Holly wishes her life were like an Audrey Hepburn movie, but in reality things are rapidly falling apart. Her live-in fiancee dumps her and she has to stay with her homeless father in an animal shelter, she's passed over for a promotion (at a fashion museum) in favor of a well-connected airhead, and, well don't ask. At this low ebb, she meets a handsome, kind billionaire. Except he's taken! The plot eventually puts her and her father on a ritzy Mediterranean cruise (where she lectures on fashion) with said billionaire (and his - ugh - fiancee) and some colorful characters. There's a subplot involving some Hepburn gowns, the scenery is lovely, there are laugh-out-loud moments, and the whole thing is a delight. It's an added bonus when you can swoon along with the heroine over the love interest (darn, he's fictional!). ( )

A nice piece of escapist literature. Holly Ross is a wannabe Audrey Hepburn style heroine, but life is not working out that way - her fiance dumps her and she loses out on a promotion at work and ends up homeless, jobless and, in an hilarious scene which bears little resemblance to the end of Breakfast at Tiffanys, cat-less. As an Audrey Hepburn fan I loved all the references to her films and her clothes scattered throughout the text - a good fun read. ( )

I could not put this book down. It was soooo real life and could happen to any of us, more or less... ( )

Holly Ross is an assistant at the National Museum of Fashion in New York City. A holder of a Master’s degree in fashion, Holly knows pretty much everything there is to know about the subject. In addition, she has an obsession with Audrey Hepburn films. Holly’s also engaged to her heart’s desire, and she’s about to receive a promotion at work.

But everything changes when the promotion is given to Sammie Kittenblatt, a New York society darling who got her job through a generous donation made by her parents. Then Holly’s fiancée cheats on her, and eventually finds herself fiancée-less, job-less, and living with her father in the basement of a pet hospital.

Things change for the better when Holly is given the chance of a lifetime: to lecture on a cruise ship traveling the Mediterranean, and to bring home a seven-figure donation to the museum that will get her her job back. Soon, however, things turn bad as Holly finds herself the subject of an Interpol investigation looking into the case of a mysteriously vanished trunk full of Audrey Hepburn designer gowns. Added on top of all this is Holly’s growing attraction to Denis, a wealthy entrepreneur.

Holly Would Dream is pure escapist chick lit at its best. The Audrey Hepburn mini-storyline is heaven, and the story is told with wit and humor. There were some passages in this book that I just could not stop laughing at! In addition, I learned quite a bit about the fashion world, which Karen Quinn manages to make even more exciting and sexy than it already is. The characters are well-developed—I loved the description of Denis’s fiancée and her five-pound dumbbells. Holly’s father is a hoot, as are some of the ladies on the cruise. This book is a must-read for any Audrey Hepburn fan. It makes me want to go back and re-watch some of her movies. ( )