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murasashi's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
emmmbeth's review
4.0
The plot: Derek Craven has never felt a feeling in his life and now he doesn't know what to do with them. Love that journey for him, four stars.
plottrysts's review
2.0
This is a difficult admission to make, but... we didn't like it. This book was published in 1994 and it feels its age. You know how you hear about Citizen Kane as this groundbreaking movie? All about how it changed cinema forever? And there's this great twist at the end? But then when you watch it, you realize it's so old that the groundbreaking parts - like flashbacks and deep-focus photography - are just stuff you see in every movie these days? That's how it feels reading about our tortured working-class hero, Derek Craven, who clawed his way out of the gutter to become one of the richest men in London by opening a gaming hell.
Also there is a ton of sexual violence, so that brought down the score.
36-Word Summaries:
Meg: Sara is innocent and knowing … and ready to kill people attacking men in the bad part of town. Turns out that’s Derek Craven, most jaded man in London, who falls immediately in love with her.
Laine: Man who is only motivated by money and not making decisions is romanticized by women who invents people professionally. Maiming and murder in response to being dumped is definitely reasonable, and Scotland is a fitting punishment.
Ali: Guttersnipe rises to riches while not banging sex workers; timid mouse writes spicy novels and refuses to speak plainly to her fiance; the other woman can’t just be jilted, she has to be a f*cking psycho.
Also there is a ton of sexual violence, so that brought down the score.
36-Word Summaries:
Meg: Sara is innocent and knowing … and ready to kill people attacking men in the bad part of town. Turns out that’s Derek Craven, most jaded man in London, who falls immediately in love with her.
Laine: Man who is only motivated by money and not making decisions is romanticized by women who invents people professionally. Maiming and murder in response to being dumped is definitely reasonable, and Scotland is a fitting punishment.
Ali: Guttersnipe rises to riches while not banging sex workers; timid mouse writes spicy novels and refuses to speak plainly to her fiance; the other woman can’t just be jilted, she has to be a f*cking psycho.
yaakovakiva's review
3.0
Fun! Steamy bits were fun, the historical stuff was fluffy and harmless and the main character was a bit silly, but I can't hate a character that loves to write novels. Not the best period romance I've read, but probably the steamiest I've read in this genre so far.
blurrypetals's review against another edition
4.0
Here's a potentially bold comparison: Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire is just a modernized retelling of this.
Think about it. A girl who's trying to live in a suitable role by society's standards, but meets a handsome dark haired stranger in a bloody altercation in the first chapter. She's drawn to him, even though he's a tough guy bad boy type and, after spending a good amount of time together, there's a scene where one of them confesses their feelings for the other person and the other person is afraid of their feelings, so the girl decides to date the safer, blonde haired boy until she decides enough is enough and needs to be with the guy she's actually in love with. The couple gets married really suddenly and basically out of nowhere. The climax happens when there's a fire and then there's a flash forward epilogue where they are living happily ever after with offspring.
There are about a million other little comparisons I could draw, but I think that's more than enough for now. I loved Beautiful Disaster, though, so none of this is deducting points from this book, especially since this book preceded Beautiful Disaster.
This book was a pretty fun little romp. It was nothing too deep or serious, but it had enough of a plot that it held my attention the entire time. The only reason it's a 4 instead of a 5 is because I didn't care for some of the non-con elements displayed in Derek's behavior at times. It wasn't too bad, but it was just enough that I felt slightly uncomfortable whenever Sara (hey, I think I've heard that name somewhere before!) would say no or make her discomfort clear and he'd coerce her. She would almost always concede and it was always fine, but, like I said, it was just enough that I grimaced whenever it surfaced.
Other than that, thought this was a really fun read and I enjoyed myself quite a lot. Good guilty pleasure!
