Man of My Dreams

Book Description

Four all-new stories featuring handsome heroes who can possess a woman's heart and satisfy her late-night yearnings.

USA Today bestselling author Maggie Shayne "beautifully combines a twisting plot with a thrilling romance" (Lisa Gardner).

USA Today bestselling author Suzanne Forster "is a stylist who translates sexual tension into sizzle and burn" (Los Angeles Times).

National bestselling author Virginia Kantra's stories are "packed with the joy and wonder of love" (Patricia Rice).

USA Today bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon's "imagination is as bright as her future" (Teresa Medeiros).

Customer Reviews:

Argh!.......2007-06-06

I will admit to writing this review because this book really, really irritated me. It was one of those books that you read and wish that: A. You hadn't spent actual money on it and B. You really, really wish you could get that hour and a half of your life back.

WARNING: If you are planning to read this book this review contains spoilers.

I like Sherrilyn Kenyon, and I often find the stories she turns into shorts are the ones I wish she'd "novelize," (and some of her novels I really could live with if they were just shorts). This short story was set in the distant outer space future and not part of any of her current series, so far as I know. It was short and sweet, emphasis on the way, way too short; it felt like huge chunks of the story were missing. The story is of the young princess Livia whose abusive father is forcing her to marry the really old disgusting guy to cement a trade agreement. Old smelly guy demands a virgin; so in order to escape from him and to escape from trading one kind of enslaved captive life for another (only involving icky groping this time), she sneaks out to a bar to find a cherry popper. There she finds Adron, who we later find out is the prince of the planet they happen to be on. Adron is damaged and frail thanks to an earlier encounter with a psychopath while saving an innocent kid (how disgustingly sweet). Princess has sex with Adron, Daddy tracks her down in the morning and barges into their bedroom. Daddy threatens her, and in a bid to protect her Adron claims he took her for wife and she agrees. Princess is a magic healer, ends up healing Adron at the cost of her own health, but her mommy the better healer shows up to save her, too. Happy ending is had. I don't like space operas. I don't like futuristic romances for the most part. This story is the exception. This story's biggest problem was that it was too short, I'd like to see a longer, better fleshed out version, and as much as I hate to say it (I really do have this strange aversion to space romance), I'd even read this if it turned into a series.

That said and moving on, the other three stories in this book were a waste of space that made my head hurt.

The Maggie Shayne short is the story of psychic girl who gets visions of the future who ends up with the detective cursed to die at 35 (like all the men of his family). Together they try to investigate a series of unconvincing rape/murders. It turns out the so-called "curse" on our hero is his (utterly mundane) fatherly boss, the chief of police, who is also conveniently the raping murderer. I'm not a big Shayne fan, even her vampire romances are formulaic and trite with few exceptions, and this story is in that same category. Her detective is a moron and a jacka--; apparently cops in Shayne's world have the crime solving IQ of cabbages (with a general IQ no higher...) and her psychic is a useless ninny.

Shocking Lucy by Suzanne Forster is as dumb as its title. Girl is engaged, girl's fiancé has friend seduce girl to see if it's really true love, Girl and dumb seducer fall in love, Girl decides not to be with either one of them because of the "deception", seducer makes grand gesture and wins girl back. Awful. Unpleasant. Nausea inducing. I can't even say I hated the characters in this story, because, while they were so offensively moronic as to inspire hatred, they were too shallow to even care about enough to hate. Before I review a book, especially if I'm going to give a negative review I re-read it in an attempt to be fair. I tried to re-read this story before reviewing it, but about 10 pages in I got so annoyed that I flipped to the end. I just couldn't bring myself to reread it. In fact, I'm concerned that the awful dullness of this story will cause me to block it from my memory and in a horrible moment of brain lapse I'll mistakenly re-read it and hate myself forever. I need to remind myself I should never visit this story again, I'm thinking of making a note of that in black permanent ink on the first page of it but can't bring myself to deface a book.

I wanted to like Virginia Kantra's Midsummer Night's Magic because I like fairytales. I wanted, I tried, and I failed miserably. This is a modern retelling of Tam Lin (girl's beau gets kidnapped by Queen of Fae and girl has to hold on to him all night to win him back, despite various and painful transformations on his part). In this version girl is a librarian and boy is the guy she was dating who disappeared 14 years earlier (they had a fight and he walked out and never came back, turns out he went to play with the fairies). She runs into him in the woods on Beltane thanks to a fan belt that snaps and strands the AAA-less twit (rant: if you have zero mechanical aptitude, it's okay, we all have strengths and weaknesses. Just, for crying out loud, own up to it and get roadside assistance, or have a mechanically inclined friend on speed dial, or at least have some vague, foggy notion of something you could possibly do in the event of vehicle failure beyond hoping a mysterious stranger will magically appear and fix your car and won't murder you for having brains made of porridge and being too stupid to live.)
(Back to the review) "Wow, he bears a remarkable resemblance to someone I knew many years ago," our brainiac opines when the handsome stranger comes wandering out of the woods, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, demanding she remove her pantyhose so he can fix her car (see, too stupid to live, brains that would envy porridge). Car fixed, girl drives away. Months later (maybe it was days, or weeks, who cares?) girl sees boy a second time driving in the same middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, has random sex with him in the woods, and gets herself knocked up. She is still too stupid to figure out who he is, even after he TELLS her what's going on. Finally, Puck visits her and spells it out for her in little teeny tiny words she can understand, sort of. She goes back to the woods on Halloween to Face Off with the Fae in an absurd (I don't know if it's the fact that the author found the description of the shirt necessary or the idea of the shirt itself I found so incredibly absurd, but it certainly stayed with me) Pumpkin shirt and a f(very bad word)ing SKIRT to play out the Tam Lin story and try to hold on to her man. First of all, I really hope my librarians are literate enough to have at least a vague recollection of classic fairytales, and second of all, WHAT LIBRARIAN, WITH AN ENTIRE LIBRARY AT HER DISPOSAL is too BLOODY STUPID to at least do SOME research into what is going on and not WEAR A SKIRT TO A SHOWDOWN??? Anywise, it's an utterly unimaginative slaughter of an old fairytale and so, of course, has an utterly inane oversimplified and predictable happy ever after that both main characters are too terminally stupid to deserve.

