What a whiplash-inducing experience :) If you'd asked me to rate the first third of this book, I would have gushingly informed you that five stars just didn't feel sufficient to capture how much I loved it. I fell immediately and deeply in love with the writing style. I couldn't get over the beautifully, poignantly REAL depiction of these characters and their struggles. So we've got a down on her luck yet plucky, sassy heroine whose resourcefulness and resilient spirit enables her (and, in this case, her son) to survive. And we've got a very broken hero who's drowning in pain over a tragic loss and has withdrawn from the world prior to meeting our heroine. Sounds like the setup of a mere 12 zillion other romance novels, right?! But what set this apart for me is that the author writes with an almost achingly sharp realism about the pain our heroine Rachel and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Gabe (I'm loath to call him a "hero" for reasons I'll delve into later!) are enduring. We don't just get a few hastily scribbled lines about Rachel's current poverty and hunger: we actually experience it right along with Rachel and her solemn son Edward. It takes a little longer to figure out why Gabe is such an assh---er, struggling so mightily, but once we learn of the tragedy he's suffered we can feel the sense of intolerable loss and hopelessness right along with him. Rest assured, though, that the angst is mercifully mitigated by plenty of wit and glimmers of hope. That first third or so was all so eminently engaging and effective and amusing and beautifully sad---a book that was wholly in my heart rather than just my head. And then the rest of the book happened. So I will readily admit that I'm not as enamored with (or tolerant of!) extreme alphas as most, which probably explains why many readers liked Gabe a whole lot more than I did. Scarily angry, icy, snarling jerks just aren't a romantic ideal for me. (And apparently this guy is actually among SEP's LESS awful heroes?! Good lord!) I realize that much of Gabe's jackassery can be attributed to the terrible tragedy he suffered. I get that, and to a large extent I even sympathize with that, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed being in this man's company for 380 pages. There's a dangerously thin line with these very damaged, drowning-in-ManPain-and-taking-it-out-on-the-world alphas between a good man who acts badly and a man who just becomes too awful for me to like and root for on any level. For a while I had complete confidence that SEP would tread that line successfully and manage to redeem Gabe in a wholly convincing way. After all, Gabe does occasionally do generous things despite acting like a jerk, right? And we're told many times that he USED to be a gentle, caring man. And he does care about our heroine---or, well, at least cares enough to make sure she doesn't literally starve to death (he buys her a few burgers from McDonald's...and, wow, even some fries!) and about having sex with her. ("I feel like a horny teenager" is about as close as our "hero" gets to expressing affection for the majority of the book.)But here's the dealbreaker for me: this guy is persistently and frequently AWFUL to Rachel's sickly and sad five-year-old son. Not just once or twice, but throughout nearly the whole novel. Now, I'm not one of these people who gets excessively gooey over kids, and in fact sometimes I avoid books where kids play a large role because they can be kind of precocious, cutesy and annoying for me to read about. But, wow, Gabe ranged from callous to outright cruel to Edward...who, let me reiterate, is a sad and sickly kid who's been through horrendous ordeals and is just FIVE freaking years old! We're meant to excuse this because of what Gabe has gone through, but get this: when Gabe talks about needing to "toughen up" and make a man out of this poor kid (and apparently that's accomplished by being a callous bastard), we're supposed to think he has a somewhat valid point! I did mention this kid is only FIVE and has endured an enormous amount of pain in his own young life, right?! (Extreme poverty and homelessness, the death of his father, loneliness and isolation and, oh yeah, near fatal pneumonia.) Rachel, an otherwise great mom, knows that Gabe is horribly unfeeling (at best) and sometimes even outright mean towards her little boy. She hates it and wants to stop sleeping with Gabe and all that, and then...stays with him anyway. And this is for a guy she's known for a very short period of time who's already announced he doesn't love her, can't be in a bona fide relationship and won't get past his own very serious demons, by the way. Whatever. Oh, and Gabe and Edward spend about a page reconciling towards the end and we're supposed to think it's all okay, but honestly, I was somewhat alarmed to think that after treating him so shabbily for nearly the whole novel this dark, "demon-plagued" man would be helping to raise Edward from now on. And, see, this is where I was uncomfortably reminded of why I usually prefer historicals: there are just certain gender expectations and behaviors that are far more palatable to me when they take place in the 19th century than in the 2000s, and extreme "alpha-ness" in particular is easier for me to tolerate. Anyway, so Gabe hates poor little Edward, and Edward (quite understandably, in my book) hates Gabe, and pretty much 98% of the town hates Rachel, and both of Gabe's brothers (Ethan and Cal) hate Rachel, and Rachel hates Ethan, and Rachel and Gabe have sex but act like they semi-hate each other for portions of the novel as well...and, honestly, it's just exhausting and unpleasant. By the end, I neither bought that everyone's now living in harmony nor still liked most of these people enough to care. All that said, I'll probably try another book by this author. Yes, I must be a masochist ;) I really love HOW she writes despite my complaints about some of WHAT she writes, and it's so sadly rare for me to find a contemporary romance writer whose style I love. I did love her wit, her insights, and her ability to elicit such a wide variety of emotions from me (including profound annoyance, but still!) But while I neither want nor expect my heroes to be flawless (far from it!), I am at a stage in my reading where I'd like them to be...well...just a little less egregiously awful ;) Thanks for reading this insanely long review, and if anyone can suggest a witty, sharp SEP book with a more likable hero, please let me know!
