Dream On by Angie Hockman Review

Summary (from the publisher):

59366218 What would you do if your dream man turned out to be real?

When law student Cass Walker wakes up after surviving a car accident, she is flooded with memories of her boyfriend, Devin. The only problem? Devin doesn’t exist. But everything she remembers about him feels so real, like the precise shade of his coffee-brown eyes; the texture of his favorite hand-me-down scarf; even the slightly crooked angle of his pinkie, broken after falling off a trampoline in third grade. She knows he’s a figment of her imagination—friends, family, and doctors confirm it—but she still can’t seem to get him out of her head.

So when she runs into the real Devin a year later in a Cleveland flower shop, she’s completely shocked. Even more surprising is that Devin actually believes her story, and soon they embark on a real-life romance. With her dream man by her side and an upcoming summer job at a prestigious law firm, Cass’s future seems perfect. But fate might have other plans…

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed Angie Hockman’s debut last year, Shipped, an enemies-to-lovers set in the Galápagos Islands, so I was interested in checking out her latest release, Dream On. The book follows Cass, a law student who wakes up from a coma after getting into a car accident and keeps asking for her boyfriend Devin…only for her best friend and mother to break the news to her that Devin is not real. A year later, Cass feels like her life is getting back on track: she’s gotten a job as a summer associate at her dream law firm, she is living with her best friend, Brie, and her memory has made some improvements.

Imagine Cass’s surprise when she walks into a flower shop and while talking to the owner, Perry, his brother is the man of Cass’s dreams, Devin. After the initial shock on both sides, Cass and Devin get to know another, but throughout the story, Cass must determine if Devin and even her job if the life of her true dreams.

Dream On was a fun and unique contemporary romance. The premise was different from what I’ve seen done in YA before, and Angie Hockman executed the story and all the other plot & character elements really well. I enjoyed that the story is more than Devin and Cass’s relationship, as Cass works as a summer law associate and isn’t sure if it’s everything she thought it would be. Devin’s brother, Perry, is also a big part of the story than the book’s official synopsis hints at. Perry isn’t too keen on Cass and Devin’s relationship, based on Cass’s near unimaginable backstory involving Devin and Devin’s own romantic past. I really liked Perry as a character and his role in the story, including his encouragement of Cass’s artwork.

Some readers might be hesitant going into this one based on Cass’s dreams about Devin being her boyfriend and then meeting him in real life, but it totally worked well! I also really enjoyed the crossover between Cass’s work and Perry’s family business, the flower shop (that also features a super cute corgi). The flower shop was such a fun setting, and I loved seeing Perry show Cass how to make arrangements and talk about the business side of things. I think it’s easy to tell who I was rooting for in the end, but I liked how Devin and Cass’s relationship made them realize things about themselves and enjoyed how their story came together in the end. The book is also complemented by side characters like Cass’s best friend, Brie (is it me or do I sense a Brie spinoff/companion novel coming?), and her mom, whom I actually would’ve liked to see more of. Cass and her mom have a good relationship and her mom is really concerned about Cass’s recovery and her job, having always encouraged Cass to become a lawyer based on her background as a paralegal.

Overall, Dream On is a really solid contemporary romance read, especially if you’re looking for a light-hearted summer read to begin to close out this season of the year. I’m looking forward to keep seeing what Angie Hockman writes next!