satisfied.......2007-05-18

I am never disappointed by Ms. Kenyon's books. I just get somewhat impatient for the next release.

Good BOOK.......2007-03-08

Favorite Authors of all time. It's a great book to read if your a big fan of romance.

Not Up to Par.......2006-12-22

This is a compilation by authors Sherrilyn Kenyon, Maggie Shayne, Suzanne Forster and Virginia Kantra.

The first story Fire and Ice a disappointing short story by Sherrilyn Kenyon is set in the future and Adron the hero, is a former assassin for his government who was terribly mangled and injured in a rescue attempt of a pregnant woman years ago. His injuries have left him forever in pain and terribly bitter. When he meets Livia who is escaping an arranged marriage to a cruel old man, he marries her to save her from her fate. Livia falls instantly in love with her new husband who tries to harden his heart against her for fear of loving someone and being rejected but he finds himself in love with her as well. When Livia makes a sacrifice for Adron, he must allow himself to fight for this love. I was disappointed in this story because it left too many unexplained questions as to why things are the way they are. I understand it is a short story but I have seen authors pull these off and not leave you hanging. This definitely is not up to Kenyon's standards.

The second story by Maggie Shayne is Daydream Believer. It is a little better than the first story. Megan Rose has visions and when she has one about the location of a body calls her local police department only to be told her information is wrong. Actually, her information is right on target and a suspicious police chief asks his top detective Sam to get close to Megan to find out if she is an accomplace to the crime. When it becomes apparent that a seriel killer is on the loose, Sam asks for Megan's help in cracking the case but she ends up being stalked by the killer. Then Sam has to decide whether he will change his beliefs and really believe that Megan is psychic although he knows he is falling in love with her. Megan knows Sam has doubts but needs his trust to fully love him. Once again, this story kind of disappoints in that there are holes in the story. The author explains that Sam's dad had dirt on the police chief but never tells exactly what it was.

The third story by Suzanne Forster, Shocking Lucy, is okay but once again I feel let down by the author in that it feels like an important element of the story is missing. When Lucy meets sexy Noah, she starts doubting whether she should follow through with her impending marriage. Her fiance, Frederick meets every requirement for the perfect man on a list she made when she was in high school. The only requirement he doesn't meet is that his kisses don't make her sparkle. Lucy feels a secure man is better than passion but her feelings for Noah makes her have doubts. Noah is determined to prove that she can have that sparkle and a good man, but when Lucy feels betrayed by Noah she starts doubting everything.

The last story by Virginia Kantra, Midsummer Night's Magic, is the story of Janet a 35 year old librarian that stumbles onto a wild party when her car breaks down. She meets a man who looks just like the boyfriend she loved who disappeared when they were 22 years old. When she finds out he is her old boyfriend Ross, he tells her that he was kidnapped by the Shidh after a fight they had in college and is bound to the queen so she won't let him leave. They make love and Janet leaves. Three months later, a pregnant Janet comes back looking for Ross. She finds out he is to be sacrificed on Halloween but she can save him if she is willing to do what it takes.

These short stories are lacking somehow and I know that these kind of books can be good because I have read several that succeeded. Still the stories are entertaining enough, but there are so many better books out there that I would rather read.

Nice little bits of escapism.......2006-04-28

I liked these stories overall, some were better thanothers.

"Fire and Ice" Sherrily Kenyon

This is a sci-fi, future fantasy type story, it starts out in a seedy bad--always a fun place to begin. With a roguish fellow who wants to be drunk desperately and a princess who wants to 'give it up' so she doesn't hve to marry a geezer in an arranged marriage. And poof. The chemistry btwn the two lead characters is great, the story is really interesting, both of the main characters are well drawn and engaging, it was a smart move to put this story first because it made me want to read more.

"Daydream Beleiver" Maggie Shayne

This one was sort of sad, its about a woman who has psychic powers that aren't particularly useful to her, until the opening of the story. They help her solve a decades old mystery, save her own life and that of her newly found love (the son of the original murder victim) While the action gets pretty intense, there isn't too much of a mystery to slove here, I had figured out who the real killer was very early on, so the build up to that was pretty wasted on me. One of the weaker stories in this book.

