Sweet Dreams

I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK! IT'S JUST WOW!

How does a beautiful, good-hearted woman lose her way in life? That's what I kept thinking in regard to heroine, Lauren Grahame, who had just suffered the ultimate betrayal from her husband, Brad, and best friend, Haily. This betrayal lead to a painful divorce and an intense, soul-searching experience which brought Lauren to the biker town of Carnal, Colorado.

Lauren meets the hero, Tate Jackson, gorgeous male specimen, in the biker bar called Bubba's where she was seeking employment as a waitress. Unfortunately, Tate (prospective employer) failed to make a good impression as Lauren overheard Tate saying some awful things about her that he would later come to regret. (OH TATE, YOU DEFINITELY REGRETTED THAT SLIP UP)--I felt so bad for Lauren!!! My heart dropped with what he said about her, especially since she was already going through her painful divorce from her jerk of a husband. Yet, the love affair between Tate and Lauren is one of the most special love stories I have read. What an amazing love story, as both leads take on huge transformations, both as individuals and as a couple.

I was impressed with this book because not only does K.A. give readers two fantastic leads with interesting personalities and backgrounds, but she also gives readers a fantastic community as you can help but fall in love with the people who came to surround Lauren and accept her as one of their own, from the town of Carnal. I'm not sure if it was Lauren's strong, kind spirit that served as the glue that brought the town together, or if it was that she was so special that the town "let her in" to their tight knit community. From Ned & Betty, to Shambles & Sunny, Jim Billy, Wendy, Crystal & Bubba, and so many more!!! Each of these townspeople were pertinent and played an important role in each step of the way as Lauren healed and found her way.

This book is very well written. In fact, it is superb, in that, the action, the suspense of a serial murder looms, and the love development between Tate & Lauren is something to remember. I adored the progression of their relationship. I especially loved their heart-to-heart intimate conversations as they came to be singular to one another. Initially, I was very insecure about whether they were even good together. With Tate's background with his ex, I just didn't know if Tate was the right hero for her, but OMG….I don't know how K.A. can write these characters that you resent and fear at first, and then as you are let into their lives, you come to love them, as I came to love both Tate and Lauren together. Tate gave something back to Lauren that was taken away from her throughout the years, and she found her way back, and her "something special." The ability to have sweet dreams came from the peace of mind that she was completely safe with Tate. Love scenes were steaming hot, and the action at the end was crazy-amazing! I was so shocked to discover who the serial killer was. I wasn't even close! The epilogue was also superb….LOVED Buster and Jonas, and the life Tate and Lauren built together.

THANK YOU KRISTEN ASHLEY FOR AN AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL LOVE STORY!

Narrator: Emma Taylor is EXCELLENT! She did so well with the various accents. She made me laugh with all of her varied voices for the townspeople…OMG, she is talented! This was an excellent audiobook experience!

30 of 33 people found this review helpful

Mindless Listen- not good, not horrible.

I need to make a disclaimer to explain why I continue to listen to this series, because these are not, in my opinion, compelling stories that evoke my emotions and drag me in.

Just the opposite- but, that's why i listen.

I listen to audiobooks exclusively in my car in about 2 hours of daily commute in wretched traffic- zooming on and off the freeway, looking this way and that, in 'every-man-for-himself" rush hour of a major city. So, I have to focus on the road- so, listening to an audiobook that is very involved and fast-paced isn't actually the best choice.

Enter this series. I have a very love/hate relationship with it for sure. One of the plusses is the length of the books- I like to get a good bang for my buck and I buy longer listens since I only indulge in 1 credit a month.

First, you can let your mind wander for a good 15 minutes at at time or so because that's about the interval of one thing important that happens to the next. This book continues what was established in book 1 and is the exact same formula- only with a slightly more relate-able story as the characters in this one definitely have more believable pasts than did the cats in The Gamble. I actually like Laurie's character quite a bit.

