A sweet story about a second chance with your high-school crush. Not much angst or excitement, but still an enjoyable read for a break from reality.

Cute book along the Frothingham/ Creek Water Series!

Here's what I loved:

-The topic of battling your childhood/ teenage self vs your adult self. I loved that Dineen wrote about this theme because this is all something we go through. As adults, we still battle the person who we want to be and how we're viewed, but also overcoming our past. She does an excellent job of showing that both sides, both the "popular" and "unpopular" is not always what meets the eye. I loved seeing Ashley become independent and confident in herself

- The very real, yet heartbreaking topic of dementia and what it's like battling a family member suffering the awful disease. She has such a heart-warming outlook on this. Truly will thaw any cold heart.

-The loving family setting of the Frothinghams. And again, though they were the "popular" family growing up, they're very real people who shop for sales, and enjoy each others company. I loved their big family atmosphere and they're willingness to accept Ashley immediately, despite her background. Their lack of judgment makes you immediately want to be a part of their family.

What I didn't love:
-Ashley and Davis's relationship was always based on high school interactions. I don't feel like there was enough adult interactions to make their store believable. Now I love romance, and the predictability of the plot lines, that the girl and guy are always going to wind up together. I'm not one who hates romance, reads anyways, and then bashes it. However, I want to see a relationship develop and go along the journey with them. The 4-5 times Ashley and Davis DID spend time together, I loved; just wish there was more of that so you as the reader could invest in their story a bit more,

Overall would give 3/5 stars. Will also probably read the rest of the series to follow along with the other stories

Thank you NetGalley and 33 Partner Publishing for the eARC in exchange for a review

The Dream is the last book in the Creek Water series, and it was a quick listen. I’m pretty sure it is on Kindle Unlimited if you want to read it. I’m pretty neutral on this series as a whole - the books were fine. I’m not sure I would have kept reading…I had them on @NetGalley, so I felt like I needed to finish the series.

Overall this was a pretty cute story. I did however have a few issues with Chad assaulting Ashley and then covering it up with the fact that he was trying to protect his secret. The issue of bullying was also not dealt with in a great way. I loved Davis though and am so glad he was in general a gentleman. The whole concept of family in this book was adorable.

Ashley has loved Davis since high school but he was completely out of her league. Years later the attraction is still there, but he doesn’t even remember her. Ashley and Davis learn to love each other in this fun rom com.

Cute romance about the heroine who was bullied in high school and the hero who treated her well. 10 years later she thinks he doesn't know who she is, and madness ensues. Adorable Hallmark TV movie type romance.

This is not my first book in The Creek Water Series, I previously read The Plan and absolutely loved it. When this one popped up on NetGalley I knew I had to request it luckily, I got it!
This plot was a bit cliché, but I can appreciate some cheesiness from time to time. Ashley, our leading lady, is a CNA at a retirement facility and literally may be the most driven but held back person ever written. Her and her mother moved to the small town of Creek Water, Missouri when she was in high school and that is where she first saw Davis. Davis is your classic cute country boy with a big rich family, dating the mean girl. Now both being all grown up and Davis’s grandmother needing assistance to a family wedding, Ashley comes into play.
While I did like this book, I had some issues with the plot, meaning it was incredibly cheesy. I can handle predictability to a point, but to be honest most romance books are so predictable I have given up on the genre all together. This one gave me hope at first, then it started going like all the others. They get together around 60%, something bad happens at 80% but by the end they have reconciled and are kissing their way into a happy ending. I know I should not except for every romance novel to be different but I had hope for this one to have some kind of twist, it did not. There was almost a love triangle, which would have been juicy, but even that was quickly shot down.
Obviously, I did not hate this book enough to give it a one-star rating, so onto the things I liked. As I said there was a hint of a love triangle, Buck (Ashley’s long-time best friends) was a sweetie and dreamy. I did like Davis, but he just had too many minor character flaws for me to totally be invested in their love story. Now, I did like Ashley… most of the time. I did not like how she played with the emotions of the people around her. It did line up with her character though, she was very indecisive throughout the entire book. She did not want to move from her teenage home, she did not have any long-term relationships other than her best friends who lived in Europe. Ashley was stuck in the past, but she experienced a huge loss so I almost, and I mean ALMOST feel for her. Now I know it seems like I did not like her and reading back through this maybe I did not. But she honestly went through a lot in her life and I sympathies with that. I appreciated how every story line was tide up with a nice bow by the end, the author left no stone unturned.
Now one thing I LOVED, this book was a bit different than most books in this genre in a big way, there were no explicit scenes. Like none, sure it got hot and heavy a time for too but nothing I need to go wash my eyes with soap out for. Which for me meant she cared enough about the plot and felt like it carried enough to not have to have sex in it. From the other book I read in this series it is an ongoing thing, bravo Whitney Dineen. This is a romance novel I could recommend to my mother or grandmother and not feel icky for. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS TO FIND? VERY!
Honesty hour, this will probably be the last romance I read for a while. Nothing against this book or author, these books are just to eye roll inducing for me anymore. Do not let this discredit the author of The Dream, Whitney Dineen. She is one of the only romance authors I have read who I felt respected women, which is sad. There have been many romance novels I have read that have spoke about women as objects or just side notes in a book about a brooding man. This book was Ashley’s story and Davis was the cute side piece, that is something I admire about Dineen’s writing.

