This is my first book from this author and I found the writing a bit too descriptive for my liking. It's an interesting premise for a romance, if not entirely unoriginal (a woman who dreams a parallel life, in which she inhabits the body of a different woman and has a husband and children - then falling for said husband)

It has good, tight pace, making it very readable and accessible. I think my reading experience suffered from not having read the previous books in the series - there is a lot of referencing, and some of the investment banks on knowledge of the characters and their relationships.

Just after Fiona Abry and her brother Daniel make a bet over who will find and accept love first, Fiona’s hippy dippy mother Buttercup, who abandoned her at age 6, comes for a very brief visit and gifts her a long-lost family heirloom, the first pocket watch made by Adolphus Abry, founder of the family’s watch company. According to her great-great-uncle Leo, who gave her mother the watch to pass on to her, if Fiona falls asleep holding it, “it will show you your heart’s desire. And then once you’ve dreamed it, you can grasp it.” Next thing she knows, she’s waking up on an isolated Caribbean island in bed with a stranger, Aaron, and mother to two children. To further confound things, she looks like the woman whose body she seems to be possessing. Over the course of the summer, she revisits the island nightly in vivid dreams, never knowing how much time has passed, if any, and slowly falling for Aaron.

There were a couple of minor issues that kept this from being a 5* read for me. It frustrated me how unintentionally cruel Fiona was by not being honest with Aaron about who she is, causing him such incredible hurt. Also, as a huge fan of Jillian and Daniel Abry, the couple from Ghosted, it is disappointing that this story takes place before they meet, so readers don’t get to revisit with them.

As always, though, Sarah Ready does an incredible job of crafting romances that defy time, space, and logic. In this third book of the Ghosted series, there are so many twists that readers are left guessing until the end whether Fiona’s dream guy, Aaron, is real but in another dimension or just a figment of her imagination. Highly recommended!

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Swift & Lewis Publishing through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

What if your dreams were real?! This book was so magical and makes you believe more in dreams. I love seeing an incite into Fi's HEA after reading the first two books. And I have to say I feel like this one is my favorite. It's so unique and full of wonder but still has twists to keep you guessing. The writing and the characters were great and had you fully invested in their story. I just loved this story ❤️

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I loved this book so so so SO much!!! I will be thinking about it for months. I loved the unpredictability of it all. I had no idea where it was going or what to expect and I loved every second of the wild ride.

Sarah had me in stitches with laughter and wheezing through tears. I don’t know how she does it. She’s a MASTER!! I will read every word this amazing author writes!

Read this now!!! Just trust me, thank me later. Your heart will burst with joy and you’ll be squealing in glee you’ll love it so much.

I am becoming such a huge fan of Sarah Ready and am going to catch up on her backlist now. This book was incredible! I love these types of stories so much that transcend reality and feel so romantic and fated. I eat them up. This was just perfect and I need a copy for my home library!

This is the 3rd book in a series, which can be read alone.

Sarah is very descriptive and her words guide you through each scene. Her love of reading, poetry, and watchmaking jumps off the page through her characters and their development.

Sarah continues to build a world that dances on the edges of reality and fantasy by weaving the two together.

To eliminate any confusion, this book takes place before Daniel’s book (Book 1 in the series: Ghosted) — so need to be devastated by thinking Daniel is single.
It took until about 30% in for things to start to click for me with Fiona’s story. I couldn’t put it down because I wasn’t sure where Ready was going with this book.
If I didn’t read the prologue or the previous 2 books, I’d have a better grasp from the start on things.

I do not want to post any spoilers, but the structure of Book 3 kept it from being a 5 star read for me. I’ve enjoyed this series, but this book felt very disconnected for the first 30%.

Thank you NetGalley and WW Crown Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC, and Sarah Ready for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! What a story! Sarah Ready really wove us an intricate web of possibilities here. With many romance novels- as we read we desire the most obvious happily ever after. With this story- I was so torn wanting her to have it ALL and not to settle from less than! I truly did not know where this story was going to end up at any point!

As far as the series goes- I've read Switched, loved it. Now, Fated. I do believe they can all be read alone but both are so good that I absolutely will go back and read Ghosted.

"Fated" by Sarah Ready is a captivating read that made me smile, laugh, and experience a range of emotions that few books manage to evoke. The twists and turns kept me on my toes, and I found myself wishing I could read it again for the first time. I raced through it, setting a personal record for how quickly I finished it. While the detailed descriptions at the beginning slowed the pace a bit for me, the engaging plot and well-developed characters more than made up for it. This book is fantastic, and I'm eager to dive into more of Sarah Ready's work.

