Dream Maker - Dream Team #1 - Kristen Ashley
Sum up: (Goodreads)
Evie is a bonafide nerd and a hyper-intelligent chick who has worked her whole life to get what she wants. Growing up, she had no support from her family and has only ever been able to rely on herself. So when Evie decides she wants to earn her engineering degree, she realizes she needs to take an alternative path to get there. She takes a job dancing at Smithie's club thinking this would be a quick side gig, where she can make the money she needs. But with her lack of dancing skills and an alpha bad boy who becomes overly protective, Evie realizes this might not be as easy as she thought.
Daniel "Mag" Magnusson knows a thing or two about pain, but the mask he wears is excellent. No one can tell that this good-looking, quick-witted, and roguish guy has deep-seated issues. Mag puts on a funny-guy routine so he can hide his broken heart and PTSD. But when Evie dances her way into Mag's life, he realizes that he needs to come face-to-face with the demons of his past if he wants a future with her.
Daniel "Mag" Magnusson knows a thing or two about pain, but the mask he wears is excellent. No one can tell that this good-looking, quick-witted, and roguish guy has deep-seated issues. Mag puts on a funny-guy routine so he can hide his broken heart and PTSD. But when Evie dances her way into Mag's life, he realizes that he needs to come face-to-face with the demons of his past if he wants a future with her.
Some scenes contain sexual contents that may offend sensibilities of readers.
Plot:
Lottie has a new hobby: she is adamant that she can pair up her "girls" with every man in Mo's team. Thus she sets up a blind date between Evangeline and Daniel.
Evangeline is a shy strip-teaser who has wants to go to university as soon as she has enough money.
Daniel has been a manwhore ever since his last girlfriend broke up with him. Having a "commando" job makes it hard to find a woman who could take him as he is.
But when their first date turns up to be a disaster because of a deadbeat brother who endangers his sister and Evie's apartment getting trashed, Mag knows he has to step up if he wants to have a future with Evie...
Evangeline is a shy strip-teaser who has wants to go to university as soon as she has enough money.
Daniel has been a manwhore ever since his last girlfriend broke up with him. Having a "commando" job makes it hard to find a woman who could take him as he is.
But when their first date turns up to be a disaster because of a deadbeat brother who endangers his sister and Evie's apartment getting trashed, Mag knows he has to step up if he wants to have a future with Evie...
Opinion:
Where to start with this book? You all know how much I love Kristen Ashley. So yes, her storylines are usually quite repetitive. Why is that?
However, this is probably the first book by Kristen Ashley that took me a bit longer to read. I liked it but some elements kept bugging me while I was reading.
Have you read it? Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts on this book :)
- First, the woman probably releases four books a year. She is a machine. So you should probably cut her some slacks. Have you ever tried writing one book? Then try writing several books a year. Yes, it is her job but still... at some point, you lack imagination or motivation maybe.
- Secondly, alpha males and strong women in danger are her signature. Why change when it works perfectly?
However, this is probably the first book by Kristen Ashley that took me a bit longer to read. I liked it but some elements kept bugging me while I was reading.
Firstly, the problem when you write about alpha males is the thin line between alphaness and "abuse". Let me explain. I love good alpha males but I struggled to know if I liked Daniel 'Mag' Magnusson or not.
At the beginning of the story, he was a real d*ck to Evie. I was a bit shocked that he read her messages without her consent. She left her phone to charge on her nightstand and he just looked at her messages (I mean, helloooo, you can't do that!). I get that he is an alpha male and wants to have control of the situation but this is a bit too much.
Then he basically threatens to stalk her by tapping her phone if she ever sends him away. Again, I understand he wants to help her out of a situation but still... it didn't feel right to me. And when she does send him away, he basically calls her "a bitch"... NOT COOL AT ALL! My inner feminist was furious!
I also didn't like that he made of fun of Evie's passion for environment or her hate for guns. Throughout the story, he slipped a few misogynistic statements that we could have done without.
But apart from this questionable behavior, he had another side that could be super sweet and say all the most beautiful things. Quite contradictory! When he realizes Evie has problems (mostly because of her brother), he does not hesitate to come for help.
At the beginning of the story, he was a real d*ck to Evie. I was a bit shocked that he read her messages without her consent. She left her phone to charge on her nightstand and he just looked at her messages (I mean, helloooo, you can't do that!). I get that he is an alpha male and wants to have control of the situation but this is a bit too much.
Then he basically threatens to stalk her by tapping her phone if she ever sends him away. Again, I understand he wants to help her out of a situation but still... it didn't feel right to me. And when she does send him away, he basically calls her "a bitch"... NOT COOL AT ALL! My inner feminist was furious!
I also didn't like that he made of fun of Evie's passion for environment or her hate for guns. Throughout the story, he slipped a few misogynistic statements that we could have done without.
But apart from this questionable behavior, he had another side that could be super sweet and say all the most beautiful things. Quite contradictory! When he realizes Evie has problems (mostly because of her brother), he does not hesitate to come for help.
Secondly, I also struggled a bit with Evangeline - Evan or Evie for the close ones. I found her annoying at the beginning of the book. She is supposed to be a genius. When I mean "genius", I mean super smart and yet, as readers we never get to experience it.
And it felt like we were dealing with a fifteen-year-old when she is actually 27. I don't know if it is the fact that she is super shy and she does not know how to stand up for herself but still...
Her family is a complete train wreck. None of them can be saved honestly. And yet, she always ends up being in the middle of all their problems and she is walked all over. I just feel sad we had to wait almost the end for her to grow a backbone (and it felt so good when Evie finally told her family off!!!).
Thank God, she does evolve throughout the book and I started liking her more and more.
And it felt like we were dealing with a fifteen-year-old when she is actually 27. I don't know if it is the fact that she is super shy and she does not know how to stand up for herself but still...
Her family is a complete train wreck. None of them can be saved honestly. And yet, she always ends up being in the middle of all their problems and she is walked all over. I just feel sad we had to wait almost the end for her to grow a backbone (and it felt so good when Evie finally told her family off!!!).
Thank God, she does evolve throughout the book and I started liking her more and more.
“All my life, you know?”“All your life what, baby?”
“Until you.”He curved both arms around me and his voice was growly when he asked, “Until me, what?”
“The people I loved made loving them hard. Until you.”
Thirdly, this is a recycled love story. It is a problem without being a problem because this is sometimes what I am looking for in the books I read. You did have a cute love story (if you could get passed Mag's di**ness) and it was almost like reading old books from Kristen Ashley and I always love being reunited with some of the Rock Chicks / Dream Men. I also love how the sisterhood is shown here. Evie thinks she can only count on herself when she forgets that she has amazing people around her who would go to extremely length to help her.
“Babe,” he leaned into a hand on the counter toward me, “it’s you.”
“What’s me?” I whispered.
“For me.”
To conclude, if you can make it past the first half of the book without wanting to kill any of the main characters, you'll love this book. It has all the Kristen Ashley's ingredients. Now I can't wait to read the books about Boone and Axl!
Have you read it? Please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts on this book :)
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