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    Sweet Dreams
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    Sweet Dreams
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    Sweet Dreams
    Audiobook25 hours

    Sweet Dreams

    Written by Kristen Ashley

    Narrated by Emma Taylor

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "I adore Kristen Ashley's books!"---Maya Banks, New York Times bestselling author

    She's ready for the ride of her life . . .

    Lauren Grahame is looking to reinvent herself. After leaving her cheating husband, Lauren moves to Carnal, Colorado, and gets a job as a waitress in a biker bar called Bubba's. It's a nothing job in a nowhere joint . . . until Tatum Jackson walks in. Lauren has never seen a man with such good looks, muscles, and attitude. But when he insults her, Lauren doesn't want anything to do with him. Too bad for Lauren he's also the bar's part owner and bartender.

    When the rough-around-the-edges Tate meets the high-class Lauren, he thinks she won't fit in at Bubba's. Yet there's more to Lauren than meets the eye, and Tate soon sets his mind on claiming her as his own. Before long, the desire burning between them is heating up the cold mountain air. But when violence strikes the town, Tate must reveal a dark secret to Lauren-one that may put an end to their sweet dreams.

    205,764 words
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJun 24, 2014
    ISBN9781478901013
    Unavailable
    Sweet Dreams
    Author

    Kristen Ashley

    Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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    Reviews for Sweet Dreams

    4/5

    261 ratings21 reviews

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    • 4/5
      An Ashley hero that speaks English, Huzzah! I loved this book. Lots of alpha, the origins of a heroine finding her way in a biker world, but very little of the incomprehensible biker-pigeon that characterizes the Dream Man series. This and Rock Chick will be my go-to Ashley fix for awhile.
    • 4/5
      SWEET DREAMS is a good poster-child for self-publishing. On the one hand, it's a lot like a commercial romance novel; there's a really likable heroine who's down on her luck and, with a little help from a bad-boy alpha male hero, she makes a better life for herself and earns an HEA. It's set in a small town called Carnal with a supporting cast of eccentric characters. Our heroine, Lauren, has her own internal struggles to overcome, but there's some outside pressure in the form of a busy serial killer.

      But it's different from a commercial romance in a couple of key ways. One, the hero and heroine are in their early forties. Two, it's really long. Most publishers would avoid this novel for either or both of those reasons. But Ashley handles the age issue well, giving us a really fun, hot couple who've got enough experience under their belt to have real scars and real character, and the length? Well, when you've got a book you enjoy that's only an advantage.

      So Lauren spent her thirties living someone else's dream. She landed a great job and got rich. She married a handsome man who was also rich. She moved to suburbia and bought a big house, close to a golf course because her husband liked golf, with a cleaning lady and a gardener because her husband cared a lot about keeping up appearances. She hung on, assuming that she must be happy without ever being happy, until she found out her husband had been carrying on an affair with her best friend for five years. Until her husband asked for a divorce so he could be with the other woman.

      That's when Lauren fell apart, quit her job, and went looking for something new. As she says: a nowhere town with nothing special in it, a place where she won't cherish any illusions about what life has to offer. The book starts when Lauren, a former executive, applies for a job as a waitress at Bubba's. She's completely forgotten how to live for herself and, in her new life as a waitress at a biker bar, she rediscovers what things SHE likes, what makes HER happy.

      Tate makes for good conflict. At first because he's gorgeous and horribly, thoughtlessly cruel to Lauren. But then because it turns out that he's a really wonderful guy -- but also a total control freak. Lauren is tired of being a good girl. She's done with living according to someone else's rules and expectations. She's drawn to Tate but his demands make her wonder if she's making the same mistakes all over again.

      This is where the length of the book comes in so handy. In a lot of romances, especially romances featuring really controlling alpha males, the authors often arrange for short-term, high-danger situations where the alpha hero's controlling tendencies seem rational or sensible. Kristen Ashley grounds her story in the everyday; yes, there's a serial killer on the loose, but the serial killer has been operating in five states and kills, like clockwork, only twice a year. A recent, very local attack should mean that all the women of Carnal are in the clear for a while, months even. That doesn't stop Tate from ordering Lauren not to go anywhere alone or arranging for escorts whenever she's not home or at work. He goes overboard and he's overbearing about it.

