A.M. Rose

Books: Romance | Fantasy | Queer

Daydream, Colorado: Daydream (2020), Blindspot (2021), Mischief (2021), Heartwood (2021), Whirlwind (2021)

Faces (2021)

Daydream, Colorado

Daydream (2020)

Ben is taking an unexpected work trip—some place called Daydream needs an electrician to come fix the town's bakery.

Initially Ben was disappointed he wouldn't be staying an a hotel with a pool, but when he meets Sage, the baker in question, he decides Daydream might not be too bad.

This is a cute story. Nothing amazing, but a fun little escape.

I will note that the sex scenes did seem excessive for the amount of story here, but to each their own.

I'm not sure if Ben really would have taken the existence of magic quite so calmly, even after two weeks of seeing things out of the corner of his eye.

Something about the ending felt a bit off. I think I would have preferred it to be less dramatic—after all, it's a short story set in a magical town. The world building is the draw here, not the dramatic tension in the final pages when you know Ben is going to come back, because this is—after all—a romance.

Sexual content (99 pages)

January 2021 | Rating: 6/10 

Blindspot (2021)

Back in January, I picked up a bunch of free MM romances from Prolific Books, and I found Daydream interesting enough that I decided to get the first book in the series.

Drew grew up in Daydream, a magical enclave, standing out as the only one without magic. He fled the town when he was twenty, leaving behind his only friend and the love of his life, but now his parents have found him and asked him to come home. Perhaps for an apology, but it feels too little too late after ten long years.

"Don't give in. Stay awake," he coached himself, but it never really worked. His words started to slur. Phantom pain made his chest ache, and cruel laughter echoed in his ears before that scream, that terrible, awful scream, ripped through his mind. And then everything went black.

Especially since the problem that forced him to leave is still there.

Mason had been abandoned before–his parents left him in Daydream as a teenager, but that was nothing compared to the disappearance of Drew, who he thought was the love of his life. Now Drew as back and unable to explain to Mason just why he left, so Mason has to decide if he wants to rebuild a friendship–especially if Drew is only going to leave again.

Drew was there when Mason's parents finally decided they preferred traveling and having fun than playing family with him. He was there when Orson stepped up and took the confused fifteen-year-old in, so he'd have some semblance of stability in his life.

First thing to note: this is a self-published book, so I give it some leeway when it comes to editing and such.

Second thing to note: I read this book in two sittings. I may have had some problems, but I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened.

So what problems did I have? First, Mason is extremely unclear in the story. We know he works for his best friend, Sage. We know he is really short. We know he sometimes has glimpses of the future, but that never quite matches up with the Mason in the blurb.

Among all the special people in Daydream, Mason was just a bit more special. He had the ability to see all sorts of things; private conversations, someone's biggest mistakes, and their tiniest, most insignificant moments.

That is not at all how his magic presents in the story, which was confusing.

The second issue is that after discovering why Drew had left (and it is clear he had an extremely good reason and also that he really was unable to explain why) Mason has a hard time forgiving Drew. Which I was all, wait what? He just told you something horrific and you're continuing to fault him for not thinking clearly?

The third issue is a me issue rather than a story issue, in which I don't understand why the two continued to have sex after Mason declared they could only be friends–and why (considering their past) Mason didn't want to be seen in public doing the things they'd done prior to Drew laving. Like being seen eating together.

I get that Drew feels guilty for what happened, but he literally was unable to explain what was going on, and regardless of his past, Mason was a little shitty for treating him as he did.

So, it was nice, and I have another free short story to read, as well as knowledge of what the next book in the series will be (not sure how I feel about the teaser at the end of this story.

July 2021 | Rating: 7/10

Mischief (2021)

Dylan loves running the pizza parlor, almost as much as he loves his rescue dog, Buck.

Dylan pulled up outside the familiar house and barely had time to get his helmet off and butt off the seat when he heard a thundering BARK! from inside.

A grin spread over Dylan's face as the front door opened; a large, speckled blur bounding toward him in the evening light.

Jamie has taken a job in Daydream, and although he misses his best friend, he is looking forward to settling into a new place. But he does not expect his dinner to be delivered by a dog.

"Oh," Jamie said, finally focused enough to realize the backpack and the pizza box had the same logo as the flier he had picked up. "Ooooooh!"

Things clicked into place. The place was called Pizza&Paws. He could see the pizza. And he could definitely see the paws. This dog delivered his pizza. The dog. Delivered. His pizza. Just because it clicked into place didn't mean it made any sense. With shaking hands, he called over his wallet again, not remembering when he'd dropped it. He pulled out a few bills and looked at the dog.

"Is that why you broke into my place? I was gonna pay you, you know," he said, waving the money. The dog nudged a small plastic envelope attached to the strap of his backpack toward Jamie. He placed the money in the little pouch and went to take the pizza out of the backpack.