Ashely moved from Chicago to Creek Water with her mother when she was a kid. But school wasn’t easy and certain incidents have plagued her memory.

Ash is a lovely, independent and hard working thirty year old woman. She juggles multiple jobs – a health care professional by day and a waitstaff by night. Her goal right now in life is to buy a home and move out of the current house – a trailer. Professional life is great while she knows not her personal life. Her mother departed when she was twenty three and she was the only chance family she had. Her mother’s best friend Sammy and her best friend Buck is the only chance family she is left with.

Davis makes his living making lovely furniture and has a great workshop out of which he works out. Not to forget and has an adorable family. Ashley and Davis went to school together and Davis is the only guy Ashley has crushed on all her life. Davis grandmother comes to reside at the facility where Ash works and when Davis and Ash meet, Davis doesn’t seem to recognize her.

Does Davis recall Ashley?
What had happened at school that Ash is unable to get over it?
Is Buck going to be her happily ever after? Or Davis?
What happens when she has to come face to face with that one person from school she never wanted to meet ever?
Does she only Dream or does she start Believing in her dreams?

Rating – 4/5
Recommendation – High

Conclusion,

This sweet romance takes us through Ashley’s life. With dreams in her head and Davis in her heart, Ash keeps her life going. Gritty and witty, Ashley realizes it’s time she starts living her life and decides she needs to choose either Buck or Davis as her love forever. A sweet and lovely plot, this story warms your heart. The characters have been developed well and the book puts a big smile on your face. Overall a lovely read and I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet and cozy romance.

Trigger Warnings – Touches mildly upon Cancer and Dementia.

Be still my heart
I'm such a sucker for happy endings that I'm sobbing at the end of this book
I loved this book so much and I'm afraid if i start talking I'll add a lot of spoilers
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something light and sweet to read this book is for ya.

4.5 stars!!

This book was so light and refreshing. I’ve read several books by Whitney Dineen, and none have ever disappointed. Her books keep the reader entertained throughout the entire story. I’ll definitely be reading the other books in this series.

In The Dream, we get the chance to experience Ashley’s life. Of course she’s a huge Molly Ringwald and Pretty in Pink fan, and the authors reference to the movie throughout the book adds a wonderfully fun spin to it.
Ashley has great diary excerpts from her younger days, while taking us through her present day journey. She’s a woman who has worked extremely hard throughout her life, while also facing many challenges. However, we see Ashley evolve into a wonderful, strong, independent woman. All the while, she has some fun finding love. Who will she choose?

3.5/5 stars.

I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I want to preface this review by saying that I did not know this was a series. At first I thought the cover was a bit plain and unappealing, but I realize now that it's in line with the rest of the series, and so I like it more now that it makes sense!

What I liked about this book:
-Each chapter (until the end) starts with an excerpt from her "Dream" journal that she wrote in high school/college. I thought this was a unique way to get her backstory in small, consistent increments, rather than just retelling it on the page.
-Whitney Dineen's description of Ashley's feelings when she sees someone who assaulted her were spot on, and I appreciated how Ashley held firm to the idea that she couldn't be friends with anyone who was friends with her abuser. I feel like not all books touch on that.
-Ashley's character development was strong. We meet her at a point in her life where she wants to show everyone from high school that the girl who came from nothing and was bullied when she moved there made it bigger than all of them. While I understand the mindset, I don't think it was the healthiest mindset. I'm glad we saw growth here.
-There's a lot of forgiveness and empathy shown between the characters, even between characters who in the past did not get along at all. It was nice to see so much character growth, even from some of the side characters.

What I didn't like about this book:
-At one point Ashley makes a comment about how kissing the love interest made her feel complete. I don't think we need a partner to complete us! (Another reason why I liked her personal growth––I think she moved past this idea of being completed by a man.)
-The love triangle seemed to be tossed in there and I thought it didn't add much to the overall story.