      And that's just one example. Tate is about as infuriating as he is dead sexy. When Lauren wonders if she ought to date a guy who can act like such a jerk, I wondered right along with her. When she sticks with him, accommodates him, I felt exactly her blend of worry and excitement.

      The book isn't perfect. It could use a little copyediting. There's a major sub-plot featuring Tate's crazy, violent ex-girlfriend who refuses to let him move on, which happens to be a sub-plot that I do not like in any book, including this one. A really alarming number of conversations between Lauren and Tate involve Tate saying something outrageous, Lauren saying, "Tate!" and then Tate saying something else outrageous, followed by another, "Tate!" and then...yeah, same thing a few more times.

      But I really enjoyed Lauren's personal transformation. I liked being able to see it happen slowly and gradually, and I liked the "it takes a village" element to her changes - Tate doesn't "fix" Lauren, all of Carnal does. She works hard, she reaches out to new friends, and she gets the helping hands she needs. There's a very obvious moral here about what makes for a "good life" and I thought it was delivered really well. The romance is also incredibly satisfying. The conflict stays tight through most of the novel but we get time to see how Lauren and Tate rub along together once all their issues have been ironed out, and that was really fun too.
    • 5/5
      Kristen Ashley continues this amazing series of love stories with Tate and Laurie. Laurie has lived years married to a man that was supposed to be her perfection. Only when she finds out about his affair with her, so called, best friend for the past five years she knows that this was all just a fantasy. Two months and several states later she finds herself in a sleepy little town of Carnal Colorado, and know that this is where she is meant to call home. Having accepted that life is what you make it; she is determined to find a life that can make her happy. Laurie's sole mission is to find contentment with the knowledge that her fantasies of perfection do not realistically exist. Or, so she thought until she meets one Tatum Jackson. This rude, egotistical, and mouthy biker bartender give Laurie a run for money. Not in her wildest dreams did she believe perfection would appear in leather and on a Harley.I love these books! Laurie and Tate were everything that Max and Nina offered and more. Tate is honest and real giving readers a raw mouthwatering male specimen to drool over from start to finish. Laurie, on the other hand, is spicy and independent. It is easy to adore her character, and sympathize with the life that she has been dealt. Solo each of these character carries incredibly qualities, but the combining of the two offers a relationship and book of perfection. Carnal is the setting for this story, which readers of The Gamble, will associate as a town right outside of Gnaw Bone. I was so excited to see Nina's name appear in this book, and be able to relate the character from book one and two. Ashley is an amazing and talented author that knows how to write one hell of a love story. Her writing is detailed and precise leaving nothing to ponder. I love her writing style, and with the length of these novels, find it impressive that she offers it in such a way readers will obliviously rip right through the pages. I am anxious to see what other books from Ashley have to offer. This is a BOOKWHISPERER FAVORITES AUTHOR. ~BookWhisperer Reviewer JO~
    • 4/5
      The many moments between the two main characters were the best part of the story. I read romances to get the details as to how and why a couple fall in love. I also enjoyed the well rounded secondary characters and the domestic details. I did get frustrated with some redundant details and with the heroine ‘s constant whispering.
    • 2/5
      I had to fast forward through the multiple sex scenes to get to the story. The story was good and entertaining enough though predictable. I loved the detailed descriptions and the heroin voice was very realistic.
    • 4/5
      KA sure does know how to pull off an alpha. I know this man in particular is the favorite for many KA readers. I thought he was an ass sometimes, but he definitely grew on me. There was a lot of murder mystery and such going on also that I had no idea would be in this book. It's more serious that some of her titles. Great read!
    • 5/5
      Sweet Dreams is book two which takes place in a different town from book one Canal, Colorado which is a town of bikers. Lauren, has left her ex husband after finding him cheating on her with her best friend. So she breaks ties and heads out west and finds herself in Canal, Colorado where she feels is the right place for her and finds herself getting a job as a waitress at the local bar Bubba’s. But there is one person that especially doesn’t want her there TateJackson. who makes it clear what he thinks of her on his first day of coming into the bar. Things are very tense between Lauren and Tate, because Tate knows that he hurt Lauren when he was angry and lashed out. Tate is a man who has been on and off with his ex since high school, and he has a son to protect and trying to gain custody of with a mother who is unhinged. But Lauren is a woman that is gorgeous and kind and he and Lauren fall fast for each other.Two kinds of women get under your skin. The ones who do damage, they don’t feel good there but once you’re fuckin’ stupid enough to let them in you got no choice but to take the time it takes to work them out. Then there are the ones who don’t do damage, who feel good there, feed the muscle, the bone, the soul, not rip it or break it or burn it. The ones you don’t wanna work out.Sweet Dreams was a lovely book and I swept through this story very quickly. I am always impressed with how Kristen Ashley writes these books and I am really loving the setting of the small town in Colorado. Its told in the heroines 1st POV for the most part only a couple times do we see Tate’s side. I really loved seeing this story unravel and I especially like that the hero and heroine are older, both in their early forties. I really love it when I see more mature characters find love too. And these two are done very well and I really liked seeing the hero grovel, because yeah he is a jerk in the beginning but he does make up for it in the end. I really adored seeing Tate and Lauren come together and seeing them find a happy ending with Tate’s little boy (who is darling and hilarious and just as mischievous as his father)
    • 5/5
      Loved it but got tired of the "babie/babe". Good story. Narrator was pretty good, too.
      I loved the other characters and the cat, lol. Tate was written nicely but author may have over did the dominant biker dude type. He grew on me as time went on.
    • 1/5
      The lead man Tate is a little too alpha male. Made me think he was in the edge of abuse. I quit listening when a couple of chapters in Lauren is upset and wants to go home but Tate tells her no and then says I’m going to F you now, F you in the shower, then I will take you to work F you after work and then F you in the shower after your swim. Would you want anyone talking to you or your daughter like that?

