Review: Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley

by Jewels E 1/12/2016 0 comments

I decided to dive into another Kristen Ashley book, Sweet Dreams which is book two in her Colorado Mountain series. I was really surprised by this book. It wasn't anything like the first one. It took place in a different town, called Carnal, which is incidentally, a biker town. None of the characters know each other, though we do get a cameo scene with Nina. If I was thrown off by the fact that the setting was so different, it didn't impact my enjoyment of the novel. Because I did enjoy this novel a lot.

Series: Colorado Mountain, #2 
My Rating: 4 ❀'s
Genre: Contemporary Romance

The main character in this novel, Lauren has been wandering around America after divorcing her cheating husband. She lands in Carnal and decided it's a town worth staying in. Even if her boss, Tate is a jerk. And Tate is a jerk. He's got a temper, he's super bossy and while he's a good guy, I couldn't fall in love with him. He's super protective of Lauren, takes good care of her, and while I liked him and got him by the end of the book, I just didn't connect with his character emotionally. However, that doesn't mean I didn't like this book because it was a fun and highly entertaining read. Lauren is a character I dig, and the cast of supporting characters is awesome. They are a tight knit community, but they are also bad ass. Or, to use a better word, they are real. I loved reading about Krystal and Bubba and I adored Shambles and Sunny. Even the scenes with crazy Neeta were awesome, and she was a serious witch. 

This book has a bit of a mystery going on, which I'm guessing will be a theme with the series since The Gamble also had a mystery. The serial killer storyline caught my attention, gave the story even more of an edge than the setting and characters and back stories (and Lauren and Tate both had baggage and whacked up exes) provided, which was a fair amount. I was hooked on this read, hooked on the setting and characters and laughed and even shed a few tears as the story progressed. It's

Book 3 in the series

moving, it's real and I can't wait to see what else this series has in store for me. This book would have been a solid five, but Tate did seriously annoy at me times, and his character is the main reason I decided to give this book a 4 rather than a 5, since I like to really love my hero's, and not be frustrated by their choices. And I took serious issue with some of them, even if they kinda made sense after the fact. Still, I understood his alpha macho man choices and I loved that he loved Lauren and treated her so thoughtfully, and this book had so much going on for it that it's definitely worth the read. 

Hilarious, moving and very real, Sweet Dreams was a novel I read with pleasure. 

Happy Reading, 

Jewels