Melissa Brayden

With love on the line, can Devyn Winters find it in her heart to stay in the small town of Dreamer's Bay, the one place she swore she'd never remain?

Beautiful Dreamer

Izza

4 stars | Sweet, small-town romance. Major crush on Devyn.

Renee

Ya know, Ms. Brayden, I think…"I’m learning you." There are many amazing writers in our world of sapphic romance; however, your stories make some of us grateful for our forever person and give others hope in finding theirs. Oh, and your covers always rank five on the jalapeño-ranking scale, too. 

Commencing a very, very unbiased review from one of my favorite, favorite authors...

Elizabeth and Devyn are on a journey to find their forever person. Unfortunately, it’s those pesky little character flaws that sometimes get in the way. And, ouch, do Elizabeth and Devyn have theirs.

For the past fifteen years, Devyn “Love the Grind” Winters wore horse blinders that kept her laser-focused on her career. She’s driven by success, loves a good challenge, and is always prepared. She’s an expert at turning off her feelings at the sound of cha-ching, cha-ching. She’s not a confessor, reveler, or dweller. She doesn’t get sentimental, let her guard down, or put herself in the position to feel weak or vulnerable. And you know what? She’s comfortable with all of these traits. But life seems to always expose those little chinks in our armor. For Devyn, those chinks give her the opportunity to remove the blinders she’s gotten so used to wearing and to experience what caring for her forever person would feel like. This experience is unpredictable, terrifying, messy, and as a result, Devyn finds herself unprepared and perplexed. But what's a woman like Devyn to do when the vivacious, quirky, and warm Elizabeth Draper walks into your life, grabs your heart, and doesn’t want to let go? 

Yeah, Lizzie is my favorite character. What’s not to like? She’s personable, single, “makes people feel better about themselves,” single, trusting, single, “radiates happiness,” and... did I mention single? Just like Devyn, Elizabeth is comfortable in her own skin and semi-solitary lifestyle. Yet again life and those damn chinks. The struggles of self-worth can be inconvenient a real pain in the ass when trying to build a forever relationship with someone. There’s nothing more disheartening than a genuine, beautiful person like Lizzie believing she’s destined to be alone because people will always leave her. With the exception of KC, Dexter, and Jill, I blame the residents of Dreamer’s Bay for Elizabeth’s perception of herself. The town is just too...slow-paced...and...and...dreamy. (I blame the author for making the setting so real.) Come on Bayers, wake-up! No way y’all let Elizabeth spend each day believing she doesn't matter to other people. Isn’t everyone supposed to know everyone else? I know, to blame the residents is silly, but who else am I going to blame? Elizabeth has had no parental guidance (view spoiler)[since her father died  (hide spoiler)], and she reveals her true feelings about herself while sitting on the floor talking to Scout, her dog. 
 “I matter to some people,” she said to Scout, through tear-filled eyes. “Me.” 
Okay, this scene with Scout was the first of several ah man-blink away tears-sniffle moments for me. (Second, the bedroom window scene near the end, which was romantic as hell. Hmm…. I wonder if a certain attractive, blowtorch weidling main character will wear a tool belt to fix the window she broke while trying to get the attention of her possible forever person.) 

Moving on, Beautiful Dreamer replaces Just Three Words as my favorite book by Brayden. The setting is believable and the complexities of the main characters increase gradually as the story progresses. This story does not have a wow moment because it's fairly easy to predict what will happen. However, Devyn and Elizabeth's flaws are what make us care more about what happens next.

Overall, this is another great read by Brayden. Buy it. Read it. You'll love it from beginning to end.

Ella Patterson

I adore the premise of a slowburn f/f small town adult romance between an ex head cheerleader and an overachiever (and Beautiful Dreamer definitely executed on that). Both characters were sweet and felt real, and I loved the arc they took. It could have had a bit more angst and pining, but maybe that's because I've got use to reading new adult books where the characters can't communicate or express feelings properly? It also definitely made me fall in love with the idea of living in a small town and contributed to my growing realization that friends to lovers is the superior trope.

Jude Silberfeld

Damn you Melissa Brayden for making me feel so much each and every time.

This is a reunion / friends to lovers romance. Elizabeth and Devyn went to school together. After graduation, Elizabeth stayed in their small town while Devyn left as soon as she could. Years later, an accident brings them back in the same place. Elizabeth is a whirlwind of nice and quirky. She’s the town sweetheart, helping everyone out, because it’s her job but also because that’s the way she is. Also, anyone who measures hotness in jalapeños is on my team. Devyn, on the other hand, is not a people person. Once upon a time, she was the captain of the cheerleader team but, as popular as she was then, she definitely wasn’t happy. All she cares about now is her very successful career as a real estate broker. Back in her hometown to help her sister Jill, she ends up liking her former schoolmate a lot more than she thought possible.

One of the things I like most in Melissa Brayden’s novels is the way the places she sets her stories in become characters themselves, whether it’s big cities, as in the Soho Loft series (still one of my faves ever) or small towns, as in this book. She pays attention to details, which also makes her secondary characters as real as the MCs.

There’s a lot of cuteness in this novel (Scout stole my heart), along with the usual sexiness and fun which are Brayden’s trademarks. Yet another win (I might have said that before about some of her previous novels, but it’s true once more).

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Cooper

Despite the glowing reviews and recommendations, I’ve only read a few of Melissa Brayden’s books. The last ones I read were the SoHo series that left me kind of ho hum. After reading this book, I’m digging into Brayden’s back catalogue and looking for more of her stand alone romances.

Beautiful Dreamer is an absolutely fantastic read and if you don’t like it, you’re just a big ole stick in the mud who doesn’t believe in love and shouldn’t be reading romances anyways. I’m tempted to end my review with that statement.

This is a “you can come home again” trope. Devyn escaped Dreamer’s Bay after high school and never looked back as she built a successful corporate real estate career. When her sister disappears, Devyn returns to aid in the search – don’t worry, this isn’t a murder mystery – and when her sister if found, she remains to help her recover from injuries. Elizabeth is Devyn’s polar opposite – she loves her hometown and her hometown loves her and her goal is to make Devyn realize what she’s missed by leaving.

The romance is a slow burn and takes its time to develop naturally with Devyn, who barely remembers Elizabeth from high school, slowly recognizing just how wonderful a person Elizabeth is – inside and out. They start as acquaintances and move from friendship to attraction and then to love – no insta-love or insta-lust. It just feels real as you watch Elizabeth slowly cracking Devyn’s big city shell and worming her way into her heart. At times Elizabeth is almost too good to be true – Pollyanna, Pippy Longstocking and Maria von Trapp all wrapped up in a cute lesbian package – but I dare anyone not to fall in love with her. Honestly – Devyn never stood a chance.

I’m struggling to put into words how much I enjoyed this book – a completely sweet and compelling romance, lots of humour, amazing chemistry and some pretty sizzling scenes, fantastic dialogue and banter, a cast of well rounded characters, a hometown that I’d move to if I could figure out where it was, and two memorable characters that pull it all together.

Highly recommended.

Beautiful Dreamer

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