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I would rate Kristen Ashley books higher if they weren't ALL THE SAME! This book was very entertaining. However it was a lot like The Gamble: Colorado, alpha male, female loves Xmas, etc. You do get your money's worth since the author writes long books.
    • 5/5
      I think this is the first book I have ever read where the hero has a beard, not just scruff but a full sexy beard! Seriously HOT!!! This book like the first in the series (even though honestly the two have so little in common I'm not sure they need to be part of the same series) is terrific!

      Tate is a very badass biker, bounty hunter hero (among other things) and Lauren is fresh out of a bad marriage and fresh into Carnal, Colorado. The last thing she expects to do is meet and hookup with Tate but when she does she sets her mind to become a biker babe in training. Add in lots of secrets, a great cast of characters, plus a serial killer on the loose and it makes for a great book.

      Anyone who's read a Kristen Ashley books knows her style of writing is to write very long books with run-on sentences that tend to be repetitive among other editing issues. But never doubt that the end result is that her books have some of the hottest heroes, amazing stories and are always addictive and leave you going back for more!
    • 4/5
      Sweet Dreams
      4 Stars

      Lauren Grahame arrives in Carnal, Colorado with nothing more than a desire to find the perfect nowhere town to call home. As Lauren finds a job and begins to make friends and settle down, her equanimity is soon shaken when Tate Jackson, her gorgeous, and unfortunately, obnoxious, new boss takes an interest and a serial killer begins targeting women in the sleepy town.

      Suffice it to say that Kristen Ashley’s writing is not for everyone. That said, her characters, settings and storylines are so engaging that they more than compensate for any shortcomings of her unpolished style.

      More often than not, Ashley’s heroes make terrible first impressions. They are rude, dictatorial and domineering to say the least, but Tate Jackson surpasses even the most offensive in his insulting attitude toward Lauren. It is a testament to her characterization, that Ashley is able to rehabilitate him as well as he does because by the end of the book he is as swoonworthy as they come.

      Lauren is a particularly engaging heroine on a journey toward self discovery. She really comes into her own as she transitions from a lonely and insecure divorcee into a strong, vibrant and determined woman capable of bringing a man like Tate, one who is so disillusioned by life and women, to his knees.

      The serial killer plot adds tension and suspense. It is difficult to pin down the culprit due to the dearth of clues (one of the disadvantages of 1st person narration). Nevertheless, it is possible to figure it out and the climax and resolution are excellent.

