REVIEW: When I Dream of You

**Mature Content Warning** Recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual content. Nina Archer battles memories of a trauma that occurred twelve years ago… With plans to move to North Carolina, she hopes to separate herself from her mother, whose excessive drinking is becoming unbearable. Then suddenly, fate steps in to help her heal in a way she would never think possible. While running a race in Juno Beach, Nina finds herself next to a man whom she’s immediately attracted to. Wes Ladner, the same man she dreamt about one year ago… Wes is focused on his writing, and has no time for a woman. But the night before they met, he dreamt of Nina. Although they come from two very different worlds neither of them can deny the sparks that fly between them. As her time runs out to make a decision, Nina wonders if she’s been given the chance to come to terms with her past, and accept a gift that some never receive—true love.


Available at :  Amazon



REVIEW:



RATING: 4 Stars

‘When I Dream of You’ is an intensely dramatic portrayal of Nina Archer, a woman battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, trying to break through all the painful barriers around her so she can finally begin a happy life. This story, told completely from Nina’s POV, is short, only 68 pages, but it covers so much ground that when I reached the end, I felt like I had finished a novel. Nina is in her late twenties, living in Florida with her widowed alcoholic mother, working at a bookstore and trying to become an author herself. She suffers from the memories of a horrible trauma suffered when she was fifteen, compounded by her mother’s abusive behavior, and losing her PTSD counsellor because of his own problems. Despite having only one close friend, she spends as much time as possible away from her mother’s apartment, sometimes even driving to the beach and sleeping in her car. She is planning to move, taking a job at another store, in North Carolina. But one day, Nina decides to run in a race. Fate brings her next to a friendly man and they stay together, running side by side, all the way to the finish line. Wes Ladner is an attractive man from a wealthy family, concentrating on building his writing own career. Remarkably, Nina has clear memories of dreaming about Wes, a full year before this meeting, and he in turn dreamt of her the night before the race. The attraction is mutual, and very strong, but before they can build a loving relationship, Nina has to leave her past behind. Rosa Sophia tells this story vividly, without wasting words or time, and still covering pretty much everything essential about her heroine. She makes you really want Nina to move past the PTSD into a happy, loving future, and believe that Wes is the man who could truly help her do just that. It takes skill and determination to tell this complex tale in such a short space, to pull readers in rapidly and completely. I admire her efforts, and give ‘When I Dream of You’ 4 stars. I am grateful for the reviewer’s copy I was sent.


Reviewed by: Roberta