I don’t even know where to start with this book. It made me smile and laugh and feel emotions that only a few books can give me.
I was shocked by the twists and turns and it’s one of those book that I wish I could read again for the first time. I may have set a personal best for how fast I read it!
One thing I disliked slightly was the amount of description in the beginning as I wanted to get into the plot quicker (but that’s just a personal preference).
The book is fantastic and I look forwards to reading other work by Sarah Ready.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I have enjoyed the previous books in the Ghosted series so I was looking forward to this next one. I have to say I was absolutely delighted with it! Definitely my favourite story in the series so far. On the surface it appears as a lighthearted book for a little escapism but I found it to be so much more than that. The story was full of brilliantly written characters that I adored and I desperately wanted a happy ending for them all. The story for me was a deep dive into our dreams, fears and hopes and was so beautifully written. I cannot wait for the next book. Highly recommended. 5 stars.

Fiona Abry excels at keeping busy, running her family’s Swiss watch company, and guarding her heart. She’s so busy she doesn’t have time for a vacation much less a love life. But then she’s given a family heirloom rumored to let you dream your greatest desire. Suddenly, Fiona is spending her nights on a tiny tropical island in a completely different life. She’s married. She has two kids. She lives in a colorful cottage on the beach. This dream life is so different from her hectic, busy life in the city that Fiona decides to live her dreams to the fullest. But what happens when opening yourself to love means falling for a life that isn’t real and a man who doesn’t exist? Because in the end, it’s not fate, it’s just a dream.

Once I started Fated, I couldn't put it down. This one is so different - yet felt so similar to the other books in the series. It's exciting to read because you never know which one is real and what comes next. Our connection to the rest of the series is Fiona, who is Daniel's (from Ghosted) sister. While the first two are best read in order, this one is absolutely okay to be read as a standalone or first in the series. As always, Sarah writes such beautiful characters that you just can't help but fall in love with.

Thank you to NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing and Sarah Ready for an advanced copy for review. Fated, book three in the Ghosted series, is set for release July 16th 2024.

The dreamy-est book by Sarah Ready, literally. Imagine meeting a man in your dreams. A book of fate and dreams. Definitely recommend!

Love this book! As always, I’m a huge fan of Sarah Ready and this book was no different! The characters were very interesting and the plot keeps readers entertained!

This was interesting! First of all, this book was a GOOD time and I will always apreciate that. I loved how it wasn't too cheesy or too serious, it felt well balanced, something that can be hard to find in the romance genre.
That being said, I don't think this was the deepest love story out there. I don't know why, but I couldn't fully connect with the characters even though I really liked Fiona and how the dichotomy of what you really want out of life was explored. Something was missing but I can't pinpoint exactly what. I haven't read any of the author's other books and that may be it, since they are interconnected standalones (from what I could gather). So I feel like I couldn't do this book justice. But honestly, these are minimal complaints and I liked the main couple, their development and the end of their story (I can't say much, but I think it was pretty perfect).
Definitely mixed feelings, but honestly mostly positive, so four stars for me!
Oh, and this is a personal taste thing, but I love how the premise of this book has that magical realism aspect to it, it's what made me pick it up!
*Thanks to NetGalley uk, the publishers, and the author for the ARC*

The third installment in the series, this one fell flat in comparison to the other two. I enjoy that author Sarah Ready utilizes some supernatural/magical elements in her romances to add a unique flair. This time, though, it ended up making me feel removed from the story. Fiona is quite interesting on her own, but having her have to balance between Becca's persona and hers was tough. Then, it added some tough-to-swallow moments when everyone had to over-answer Becca's questions in order to fill Fiona's query.

The conclusion of the story was a nice wrap up that brought back the romantic elements I was expecting, and it was nice to see Daniel, Mila, and Max from the earlier books, too.

Overall: 3 stars (I liked it)

**Thank you to NetGalley & Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Thank you so much to NetGalley and publishers for this arc. Sarah Ready has done it again please I could not put this down!! I'm so happy we got to finally see how Fiona got her happy ending and won that bet with Daniel lol... Sarah Ready's creativity astounds me cause how does someone come up with a story like that!! I need more books Sarah, I need "wished" already!!

This is my second read from the author's work and this one charmed me off again.
Starting from the plotline to the characters, the author has taken a good time to pen down each part of the book with such a delicacy that i absolutely had a great time reading it.
I am definitely looking forward to read more from the author's upcoming titles.

4/5 Stars
Praise to Sarah Ready for this book!

It was a fresh, new plot with engaging imagery making Fiona's dreams seem as if they were your own. I was immediately hooked and intrigued in Aaron and life on the island from the moment Fi dreamed it. The twist of Fi being the one who had shot herself really connected the plot and allowed for the connection of Fiona and Aaron in the real world to seem more realistic.

I did find that some of the plot lines were confusing like Mila's dad. The way he was introduced was abrupt and as I was reading it, I thought that it was in the present, meaning Fiona was pregnant with her second child. I think it could have been more obvious that she was referring to the past. Another part that I was slightly confused on was the real Becca. After reading the whole book you could infer she was not a good mother/wife but the jump to her making out with Robert was slightly startling. I would have liked if there were hints of marital troubles before we knew she was cheating on him.

I think the beginning/ introduction to the characters and plot could have been done in a more clear way as it takes a while to fully understand who is who. But once I passed that confusing stage I was not able to put the book down. The ending was incredible and I it was well thought out and creative.

Overall, a very good book!! It had me crying when I thought Aaron was dead and I had the biggest smile on my face when Fiona found a way to save the island! I cant wait to purchase a copy when it is released!

Fated is the third book in the Sarah Ready's Ghosted series, and focuses on the sister of one of the main characters in book 1. There are no spoilers for the other books, so if you read it out of order as your intro to Sarah's work, you won't have to worry about ruining the suspense in the other books.

I first found Sarah's second book in the Ghosted series, Switched, as an ARC on NetGalley, and fell in love with her writing style and her characters. I immediately ordered a paper copy of Switched, and two of her other books (Ghosted and The Space Between) as soon as I finished, and I was thrilled to see Fated available on NetGalley this week so that I could dive into it right away. Book 3 does not disappoint, and I will be buying a copy of this one as soon as it's published as well.

Sarah Ready doesn't write tropes. She writes beautiful, real, flawed characters and sets them in a world of magical realism so intricately detailed and plotted, it feels like it might actually be possible. Each of her stories opens up one of these pocket realms that seamlessly blends with real life, and the character conflicts, plot twists, and resolutions organically spring from that magic in a way that feels meant to be.

In Fated, Fiona Abry is a busy executive running her family's company. She has abandonment and betrayal in her past, and has closed her heart off to love, in favor of a few close relationships with her family and friends. After a harrowing event that leaves her shaken, she receives a lost family heirloom that was rumored to enable the bearer to dream of their greatest desire. Taking the leap, she dreams of a love beyond her wildest imagination, and one that she would only dare to open herself up to outside of her waking life. Fiona will have to find out if she can learn to let someone into her heart, and if she can do it before time runs out.

This is a story, and a set of characters that has a special place in my heart. Thanks for NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book, and the introduction to Sarah Ready. She is now one of my must-read authors, and I can't wait to read the next installment in this series, and what I hope will be much more to come in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this story, this is my honest and objective review. Fated is the 3rd in a series, I've read and enjoyed the first two and this was a good one although I think I liked Ghosted more. I don't know that you have to have read the other two in order to enjoy this one, it works fine as a standalone. Events take place prior to Ghosted (the first in the series, Daniel's story). What I've liked about the series is there's always an element of mystery in these fantastical scenarios that the stories have in them. What's real and what's not? It's not always easy to see where the story is going, for me anyway (which, frankly, it would be boring if you could). So the reader commits to following the author along on all the twists and turns to see where it finally ends up. And as with the other two in the series, you really need to suspend disbelief if you're going to enjoy the story, otherwise you'll be distracting yourself from the story with reasonable but needless and frustrating questions about reality. Trust me on this.

So we have Fiona, sister to Daniel, both heirs to family watch company. Fiona has a young daughter Mila, from a past relationship that ended in heartbreak for Fiona. Fiona's close friend is Max, who of course wants to be more. Fiona's mother abandoned her to her father when young. As mentioned, Daniel is the mmc from the first book, we met Fiona briefly in Ghosted. At the center of the story is the first timepiece made by the Abry family, which went missing decades ago. So of course Fiona's hippy-dippy absentee mother has it, stolen from Fiona's great-uncle Leopold. Fiona has closed herself off to love and legend is that the watch can help you to live your dreams, which Fiona decides to test because why not? She then dreams a very real-feeling world in which she takes over another woman's life (Becca), married to the lovely Aaron McCormick, living on an island somewhere. The dream life is definitely written more vividly than her Swiss life. So where does she really belong? Is she Fiona or is she Becca? Are the dreams even real? Will it be Max or McCormick? What if the dreams exist just to show you how you can make changes in your real life to get there what you have in your dreams? It was a great ride, and the story itself grabbed me until the end. Her books must take so much planning, holy cow.

My main issue here is that while I liked all of the characters (it's hard not to like Aaron and Max, and I'd already liked Daniel in Ghosted although he's kind of a watered-down version here), I had a little bit of a hard time with Fiona. She was a bit cold and hard for me to engage with in the beginning, I assume the distance was on purpose to show how much she'd shut herself away from love. She definitely came to life once the dreaming started. This was a great installment in the series, and I'm looking forward to the next one!