      All in all, a wonderful story with characters who are both down to earth yet larger than life.
    • 5/5
      This is a great book to read. Tate is a delicious biker with a no holds barred attitude. Lauren is not a biker, with more polish. The two start out at odds with each other and end up in love. I couldn't put this book down.
    • 4/5
      4,5 stars.

      Good book and a lot better than the first one in a lot of ways, one thing I have to say is that I think the chemistry between Nina and Max was a little less hotter than the one between Laurie and Tate. And Tate, man oh man. This one made me cry harder and far more times than the first, fact that made me realize that Kristen Ashley put a lot more angst and drama into this series than into her Rock Chick or her Dream Man series. There was some humor here too, but a superficial one which made me think it was there so the book didn't get that heavy with the kind of situations the characters were dealing with through out the book.
    • 5/5
      5 stars! I loved it way more than The Gamble (which I thought was good too). There was so much story going on that it felt like I was reading a multiple book series about Tate and Lauren. The secondary characters were really well developed, I felt like I knew them and loved them (well most of the them), they weren't crazy like the ones in Gnaw Bone. Really good story in general, it was journey, not the straight forward girl meets guy, fall in love and lives HEA. You see the work it takes to get there.

      Once I got used to Tate and his ways, I loved him. He is a no B.S. bad ass biker, bounty hunter, alpha male, plain and simple.

      Only Tate can be totally mushy one minute and over it the next yet still sound OK doing it.

      "All right, Ace, this is done,” he announced quietly.
      “What?”
      “These heart to hearts.”
      “Oh,” I whispered, disappointed because I kind of liked them. “Okay.”
      “We get it now,” he explained. “We don’t need ‘em.”

      Kind of a jerk thing to say, yes, but totally Tate.

      There were so many things about Tate to love besides being hot, he's a good person who proves that he would do anything for those that he loves (and does). Lauren comes into her own as well. Both are list makers, I love Tate and Lauren rocks!


      Another favorite quote...

      ...I whispered “You okay?”
      "Fuck no,” he replied, not whispering at all.
      “Is there something I can do?” I asked.
      “You’re doin’ it,” he stated.
      “I am?” I asked.
      “You love me?” he asked.
      “Yes,” I answered instantly.
      “That’s it, you’re doin’ it,” he finished.

      A must read!
    • 4/5
      I really liked Lauren. And Tate. The length of the book was off-putting - it really dragged on - but it was good. Especially the parts with Jonas and Lauren.
    • 5/5
      It kinda reminded me of Motorcycle Man. Just as good and rather addictive. Loved it.
    • 5/5
      This is my first time on the computer today, I never even turned on the TV, once I started this book, I couldn't put it down!

      Tate and Laurie had a wonderful dynamic, I really enjoyed their banter. All the characters were fully fleshed and I definitely never saw the identity of the bad guy coming. This book is a major re-read for me. I love how Tate and Laurie's relationship came about. It wasn't the typical boy meets girl , boy and girl fall in love, happily ever after. Tate and Laurie were real people, and had real person flaws. Phenomenal book!
    • 3/5
      I've been waiting until I could figure out what I want to say about this book, but I'm still having a hard time with it. I did like it, it was as engaging as Ms. Ashley's other stories I've read. But I had a problem with Tate being so overbearing and Laurie being sooooo wimpy that I could hardly finish the book. And again, the dialogue. I don't know of anyone who talks the way she writes. It's horribly distracting and frustrating because it keeps pulling me away from the story. And the way she keeps the characters talking over one another, interrupting or trying to interrupt. It just got so frustrating I found myself skipping huge segments of dialogue just to avoid the whole thing. I also found myself getting lost in the run-on sentences, but then not caring enough to go back and try to figure out what was going on. Truthfully, I was relieved to finish the story. Unfortunately, this will likely be the last one I read from Ms. Ashley unless she changes up her writing style.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Wow this is the first Book of KA's where I did not fall instantly in love with her man ... I did LOVE parts of this book , but there were also parts I did not love . Tate was very rough in the beginning I wanted to bitch slap him at least a hundred times , Then he grew on me about half way through. I LOVED Lauren , She was totally awesome through the whole book.

