Fated (Ghosted #3) by Sarah Ready

 

4*

Just after Fiona Abry and her brother Daniel make a bet over who will find and accept love first, Fiona’s hippy dippy mother Buttercup, who abandoned her at age 6, comes for a very brief visit and gifts her a long-lost family heirloom, the first pocket watch made by Adolphus Abry, founder of the family’s watch company. According to her great-great-uncle Leo, who gave her mother the watch to pass on to her, if Fiona falls asleep holding it, “it will show you your heart’s desire. And then once you’ve dreamed it, you can grasp it.” Next thing she knows, she’s waking up on an isolated Caribbean island in bed with a stranger, Aaron, and mother to two children. To further confound things, she looks like the woman whose body she seems to be possessing. Over the course of the summer, she revisits the island nightly in vivid dreams, never knowing how much time has passed, if any, and slowly falling for Aaron.

There were a couple of minor issues that kept this from being a 5* read for me. It frustrated me how unintentionally cruel Fiona was by not being honest with Aaron about who she is, causing him such incredible hurt. Also, as a huge fan of Jillian and Daniel Abry, the couple from Ghosted, it is disappointing that this story takes place before they meet, so readers don’t get to revisit with them.

As always, though, Sarah Ready does an incredible job of crafting romances that defy time, space, and logic. In this third book of the Ghosted series, there are so many twists that readers are left guessing until the end whether Fiona’s dream guy, Aaron, is real but in another dimension or just a figment of her imagination. Highly recommended!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Swift & Lewis Publishing through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Dream On by Angie Hockman

 5*

What happens when the man IN your dreams turns out to be real?

In Dream On, author Angie Hockman explores the idea of whether fantasy can live up to reality in this romance with a twist. Cassidy Walker slowly wakes up from yet another delicious dream featuring her perfect boyfriend, Devin Bloom. So, she’s shocked to learn that she’s in the hospital after a 6-day coma and that Devin doesn’t exist. Despite the detailed conversations and clear vision she has of him (which she fills up a sketchbook with during her year-long recovery), she finally acknowledges the truth and turns her focus to resuming her fledgling law career. However, fate has other plans when she runs into Devin in the flesh at his brother Perry’s florist shop, and he doesn’t recognize her.

Intrigued, he agrees to help her solve the mystery despite Perry’s suspicion of her motives. As they spend more time together, she begins to wonder if the memories are a sign they were meant to meet, if fate brought them together, or if dreams should be left in the realm of fantasy. With the thoughtful and sensitive observations Perry shares with her, she also begins to question if a career in a high-powered law firm will bring her fulfillment and the life she wants.

Although this is a slow-burn, only slightly steamy romance, it also deals with traumatic brain injury, parental interference, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. In a departure from the normal trope, Hockman also ingeniously uses government corruption and the evils of capitalism as vehicles to drive the plot. Add in a twist that observant readers will pick up on early in the books, and you have a delightful summer read which will appeal to fans of Kate Clayborn, Christina Lauren, and Abby Jimenez. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Gallery Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley

5*

This is the story of both a marriage and the circle of life…or is it all just quantum physics? In this heart-wrenching novel, Oakley explores the meaning and significance of dreams, the challenges of marriage, the impacts of grief and guilt, and the idea that love is both infinite and cyclical.

As the book opens, artist Mia and her surgeon husband Harrison have recently moved out of Philly to a small PA town after he loses a young patient on the operating table. Shortly afterwards, Mia suffers her 3rd miscarriage and both  events begin to put a strain on their marriage, although their love is a steady presence. However, the dreams and nightmares she’s been having since high school featuring the same man are a guilty secret she keeps from Harrison. When she meets Oliver in real life, the surreal connection between them makes her begin to question both her sanity and the purpose of their connection. Oakley masterfully combines the often painful realities of love with the unexplainable and unprovable mysteries of the subconscious, deftly using metaphors, rich dialogue, and descriptive characterizations to weave a tragic, yet magical love story that leaves us hoping for a sequel.


I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkeley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.