"Shocking Lucy"Suzanne Forster

This one was okay, it was pretty contrived plotwise, though some of the twists were pretty entertaining. Probably in ways the weakest one in this book. Lucy is engaged to a boring but stable guy, until a man fights with her over a leather attache in a department store. He gives her sparks the way her fiance doesn't. Irony of ironies, he is an electrician (that is an unusual romantic interest job, so props for that at least). Lucy struggles with what her heart tells her and what her history in life tells her (father abandoment issues, she wants stable and boring). I quite possibly enjoyed the character of her mother the best, and she was pretty minor.

"Midsummer Night's Magic" Virginia Kantra

This was the next best of the stories, its a new twist on the Tamerlane (sp?) story. A man dissapeared several years ago leaving a woman in the middle of a lover's spat. Now he shows up, she is half way to middle aged and he is still young and vigorous, how is this? He's been the fairy queen's consort and it is up to his former mortal lover to save him. The characters in this, inspite of their fantastical nature, were presented in a pretty real manner, which I enjoyed. I also liked Puck's presence, always the one precariously keeping the balance.

Overall an enjoyable book the first and last stories are the best by far though.

Average customer rating:

Sittenfeld's pretty honest
The tragedy of unfounded hopes
A late summer read that speaks volumes
Ultimately unsatisfying
Painfully Accurate

The Man of My Dreams: A Novel
Curtis Sittenfeld
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0812975391
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Book Description

“Being raised in an unstable household makes you understand that the world doesn’t exist to accommodate you, which, in Hannah’s observation, is something a lot of people struggle to understand well into adulthood.”–from The Man of My Dreams

In her acclaimed debut novel, Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld created a touchstone with her pitch-perfect portrayal of adolescence. Her prose is as intensely realistic and compelling as ever in The Man of My Dreams, a disarmingly candid and sympathetic novel about the collision of a young woman’s fantasies of family and love with the challenges and realities of adult life.

Hannah Gavener is fourteen in the summer of 1991. In the magazines she reads, celebrities plan elaborate weddings; in Hannah’s own life, her parents’ marriage is crumbling. And somewhere in between these two extremes–just maybe–lie the answers to love’s most bewildering questions. But over the next decade and a half, as she moves from Philadelphia to Boston to Albuquerque, Hannah finds that the questions become more rather than less complicated: At what point can you no longer blame your adult failures on your messed-up childhood? Is settling for someone who’s not your soul mate an act of maturity or an admission of defeat? And if you move to another state for a guy who might not love you back, are you being plucky–or just pathetic?

None of the relationships in Hannah’s life are without complications. There’s her father, whose stubbornness Hannah realizes she’s unfortunately inherited; her gorgeous cousin, Fig, whose misbehavior alternately intrigues and irritates Hannah; Henry, whom Hannah first falls for in college, while he’s dating Fig; and the boyfriends who love her more or less than she deserves, who adore her or break her heart. By the time she’s in her late twenties, Hannah has finally figured out what she wants most–but she doesn’t yet know whether she’ll find the courage to go after it.

Full of honesty and humor, The Man of My Dreams is an unnervingly insightful and beautifully written examination of the outside forces and personal choices that make us who we are.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Sittenfeld's pretty honest.......2007-09-30

I should have reviewed Prep after I read it, but I didn't, so some of this will compare the two.
Hannah, the main character of The Man of my Dreams, is a young woman trying to figure love, and more specifically, men, out. Hannah is extremely average, even mediocre. Like Lee, the main character in Prep, she doesn't seem to have any hobbies, interests, or even friends. Both of these characters lack confidence to a degree that astounds me. I enjoyed The Man of my Dreams a lot more than I did Prep, mostly because Prep feels like a slow drowning- Lee is thrown into the swimming pool at Ault and you watch as she sinks to the bottom over four years. That Lee is thoughtful, intelligent and even at times, funny, does not make up for the tragedy that unfolds during the course of the book... The Man of my dreams is less of a tragedy than Prep- Hannah grows (instead of regressing) and learns, but I found her to be not as smart or as funny, or even as nice as Lee, and I didn't think Lee was particularly nice when I read Prep. When Hannah takes up with the cheating Oliver, part of the attraction is that she can be mean around him and he'll be okay with that. If Hannah was wickedly funny, I don't think I'd care that she's not particularly nice, but she's not (the narrator, on the other hand, gives some laugh out loud moments).
In the end, the thing that makes Sittenfeld's writing so special, and it IS special, is her honesty. I don't think I've ever read books where the author was so willing to balance on a high wire in front of the world. What's funny about it is that she's observing things that probably half the world notices, but the rest of us think we're the only ones and therefore would never say it out loud. Sittenfeld's either completely fearless or she KNOWS that she's not alone- either of these qualities would make her pretty rare.
If you're not afraid of truth, read her books.

The tragedy of unfounded hopes.......2007-09-24

Although The Man of My Dreams is a really banal title, the concerns of the novel it represents are at times profound. But then its author, Curtis Sittenfeld, is such a contrarian writer that quite possibly she wanted the title to cut both ways: on the one hand to be seen as ironic, but on the other to be seen as so wildly hopeful that both her fans and her new readers would immediately know that if ironies follow sorrow, then hopes (and above all unfounded hopes) precede it.

