Love is just around the corner . . .
Sweet, shy Mara Hanover is in love with her neighbor. For four years, she has secretly watched her dream man from afar. Handsome police detective Mitch Lawson is way out of her league. She's a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, and there's no way a guy like Mitch would want anything to do with her. But when Mara has a leaky faucet that she can't fix, it's Mitch who comes to her rescue.
Mitch has been eyeing his beautiful neighbor for a long time. He jumps at the chance to help her, and soon their formerly platonic relationship gets very hot and heavy. But when Mara gets a disturbing phone call from her cousin's kids, she gets pulled back into the life she's tried so hard to leave behind. Can the hot law man convince Mara to let go of her past-and build a future with him?
Let's make it clear that for at least half of the story Mara is completely clueless, and while in the beginning it was endearing after a while it became tiresome. This is a classic case of a woman who has no clue how gorgeous she is, with a past that makes her believe she's not worth a whole lot, but still has tried her damndest to rise above it all. The one thing though she hasn't managed to convince herself of is that she is worthy of a good and handsome man.
Enter detective Mitch Lawson. Mara has been crushing on him from afar for years and now through circumstances she can not seem to get rid of him. Not that she really wants to, but she does not know how to handle his attention towards her. Mara believes he's way out of her league, but we all know she doesn't see the world quite right.
Things go completely crazy though when nephew and niece call her in distress. Their home situation is terrible and Mara can no longer condone them to stay there, so she takes them in. This does not go over too well with her cousin, when he gets put in jail. Though honestly it's his own fault, but he blames her and to be clear he doesn't give a damn about his children, but Mara does. She loves those kids like they were her own. Still taking them on full time is quite a change, but luckily the handsome detective is there to help her.
This is when the real battle begins actually. It definitely gave a new spin on the story, and it was nice to see Mara come out of her shell. While I liked that Mitch was all in and helping out, I didn't always like the way he handled things. He made a lot of decisions when it comes to the kids, without talking about with Mara first, which I found inappropriate. They are now her kids, and her responsibility, and it's awesome that Mitch is there for them, but completely taking over at times is too overboard for me.
With the kids now, things move forward pretty fast between Mitch and Mara. Certainly when her cousin is being annoying, and it seems he was involved in way more than Mara ever expected. When those people come after her and the kids, Mitch hackles rise and he's all over that. His protective instincts are off the charts, and he vows no harm will come to either Mara or the kids.
Besides him taking over so much, and Mara needing to gain some confidence, I really liked both characters. They are both normal people, that now got a bit shook up thanks to her family, but in the end that normal is all they want, no matter how they got there. Being it just the two of them or with kids who aren't biologically theirs but very much theirs. The love in this story is so very clear, it flows all around. With the kids playing such a central role, was quite different, certainly when that threat is so close, making it very exciting. Still when it comes to the inner circle, sweetness was the key word. Mitch is very patient when it comes to Mara, gives her time to settle, while still being close. Those epilogues though are the best, happily ever after looks so damn good.
Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!).
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
Enter detective Mitch Lawson. Mara has been crushing on him from afar for years and now through circumstances she can not seem to get rid of him. Not that she really wants to, but she does not know how to handle his attention towards her. Mara believes he's way out of her league, but we all know she doesn't see the world quite right.
Things go completely crazy though when nephew and niece call her in distress. Their home situation is terrible and Mara can no longer condone them to stay there, so she takes them in. This does not go over too well with her cousin, when he gets put in jail. Though honestly it's his own fault, but he blames her and to be clear he doesn't give a damn about his children, but Mara does. She loves those kids like they were her own. Still taking them on full time is quite a change, but luckily the handsome detective is there to help her.
This is when the real battle begins actually. It definitely gave a new spin on the story, and it was nice to see Mara come out of her shell. While I liked that Mitch was all in and helping out, I didn't always like the way he handled things. He made a lot of decisions when it comes to the kids, without talking about with Mara first, which I found inappropriate. They are now her kids, and her responsibility, and it's awesome that Mitch is there for them, but completely taking over at times is too overboard for me.
With the kids now, things move forward pretty fast between Mitch and Mara. Certainly when her cousin is being annoying, and it seems he was involved in way more than Mara ever expected. When those people come after her and the kids, Mitch hackles rise and he's all over that. His protective instincts are off the charts, and he vows no harm will come to either Mara or the kids.
Besides him taking over so much, and Mara needing to gain some confidence, I really liked both characters. They are both normal people, that now got a bit shook up thanks to her family, but in the end that normal is all they want, no matter how they got there. Being it just the two of them or with kids who aren't biologically theirs but very much theirs. The love in this story is so very clear, it flows all around. With the kids playing such a central role, was quite different, certainly when that threat is so close, making it very exciting. Still when it comes to the inner circle, sweetness was the key word. Mitch is very patient when it comes to Mara, gives her time to settle, while still being close. Those epilogues though are the best, happily ever after looks so damn good.
Dream Man - Reading order and purchase links
The Author
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
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