readingwithhippos's review against another edition
5.0
I was all about the first book in the Dreamers series, and I loved this follow-up just as much. Milo, a social worker, has a sexy encounter with a stranger at a fancy fundraising gala. At work the next day, his boss introduces him to Tom, the new donor who’s bankrolling their latest project AND (you guessed it) the same guy Milo just got up close and personal with. Although they vow to keep things professional, sometimes chemistry is too strong to ignore (!!). I just love this series. The characters all feel so real, which is not a thing I expected to say about a billionaire romance. There's no manufactured drama here--the conflicts are genuine, and complicated, and not solvable with a single conversation. The side characters are always delightful, too, funny and warm and surrounding the main characters with perspective and support. There's just something deeply comforting about a social worker being provided funds to make people's lives better. Also, Sean Crisden is probably my favorite audio book narrator ever. I don’t think there’s an accent, age, or gender he can’t effortlessly convey.
jrv45's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
galleytrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mynameisprerna's review against another edition
4.0
Listened to the audiobook while mostly following align with the e-book.
This book was enjoyable! As usual, I really love a strong ensemble cast, and many of the side characters here were great.
Milo is something of a hopeless romantic with many failed relationships under his belt.
It’s interesting that Tom
One of the interesting things about this book is that although Tom and Milo are both experienced in relationships,
This book was enjoyable! As usual, I really love a strong ensemble cast, and many of the side characters here were great.
Milo is something of a hopeless romantic with many failed relationships under his belt.
Spoiler
As his friends say, when he is in a relationship, he turns himself into an oasis, displaying only what he thinks his partner wants and obscuring his true self. And because of that he hasn’t been able to have a long lasting love. He finds himself thinking “I sat there wondering when the other shoe would drop, because I knew it was a matter of time before one of us fucked up somehow. Nothing could be this perfect. I didn’t want to be pessimistic or dramatic, but I had enough of a frame of reference to know this wouldn’t last. And it was terrifying, because I knew losing Tom would hurt more than anything had before.”Spoiler
It’s interesting that Tom
Spoiler
can’t remember that he can’t just make decisions for other people or that he can’t solve problems by spending money. As someone who didn’t grow up wealthy, this is a weird quirk.One of the interesting things about this book is that although Tom and Milo are both experienced in relationships,
Spoiler
they’re both learning how to actually be in healthy relationships with healthy dynamics. For example, when Tom explains why his previous marriage ended, Milo thinks “I had to bite my tongue then, the impulse to take his side, to tell him I couldn’t imagine him ever letting anyone down had me practically vibrating. In the short time I’d known Tom I already saw how much he took on, how driven he was to fix things. I ran my hand over his chest and waited for him to keep talking, because no matter how much I wanted to soothe, I needed to know more.”awishman's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the first book in this series, but these characters and couple just hit me in the feels. I loved their American Fairytale.
ericawrites's review against another edition
3.0
The problem with a billionaire romance is that in today's culture, you have to set up the billionaire to be a great guy and the exception and fully invest in the fantasy element of it all. Because Tom was immediately set up as a great guy, his flaws increasingly came off as Camilo being too sensitive. Herrera's Dreamers series is set up to be very grounded in the world. Jude and Nesto's story felt like real people we know and would hang out with, so to introduce a billionaire while keeping it grounded felt off. By his nature, Camilo refused to indulge in the fantasy.
Additionally, the 3rd act breakup was around what Tom did for Camilo's mom. Did Tom overstep a boundary? Yes. But we saw Camilo do anything and everything for his mom, so it felt unnatural for him to say no. What if he said yes despite his ethical code and then faced how it might change his relationship with Tom power-wise and his own insecurities?
Additionally, the 3rd act breakup was around what Tom did for Camilo's mom. Did Tom overstep a boundary? Yes. But we saw Camilo do anything and everything for his mom, so it felt unnatural for him to say no. What if he said yes despite his ethical code and then faced how it might change his relationship with Tom power-wise and his own insecurities?
sarful's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Camilo is a strong-willed, independent, stubborn, man who hustles his ass off to work for people that need help. He has a job he loves at social organization striving to make being on the margins livable. One night, with tickets to an expensive charity gala with his co-worker he meets Tom. A good time had by both, their chemistry is undeniable, but knowing Uber wealthy is not in his league, Camilo moves on. He may want a fairy-tale but he has zero want for a sugar daddy.
Cut to, Tom being the benefactor to the shelter renovation his organization just received. And now our two leads either pretend it was one night and carry on professionally. Or, realize it was more and figure out how to work with it.
I loved this relationship. Camilo never pretends with Tom and because of that Tom loves him. The fierce independence is what Tom loves and yet gets Tom in trouble. His money can’t save Camilo, Camilo never accepts that premise to point of pissing him off. And I love that Tom has his friends like Camilo does, to work things out. Their friends are awesome. Tom realizes his privilege despite that same entitlement pissing off our pig-headed billionaire. But, they work it out and it beautiful.
Such a wonderful book.
Cut to, Tom being the benefactor to the shelter renovation his organization just received. And now our two leads either pretend it was one night and carry on professionally. Or, realize it was more and figure out how to work with it.
I loved this relationship. Camilo never pretends with Tom and because of that Tom loves him. The fierce independence is what Tom loves and yet gets Tom in trouble. His money can’t save Camilo, Camilo never accepts that premise to point of pissing him off. And I love that Tom has his friends like Camilo does, to work things out. Their friends are awesome. Tom realizes his privilege despite that same entitlement pissing off our pig-headed billionaire. But, they work it out and it beautiful.
Such a wonderful book.
jenndmitis's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
Camilo and Tom’s love story was super cute, and had me actually expressing feelings.
becka6131's review against another edition
3.0
This one didn't really land with me. I felt like the pacing was off - everything was such smooth sailing with the relationship and nothing went wrong at all until way past the 50% mark so there was no tension, and I felt like when something did happen, a lot of the personality traits which caused the conflict were informed rather than demonstrated in the text. Tom's 'habit' of throwing money at problems didn't feel like much of a habit to me before then, and Milo saying that he always used to keep his opinions to himself in past relationships was unbelievable when his most defining character trait is how opinionated he is. While I liked Milo, tbh in general Tom fell a bit flat for me. Too perfect! Way too perfect and considerate to be a millionaire, and then when he DID screw up, I felt like both his way of fixing it and Milo's response to him fixing it was really weird.
Also, this isn't something that usually bothers me, but there were a LOT of punctuation errors in this book. Like, commas either all over the place or nowhere to be found. It got quite distracting.
I am absolutely frothing at the mouth over the next one though, with Patrice and Easton. Maybe this one just wasn't for me.
Also, this isn't something that usually bothers me, but there were a LOT of punctuation errors in this book. Like, commas either all over the place or nowhere to be found. It got quite distracting.
I am absolutely frothing at the mouth over the next one though, with Patrice and Easton. Maybe this one just wasn't for me.
daniellesalwaysreading's review against another edition
5.0
Better than the first one because it didn't have the strange forcefulness of the friends trying to get the main characters to start dating when they say they don't want to. Good chemistry, good story, lots of steamy scenes.