Sittenfeld's novel is certainly all about unfounded hopes, and for her protagonist, Hannah Gavener, the man of her dreams is Henry, a former boyfriend of Hannah's beautiful cousin Fig. Sittenfeld astutely captures Hannah's long adoration of Henry as well as Henry's alternating layers of uncanny emotional awareness and casual dishonesty. But Henry could also be what Hannah has always most truly desired: "a man who will deny her; a man of her own who isn't hers."

The man of Fig's dreams is a man we never meet, we only see her planning to fly out to California to spend time with him, and in a much later chapter we see her reveal two things that startle Hannah: (1) that she no longer remembers this man; not his name, not his profession, not anything about him, and (2) after years of being the object of stunned worship from multitudes of men, Fig has fallen in love with a woman.

But this novel suffers a kind of death when it's reduced to a story line; the real news about Sittenfeld is that she is such an honest and usefully detached writer that it can be an extreme pleasure reading her dissections of sex, first sex, humiliation, resentment, wistful envy, rueful ire, and the formal surprises that come with forgiveness.

She also writes more perceptively about adolescent sexual shyness than any other novelist I've ever read, accurately conveying all the ways it makes a certain kind of anxious and inhibited young woman (in this case Hannah) grab apprehensive control of sexual situations, even though she's so inexperienced that she imagines she's being considerate rather than withholding when she's in bed with her mystified boyfriends.

In this sense, Hannah resembles Lee Fiora in Sittenfeld's first novel, Prep. They are also both fourteen years old at the beginnings of their respective novels, but while Lee's story covers four years at an elite New England prep school, Hannah quickly grows older, goes to university, goes to work, moves from city to city.

The Man of My Dreams also aims to have a wider and deeper social resonance than Prep in the sense that it is bookended by two narratives concerning tragically afflicted male children. In the first chapter we meet Rory, an eight-year-old cousin of Hannah's who has Down's Syndrome. In the final chapter, set in New Mexico, Hannah is teaching at a school for autistic boys, news that we learn from a letter she writes to her former psychiatrist. This letter ends the novel and feels too rushed and convenient a way to respond to too many unanswered questions.

But in spite of the shortcomings of this final letter as well as an opening paragraph that comes across as boring chick lit (it begins the novel with the words "Julia Roberts is getting married..." then a few lines later tells us that the bridesmaids' shoes are "Manolo Blahnik, $475 a pair")--The Man of My Dreams soon begins to move much more swiftly than Prep did. It also feels looser, bolder, less claustrophobic and so, inevitably, more free. There are also more scenes set in the open air, and these scenes are the most alive and memorable sequences in the book.

Hannah's trip to Alaska with her sister Allison, Allison's boyfriend, and the boyfriend's "alarmingly handsome" and unbearable older brother is the best chapter of all, giving Sittenfeld the chance to brilliantly catch what's most socially awkward, unbearably damp, openly hostile, and truly catastrophic about camping in the wild.

There's also a great scene where Hannah gazes at a glacier from a boat sailing on Prince William Sound and realizes that she has always imagined a glacier as "clear and glittery and neatly edged, like an oversize ice cube from a tray, but this is more like a field of ruffled, dirty snow. It has a blue tint, as if squirted with Windex."

Whether Sittenfeld means for the glacier to be a defiled image of our ruined world or a metaphor for the difference between what's romanticized and what's real, it works spookily well in this novel. As does the scene, a few days later, when Hannah loses her glasses in the middle of a drenching Alaskan downpour. Her glasses are never found, but for a long time after her return home she sometimes pictures them on the floor of the North Pacific. "It is dark and calm down there; fish slip past; her glasses rest untouched, the clear plastic lenses and titanium frames. In the stillness without her, the glasses see and see."

Those lost glasses could very well also symbolize Hannah herself, ardent about love although too often asexual about sex, a woman whose detachment (so like the inspired detachment of her creator) also allows her to see and see.

*******************************************************************
This review first appeared, in a slightly different form, in Toronto's Globe and Mail....

