This is Pepper and Auggie’s story, the last of the OG couples. Even though it took them the longest to figure their feeling out, it was definitely worth the wait. This is the perfect book to curl up and read on a chilly fall afternoon. It will have you feeling all the feels. Lots of drama, but also lots of wholesome family moments. Pepper really shined for me in this one, even though at the beginning I wanted to smack some sense into her, the more I read, the more I fell in love with her. Auggie at times was a little rough but the scenes with him and Juno will melt your heart. Overall I really enjoyed this one, recommend it and the rest of the series for any KA fans or anyone who hasn’t read her yet. Looking forward to there possibility being more books about some of the new characters introduced and very much hoping Ian gets his story told too.

ARC Provided By NetGalley For An Honest Review

I have so enjoyed the Dream Team series and I'm seriously hoping that the epilogue of Dream Keeper is hinting that the series has a few more books in it.



In this fourth stand alone in the series we get to see how Pepper and Auggie are going to work through all of the things that have kept them apart. I particularly enjoyed their journey because Kristen Ashley didn't make their HEA the main conflict and so we got to enjoy their being together for a longer part of the novel. I also liked how she made Pepper and Auggie so similar in so many ways and that their differences balanced them all out. I guess what I'm saying is that they fit together like two puzzle pieces and it worked for me.



In this fourth novel, as with all of them, I suppose, a main source of conflict is family. Both Pepper and Auggie have some seriously messed up parents and because of that, they have tried to live in polar opposition of the way they were brought up. This commonality gave us an opportunity to see how they cared and comforted each other and just emphasized what we already know: family doesn't have to just be through blood ties; family can be of your own choosing. The family that Pepper and Auggie have chosen are awesome and throwing little Juno in the mix elevated the love and fun in this novel.



I also enjoyed the extended cast of characters who showed up and the ending of Dream Keeper promises that what's about to happen with the dirty cop case is going to be verrry interesting. I'm so here for it.



If you love KA and you've loved this series, you're going to love Dream Keeper.

Another Kristin Ashley book in the world of Denver, Colorado. This concludes this series but she leaves it wide open for future books with new characters, new plot lines, and new issues. This is probably my least favorite in the series as the characters seemed incredibly flat. I had been looking forward to Auggie's story since the beginning and ended up being just a cookie cutter of the others. Ashley writes amazing books but the last few have become stagnant and fairly boring. Too much action and upset and not nearly enough time of just being and understanding character motivations. It was a good story don't get me wrong but not one I will be rereading unfortunately...when I reread all of the earlier Ashley works.

4th installment of the Dream Team series, and it's not my favorite of the series. This one features single-mother Pepper and her cute daughter Juno. Pepper's match is Auggie, who is my favorite out of all the dudes so far. I just couldn't get over how Pepper treated Auggie. I get that she was super vulnerable and wants the best for her daughter, but she was so extreme that it was a little unbearable. Pepper's family drama and the religious cult that they're a part of was wild, so be prepared for abuse, polygamy, and cults!
Overall, I was able to finish it, but it could have easily been a DNF.

I adore this series!!! Dream Keeper is the 4th installment in the Dream Team series and I’m thrilled that it lived up to my high expectations—fan-freaking-tastic! First off, with every book that has come out, I think there is no way Kristen Ashley could top the previous book and let me say SHE TOTALLY DOES! Dream Keeper follows Pepper and Auggie which I have been looking forward to reading since the very beginning!! I’m not sure if it’s the fact that the entire cast of characters are completely awesome or if it’s because the storyline is nothing short of addictive, but Dream Keeper is officially my new favorite book in the Dream Team series! In all fairness, I have said that about the 3 previous installments as well, but truth be told, whatever KA novel I have just finished is always my new top favorite lol! In this crazy world we live in, I crave novels that help me escape and KA consistently delivers! This book (and the entire series) is an absolute must read—5++++ stars!

