-putting at times. 
 Where this story excels is in the telling of lost hopes and new dreams. We all go through hardships - it's how we come out of them on the other side which determines whether or not we'll be a success. And for that, this story was a success when it needed to be. 
 I might not be in a hurry to read another Echols book, but I think I've seen enough to know that I might be open to another try in the future. 
 This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.