Author: Tempeste O’Riley
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 200 Pages
At a Glance: Not what I was expecting but an overall cute read.
Reviewed By: Lindsey
Blurb: Liam Grady is the owner of the Feathered Quill, a quirky little bookstore in Asheville, and—though he doesn’t realize it yet—a dream walker. His last relationship failed almost a year ago, and he’s not had the interest or nerve to pursue anyone he’s met since.
Cameron Danu is a tattoo artist from rural Georgia. Cameron is left without a job after his boss, José, is forced to close the shop after a heart attack. When Cameron learns José has set up an interview for him at a small tattoo parlor in Asheville, he hopes for a fresh start in a new town.
Fate brings Cameron and Liam together, and they realize they’ve met before—in their dreams. A chance encounter and a winged tattoo might lead them to their destiny—if fear doesn’t turn their dreams into a nightmare.
Review: First off, let’s talk about the cover. I loved it! Right then, I wanted to see what was in store for me. Then I read the blurb and was extremely excited when I saw it appeared to be a magic driven story, and to see how the dream walker angle would work. I am always intrigued to see how an author creates a magical world and the different spins that may be in store for me on the concepts.
The first several pages were hot, hot, hot, and I was looking forward to the rest of the story after reading how Liam and Cam interacted in their dreams. I mean, if it was that hot in the dreams, I expected it to be scorching when they met. I liked both Liam and Cam as characters. I always enjoy how Tempeste O’Riley goes out of the box with her characters, and not all are the same. Liam dresses and acts very conservative, and he is very sweet and endearing, until its sexy times—then he is all kinds of alpha. Cam is an artist whose canvas is the human body, and he is more extroverted, easily talking with those around him. I liked that both characters were surrounded by family and friends who were up in their business. I know how that feels, so I could totally relate!
Though I enjoyed the book, it didn’t capture and hold my attention as I thought it would. I think this is because, based on the blurb, I was expecting… more, and it fell short of what it could have been. The plot had a lot of potential, but the focus of the story seemed off, or at least it didn’t focus on what I had hoped it would.
I was expecting magic and dream walking to play a decent sized role in the story, but I found it really didn’t. It explained how the two MCs knew each other and had essentially been together for years, and gave an opportunity for a dangerous situation to arise, but other than those two main instances, the dream walker and magical aspect of the story felt more of an afterthought. Because of the lack of building on the dream walker idea during the story, for me, the dangerous situation kind of missed the mark as it sort of came out of nowhere. Liam finds out he is a dream walker, and we are informed he is training, but only really get a couple of pages of one session at the very beginning of his training. All the rest of his training, and most of the conversations regarding anything to do with the dream walker aspect of the story (except when Cam or Liam tell people that Liam happens to be a dream walker, but no further detail of what it means to be a dream walker), are off page and only scanned over with no real context. I didn’t get a feel for what being a dream walker really was because it wasn’t expanded on, and more or less, was skipped over. Then when the danger does occur, a solution is mentioned, random tidbits are thrown out explaining how it could have happened and how it can possibly be corrected, and alluding that these topics had been discussed during Liam’s training sessions—training sessions that the reader is informed were occurring but never put on page in anyway and never given any information on what was said or happened at them.
The majority of the book was Liam and Cam getting to know each other and getting past their individual insecurities and talking with other characters about their feelings and growing as a couple in the waking world. I liked this aspect and didn’t have a problem with it, as I truly I did like them as a couple. But because of the blurb, I kept waiting for more of the magic, more information on dream walking, more indication of the upcoming danger the blurb suggested to… and it just didn’t happen for me.
I liked the book, but I just couldn’t love it. And had the book’s blurb not had me expecting more of a magical aspect with Liam being a dream walker, and danger, I would have probably been able to enjoy the story a lot more—because it is a cute and sweet read with likable characters. But because of the blurb I was constantly looking for the more that never really came, and was really let down by the dream walker and magical aspect of the story I had been looking forward to.
You can buy Dreamers’ Destiny here:
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