      Storyline

      Lauren Grahame has spent her whole life thinking something special was going to happen. She didn’t know what it was, she just knew it would one day be hers. But she learned the hard way that special wasn’t on offer.

      So, after divorcing her cheating husband, Lauren searched for nothing special and she thought she found it when she landed a job as a waitress in a biker bar in Carnal. It was perfect: a nothing job in a nowhere bar in Nowheresville.

      Then Tatum Jackson walked in. Part-owner of the bar, he took one look at high-class Lauren and wanted nothing to do with her. And he made this known, loudly.

      Tate’s angry insults seared in her brain, Lauren decides the feeling is mutual and she doesn’t want anything to do with the gloriously handsome Tate Jackson. The clash of the bartender and barmaid begins but, even though Tate makes his change of mind clear (in biker-speak, a language Lauren is not fluent in), Lauren is intent on going her own way.

      Until a serial killer hits Carnal and Lauren finds out Tate isn’t a bartender, he’s a bounty hunter. He stakes his claim for Lauren before he goes on the hunt for a killer but Laurie doesn’t speak biker nor does she understand bounty hunters and Tate comes back from the hunt to find his old lady has moved on.

      Life throws curveball after curveball at Laurie and Tate. As secrets are revealed, women are brutally murdered, and Lauren tries to find her inner biker babe



      Tate,he is an ex-cop bounty hunter who happens to also be a biker! He is rough around the edges from the beginning . He was alpha-male at its finest! He was possessive and protective. He could be rude and gruff, but his underlying loyalty and sweetness completely won me over in the end .

      "Two kinds of women get under your skin. The ones who do damage, they don't feel good there but once you're fuckin' stupid enough to let them in you got no choice but to take the time it takes to work them out. Then there are the ones who don't do damage, who feel good there, feed the muscle, the bone, the soul, not rip it or break it or burn it. The ones you don't wanna work out." -Tate

      “Which one are you?" I whispered.
      "What?" he asked.
      "Are you the good guy, the sweet guy who takes care of me or are you this guy who's kind of a jerk?"
      His answer was instantaneous. "I'm both those guys, babe. Your job is to get used to it."
      There it was, another order. Not even an ultimatum. Just, "get used to it".


      I loved Lauren's character as well. To see her transformation from insecure and lost, to strong and confident was enjoyable. She was such a sweetie, and her personal interest in everyone in the town, won them over to the point of everyone loving her.


      I never pegged the damn Serial Killer , I'm either slipping in books or I am getting to involved in the love in them to focus on what else is happening with a book hahaha .

      With all that went on through Everything I did love this book just as much as any other KA book I have read .. She definitely knows how to keep you in a book and turning the pages ...


      “Jesus, Laurie, baby, look at you."
      My eyes followed his, mainly because I wanted him to keep at me and I'd do just about anything he told me to do to get it.
      But what I saw made my heart skip and my legs fail.
      Tate, dark, tall, behind me, his hands on me; me, blonde, my face flushed, my eyes hooded, tucked tight against him. A perfect fit, made to be there. A perfect match, made to be together.
      Made to be there.
      Made to be together.
      We looked great.
      We looked hot.
      We looked beautiful.
      My eyes went to his in the mirror.”
    • 5/5
      Once in a while you hit upon a book that strikes that cord, I’m thinking its all of Kristen Ashley’s books because the two the I’ve read so far have done just that.

      Lauren (Laurie) Grahame discovers that her husband of 10 years has been sleeping around with what she believes is her best friend. After giving her A-hole of a husband an easy divorce, Lauren decides to take a road trip to find “Nowhereville” and start over. She gives up her executive job and after months of roaming takes up as a waitress at a biker bar in Carnal (same Colorado mountain town).

      She has a rocky start with one of the bar owners Tate Jackson and so begins the spunky show down and unexpected relationship.

      Throughout Lauren’s stay in Carnal, she is bombarded with character building situations. It was great watching her grow into herself and become who you could see peaking right under the carefully constructed persona Lauren had upheld for 10 years.

      Ashley has incorporated lots of ultra alpha males, crazy exes, awesome secondary characters and even a crazed serial killer into this fascinating mix. Another great book, of course I’ve already purchased the third in this series and have my eye on Rock Chicks next.