3.5-3.75 All the elements were there that I love but put together it somehow didn’t spark as much as I expected. Auggie and Pepper were individually fantastic, with new and dynamic family issues. Pepper’s role as a mom gave a new avenue to explore in the Dream Team formula and Auggie is her perfect match. But I think they were almost too well paired. Even though there were trials, I was missing a bit of that magical new discovery.

Still, I’m obsessed with KA and this series so it’s a must read. And I tend to reread these books over and over, so I’m hoping it will have new life the second time around.

*I received a free copy from the publisher via netgalley.

5 stars. I'm a big fan of Kristen Ashley's, and this is my favorite book from her in a while. It's also, coincidentally, my favorite book so far in the Dream Team series. This book focuses on the relationship between Pepper, a single mother and dancer at Smithie's, and Auggie, a former marine/ sexy commando working for Hawk Delgado (fans of KA will recognize the name). I like my books to be both character and plot driven (equal amounts), and while this was def. more of a character driven story, it did have enough plot to keep me interested. Not only was there still the dirty cop scheme Hawk and the boys are investigating (which is a story line prevalent in the past 3 books as well), but there was also some drama surrounding Piper's overly religious/ part of a cult family. In fact, both Piper and Auggie have some serious family issues, and the both grow tremendously, separately and with one another, throughout the book.

In my opinion, there are several things that Kristen Ashley exceeds at, and I'm always happy when they are present in her books. Hands down, KA writes THE BEST alpha males out there. From their mannerisms down to their vocabulary, they are ALL alpha, and completely swoon-worthy. At this point, they may not be the most original, but I don't care. I love them all, and Auggie was no exception. KA also writes kids really really well, and Juno, Pepper's daughter, was a fantastic addition to this book. I loved her relationship with her mother, but I also loved her relationship with Auggie. And I really really really loved her relationship with Brett "Cisco". This brings me to something else KA does well-- the anti-hero. Cisco is so deliciously bad and good at the same time and he is 100% my favorite character in the series. I will be gutted if he doesn't get his own book (or even his own series a la Hawk and his boys did). Given that Auggie and Pepper are the last of Lottie's set ups, I was sad thinking this might be the last book in the series, but with that epilogue, KA made it clear that there will be more commandos and Smithie's girls in our future. Yay!

PS- fans of the KA-verse will love all the cameos from favorite characters in her other books.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you netgalley, Read Forever Pub and of course Kristen Ashley for the early read.

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, SO FAIR WARNING, UPON READING THE REVIEW.
Dream Keeper is the fourth book in the series and at first I thought that this would be the finale in the series, but alas, it isn’t haha but you don’t really see signs for others books until this book because the previous book didn’t really hint at it that much or I might have just missed the signs that was conveyed there. In Dream Keeper, this is a romance that has been teased all the way through the series so its definitely highly anticipated for sure, but I will say that it did start out slower than I expected it too. Normally Kristen Ashley will sweep me up so quickly, but I don’t know if its just me or maybe her writing is changing, but they aren’t hooking me in as much as her previous works but I still enjoyed this one quite a bit, it just wasn’t quite as engaging as the previous books in the series. But there were so many aspects of this story that truly worked for me in so many ways and I was thrilled to finally get Auggie and Pepper’s romance.

DREAM KEEPER IS A SLOW AND STEADY ROMANCE THAT FEATURES:
Auggie -Ex Military-current working as a commando for Hawke, alpha male, protective, loves kids, family issue
Pepper-Exotic dancer, divorcee, single mother, nurturing and creative, has vulnerabilities in self esteem
Dream Keeper is a romance that takes us back to Auggie and Pepper and actually begin’s with Pepper’s daughter, Juno. Juno wants her mom to have a husband that will truly love and cherish her and she wants a true family. She knows that her parents won’t be getting back together and trying to live with that reality. So Juno convinces a man she knows that she can trust to help her bring Auggie and Pepper together. She sees the way that Auggie looks at her mom, and her mom is being “stupid” in resisting him and so she begins to work her innocent magic in bringing these two unrequited lovers together. Auggie has been trying to get Pepper to go on a date with him, but Pepper is resistant. At first it was for her daughter’s sake, but in reality, Pepper has so much drama in her family and in her past that she doesn’t feel like she could ever be worthy of Auggie. Her life is rough and the drama is extreme and no man should have to deal what she has to on a regular basis so she intends on driving him away. Only it doesn’t work the way she expected to, and before she realizes it she shows how she cares for him, and he sees through her defenses and is more than determined to prove to her they are worth taking a risk on….

