Book Review: In Your Dreams by Ginger Scott

In "In Your Dreams," we meet Casey Coffield. Casey's a DJ with an extraordinary talent for mixing songs so well, bodies on the dance floor are hypnotized by the beat he lays down for them. But, according to a few others, like Casey's father, Casey's a screwup.

After a video surfaces on YouTube of Murphy singing a song she wrote called, "In Your Dreams, Casey Coffield," Casey realizes that whoever the girl in this video is may not be HIS biggest fan. But, he immediately becomes HER biggest fan. Casey is enamored with her voice. He's convinced that he can make her a star.

Murphy Sullivan is a singer with purple hair, grey eyes, and a raspy voice. She works with kids by day part-time teaching music to kids in elementary school. By night, she signs herself up for Open Mic nights at a local bar called "Paul's." And, she's acquired a bit of a following. She's got a brother, Lane, who has Down's Syndrome and lives at home with Lane and their mother. She's college-educated and lacks the confidence she needs to put herself out there and go for that record deal that she wants badly but doesn't quite yet realize that she deserves to have one.

Casey knows Murphy was in the same high school class as he was but, he simply can't remember who she is or why she would write a song bearing his name that is NOT meant to be a compliment. What he does know is that her voice is something that needs to be heard. The other thing that Casey is completely sure of is that Murphy is not the type of girl that you use as a "wham, bam, thank you ma'am," or a "love 'em and leave 'em." Chase just knows by something instinctual that he needs to move slow with her, work with her, get to know her and that she's the kind you work to keep.

I've heard many refer to this particular novel of Ms. Scott's as a "slow burner." And guess what? If Casey's relationship with Murphy is the kind of relationship where Casey needs to work for her, then a "slow burner" it must be. You can't have the relationship going at one speed and the book flying on all pistons. Ms. Scott definitely chose right when setting the tone and the speed at the same pace. That does NOT mean that you will be able to put the book DOWN. Oh no! That is NOT going to happen. There's a big difference between a "slow burner" and a "slow reader."

Ms. Scott displayed two her best gifts (she has many more) in this novel just as she's done in her others: writing the first kiss scene and the "first time" scene. As I read the first kiss scene in "In Your Dreams," what I saw in my head was literally slowed down to slow motion.  Oh GAWD was it absolutely fabulous. You WILL go back and read it over and over. I even read this a few times OUT LOUD because I wanted to hear what I would sound like if I was the one reading the audiobook version. 

The coveted "first time" scene? I can't say much about the scene itself because that would be telling. Trust me, you don't want it spoiled for you. But, let's just say that the "always willing to be daring" Ms. Scott went a different kind of "all the way" with it. And the best part? She's so damned GREAT at how she writes these scenes, one feels like one is somewhat of a voyeur looking in on it all. Man, oh man, did I love "watching" THAT.

I honestly could rave on and on about everything. The characters are all multi-dimensional, including the secondary characters. Ms. Scott always gives multiple layers to all of her characters. You'll definitely want to know HOW Murphy knows who Casey is and, why he doesn't remember HER. You'll probably be mad at Casey for a few pages. Trust me, you'll get past it.

I would have liked a longer, more detailed ending as well. But I just wanted more novel because I love reading Ginger Scott's books and I'm greedy for as much of her story writing as I can get. 

I liked how the book ended. The way the book was brought to its end could have been longer. But, it gives me a chance to make up my own theories about some of the time frames not covered. 

"In Your Dreams" is definitely a FIVE-STAR novel. If it rises to #1 on Amazon like other Ginger Scott novels have done, I won't be surprised. Not even a little bit.

I received an advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for an honest review. Ms. Scott's timing is somewhat magical. As I was writing to her about some really BAD family news and asking her if the ARC's were ready yet because I needed escape so badly, she was sending the ARC to me. And I mean it came in the email as I was writing the email to her. Definitely magic! Just like Ms. Scott and just like "In Your Dreams." 

Bring on the withdrawal until the next book! How does one quell the withdrawal of the Ginger Scott novel? By reading all of her books over again, of course!

About The Author:

Ginger Scott is an Amazon bestselling author of eight young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, Wild Reckless and The Girl I Was Before.