A late summer read that speaks volumes.......2007-09-11

I came across "The Man of my dreams" at a display of "Summer beach reads" at my local library. I figured it would be a great read for the last summer read, yet reading it, I thought it was possibly the most well written 'summer read' I've ever had the pleasure of. I had yet to read "Prep"
The main character, Hannah, is a neurotic, lonely, girl(reminds me of someone I know all to well at that age). The book starts when she 14. Her parents break up due to her father's anger problem, and Hannah is sent to live with her Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Darrach(a very colorful character).
The whole teenaged section is only a short part of the book but we see Hannah as someone who just doesn't feel like she fits in and is often alone. FAst forward to college, and she is still very much a mixed up girl but she's also very smart. You never really get a sense of what she looks like, as there is never much of a physical description, but with Curtis Sittenfeld's beautiful prose, we get to know her. Her hopes, her dreams, her true thoughts on everythign around her. I think many of us probably have many of these same feelings, and that makes her seem all the more real to me. I'm actually glad i read her books out of order because usually when you get to a second novel you EXPECT the same as the first. IT certainly is different than the first book, but I love both. Her writing is intense, thought provoking, and engrossing. I just started "Prep" yesterday and my family is probably ready to kick me and the book out...it's taken over my existence. Her writing is addicting.
BAck to "The man of my dreams". Hannah, starts to work on her nonexistent love life. Never having had no dating experience, aside from a short brush with a druggie teenager early in the book, she definitely puts her guard up. Already being an unhappy person, Hannah sees her new life as a jumping ground towards the end of the rainbow.
She has a sister, Allison, who is getting married. Her parents are divorced, and after a really ugly meeting with her dad, she stops speaking to him.
Reading this was like stepping into someone's life, and like life, it isn't perfect nor does it always end happily in the conventional sense.
Hannah truly comes of age as she goes through her adventures with her boyfriends, friends, sister, and family.
This isn't a beach read by any means. It is a novel about life, and a search of the pursuit of happiness. Sittenfeld is a brilliant writer, and I am loving every minute of "Prep" as well. She has officially become my favorite writer.

Ultimately unsatisfying.......2007-08-27

Sittenfeld is a talented writer, there's no questioning that. However, I feel like this novel is a step back from the wonderful "Prep" in that it rehashes many of the same character traits from the protagonist of the previous book. Insecurity and self-awareness are always great traits in literary characters, but there is such a thing as overkill and this book crosses that line pretty blatantly.

There are some very funny moments, but this book ultimately loses its steam because of the inherent weakness of Hannah. I hope that Sittenfeld's next book will feature a character that isn't the same insecure, hyper-analytical types she's used for her first two offerings. It's time to branch out a bit.

Painfully Accurate.......2007-08-10

The author has a very unique gift in that she taps directly into the heart of the anguished, overly self-concious and terribly introspective protagonist. This character description and development makes up for the lack of gripping plot.

The ending was the only disappointment as it felt like someone made a sloppy and half-hearted effort of tying up loose ends. WHile it was somewhat convincing, it would have been more worthwhile to have been granted a few more chapters and years of personal growth on the part of the main character.

However, any faults this book might have are completely hidden beneath the truly superb narrative.

Average customer rating:

fun story w/ great dialogue
The first in the Sherring Cross series
this is a good read
My first Johanna Lindsey novel -- a very fun offering!
Great book

Man of My Dreams
Johanna Lindsey
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0380756269

Book Description

Wildly unpredictable, the most desirable beauty in the land, Megan Penworthy has set her amorous sights on Ambrose St. James, a man she has never met but has every intention of marrying. And no other suitor will satisfy her 埥specially not the common, if uncommonly handsome, horse breeder, Devlin Jefferys.

Posing as lowborn Jefferys to escape a potentially fatal confrontation, Sir Ambrose is enthralled by the brazen, duke–hunting redhead. Without revealing his true identity, he vows to seduce and tame her, thereby foiling Megan's plans to marry the man of her dreams. But the notorious rogue never imagined the enchanting schemer would turn out to be the only woman he would ever dream of marrying.

Customer Reviews:

fun story w/ great dialogue.......2007-03-18

I've always been a sucker for the stories where someone disembles, and here is a good one. Though not my favorite, I will probably still reread it because the interactions between Megan and Devlin were so much fun to read. There was definitely a lot of tension between them which lead to multiple funny lines and moments that made me laugh outloud. Though I do think it dragged once they decided to get married, the premise and the first 2/3 of the book made it really good and very enjoyable.

One other note that I thought was kind of funny. I read the copy with the practically nude Fabio, which makes it seem like a very very sexual novel; however, it is really a mild novel compared to what is written these days.

The first in the Sherring Cross series.......2006-07-17

Megan is a beautiful and willful squire's daughter who desperately wants an invite to any event hosted by the reigning hostess in her area, a countess called Lady Ophelia. After Lady O gives her the cut direct, Megan hatches a scheme to marry a duke and therefore outrank and outshine Lady O in their small parish. She decides not just any duke will do and sets her sights on Devlin St. James, the Duke of Wrothston.

Ambrose Devlin St. James, fourth Duke of Wrothston comes to Megan's small parish disguised as a horse breeder called Devlin Jeffreys. He is hiding in the country at the advice of his grandmother to avoid a duel with his best friend over a gross misunderstanding. When he learns of Megan's scheme to marry him, he vows not to get caught up in the wishes of an opportunistic title-hunter. He never expects that he might actually fall in love.