I realize that this is an unabridged novel and those will often contain more detail than an abridged version will. However, Ashley, I think all of the denizens of the known universe know, for example, how answering a phone works. So instead of "The phone rang. I picked up the phone and looked at the display. It was John Smith. I swiped my finger across the keyboard of the Apple phone model xyz124fnvea that has a Hello Kitty phone case and a slight scratch in the corner from the time I dropped it when I was skiing with that cute guy from Aspen. I cleared my throat, blinked my eyes, and answered" how about "The phone rang. It was John. 'Hello?'" Just a thought. The description of the kitchenware that Laurie is constantly buying seriously takes up 1/10th of this novel, with another 1/10th being about the curtains in the bedroom. CURTAINS. It could be mentioned like once and she'd be just as love-able and that aspect of her personality would be conveyed just as well. Promise.

Next- the profanity. I don't actually mind it so much really in and of itself but the repetitiveness does get old. They could say "soup" 8,000 times like they say "Fcuk" and it would bother me just as much/I'd get just as irritated.

Misogyny- in The Gamble, I pretty much wanted to slap the hell out of Max for about three quarters of the book until it was explained why he was such an overbearing chauvinist. In this book it's toned down-Tate is a little more level but then again, Laurie's personality is much stronger than Nina's- she's not nearly so damaged and what parts are seem to heal much more quickly. Laurie's not one to take crap much.

After this one, I went ahead and read Lady Luck and I'll review that too, and then I'm out. Three was definitely enough.

Overall I'd say I do not recommend this series if you want anything with substance, if an inane amount of detail gets on your nerves, or if you don't like misogynistic men.

49 of 55 people found this review helpful

Nobody who becomes head of HR is that stupid.

Made it to Chapter 16 before I got too annoyed with the main character to keep going. She keeps saying "excuse me?", " sorry?", "what?" in response to simple statements that anyone could understand. Doesn't make sense that it sounded make sense to her. But most importantly, she starts out with the idea of roaming the country to find a great place, then lets a guy be a jerk to her and lets herself he drawn into a nightmare life because "he's so attractive". Please. If she spent 4 months finding a place and it turned out to be that wrong, someone like that would pick up and leave.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great Love Story!

What did you love best about Sweet Dreams?

I loved the chemistry between Tate and Lauren. And Jonas was hilarious too for only being 10 years old, he had some really funny come backs.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Tate. He has a really hot body and really shows a lot of compassion and love for Lauren and his son Jonas.

Which character – as performed by Emma Taylor – was your favorite?

I loved the rough, sexy voice of Tate.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Bubba'a Harley Bar Buddies

Any additional comments?

Great story, I loved this book so much I went back and listened to it a second time in case I missed anything good.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

I love this author

Romance isn't my usual preference, but I would rather read a well written romance than a poorly written fantasy, and Kristen Ashley writes really well. Her romances include hot guys, likable girls and an element of mystery, along with lots of bad boys done right. Her charactors, even minor ones, are believable and well written. I will continue to enjoy her books.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Pretty fab book

Where does Sweet Dreams rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This has become one of my most favorite series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Sweet Dreams?

In this book it is so hard to pick one most memorable moments. I liked the whole thing.

What does Emma Taylor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She's engaging and brings the book to life. She is a good narrator.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh yes. I did all my housework is tending to this book, I even feel asleep listening to it. I didn't want to put it down.

Any additional comments?

This was a pretty fab book. I loved all the mystery and drama in the book. I recommend this read.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Loved It!!!!

Would you listen to Sweet Dreams again? Why?

Yes it was well written and spoken and I could not stop listening.

What did you like best about this story?

All the different plots and seem to flow effortlessly.

Have you listened to any of Emma Taylor’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes and I love the way she reads.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and I almost did.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Love this story! <3 Tate and Laurie :)

5+ stars

This book was awesome. It's a very long story and it built up as it went and by the end of the book I just loved Tate and Laurie so much I didn't want it to end! Laurie is a great leading lady and Tate is so great he just made my list for my "book boyfriends". This couple is just awesome and while they had some rough times at first they are perfect for each other.

Lauren (aka Laurie aka Petal) was searching for something when she came to Carnal. She wasn't looking for something special though. She'd just split with her now ex-husband (who had been cheating on her with her best friend for the last 5 years...) and that had convinced her that there is no special out there. When she reaches Carnal though she feels at home there and just wants a nice life even if it's nothing special. She's had some rough times but isn't broken. She still has some spunk (which grows as she finds herself more) and is a genuinely nice person (the type of person I'd love to know in RL).

