Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading
Written on Jan 1, 2025
In Forbidden Dreams, the second installment in her Dream series, Madison delivered another small town, enemies to lover's romance. However, this time around the featured heroine is a single mother fighting for both her and her son's survival. Romance readers looking for a heart-warming small-town romance with the themes of family and second chances will enjoy this latest offering from the author.
Forbidden Dreams tells the story of Brady Thatcher, brother of the heroine from book one, and Harmony Cartwright.
After years of disrespect, emotional, verbal and physical abuse, Harmony took her son and left the matrimonial home. Her husband and his family thwarted her many attempts to obtain a divorce. The divorce wasn't the only thing they thwarted. They also undermined Harmony's attempts to acquire a job. Everyone in town was afraid of the Cartwrights because of their influential position in the town. Despite leaving her husband, he kept showing up on her doorstep in the night exhibiting toxic behaviour. It was this action that led to Brady stepping in despite being wary of her presence next door
Madison addressed the issues of abuse, divorce, child custody battle and the obstacles faced when going up against a wealthy and influential family. It was pleasing to see Harmony standing up to her husband and his toxic family. This aspect of the story intrigued me and kept me reading with the aim of discovering the manner in which Harmony would be free of the Cartwrights influence.
One can understand Brady's reasons for his wariness towards Harmony moving next door. He hated the Cartwrights based on their history with his sister, and Harmony's marriage to one made her guilty by association. However, the more he steps in to help her his perspective where she was concerned changed and soon, he found himself falling for the single mom and her son.
The romance here is different from what one have come to expect from the author. The physical connection remains constant, but this time around she gives readers a slow burn romance. The story would have benefitted from a deeper exploration of the emotional connection between the protagonists. Once again, I felt shortchanged as Madison chose not to dive deeper in Brady's relationship with his father and sister. Characters from the previous book as well as a few from her Meant For series made an appearance. Their roles aided in driving the story.
I enjoyed the writing style and the story on audio was excellent. This was my first time experiencing Natasha's book on audio and it was a gratifying experience. The narrators, Savannah Peachwood and Gregory Salinas did an excellent job in bringing the story and the characters to life. This was my first experience with the narrators, and I would definitely listen to them again.
Overall, I enjoyed Forbidden Desires and look forward to the next book in the series.
.
This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading