4.5 Stars
Fiona is a watchmaker from Geneva, Switzerland who is given a family heirloom watch that is said to show you your desires in dreams if you sleep with it. She dreams of a lush, tropical island and a man named, Aaron who she quickly falls deeply in love with. She splits her time between “real” life and her “dream” life. Even though she longs to be with Aaron always, she knows that this is just a dream and it eventually it must end. But is this love real? Is Aaron real?

Fated is the 3rd book in the Ghosted series and is my favorite. There are so many deep feelings interwoven into the story: longing and passion, guilt & uncertainty, overcoming fears. It’s about loss and sacrifices, rediscovering yourself and learning how to love and to heal. I was brought to tears ready this book more than once. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read the next in the series!

Thank You NetGalley and publishers for this ARC.

Another gut wrenching book by Sarah, if you love time jumping, magic and romance this book is for you.

The complexity in the romance and the way she handled it was very poetic, you care for the characters and want that at the end everything be fine.

I need the next book ASAP.

They say not to judge a book by its cover, but I went into this expecting a fluffy, surface level book. This ended up being a lot more than that! This was a beautifully written story, and I really enjoyed it. I thought what was particularly strong was exploring many different kinds of relationships - siblings, friendship, and parenthood in addition to just a romantic storyline. Fiona was a thoughtful and well constructed main character, and I liked hearing about her journey - a couple of plot twists I didn’t see coming, so that was fun and kept me on my toes! There were a few world building inconsistencies and question marks I had about the time travel of it all, but for the most part I was happy to overlook these for the sake of the story. I’ll definitely check out Sarah Ready’s other books in the series after this.

Thanks to Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this story. This was the second book by Sarah Ready I have read, and it was even better than the first one. Can’t wait to read the next one.
The story was very well written. Fiona got an old watch from her mother that was supposed to let you dream your greatest desire. I really liked the “dream your greatest desire” magic, and the interactions between Fi and Aaron (the dream husband). It was a very sweet story that both tugged on my heartstrings and made me gasp. I highly recommend it!

The audio version of this book was great. The narrator did an excellent job. Easy to listen to and follow along with.

4 Stars! ✨❤️

Thank you to Swift and Lewis Publishing, and NetGalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I can always count on Sarah Ready for a well-executed whimsical romance and “Fated” was no exception ❤️ This was *chef’s kiss.*

In this story we follow along with the POV of our main character Fiona. She is a very busy, determined woman who runs a Swiss watch company along-side her brother. On top of that she is a single parent who does not believe she has the time or capability to open herself up to love. On one fateful evening her mother gifts her an heirloom, a watch meant to show you your heart's desire. In her dreams, she is o a tropical island with little to no exposure to other parts of the world (and social media.) She is married and has 2 beautiful children. She slowly starts to care for this other family, but this is only in her dreams, right? Why does she feel so strongly for a life that isn’t real?

OH MY LANTA. I think I love Sarah Ready. She has such a beautiful poetic writing style with luscious world building that really captivates me and draws me into her stories. I could feel the push and pull between our main character's 2 worlds. This was phenomenal.

The chemistry between Fiona and Aaron just felt so natural and easy. There was tension, sparks, and loving moments that felt like they had known one another for a lifetime. I just held onto hope that these two were truly meant to be.

The characters who lived on the island were a hoot. I truly loved them! ❤️

I do hope that Max will one day find his happy ending. He deserves happiness, and sparks. Maybe in a future story?

If you love a romance that keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting more - you need to read this. ✨

Is it live or is it Memorex? Fiona is a single mom and is gifted a watch. Not just any watch. She is transported to her dreams. Much of this book is ethereal. Once I got the gist, it was unputdownable and absorbing. The conflict for Fiona of real life and dream life was a clincher. Max, one of her love interests is swoon worthy!

#3 in a series and can be read as a stand alone. This was a great read between heavier books. I would classify it as magical realism and a delightful escape.

The audio narration is great, she did a great job with the characters. The perfect voice for Fated. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

While this is book 3 in the series, I read this as a standalone without any issues. I am interested in checking out the other books in the series now.
This was really good. I was hooked. I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of being in someone else’s body. I didn’t like Becka. She was terrible wife and an even worse mother. I do wondered whhatt happened to Becka when Fi was there. I would have liked to see more on how this worked. The family heirloom was interesting but I didn’t love this concept, maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had more information on how this worked.
I love the relationship between Fiona and the kids. It’s definitely what they needed. The relationship and chemistry with Aaron was great! The ending was good. The growth Aaron has is amazing. I enjoyed the children and broken home aspect of thee story. It give a take on real life relationship dynamics.
The narration was great! I am adding her to my favorite narrators list.

This is the second book I read by Sarah Ready, and it will not be my last.
I have read book two in the ghosted series already and I really liked it so I obviously wanted to read the next book in the series.
Fated is a really good book and I liked the characters and in general the whole idea, especially the ending.
Overall, I think it was a great book and I am looking even more forward to read book one (and of course book four when it gets published)

4

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Well, the book certainly had a compelling plot, which kept me wanting to know what the main character is going to do next the entire time, but I don't think I could connect to her. Her journey of self-discovery and finding wasn't interesting, and I'm not gonna blame this on the story or the author, because I suppose it is my fault for not being a fan of the 'love triangle' trope.

Despite my dislike for the romantic plot (which, could be blamed on my personal preference), I did find the plot interesting, the people of the island, the dilemma, the questions, and of course, the lines between reality and the dream.

I hope this doesn't sound offensive, but the narrator's voice for Sean was kinda really weird everytime I had to hear the "mammamamama". But it could be just me not being a fan of a certain kind of baby voice?

3.5 stars.

Fiona has had her heartbroken a few too many times and has given up on love. When her mom comes back and gives her a watch that will help her find heart’s desire. She thinks her mom is crazy until she falls asleep holding the watch and meets him.

He’s absolutely perfect in every way but is he real or is he just in her dreams. Fiona goes on an adventure of the lifetime to figure that out

This book started off okay, the middle was great, the third act breakup was unnecessary but the ending was like finally. Took you long enough. I really wanted to like this book but Fiona had me up a wall. I just wanted her to be happy and she was like spouting off about how it’s not real and it drove me crazy!

But I love a good happy ending and Fated gave me that.

For fans of found families, true love, time travel, magic and everyone deserves a happy ending types you will find exactly what you need in this book

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC of this book

In Fated by Sarah Ready, Fiona is a busy executive juggling her work life balance while running her family's respected Swiss watch company. After a life-changing experience, she receives a family heirloom that lets her dream of things she doesn't feel she can wish for when she is awake. When she sleeps, she lives a simple and beautiful life on an island with a husband and two kids. As she begins to fall in love with the life she is dreaming, she realizes she must learn how to do the same with her real life.

Listening to this audiobook was so enjoyable. When I wasn't listening to it, I was wondering when I could listen to it. The magical aspect of the MC dreaming their desires was so fun and would feel so familiar to anyone who has woken up from a dream they did not want to leave.

I was a bit conflicted about the main character and the speed at which it felt like they were changing. Given the plot line of the book I don't think the aim was for the character development timeline to be realistic.

I enjoyed how this storyline surprised me at times and am looking forward to going back and reading the first two "standalone" books in the Ghosted series. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to get lost in a dream for a while.

Big thanks to Netgalley, Sarah Ready, and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for the ARC.

I enjoyed the originality of this book. It was super easy and enjoyable to listen to it. Great narrator. I do think Daniel should have been already married since he was on book 2 of the series.

Thanks for this ARC!

This has been by far my favorite book written in the series so far. Each book has gotten better in my opinion. This one was a really bizarre and unique concept, but I really enjoyed the execution. I was initially a little skeptical in the beginning but I thought it came together beautifully in the end. It was a really beautiful story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! It’s different from most books I read but the plot is so unique!! It was a little slow for me in the beginning but that’s just because I wanted her to dream again so I could learn more about the island! Once I got about 20% into the audiobook I was hooked and I had no idea how this story was going to pan out. The plot twist at the end was something I wasn’t expecting at all. Also the narrator Shakira Shute is amazing! She did a fantastic job. Thank you Netgalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing and Sarah Ready for sending me an Arc in exchange for my honest review.

3/5 stars

Plot: 3/5 - i cannot tell a lie, this plot was JUICY and had me fully invested because i was dying to know where things were going to end up. fiona (fi) is literally having lucid dreams about her dream man? hot. but she's not herself? and the person she's embodying in her dreams is married to her dream man but cheating with his best friend??? SPICY. and in real life her own best friend is patiently pining after her??????? lord give me strength, i love it here. i do feel like the ending got quite convoluted (and i absolutely cried at the LAST scene sarah ready probably intended lmao), so in the end the dreaming device got to be a bit much for me, and i think we had a few more twists and turns than the plot really needed.

Characters: 4/5 - give me book four immediately so i can inject the love and respect max deserves directly into my veins!!!!! i was also very deeply invested in amie (i listened to the audio so i'm sure her name is probably not spelled that way, but in my heart that's how i believe her name is spelled) and i did love reading her relationship with fi. love it when the girlies help heal each others' traumas.

Pacing: 2/5 - THIS BOOK WAS SO LONG AND FOR WHAT. i have read sarah ready before (and quite enjoyed her writing!) so i did not anticipate how overwrought this was at times. this ties in to both my feelings on the plot and on the writing but idk this just felt like one of the longest audiobooks i've ever listened to, and i wanted to tell her JUST GET TO THE POINT. i genuinely almost DNFed about a third of the way in because it felt like nothing was happening.

Writing: 3/5 - sarah ready can write romance soooooo wellllllllllllll. i adore the way she writes romantic chemistry and tension and spicy moments. the writing for the rest of the book seemed really labored though, in a way i just could not make sense of. the sensory descriptions were like full on LISTS. she would make a perfectly good metaphor and then give an anecdote from fi's life to explain the metaphor as if it didn't already make sense. truly baffling decisions were made imo.

Enjoyment: 3/5 - again... i got invested in the WRONG plotline lol sorry!!!

I was initially intrigued by the concept of "Fated", but ultimately found it lacking in substance. The story felt predictable and cliché, with little depth to the characters or their relationships. Fiona's sudden obsession with her dream life felt forced and unrealistic, and I struggled to connect with her as a protagonist. The romantic elements of the story were underdeveloped and lacked chemistry, making it difficult to invest in the supposed love story. Overall, while the idea had potential, the execution fell flat and left me feeling disappointed.

I didn't realize this was the third book in a series but it honestly didn't even matter. I enjoyed this story so much!

Fated was a slow burn.. and I love slow burns so I wasn't disappointed by it at all. This book is all about finding love in unconventional ways... I mean, waking up next to a man on a tropical island? Hello.. very unconventional but somehow worked so well.

I absolutely loved the vivid detail of the island. I love love love any movie or book where the setting is tropical. I always feel transported there and Sarah Ready did just that for me.

This book was beautifully written and well thought out. I had no idea what to expect from this author and she didn't disappoint. I will be checking out the first two books in the series!

I'm landing at 3.25/5 stars on this one. Fated is the third installment in the Ghosted series, and unlike most reviewers, this one was my least favorite of the three. (Please note, each book in this series can be treated as a standalone.) I am a big fan of Ready's books and there's no doubt that she's an extremely skilled writer. In full disclosure, I'm not a fan of magical realism, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the way she writes it. However, this book felt a bit too long, a bit too descriptive/wordy and a bit too disjointed. I had a hard time connecting with or really caring about the FMC. I do think the narrator did a great job bringing these character to life. I am extremely grateful to NetGalley, Swift & Lewis Publishing, and the author for the ALC and ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Fated is an absolutely lovely book. I’ve read and enjoyed many of Sarah Ready’s earlier works, but Fated took my breath away. Literally. I wasn’t sure a few chapters before the end how in the world she was going to pull it off, and I had to keep reminding myself that it was categorized as a romance. As the cover implies, the novel takes place in two very different settings. One is sophisticated, elegant, intoxicatingly wealthy Geneva, and the other is a sand-swept Caribbean island, where the general store only has one bottle of lukewarm cola left, and the mail boat comes in once a week. Becca lives on the island with her husband McCormick and two children (one of which may be her lover’s), and Fiona is the co-director of a world-famous watch company in Switzerland. She’s the single mother to a wonderful daughter, has an enviably close relationship to her brother (and co-director), and has a dear male friend who would love to take their relationship to the next step. Those are the cold, hard facts, and that’s where anything resembling normalcy ends. Because a magic watch lets Fiona live/dream short bursts of Becca’s life and cleaves her heart in two. My impossibly sky-high to-be-read pile makes me try to hurry through every book I read or listen to, but I slowed down as I approached the end of Fated, both because I feared what looked like a heart-breaking conclusion (have faith – it’s a ROMANCE!) and because I never wanted the story to end. Lovely. Simply lovely, and the audiobook’s narration was perfect.

"Fated" by Sarah Ready is like a cross between "The Seven Year Slip" and "Freaky Friday."

Although the story was a bit slow to grab my attention initially, it became truly interesting once the FMC and we, the readers, started to realize what was happening and how the magical realism element worked.

Max deserves better, but Aaron deserves all the good things in the world. I adored Aaron; he is an absolute gem of a human being. I just wanted to hug him and find a way for these two characters to come together and live happily ever after. Thankfully, that’s what we got in the end, though it was quite a journey to get there.

I am always struck by the creativity of magical realism, as it makes magic feel real. Sarah Ready crafted a unique magical component in this story that made me very invested in the characters and their story arcs.

Fiona's character arc focused on her desire to be loved but her struggle to let anyone in, fearing they might hurt her again. She feels she can love freely in her dreams but is afraid to love anyone in real life. Watching her discover what it’s like to be truly loved and how she proceeds with her relationship decisions is both frustrating and satisfying in the long run.

Shakira Shute's performance was good, but it didn’t particularly stand out. The narration didn’t immediately draw me in or keep me engaged at the beginning. I contemplated DNFing in the first 20%, and I wondered if that was due to the narration. However, after reading a few other reviews, it seems many people weren't thrilled by the beginning of the book. It is worth sticking with it, as the payoff is worth the slow start.

Thank you to NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for the ALC.