I really liked the characters in The Dream and I enjoyed Whitney's writing. I'm excited to go back and read the rest of the series!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of The Dream!

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC. This was a fun read. Due to the bullying that Ashley suffered in high school, I was really cheering her on to make a dream come true. This book didn't disappoint.

When I look back at it, I don't think I would say The Dream is a good book...but that didn't stop me from having fun reading it!
Going into this book I was really excited for the romance because who doesn't love a second chance(ish) romance?! I was let down, though, because the feelings Ashley had for Davis were just *too* much, in my opinion. She put him on such a high pedestal and seemed obsessed. Because of this I wasn't invested in their happily ever after. I do believe they had *some* chemistry but their relationship just wasn't believable for me.
Being inside Ashley's head got really confusing and there were a bunch of times that I would think to myself 'Ashley WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!' Looking back at it, though... it does fit with the fact that Ashley was going through a period in her life where she was trying to figure out what she wanted and where she was going, so I can't really say that that was a weakness of the book.
With all of this being said I had fun reading the book. There's always something about small towns that pull you in. At times the book went into 'are we back in high school' territory but I did enjoy seeing Ashley come to terms with the fact that whatever anyone else thinks doesn't matter. The relationship she ended up building with Jessica was cute, and her and Buck's friendship just made me so happy that they had each other. My *favourite* part of the book was the Frothinghams! You could see that they loved each other very much- and there were definitely times when I became emotional when any of the kids/grandkids interacted with Gran- so it was heartwarming to see Ashley be accepted into that. I didn't know this book was part of a series but I'll be looking at the others!

Also- another thing I didn't like and would like to call out is how bullying (and don't forget the sexual assault!) was dealt with here. I feel like this book was giving Chad and Jessica a free pass since "they had stuff going on".

Overall, I wouldn't recommend the book but I don't regret reading it. I'm also excited to read the others in the series!

This was such a cute and emotional read! I love Ashley and Davis together. The story was more than just a typical love story. There was a lot about love, family, death and friendship too! When I grow up, I want to move to Creek Water lol

Another great Creek Water story. This author is one of my favorites and didn’t disappoint. I liked the characters and had a few laughs as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Whitney Dineen for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
The Dream is book number 4 in Whitney Dineen Creek Water series. This was my first book of hers but it was easily read as a standalone! I do wonder if I would’ve enjoyed and understood the characters better if I had read the first three.
We can all relate to Ashley. A young woman who knew what it meant to work for what you want and pines for the first boy who held her heart. Too bad he doesn’t even remember her. Whiney Dineen had the perfect blend of tough subjects, character growth and a sprinkle of comedy. This one was a quick read, once I got started I didn’t want to stop! Be sure to keep tissues on hand because you’ll need them more than once.
This book is a great example of what it means to grow up, heal your hurting and move on with your life.

This was a good quick read and a nice way to pass the time. I found the story started to drag after a while and there was not much happening a lot of the time. I also found it a little predictable and knew exactly where it was headed. I enjoyed the writing style and the story had a nice flow to it which made it easy to read.

I haven't read any books in the Creek Water Series (or anything by Whitney Dineen before), but I will certainly be turning to her books when I want a light enjoyable read in the future. The Dream was certainly able to work as a stand-alone book. I absolutely loved reading about Ashley and Davis, and I thought that Ashley's high school experiences stood as a great backdrop for developing her character. This book was an easy read-there certainly weren't any superfluous characters or plot twists thrown in there. All in all, the perfect pool side read!

The dream-Whitney Dineen

Loved this easy to read book which I read in one sitting on a rainy afternoon. Although it was a typical romance book the characters weren’t too complex and you ultimately knew what the outcome was going to be. As I read more of the book I realised it must be part of a series of books although this does not detract from this book as it can be read as a stand alone although read as part of the series I think it would be just great. Many thanks to both netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this book.

What a fun and entertaining book!

Ashley Monroe grew up in the wrong part of town, always dreaming that popular Davis would notice her. Many years later their paths cross when she is a caregiver for his grandmother.

This was a very enjoyable read. When I had to put it down (the kids were hungry, I had no choice!) I couldn't wait until I could pick it back up and dive back into Ashley's world. I finished it in a day. I do wish that the book wouldn't have ended right when they had finally worked through their issues and were going to be together. I wish I, as the reader, could have gone on that journey with them instead of hearing about it in a diary entry epilogue.

One note about the diary entries. I liked getting that look at her past, but I didn't like that one scene in the book were broken into so many chapters with diary entries. It made it feel chopped up.

I didn't know that this was part of a series when I started reading it and I am eager to read the other books too.