I loved this book for so many reasons. First, I read the sequel LOVE ME FOREVER a few months back and had already decided that it was my favorite Lindsey novel even though I hadn't read the first book in the series. It was about three-quarters of the way through this book before I realized that the characters were the same. I loved Megan and Devlin in the sequel, and it was nice to get their story at last. I find Megan an endearing heroine and find her conversations with her conscience to be amusing and witty. Her ability to go toe-to-toe with Devlin is part of the reason I think they work so well together and though the wait for them to get together was exasperating, it was worthwhile in the end. I had a great time with this first book in the Sherring Cross series and definitely recommend LOVE ME FOREVER for anyone who enjoys this one. However, the third book in the series, THE PURSUIT, is best left alone.

this is a good read.......2006-06-16

This is another book I read in high school. I have forgotten some of it but I plan to reread it. I own all the books in the sherring cross series, and I can't wait to tackle this one. I first saw this book when I was 18, and a fellow classmate of mine recommended it to me. i believe i finshed in a week. I would highly recommend reading the sherring cross series if you are in the mood for a good swoon

My first Johanna Lindsey novel -- a very fun offering!.......2006-05-06

My batch of Jude Deveraux and Judith McNaught novels have gotten smaller and smaller and I knew it was time to give other romance authors a whirl. Someone suggested Johanna Lindsey and her Malory novels. However, I decided to give her Sherring Cross series a whirl first because I'm weary of Regency-set novels and have wanted to read a Victorian-set novel instead. Even though this one reads more like a Regency than a Victorian, I enjoyed this cute love story. The year is 1878. Miss Megan Penworthy is a drop-dead gorgeous redhead who has to chase away suitors at every moment. When she gets the cut direct from the only member of nobility in her area -- the Countess of Wedgwood -- she aspires to marry a duke and in turn get even with the old countess. She wants to marry the Duke of Wrothston despite the fact that she has never met him. But the gorgeous duke is closer to her than she thinks. In an attempt to escape a false accusation that leads to a forced marriage, Devlin Jeffreys now works in the guise of a horse breeder at a squire's country home. He'd never imagined that the squire had a daughter as beautiful as Megan and hadn't imagined the desire she'd awake in him. But her spirited and outspoken personality are a complete turnoff, or are they? There are various twists throughout the novel.

At first, I thought this was a typical story of mistaken identity with a touch of I-want-her-to-love-me-for-me-and-not-because-I'm-a-duke plotline thrown in for good measure. However, Man of My Dreams has quite a few surprising twists and turns to make it readable and entertaining. Devlin is the typical gorgeous, alpha male-ish duke and was enjoyable to the max. Megan irritated me though. I thought the whole thing about her looks was quite silly and overdone, but that is the least of things. I like spirited heroines, better than ninnies, that's for sure, but she is such a pain in the behind that I wanted to slap her in some occasions. And the fact that she hadn't discovered Devlin's secret made her too stupid to live in some parts. As if a horse breeder could be so regal and educated that he could pass for a duke to the point of borrowing a luxurious carriage! Bah! She was too slow in the uptake for my taste. I also found her "conversations with her conscience" annoying. As for the storyline, the whole incident with the Scottish highwaymen gave me the impression that there would be a novel with Lachlan as the hero. (And there is.) And Megan and Devlin fight throughout most of the novel! Their fighting were mostly due to misunderstandings. Ugh. (There is a touch of light humor in some of those scenes though.) As for the setting, the novel felt more Regency than Victorian to me. Victorian times weren't as festive or as frivolous as the Georgian and Regency periods, which is why most Victorian novels don't focus on the ton so much. And the long train skirts of the 1870s are my least favorite of period fashion. Oh, and I didn't get the part about Megan being Tiffany's chaperone. They are both young and unmarried! Both Tiffany and Megan would have needed an older, married woman to be their chaperone. Ah, well. Man of My Dreams isn't exactly unique, but it is a fun novel and it entertained me from beginning to end, which is why in spite of the aforementioned flaws I give this four stars. And I do look forward to reading other Lindsey novels. I take it the next Sherring Cross will be about either Frederick or Lachlan MacGregor.

Great book.......2005-12-05

I absolutely loved this book. I usually don't like romances but this one was great.

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Mixed Fantasies
THE HUNT IS ON !
Cool book
Fantasy Men Run Amuck
Bang Bang and More Bang

Man Of My Dreams
Dave Benbow , Jon Jeffrey , Sean Wolfe , and Ben Tyler
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0758206151
Release Date: 2005-10-20

Customer Reviews:

Mixed Fantasies.......2006-11-13

I gave this book four stars, but I do not rate all four novellas equally well. Dave Benbow's story about the two boyhood friends finding as adults that they had always loved each other was moving and fun and deserves a strong rating. Ben Tyler's "Spanish Eyes" was hot, sexy, deeply romantic and moving, but it spent too much time in Italy and England and not enough time with the two lovers. The ending, however, was deeply moving and satisfying; it brought me to tears and was my favorite story in the book. Too bad both Benbow and Tyler haven't each made a full length novel from these two stories; both would benefit from a lengthy development of the characters and the conflicts inherent in the story lines.

Jon Jeffrey's story about the rock star was quite good, too, and I loved the ending! However, I felt it worked just fine as a novella; he fully developed the characters and plot line in the space he used.

I was, however, DEEPLY disappointed in Sean Wolfe's story "Bad Boy Dreams," not because it involved a young man falling for a much older man (I'm middle aged myself; far be it from me to find fault with such a plot line). But the idea of a middle aged, heterosexual man, twice divorced, with numerous children uncharacteristically falling in love with his own son's lover/boyfriend, knowing his son adores and wants to marry his boyfriend, well, give me a break! That just doesn't make sense nor is it credible or moral. I enjoyed the first two thirds of the story, thinking that Wolfe was going to use the relationship between the "Bad Boy" and his boyfriend's father to show him how much he loved his boyfriend. Or, maybe for some other ending. But I simply could not swallow the ending. Talk about a "home wreaker"; the story involved two home wreakers destroying two homes, and the few lines pooh-poohing such a result didn't work for me. If asked to recommend the book, I'd do so for the first three stories, but not for the last one.

