Dream Keeper, the all new white hot and action packed contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley, is available now!
Spinning off from the bestselling Dream Man and Rock Chick series, this is the emotional and steamy contemporary romance fans of the Dream Team series have been waiting for!
He’s perfect—but he can’t be hers.
Pepper Hannigan is determined to keep any romance off the table—and out of her bedroom—while her daughter Juno is still young. Sure, a certain handsome commando is thoughtful, funny, and undeniably hot, but Pepper’s had her heart broken before, and she won’t let it happen again. Not to her or her little girl, even if this hero could melt any woman’s resolve.
Augustus “Auggie” Hero can’t deny his attraction to beautiful, warm-hearted Pepper or how much he wants to make a home with her and her little girl, but Pepper’s mixed signals have kept him away. That is, until Juno decides to play matchmaker. Her efforts finally bring Pepper into his arms, but they expose the danger Pepper is in. To protect Pepper and Juno, Auggie will have to live up to his last name and prove happy endings aren’t just for fairy tales.
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Read a Sneak Peek Now!
Auggie stood at the front of the church and watched her walk down the aisle. The bridesmaids’ dresses Lottie chose were very Lottie. Sleek. Sexy. Baring.
All the women looked great in them, but none of them looked better than Pepper.
And he thought that even before Pepper, as she strutted down the aisle, caught sight of her daughter, Juno, and shot her girl a huge smile.
Pepper Hannigan was gorgeous.
Anytime she was with her daughter?
Knockout.
They were the next in the line of Lottie’s matches. Auggie and Pepper.
Mo and Lottie were the obvious firsts (Mo was one of Aug’s four best buds), and Lottie earning the love of Mo had been all Lottie’s idea.
Mo never thought he’d find anyone as fantastic as Lots, would never go for it, until Lottie talked him around.
Now Mo was standing at the front of their line, waiting to make her his wife.
Once Lottie got her happy ending, she set about giving the same thing to Mo’s friends…fixing them up with her own crew.
And so far, she’d done a bang-up job.
Mag and Evie, the second couple, were living together and getting married.
Boone and Ryn, the third, were tight, and further, they were in business together.
Axl and Hattie, the fourth, were as good as living together, and practically inseparable. It was him and Pepper who were the holdouts.
This was not for lack of trying on Auggie’s part.
Once he’d met her, Auggie saw no reason not to go for it.
She was gorgeous. She was funny. She spoke her mind. She was laid back. Together. She didn’t seem to have any hang-ups.
But Pepper saw reason not to give it a shot because she had a kid.
He got it. She was being careful. Whatever had torn her and Juno’s dad apart had made her skittish.
So yeah.
He got it.
That didn’t mean it wasn’t torture.
Like right now, when her eyes caught his, the smile that she gave her kid still in them,
and Auggie felt that. He felt it.
Damn.
It wasn’t even aimed at him in any real way, and that residual love she’d targeted at her daughter was so big, it took forever to fade away.
He’d never felt that kind of love.
Not once in his life.
And he wanted it so bad, the backs of his teeth hurt with the need to taste it.
He lost her attention when she shifted to take her place at the front of the church and Auggie tore his gaze away from her to watch the next woman, Hattie, march down the aisle. On its way, his gaze snagged on Juno.
Dark hair to her mom’s blonde, she was all dressed up, her hair curled —her mom was a bridesmaid in a big wedding with all the prep that entailed, but it was clear Juno had not been forgotten.
She was staring at her mother, beaming with pride.
Seeing that beam made Auggie want even more of what he’d never had. From the both of them.
Review:
Dream Keeper is a romance with a lot going on–but it’s written in Kristen Ashley‘s quirky style and populated with absolutely wonderful characters, so even though it’s on the longer side reading it goes fairly quickly.
Or maybe I just couldn’t put it down? Also a very real possibility 😉
Pepper, Auggie, and Juno’s story was just lovely–Juno’s attempts to get her mom and Auggie together were so freaking adorable I couldn’t even. (But it’s a Kristen Ashley book, so there was also a hint of danger in Juno’s matchmaking–I’ll just let you read and find out what I mean.) Pepper ends up giving in a lot sooner than I thought she would–but who can blame her, seeing Auggie?–but don’t worry, Ms Ashley had a whole lot more story for us after that.
Once Pepper gives in to Auggie’s irresistible charm, our hero and heroine (and Juno!) have to come to terms with allllllll kinds of family drama. It turns out that neither of them had what you could call a traditional upbringing, and during the course of this story they each had their own issues to deal with. As serious (and sometimes awful) as their family situations were at times, though, the best parts were watching them figure out how to manage the drama together…and of course seeing them create their own new family unit with Juno.
So many warm cozy feelings there…and some other, different warm feelings at (ahem) other times 😉
I’m woefully behind on my Kristen Ashley books, so most of the characters here from other Dream Team/Rock Chick/Dream Man books were unfamiliar to me, but those who have read everything Ms Ashley’s ever read will undoubtedly love seeing everyone here. No worries for newbies, though, the story really does stand on its own if needed.
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
About the author:
Kristen Ashley is the New York Times bestselling author of over sixty romance novels including the Rock Chick, Colorado Mountain, Dream Man, Chaos, Unfinished Hero, The ’Burg, Magdalene, Fantasyland, The Three, Ghost and Reincarnation, Moonlight and Motor Oil and Honey series along with several standalone novels. She’s a hybrid author, publishing titles both independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in fourteen languages and she’s sold over three million books.
Kristen’s novel, Law Man, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award for best Romantic Suspense. Her independently published title Hold On was nominated for RT Book Reviews best Independent Contemporary Romance and her traditionally published title Breathe was nominated for best Contemporary Romance. Kristen’s titles Motorcycle Man, The Will, Ride Steady (which won the Reader’s Choice award from Romance Reviews) and The Hookup all made the final rounds for Goodreads Choice Awards in the Romance category.
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