I am extremely conflicted about this book. The overall idea of "Hopes and Dreams" was great, and both Riley and Vic have believable insecurities and are really relatable. I also root for the pair, but I feel like something was missing in the story and that made it hard for me to feel at ease with their relationship.

Riley Warren grew up with a negligent alcoholic mother and was relentlessly bullied by Vanessa Thayer and her friends in high school. The Thayers own the Thayer Group and are richer than Riley could imagine. When Riley's then-crush Vic Thayer, Vanessa's twin, comes back to small-town Wolf Bay for her sister's wedding, Riley does not want to see her. But Vic intends to convince Riley that she is a changed woman. As the pair reconnect, Vic is not sure if Riley is also after her money and Riley doesn't think Vic is serious about her.

The last name Thayer reminded me of Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. No doubt it helped paint a picture of the big family name. Trebelhorn did a wonderful at creating the awful yet almost comical Vera Thayer, Vic and Vanessa's mother. I don't know if I was seething or found her laughable whenever she showed up. The prologue of the story was also a nice touch. It features Riley and Vanessa, providing a bond between Riley and her love interest's twin who otherwise have nothing in common.

This book is angsty with a lot of miscommunications. I think while Riley's and Vic's insecurities were strong, they were also the very reason I had a hard time believing that the relationship would work out in the long run. One of the issues I have is Riley's character inconsistency. When they exchanged ILYs, I had to go back and reread one of their first encounters because I couldn't quite believe it. I fully understand that Riley and Vic are both acting very reasonably throughout the development of their relationship, but I don't think I was let into their lives enough to actually understand what they are going through. There were a lot of convenient time gaps that led to my confusion over their romance working out. Also, Vic has some really horrible friends and that is not very convincing when she says she is a changed person. I honestly fear they would break up very soon.

There were also a few instances of fattism. Since a lot of the characters haven't seen each other in twenty years since high school, there were a lot of comments on how some did not become "fat" while others did. Twice, was "fat" and "ugly" used together, and that is not okay. Also, the cover is rather questionable. Who are the two women? With Vic's short hair barely reaching her shoulders, I doubt either of them was her.

"Hopes and Dreams" has so much potential and I found it mostly enjoyable. However, considering the big picture, it did not work for me. If you like rich girl/poor girl romance or twenty-year-crush romance, this book is for you.

I thought this was an ok book. longer than needed tbh.
I also did not feel that Riley was poor. they kept saying she's poor but never did she struggle with anything ext for that dream purchase.
Now Riley's mother, felt like the author wanted to give her a nicer image at the end but somehow changed her mind around the middle.

Victoria was a very boring character, her sister who confused me a lot was too.

the writing was ok. thank you for the author and her teem for the free copy

Riley spent her whole like in her small town Wolf Lake Bay she works at a movie theater and dreams of owning it one day. She has a great friend in Megan and the two people Nancy and Andy who she consider more her parents then her own mother who never wanted nothing to do with her.

Victoria aka Vic in town for her twin sister Vanessa wedding she doesn’t want to go back to her small town especially staying with her mother Vera who disown her for being a lesbian but also because of the guilt she feels when she was teenager and her and sister and their friends use to bully Riley.

Vic has a crush on Riley and so did Riley but neither one knew because they both was struggling with their feelings and as she tries to stick up for her but cowardly join in the bullying so she wouldn’t get bully herself. Riley and Vic meets years later and Vic vow this time she tell Riley how she feels and apologize for the way she treated her in high school.

Even though they both came from different backgrounds Vic being rich and Riley being poor they both seem to fit but can they believe that and not let what happen in the past and what others say keep them from being happy.


I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

With the book „Hopes and Dreams“ by PJ Trebelhorn my expectations were not disappointed. A beautifully written book with likeable characters and a convincing plot.

After many years Riley meets Vic again, one of her tormentors, who made her high school days hell. Even though she had a crush on her back then, she doesn't want to have anything to do with her anymore. Vic has other plans and does everything to reconcile with Riley and to apologize for her behaviour back then. The two come from different worlds, Riley grew up in the trailer park and Vic comes from a wealthy background. The book accompanies the two protagonists on their way to leave the past behind in order to start something new.
The story has captivated me from the very beginning and I only put the book out of my hand again after I had read it through. A reading pleasure!

At the beginning I had difficulties to find out the age of Riley and Vic (38), because the book sometimes says that Vic was "almost 20 years" and sometimes "16 years" not in Wolf Bay, their hometown.

I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a an honest review.