THE HUNT IS ON !.......2005-03-28

MAN OF MY DREAMS is a fun examination of how gay men go about seeking for and find the man of their dreams. Presented in 4 novellas, the plot lines are both serious and erotic. Each author addresses his subject in a unique fashion. Indeed, one of the authors carries characters from one of his novels into the plot line of his novella. I thought that was a really nice touch. I think of all of the stories, I found SPANISH EYES the most sensual, because it smolders with sexual anticipation. This is most assuredly very light reading and would be perfect for beach or pool reading.

Cool book.......2004-11-08

When I first saw this book in the bookshelf, I didn't even bother to read at the back of the book to see what the stories inside will be like coz when I saw the name Dave Benbow, no second thought needed. I've just finished his Daytime Drama book and I'm impressed. This book too, in the first story, I know it's all fantasy and everything but who cares as long as u've got big smile when u finish each story? FIrst story, my fav, is about the college jock and a geek which in the story took place later when they are in their 30s, great story, great sex scenes too..... The second one is the most confused story of all four, I hardly understand the story but anyway the third story is so romantic, about a american guy looking for Mr.Right in Europe where he encountered the English man, the Italian, the AMerican in Italy and at last but not least coz he's the most important, the spaniard. COol! The last story is about a teenage guy who's been having bad boy dreams since he was a kid and the story also tells us his childhood life. Then he finally met the guy in his dream.......

Fantasy Men Run Amuck.......2004-03-03

Who of us doesn't enjoy fantasizing about meeting, falling in love, and spending our lives with the Man of Our Dreams? This collection of short stories by 4 terrific authors indulges those fantasies and helps us believe, if only for a short while, that they can become reality.

"Out of Bounds" by Dave Benbow deals with the sports hero fantasy. An old childhood friend who now happens to be the biggest NFL star of the day reenters Wade Smith's life and changes it forever as the two old friends discover they have held torches for one another for the last 20 years. Wade is as out as one can be, and Colton is just discovering his real sexuality. Obviously coming out for a big NFL star is no easy task, and Benbow does a good job of showing the struggles he faces. Not as much sex as some of the other stories, but the sex that is there is well written.

"Sex and the Single Rock Star" by Jon Jeffrey explores the common rock star fantasy, of course. This is my least favorite of the bunch, not becuase it's badly written, but for several other reasons: 1) It doesn't really deal with the man of the main character's dreams, but more accurately with the man of his ex's dreams, and he is only extracting revenge on the ex; 2) Not much sex at all, but only allusions to sex; and 3) This story was already told, and much better, in the movie Almost Famous.

"Spanish Eyes" by Ben Tyler is a very good piece, and I enjoyed it very much. It follows Brad as he bounces all around Europe searching for the love of his life. Along the way he meets, temporarily falls in love with, and has incredible sex with a few Mr.-Not-So-Rights that provide temporary comfort from the pain of being dumped by his ex-lover back home. Then he encounters Marco De la Vega in Spain and his dreams become reality. Very well-written and very sexy.

My favorite piece, though, is Sean Wolfe's "Bad Boy Dreams". Not that it's any better or worsely written than any of the others, but because Wolfe was courageous enough to step out of the typical gay man's dream mold of younger, gorgeous twinks as the object of our lust, and acknowledged the sexiness of the more mature generation. Plagued (or blessed) by what his repressive grandmother calls "Bad Boy Dreams" about naked and sexually active older men, Erique finds himself unable to hold back his desires for the sexy older man as they cross the country together. Wolfe's descriptions of Erique's dreams of the older man are among the best erotica I've read, and I love the highly supernatural element he uses in these scenes. I don't want to give too much away, but if you're a fan of erotica, you MUST read this story. It will stimulate your ... um ... imagination. It's well written, imaginative, very sexy, and most of all, bold because it steps outside the box just a little.

All of these stories are well-written and fun to read. If you want to escape the humdrum of your real life and indulge in a little fantasy...this is the place to start.

Bang Bang and More Bang.......2004-02-26

Once again, Kensington Publishing gives us four novellas centered on one basic theme, in this instance the ideal man. Of course what is an ideal man for, if not to have tons and tons of sex with, and this book certainly does not slouch on that score. Each one of the four stories has its fair share of graphically described banging. Sometimes it fits integrally with the plot but more often than not, it is simply gratuitous. Mind you, I have no problem with gratuitous sex, especially when it is well written, but I do think it behooves a reviewer to point it out. This collection is defiantly not for the pornographically-challenged. OUT OF BOUNDS by Dave Benbow, in my opinion, is far and away the best of the four novellas. This is a beautifully told tale of an old desire finally fulfilled. Of all the stories, I think this is the one most easily related to. Wade was an over-weight teen geek with a massive crush on Colton Jennings, the star quarterback. It's twenty years later and Wade has blossomed into a very successful real-estate selling hunk, all set to show his former school chum Colt, the professional football player, a few houses to consider buying. But is a house the only thing the recently divorced grid-iron star is shopping for? The sex here is by far the most erotic because it plays a very real part in the love story. Also, the issues involved in coming out as a gay athlete are extremely well handled. In my opinion this wonderful novella sends a strongly needed message to gay men. Happy endings are possible, and we have every right to want and expect them. Bravo to Dave Benbow for having the courage, in the face of the kind of gay cynicism we see every day, to deliver this message. I would give this story 5 stars by itself

