With the way the tightness in his chest eased at the mere sight of her, he was realizing she was the only thing that was keeping him from falling apart.
synopsis
In a bid to escape the incessant attentions of a man she does not love, governess Lucy Hayes embarks on a journey to begin a new post. But when she's stranded in a storm, her plans go shockingly awry. Desperate times call for desperate measures: against her better judgment, she agrees to a foolhardy scheme presented by a handsome stranger, known to her as only William. But when her mysterious benefactor falls ill, she finds herself unwittingly drawn into his family home in a case of mistaken identity: they believe she is William's betrothed. Though she realizes she should admit the truth, the family's warmth and welcome make it all too easy to play along, just for a while. Until she meets Baron Lord Simon Calloway, William's older brother.
Simon is suspicious of his lovely future sister-in-law, a woman who seems completely unsuited to his self-important brother. As they wait for William to awake, Simon and Lucy are drawn ever closer together. But danger draws closer too, in the form of her unwanted suitor. Lucy knows that when Simon discovers the truth, he will despise her. Now she must find a way to keep herself safe...and avoid falling hopelessly in love with a man she can never have.
thoughts & feelings
Last year Dana LeCheminant won me over with her Wonder Boys series. I was hooked from the get go and read each of the books as soon as I could get my hands on them. When I learned that she was writing a regency period novel AND it was based on While You Were Sleeping I knew that I had to read it.
In all honesty I was still a little nervous about it. I absolutely LOVE While You Were Sleeping but I didn't want to already know the entire plot line. I like to be surprised and taken on a rollercoaster of emotions while reading. For those of you who may be skeptical for similar reasons have no fear! Dana did a great job using the general plot line from While You Were Sleeping while throwing in plenty of surprises and emotional rollercoaster moments. You will laugh, cry, and even gasp from shock.
I was hooked within the first several pages. I messaged my sister and told her that she NEEDED this book because I was hooked...and I was only seven pages in. It's that good! Just brace yourself for a long night when you get about halfway through because you will not be able to put the book down. I was up until midnight because I HAD to know what happened next and each chapter left me hanging on.
One of my favorite parts of this novel is the dual point-of-view. We get to see the story from the leading lady and main man's view points. YAY! The dual perspective gives us a ton of "hidden" information and moments. If we didn't have Lucy's point-of-view I would have hated her...and not in a good way. In a "how dare you, you need to go away" type of hate. Through her point-of-view we get to see her disagreements with her "maid" and how the guilt is constantly eating at her. Simon's perspective adds a lot of depth to his character. We see him battling his growing feelings for Lucy while he tries to figure out if his suspicions about her are true. We also get to see the battle that he faces with being Lord Calloway and trying to fill the role as well as his father did. I loved how much depth both perspectives lend to our main characters and the overall storyline.
My favorite character from this novel has to be Nick. Best friend to Lord Calloway, legend amongst the ton, with just a touch of dandy. Nick reminds me a bit of Philip Jonquil and how he first appears in Sarah M. Eden's novel The Kiss of a Stranger. We get the sense that there is more to Nick that how he portrays himself to be but are given no real explanation as to why. I would LOVE for Nick to get his own story, with some sort of flashback/time jump so that we get ALL the information as to why he has this persona and what exactly happens in between the last chapter and prologue of What Dreams May Come. Is anyone else DYING to know his story?
book tags
Steam Level
clean, kissing
Language
clean
Content & Trigger Warnings
the death of immediate family members is mentioned throughout the novel
book information
Title: What Dreams May Come
Author: Dana LeCheminant
Rating: 5/5