Man of My Dreams (Dreams #1)by Faith Andrews
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Synopsis:
Mia Murphy may be married to the man of her dreams. But the man in her dreams is the one that got away—her high school crush.
Mia has the life everyone envies. A white picket fence, two adorable daughters, and a hottie husband who stole her heart in college with the strum of his Gibson and his sexy baritone. But when forever becomes monotonous for this perfect couple, their faith in each other is tested.
For Declan, long trips away from home because of his demanding job cause him to find comfort on the road. For Mia, the recurring dreams of her old flame and the shock of her husband's infidelity send her running into Noah's arms at their ten year high school reunion.
Will Mia abandon the alluring pull of the past for her picture perfect future or will the man of her dreams be replaced by the man in her dreams?
Review:
***3.75 stars***
Man of My Dreams was a charming book about putting the pieces of your shattered life back together while on the path to self-discovery. This book made my heart happy, hurt and ultimately completely conflicted. It toyed with my emotions and my feelings for the characters. I kept vacillating on what a happy ending would be for Mia, and I never do that! But being bombarded with questions, doubts and memories left me swimming in a gray area where the answer to a happily ever after are not as easy to figure out as one might think. What happens when you still fantasize about the one that got away? How can you not second guess everything when the monotony of day to day life drags you down? And who doesn’t feel lost when you find out that your sexy, sultry husband has cheated on you? Welcome to Mia’s world.
And there it is…hello reality. Little girls, ass wiping and breakfast at… six forty five! “Girls, are you joking? We need to go back to bed for a little while, Mommy’s tired.” And she was just about to get off to her high school crush.
Mia’s life is extremely predictable. She is a stay at home mom and married to Declan, the man she fell in love with while at college. She is still enamored with her sweet, sexy husband but things feel off. Mia wasn’t imagining things because she learns that her husband has cheated on her. While stumbling through the after-shock of the betrayal, Mia receives an invitation to her 10 year high school reunion. All of her thoughts float back to Noah, her high school crush. She still has sexy dreams about him and has never been able to give up on the ghost that could have been her and Noah. Mia has to seize the opportunity to come face to face with Noah. He just has to be there!
But holy heart failure Batman, it’s Noah Matheson! I never got closure. Hell, I never got an opening! This is absurd. I’m not a lovesick girl anymore. I’m a twenty year old woman in love. There’s a difference. And what I have with Declan is the real thing. The crush I had for Noah, whatever I thought I felt for him is – Holy crap, he looks good!
Usually I love and hate my characters so vividly that it’s nearly impossible to change my feelings towards them. That was definitely not the case in Man of My Dreams. The words easily toyed with my emotions and manipulated my feelings towards Mia, Declan, Noah and even her best friend Grace. I was distraught and lost for the chapters that I disliked Grace. And I was shocked and dismayed that I could be switched from Team Noah to Team Declan and then back again in a blink of a chapter. The chapters continually flowed from present to the past and while that may seem dizzying, it didn’t feel that way in the least bit. I enjoyed all of the different glimpses into their lives. Just when you think you are on Team Noah we travel back to Declan being so sweet and amazing that I can’t help but sigh out loud. Honestly, it was perfectly orchestrated and it had my full attention.
Is it crazy that thinking of sex with another man makes me want to jump my husband’s bones? Something’s wrong with me.
While I enjoyed the characters, storyline and tone of the book, I struggled with the some of the spoken dialogue. Mia was feisty, determined and her internal thoughts were so much fun to listen to. There were countless times that I couldn’t hold back a smirk or a smile from her internal ranting. But it seemed as though Mia would go off in her head, collect her thoughts and what came out of her mouth was just too perfect. I wanted that fire that lived inside of her to come spewing out. A few times it did, but it wasn’t near enough. And it felt the same way for the few chapters that we were in Declan’s head.
I watch the two kids dangle off of him like monkeys as if I’m a stranger. Is that what I’ve become – an outsider to their relationship with their dad? The thought is so damn unsettling I have to grip the steering wheel, close my eyes and count to ten.
This book also contained little hidden treasures of 90’s music references. I HAD to play the songs that were brought up while I was reading that section of the book, and I normally hate listening to music while reading. I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic since Mia and I are similar in age. And I loved Mia even more when she stated that she hated Chumbawamba lol. I hated that song back in the day and I still hate it now too! Overall, Man of My Dreams was an entertaining read that touched me and had me smiling in the end.
***ARC was kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review***
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