Think about it. A girl who's trying to live in a suitable role by society's standards, but meets a handsome dark haired stranger in a bloody altercation in the first chapter. She's drawn to him, even though he's a tough guy bad boy type and, after spending a good amount of time together, there's a scene where one of them confesses their feelings for the other person and the other person is afraid of their feelings, so the girl decides to date the safer, blonde haired boy until she decides enough is enough and needs to be with the guy she's actually in love with. The couple gets married really suddenly and basically out of nowhere. The climax happens when there's a fire and then there's a flash forward epilogue where they are living happily ever after with offspring.
There are about a million other little comparisons I could draw, but I think that's more than enough for now. I loved Beautiful Disaster, though, so none of this is deducting points from this book, especially since this book preceded Beautiful Disaster.
This book was a pretty fun little romp. It was nothing too deep or serious, but it had enough of a plot that it held my attention the entire time. The only reason it's a 4 instead of a 5 is because I didn't care for some of the non-con elements displayed in Derek's behavior at times. It wasn't too bad, but it was just enough that I felt slightly uncomfortable whenever Sara (hey, I think I've heard that name somewhere before!) would say no or make her discomfort clear and he'd coerce her. She would almost always concede and it was always fine, but, like I said, it was just enough that I grimaced whenever it surfaced.
Other than that, thought this was a really fun read and I enjoyed myself quite a lot. Good guilty pleasure!
birdee_'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
justinkhchen's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars
Memorable characters stuck in a merely decent story. The historical romance fandom has been hyping up Derek Craven since the dawn of time, and I can say I wholeheartedly agree with their obsession — there's something very 'text book' about this version of a possessive, insecure, yet sweet love interest; you can tell it has since becomes almost a standardized archetype, and influenced so many other authors in creating their version of a hopelessly passionate, lovable alpha hero.
As much as I love the characters, Dreaming of You seems to shy away from the more intriguing aspects of its narrative potential; instead of really dive into the inner-working of a gambling den and business spying (which the novel was going into at the start), the middle portion of the novel goes ham on the cliche childhood betrothal goes awry plot, and a scorned woman villain who's just vile for the sake of drama (also slightly politically incorrect reading now with her antagonistic behavior links to mental illness without any proper character development).
There's definitely a benefit to reading the series in order; the couple in the first book Then Came You is featured quite heavily, and the knowledge of their previous interaction will provide significant nuances and context to their actions (or otherwise they can seem strangely intrusive and meddling).
Overall, Derek Craven 100% holds up to its shiny prestige, it's too bad Dreaming of You as a novel isn't the compelling, memorable tale its reputation has otherwise suggested.
**Historical Romance Readathon 2022 May | Bingo Board Prompts: Rags to Riches Hero / Marriage of Convenience / In a Series**
Memorable characters stuck in a merely decent story. The historical romance fandom has been hyping up Derek Craven since the dawn of time, and I can say I wholeheartedly agree with their obsession — there's something very 'text book' about this version of a possessive, insecure, yet sweet love interest; you can tell it has since becomes almost a standardized archetype, and influenced so many other authors in creating their version of a hopelessly passionate, lovable alpha hero.
As much as I love the characters, Dreaming of You seems to shy away from the more intriguing aspects of its narrative potential; instead of really dive into the inner-working of a gambling den and business spying (which the novel was going into at the start), the middle portion of the novel goes ham on the cliche childhood betrothal goes awry plot, and a scorned woman villain who's just vile for the sake of drama (also slightly politically incorrect reading now with her antagonistic behavior links to mental illness without any proper character development).
There's definitely a benefit to reading the series in order; the couple in the first book Then Came You is featured quite heavily, and the knowledge of their previous interaction will provide significant nuances and context to their actions (or otherwise they can seem strangely intrusive and meddling).
Overall, Derek Craven 100% holds up to its shiny prestige, it's too bad Dreaming of You as a novel isn't the compelling, memorable tale its reputation has otherwise suggested.
**Historical Romance Readathon 2022 May | Bingo Board Prompts: Rags to Riches Hero / Marriage of Convenience / In a Series**
evakonic's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
shelbymarie516's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this one better than the first. I like that the author gives you some post marriage story too. The story doesn't end at the wedding bells.