A 4-hour novella by Keira Andrews, who is fast becoming one of my go to authors for reliably good romance.

Gavin and Charlie discovered their feelings for each other in about Year 10 - Gavin ran for the hills. He spoke with his father, who was who told him his sexual orientation was a phase. The isolated Charlie hates Gavin for abandoning him and they don't speak again ... until they meet at a rental car desk on the eve of Christmas 4 years later, after a snowstorm has cancelled flights.

Very reluctantly, they share the last car, and the drive home across most of the US provides the setting for the great reconciliation. They finally reveal to each other what really happened back then. The result is, they are given back their lives and a chance at happiness.

It's touching and adorable. ( )

If Only in My Dreams is the story of two estranged eighteen-year-old college students who were once friends. They’re driving cross-country to return home for the Christmas holiday during bad weather. The story is told in first person through the eyes of Charlie Yates and Gavin Bloomberg.



3.5 Stars

Storms have halted flights out of SFO and Charlie Yates needs to get back home to the east coast. He’s superstitious about a bad dream concerning his sister. If he doesn’t make it home for Christmas, she will die. He tries to rent a car, but they’ve all been leased…except at the last moment the last customer for the last car shows up. It’s Gavin Bloomberg a guy who lived on the same block as Charlie. They used to be close friends, but now they are hostile to each other because of a past event. Charlie ends up riding with Gavin cross-country and that is the premise for the story. The trip, the experiences on the trip, their working out what happened in the past to break them apart.

I want to mention I read the author’s “A Forbidden Rumspringa,” and I enjoyed it. But I guess that doesn’t mean I’ll necessarily find I’ll like other books of hers. For one, I didn’t realize that Charlie and Gavin were eighteen years old. I’m not fond of reading about M/M romance between teenagers and it wasn’t mentioned in the blurb that this was YA reading. Luckily, the characters didn’t sound too young, at least not until they got over their dislike of each other, then Gavin turned into a girl, *thud head desk.* Anyone who reads my reviews, knows guys sounding like women/girls is one of my peeves. I don’t know what the author did, but the words and gestures Gavin used reminded me of shy, virginal girls and I was disappointed. Very disappointed. Once the image of a girl presented itself to me, I lost a lot of my interest in the characters.

Another thing which surprised me, was how fast Charlie became a dirty talker. Sure Charlie is gay, but he admits he hasn't had all that much experience with guys, so his transformation into spewing forth filth was unexpected and the fact that Gavin quickly liked being called a slut. Don't get me wrong, I love dirty talking men and guy's who wiggle and squirm because they enjoy being called sluts, but for this couple, it was quite an abrupt change in behavior for both of them.

For me the best scene was probably Charlie and Gavin stopping in “Little America” because of something happening to their car. I can remember that scene, it was fun. After that, I can’t really remember anything about the story except for Gavin’s confrontation with his parents, which I thought was interesting.

In the end, I didn’t connect with the eighteen-year-old characters, especially with Gavin who didn’t start out sounding like a girl, but quickly became one after Charlie and Gavin expressed their desire for each other and started to have sex. Surprisingly the duo, first-person pov didn’t bother me. Maybe because girly-Gavin overrode my usual dislike for first-person povs. However, I thought the plot was great. I liked the rediscovery of their friendship and Gavin admitting the hurt he’d caused Charlie. The plot is what carried the story for me and kept it from becoming three stars. It’s enough to raise the rating to 4 Stars


( )

4.5 stars.
What's not to like.
Road trip.
Friends to enemies to lovers.
My only complaint, and the reason I docked it half a star, during the sex scenes the boys seemed older than they were, especially with the dirty talk. I think I'm right in assuming they were 18 (1st yr of college in US) but in those moments they felt older. ( )

I received a copy of this book from the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review

'Tis the season for wonderful holiday stories!

Charlie is a first year college student who is desperate to get home for the holidays, but weather is not cooperating and causes his flight to get cancelled until after Christmas. I immediately felt for Charlie as he struggled with the realization that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise to be there to his younger sister.He comes up with the brilliant idea to rent a car and drive across country to get there in time, but all the cars are sold out. Before he leaves, though, as coincidence would have it, his OLD high school friend and crush turned "enemy" (Gavin) just happened to rent the very last car and is heading to Charlie's hometown. Their journey was both physical and emotional.

Their history together and the reason why Charlie is so emotional about missing Christmas is drawn out slowly. We get little glimpses into what makes the characters tick, and it was wonderful to feel like I was taking a journey rather than just being smacked upside the head with details very quickly. I was able to appreciate the characters and their flaws, while rooting for them.

I really loved this. It made me feel good and have hope for the guys in the future. I definitely recommend this. Ms. Andrews has become an automatic read for me and I absolutely love everything she has written. ( )

4.5 stars.
What's not to like.
Road trip.
Friends to enemies to lovers.
My only complaint, and the reason I docked it half a star, during the sex scenes the boys seemed older than they were, especially with the dirty talk. I think I'm right in assuming they were 18 (1st yr of college in US) but in those moments they felt older. ( )