I am finding by reading this series back to back I am running out of creative opening lines for my reviews. So I guess I will go back to the basics. Simply put, I loved this book. I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips writing. I love her creativity. With each one of ther books she gives you a little ‘something’ that makes the story special. In Dream a Little Dream that ‘something’ was the sweetest little 5 year old boy who stole my heart within minutes of starting the book. For me Edward was at the heart of this story. He was the precious son of Rachel Stone’s and the little boy that would help mend Gabriel Bonner’s heart. There was more sadness in this one than in the others. It surrounded Rachel, Gabe and even Edward. But along with the sadness there was hope. There was a bit of humor. And then there was that thread of need and desire.Rachel Stone~ was a fighter. I loved the beauty within her. Rachel had chosen a life that at the time she thought would make her happy, a life that would be fulfilling. But soon she was stripped of everything. Her ex-husband was a crook, hated by all and she was left fighting for her future and that of her little boy. Gabe Bonner~ had lost all that was precious to him. He had such a sad soul and he was living a life that he truly didn’t care much about. It didn’t matter that he had a caring family. He struggled to get past his heartache. Things were not easy for both Gabe and Rachel. Both of them had their own struggles. It wasn’t always apparent but each of them was giving the other a little bit of hope. My heart broke for both of them. Rachel was the first to realize that in his own way Gabe, was adding a little happiness to her life. But she also had Edward to think about. He was the most important person in her life. His future would always come first.And even though something seemed to settle within Gabe he was limited to what he could offer Rachel and Edward. She saw things within him that he wasn’t sure he could change. There is a saying, “Love is patient, Love is kind…….Love never fails. Thank goodness for that. And thank goodness for Edward. He was an angel. This was such a wonderful story. It certainly was one that filled my heart to the brim. And I will steal a line from my sweet friend Karen’s review. “Romance books don’t get any better than this.”
What do You think about Dream A Little Dream (1998)?
What was the point of being fastidious when her child was hungry and homeless?- RachelHer eyes began to sting with tears, but she wouldn't let a single one fall. No time. No point.- Rachellove the sinner and hate the sin. - CarolAre you so stupid you haven't figured out yet that it doesn't matter?- RachelTell you what, Rachel. I might consider giving you a raise one of these centuries if you start restricting yourself to four words when I talk to you. Yes, sir. No, sir. - GabePoor people don't get anorexia.- RachelIn case you haven't noticed, you crossed through that padded cell between normal and psychotic a good hundred miles back.- RachelThat must be why we get along so well. - GabeThe inmates at the asylum need to stick together. - GabeShe couldn't understand people who called themselves Christians being so judgmental and vindictive. - KristyI don't think. And I don't rely on anybody but myself.- RachelThe chaos of his emotions coiled around his pain, deepening the agony. - GabeA makeover only if you're not happy with the way you are.- RachelPeople talk to you as if they're afraid you're going to break apart at any minute. I don't think that's good for you; it keeps you from moving forward. You're a strong man. Everyone needs to remember that, including you.- RachelI didn't say you'd been a good distraction. Just a distraction.- GabeYou're the most maddening woman. I can't figure out why I like being with you.- GabeShe was too wise to fall in love with him, even in her imagination.- RachelI believe you've already mentioned that. Three times.- RachelA hundred people know things. But they don't know me. Who I am. - KristyIt was safer for me to be depressed about my life than make changes. - KristyIt means I've finally stopped living in the past. I'm ready to move on with my life. - KristyLove was the greatest power, and God's omnipotent power was the power of love.
—Shxrxn
This isn't the first book by this author that I've read but I do believe that this is the first one that I've really liked.Rachel (h) is coming back to the same small town that she had lived in with her late husband. Now you would expect the locals to love the wife of a popular priest but not here, they found out the hard way that her husband was a fake and a user.Gabe (H) after losing his wife and child to a drunk driver,he's been living minute by minute torn between eating a bullet or surviving in a world without his wife and son.Gabe decides to buy and renovate the local drive in as a way to keep his brothers off his case and as a way to just keep moving. When Rachel's car decides to give it's final death rattle in the parking lot of the run down drive in,she isn't sure what she's going to do. This is just another of a long string of problems that has been thrown at her. Down to her last few dollars,her and her young son have been living in that car and now they don't even have that. As she's contemplating what they'll do next the angry owner of the drive in catches her son pudding in his bushes......and she notices a "help wanted sign". Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.The reason this didn't get a full 5* is mainly because of the last few chapters. The ending was just too "sweet" for a lack of a better word. Every thing was wrapped up to neatly, the whole..."look how we miss judged this sweet and perfect woman".....it made my stomach hurt a little. The other thing is the religious theme. I HATE books with it but this one didn't seem to bother me,I thought it was well done (until a certain point that had to do with the "power to heal") and the sex scenes were done well too ,usually there isn't any in a book with religious themes,Imo.
—Noelle
Dream A Little Dream was a stunning book. I was 13% in and found myself torn apart by the struggles that Rachel was facing. Throughout the story you see so much growth between the characters and yet, some underlying pain that never seems to truly heal but does seem to mend slightly. Rachel's story was a rough read for me because as I mother I can not imagine getting to that point in my life and I loved Rachel even more for her determination, wit, and sheer strength to keep on going. There are some parts to Rachel that had me really thinking about faith. Gabe is a truly tortured person. He is hiding so much pain under his anger and his family is continuing to shield him along the way. This story had a bonus side story of Gabe's brother Ethan that part of me wishes would have been left out so I could have more focus on Gabe and Rachel but it still works with the flow of the story. Edward (Chip) is such a unique and interesting little boy, who has the insight of an adult but is written so poignantly, you just can't help but want him to have it all. The characters are all very shakespearean, as they have tragedy and major changes they face that are ethical in nature. A very well written story that I had no issues following (even though number 4 in a series). 4 solid stars for this story (less stars for Gabe's long delay for his "come to jesus moment", and for the extra story for Ethan that took away from Gabe and Rachel)
—Laylaw