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Krystal S.C

Man of My Dreams?
Janie De Coster
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Jayree Kennedy—A brash & sassy twenty-four-year-old who thinks she has the world by the tail, that is until she meets Marcus Reed, an older fine brother who has money to spend. Is Jayree ready for the trip he will take her on? Teresa Wilson—Jayree's older sister, who is married to a local hustler who has dreams of making it big one day, but can Teresa tolerate his games long enough to see if they will come true? Linda Weathers—Jayree's best friend, who is engaged to the rich Dr. Phillip Norris, who happens to be white. They came close to being married but on their wedding day he called it off. But why? That's what Linda has to find out, because he's not telling.

Customer Reviews:

Krystal S.C.......2006-07-16

I just couldn't stop reading this book until the end. It is a real page turner.

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Man of My Dreams

Manufacturer: berkley-jove
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0739447289

Product Description

four all-new sensuous stories of fantasies come to life...magic of the night...every woman dreams of the perfect man,the one whose power will spark her fiery passion and make her tremble with desire.now,in this spellbinding collection,todays hottest authors present four heroes who can possess a woman's heart and satisfy her late night yearnings!fire and ice by sherrilyn kenyon,daydream believer by maggie shayne,shocking lucy by suzanne forester and midsummer night's magic by virginia kantra.don't miss these sizzling,sensuous stories!

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The Man of Her Dreams The Woman of His!
Joel and Kathy Davisson
Manufacturer: Joel and Kathy Davisson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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The Man of Her Dreams The Woman of His!

ASIN: 0976638827

Product Description

Joel and Kathy personally read "The Man of Her Dreams/The Woman of His!" (240 Pages) So many miracles are occurring in marriages on a regular basis from the reading of this book. Oftentimes, a wife will comment that her husband just does not read but that he will listen to CD's. We prepared this CD set for this purpose. You will love it! If you are not familiar with this book, here is a synopsis: Kathy and Joel struggled for ten rough years in a marriage which included emotional, mental, verbal and spiritual abuse. Their problems culminated in adultery in their 7th year while pastoring their first church. The Davisson's stepped out of the pulpit and struggled for an additional three years. In 1994, God began to teach Joel and Kathy fresh principles of success in marriage.. principles that were completely different than the traditional church marriage teachings that had been at the root of many of the problems that they were experiencing. As Joel and Kathy applied these principles of success in marriage, they entered into a ten year period which can only be described as a period of having an "Outrageously Happy Marriage." People should not be outrageously happily married after suffering ten years of abuse and adultery.. should they? In 2004, God lead Joel and Kathy to put the things that He taught them into print. Marriages throughout the earth are being radically changed as God works miracles for couples as they read. Now it's your turn!

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Man of My Dreams

Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: B000CEAVSU

Product Description

0380756269 The wildly unpredictable copper-haired beauty Megan Penworthy has her amorous sights set on Ambrose St. James, Duke of Wrothston -- a man she has never met but whose title attracts her. No other suitor will satisfy her -- especially not the common, though uncommonly handsome, horse breeder Devlin Jefferys, a worker in her father's stables.But, Megan doesn't realize that Jeffreys is really the Duke himself, posing as a commoner to avoid a duel with his best friend. The Duke finds he is enthralled by the brazen, title-seeking redhead and flirts shamelessly with her. Megan turns him away, explaining that for her, it is the Duke or no one. But then one night both are surprised to find themselves in each other's arms. The lovemaking is passionate, but a deceitful rogue and a selfish beauty have other passions and great danger to overcome before they can face their true emotions.

7 Titles By Rosemary Carter : Desert Dream - The Awakening - Bush Doctor - Daredevil - Kelly's Man - Another Life - My Darling Spitfire

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7 Titles By Rosemary Carter : Desert Dream - The Awakening - Bush Doctor - Daredevil - Kelly's Man - Another Life - My Darling Spitfire
Rosemary Carter
Manufacturer: Harlequin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000WFIBLI

Product Description

multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.

Color of Darkness (Eleven Stories And A Novella)

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Color of Darkness (Eleven Stories And A Novella)

Manufacturer: A New Directions Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000EITZM2

Product Description

1957 A New Directions Book. Hard Cover, 175 pages. Color of Darkness; Eleven Stories And A Novella. 1) Color of Darkness 2) You May Safely Gaze 3) Don't Call Me By My Right Name 4) Eventide 5) Why Can't They Tell You Why 6) Man and Wife 7) You Reach For Your Hat 8) A Good Woman 9) Plan Now To Attend 10) Sound of Talking 11) Cutting Edge 12) 63: Dream Palace.

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