She meets Tate right after she gets a job at the local bar. He doesn't make a good impression because he shoots his mouth off and insults her (not to her face but within hearing) which puts him on her shit list so things don't go smoothly for these 2 at first.

Tate tends to say things he doesn't mean when he's pissed and the first time he sees Lauren he just happens to be pissed. Bad timing and bad luck. Tate realizes she heard his unkind words and is sorry about it but he has a hard time getting her to look past his actions. Of course the fact that he just tells her to "shake off" her feelings about what he said doesn't help.

Tate and Laurie have trouble from the beginning...not just from Tate's comments but also from his demeanor. Laurie really doesn't know how to handle him most of the time (in the beginning) and Tate tends to assume that she knows what he's talking about which causes further issues. When the book's description talks about her moving on it's not because she didn't want Tate...it's because she didn't understand biker/Tate speak. So he leaves to hunt a bounty and doesn't tell her he's going or that he'll be gone for a while. Before he leaves her place (and leaves for the hunt) he said he had to focus she didn't know that meant he wouldn't be calling her. Also, Tate said "when I get back you're on the back of my bike" which apparently means "your now my girlfriend" but since Laurie doesn't speak biker and doesn't hear from him for a month she thinks he dumped her all because of mis-communication and starts to date someone else *sigh*

When Tate gets back from his hunt he's kinda pissed when he finds out Laurie hasn't been sitting at home waiting for him. Fortunately he does manage to get back in her good graces pretty quickly (events conspire to help him with this) and then we really get to see them grow in their relationship.

One of the things I just loved about this story was that it showed the slow building of their relationship. In some ways the development of their relationship moved fast some might think they moved in together way too soon but the way it happened made sencebut yet it didn't feel that way and it wasn't "insta-love" like you see in many stories. I enjoyed seeing them battle things out and grow in their relationship and Kristen did a great job with writing that. There were a few times when I thought Laurie was willing to back out too easily (mostly when she got scared and needed space) but Tate wouldn't let her go. That's one of the other things I loved about this story, once Tate was in to Laurie, he didn't let things stand in his way when it came to getting her...not even Laurie's own fears. Tate is rough but yet at the same time he's super awesomely sweet (although it doesn't show much at first). He can be a dick and totally admits it but he also has the capacity for such caring that I just kept wishing he was a real man (and I had him for myself).

During the story there is some action to go with the romance. Tate is a bounty hunter and it seems that there's a serial killer in the area that has to be found and causes danger and drama for the people in the story. It's a good part of the story line but not one that takes over the book...the focus is still mainly on the relationship between Laurie and Tate and once his son comes to live with them her building a relationship with Tate and his son and also her growing as a part of the town and the friendships she builds. And showing how she found something special when she wasn't even looking.

This book was awesome. It's the second book I've read by Kristen and I loved the 1st book as well so I will definitely be reading more of her books. This story is wonderful and I'm sure I'll be rereading it numerous times in the future. I would highly recommend this story. 2 thumbs way up!! :D

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

I'm absolutely addicted to Kristen Ashley's books!

First, I've already read the majority of the books written by this author so I was ecstatic to see them being released on audio. I would highly suggest that everyone purchase her books in audio. This book was captivating and encompassed everything I love in a romance novel! This story not only had romance and steam, but action, suspense, and definitely humor! Once I started this book, I just couldn't stop. KA has created another book full of unique characters, witty dialogue, spunky heroines, and the most delicious alpha males. The passion between characters is smoking hot and the chemistry just radiates off each page. I can't rave enough about this book so just purchase it already! BTW...This is the second book in this series so I actually recommend them all!

20 of 25 people found this review helpful

Come get it Bad Boy

Nothing boring about this book. I usually find it hard to listen to a book for hours but I just could not put it down. We had drama, had Bad Boys, a good girl, and a whole lot of action. Smexy scenes were pretty good and wow, I want a Tate of my own.

Worth a credit or sale

6 of 7 people found this review helpful