I loved the idea of the magical dog, and I liked the glimpses of how the town worked and was hoping for more of just how the magic worked, but not a lot of that.

It was cute, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the other stories.

August 2021 | Rating: 7/10 

Heartwood (2021)

For months, Darian has been searching for the man his friend Mason has Glimpsed. Someone hurt, in danger, being chased. So he isn't surprised when Tate shows up.

Tate, however, had no idea that magical communities such as Daydream even existed.

I've read several books and novellas in this series, and I have to admit that I sightly prefer the novellas to the full-length books.

Mostly because I remain uncertain about the magic. It seems too marvelous and powerful for greedy people not to have taken advantage over the years.

It's a bit like a magical version of Star Trek where everyone (mostly) belongs and no one is in need. Just a little too good to be true.

That said, Tate is not from Daydream, and his life has not been idyllic. And that past and healing are what I think the story does very well. It takes Darian time to gain Tate's trust–and that ability to trust doesn't magically fix everything for Tate.

SPOILER

 
"I wish they could have taken my memories away too," Tate said, surprising Darian.

"Why, darling?" he asked.

"Because it's not fair," Tate said, voice turning angry. "It's not fair he gets to go on living like I never existed. He's lived like that all my life, and now, he gets to go on without even feeling guilty or sorry for it."

I think that's an incredibly powerful sentiment–and an incredibly deserved rage.

END SPOILER

You don't need to have read the previous book or novella to follow this one, although you do spend a good deal of time with the characters from the previous book. (Specifically Mason)

It's an interesting story, and I'll eventually read the rest of the books.

February 2022 | Rating: 7/10 

Whirlwind (2021)

This book finishes the arc started in the previous book.

Felix is clairvoyant.

He didn't have some grand purpose, but he could help ease the suffering of both the living and the dead, and that was just as powerful.

He goes to where he is pulled, never settling down, but working short term in the places he lands.

Nick is the head librarian for the Daydream library. He likes things neat and orderly and does not like disruptions.

"I'm plenty fun."

"Sure. I guess matching caps to their corresponding felt-tip markers is considered fun in some cultures."

"Why would my caps and my felt-tip markers be mismatched in the first place?" he asked.

When Felix appears in town, he annoys Nick to no end. But it turns out the ghost Felix has been called to help may well be related to the problems in Daydream.

I am glad the story arc started in the previous book was cleared up here. Especially since there were a lot of things that bugged me about this story.

First, for much of the book, Nick was little more than his foibles. And those "quirks" weren't always consistent. And they definitely weren't reasonable.

"Fine," he bit out. "The information has to be on white, A4 paper. Arial font, size twelve. No bold words. No cursive. Once you print it, bring it over, and I can put it up for you."

Just…ugh.

The other thing that really bothered me was that 1) Felix was so accepting of a magical town. Yeah, he's clairvoyant, but it's one thing to talk to ghosts, it's another to discover other forms of magic exist and surprise! Here's a secret town! and then that 2) Felix felt like he had to hide that he'd never been to a magical town before. (Why? You can see ghosts–you're magical!) and 3) No one seemed to care that Felix just wandered into Daydream on his own. Despite all the ado about that happening in the previous book.

Also, this wasn't quite enemies to lovers, but it was awful close.

Nick might not like him. But he wanted him anyway. And Felix had nothing against hate sex. He was more than up for finding out personally how much fun it could be.

Yuck.

So, I enjoyed seeing the other characters, and was glad that the big problem had been resolved, but, but these two? Meh.

March 2022 | Rating: 7/10

Faces (2021)

Dorian was born blind, but that blindness came with a gift–the ability to draw the soulmates of those whom he touches.

The portrait I draw is the image of the soulmate the way they look when the person sees them for the first time"

Hayden knows that soulmates exist–his parents were soulmates. However, Hayden doesn't believe that soulmates are true, life-long loves. His parents divorce (and general incompatibility) proved that to him.

But when Hayden and Dorian meet, there is an undeniable spark between them, and they can't stay away from each other. Except that their beliefs in true love seem to be fundamentally incompatible.

I wasn't going to get this story, except that the email newsletter had the first chapter and I really really wanted to know more.

The only magic we see in the world is Dorian's ability to draw soulmates. Doesn't mean there isn't other magic–we just don't see it.

The issue I had with the story were almost all related to the magic system. Specifically, Dorian is The Artist, and there can be only one, but if that is true, just how many people live in this world? Are only people who live near Dorian able to discover their soulmates? Does this mean billions of people know they have a soulmate but can never learn where their mate lives? Or is the world smaller? Or maybe it's one on each continent? Or country? Or community?

It really bothered me, not knowing the extent of the magic system.

Aside from that, it was a sweet and lovely story.

November 2021 | Rating: 7.5/10