Dream Keeper was such a powerhouse of a romance and I had a blast with this book and I am so grateful that I was able to get this in ARC format (although I would have purchased it too) I have really been so entertained by this series and they are reminiscent of the Dream Man and Rock Chick series, but they are in the same world, so you see all the connecting characters throughout these books and its such fun. This series is the rest of the men on “Hawke”s team and seeing these commando’s get their HEA. I love that Kristen Ashley wrote these books, and they definitely showcase the similar vibe that we found in those connecting books. I absolutely adored this one though. Pepper drove me nuts though, just the way that she treats Auggie, was too much in my opinion, it was a bit of emotional abuse. But then she realizes what she does to him and course corrects so I did like seeing her growth in that. There is some political stuff (nothing too obvious or anything, and I only noticed it in the beginning so fair warning on that aspect. But this portion doesn’t reflect on my review at all, since it wasn’t anything controversial or soap box-like, just common sense.

The romance that builds between Auggie and Pepper is so sweet once we get all the angst out of the way. The one aspect I really adore in this author is that the inner conflict between the main couple gets resolved pretty quickly, and then we get to see the growth in their relationship, the HOT smexy times (some of the hottest scenes I have read from this author I swear she put in this book), Juno’s matchmaking, family drama that builds with each chapter, it really comes together. I enjoyed seeing how the first half of the story is the focus of the romantic intimacy between Auggie and Pepper, and then the second half, is where we get to all the family drama and dealing with religious cults. Now these are true cults dealing with abuse, manipulation, polygamy. (Polygamy and the way she wrote is was correct as I am LDS (the non polygamy one) so I know the difference in the various religions that practice and don’t so I respect that this author did her research correctly) I really felt for the heroine and what her family has to deal with this cult. Because wow it was really bad here. Kristen Ashley really showed healthy religion versus toxic cult like religion and how one is positive and uplifting and the other is damaging and abusive to the people involved.

Overall I found Dream Keeper to be a stunning addition to this series that is so reminiscent of previous sagas we have loved from this author, its a story that will entertain you with its plot, charming characters to bring a smile to your face, and a love story that will have you swooning on each page….DELECTABLE IN EVERY MOMENT!

This is the 4th book in the series and it is possible to read it as a standalone. I haven't read the previous books and liked it but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I knew some of the backstories. I'm a huge fan of the Dream Man and Rock Chick series and did appreciate the throw back to those characters / locations.

I enjoyed the story of Pepper / Auggie / Juno. Did not enjoy the story of Pepper and her dysfunctional family.

3.5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Forever (Grand Central Publishing) through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing).

This book felt like the one I've been waiting for this whole series. Pepper and Auggie are awesome. I love Pepper's passion to be a great mom to Juno, but also the way she's portrayed as human; she may want to, but she can't turn off her attraction to Auggie, or the fact that she's a mom AND a woman. Her family's story was fascinating, and the fact that Auggie is both cool but not perfect really drew me in to his character.

Four strong stars.

*I received a review copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

Book four in the Dream Team series features the long-awaited coupling of Auggie and Pepper. Little Juno has a plan and she has enlisted the help of a very surprising ally. Dream Keeper is yet another fabulous read from author Kristen Ashley. I love her writing and storytelling so much. It just feels like coming home. You just know you're in good hands. She gets all the hearts and stars for this one.

~Tanja