A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website at http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

When she's not writing, the odds are high that she's somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork 'em, Devils).

"The Silver Linings Playbook" and Why You'll Hate The Book!!!!!

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Since the reading of the book has primarily come down to movie vs. book, I plan to review the book with that in mind. If you saw the movie and enjoyed it as I did, you probably won't like the book. Might also depend on the order. Read book, see movie or vice versa. Since I saw the movie first, multiple times, that's my comparison and review,

In the book, with few exceptions, this book takes place in South New Jersey while the movie takes place in Ridley Park which is in PA (Delaware County). I think the movie people figured out that Pat, a huge Eagles fan, belonged in Pennsylvania.

Here's everything in the book that no one will like:

1. Pat's father is barely a character in the book, Robert DeNiro is movie magic,
2. Tiffany spends most of the book running behind Pat and never speaks to him,
3. In the book, Pat was in the hospital for FOUR YEARS for what seemed like a man who got pissed for finding his wife cheating, not for a mental illness. Who gets put in a mental institution for beating the shit out of the guy who screwed your wife?
4. Like the movie, Pat's diagnosis is never disclosed which is potentially dangerous as it can lead to people thinking all mental illnesses are the same.
5. Pat calling the mental facility "the bad place," and calling his divorce from Nikki, "apart time" has to be the most childish crap I've ever heard come out of an adult character's head. What's worse is that the author chose to use this terminology throughout the entire book.
6. Not telling Pat anything and hiding everything from him was a horrible idea. It shows the author's naiveté and lack of knowledge about mental health issues.
7. The fact that Pat worshipped the ground Nikki walked on yet, never questioned why she never showed up, made no sense.
8. Except for Pat, all of the characters are really just non-characters with names. They have no depth and they rarely speak. I would say that 95% of the entire book is Pat narrating and every other word is "Nikki."

All in all, it was an easy read. Had I not seen the movie, I think my review of the book would be the same. In a book where the main character is dealing with a mental illness and trying to live in the world with that illness, I expect to know the diagnosis, I expect the symptoms to be made known and I expect to understand why one might be having some of the troubles that come with that particular illness. This book does NONE of that. 


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Book Review of "My Memories Dance" by D.M. Hulme

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“My Memories Dance” is the debut novel of D.M. Hulme and she hit it out of the park at her first step up to the plate! In the interest of full-disclosure, I was asked to read an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of the book, which is a work of Creative Non-Fiction, and I was asked to give an honest review of it. About halfway through the book, I purchased it outright because I knew that I would want to read it again. Also in the interest of full disclosure, the author is also the mother of one of my BFF’s. My fellow NetGalley readers and reviewers think I’m “NUTS!” and “INSANE!” for agreeing to read and review anything written by a friend, a family member, the family of a friend, etc. but if there were any BFF I was going to say “yes” to when asked, this BFF is one I couldn’t say “no” to.

My first point of order is to say “Congratulations!” to D.M. Hulme on her debut book. I’ve written plenty of blogs about myself over the years but could I write a book about myself using the honesty I encountered in “My Memories Dance?” I don’t know if I could. I also have HOARDS of respect for anyone who successfully writes and publishes a book. SO, let’s get to it…..

“My Memories Dance” is about Sarah Walker. Sarah is a young woman who was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia, from this point on “Northeast Philly” or just “Philly.” Sarah’s journey through over four decades will take you through the highs and the lows of her life but in addition to her story, you get to read it through the eyes of a Philly girl who loved to go to the dances, loved watching American Bandstand, spent summers “down the shore,” and so much more. As a South Philly “girl” myself, the references to Jerry “The Geater With The Heater” Blavat (who wrote the foreword for this book), Wildwood, Woolworth’s, “The El,” and, so much more brought back memories of my own upbringing in Philly. It’s quite the wild ride down memory lane for Sarah and myself.

You will meet Tom MacPherson, the man who eventually becomes Sarah’s husband. You will HATE Tom. And you will NEED to hate Tom. Because you will feel so much conflict about the decisions, and the mistakes Sarah makes over and over again in regard to Tom. I think your first question will be “why the HELL did she ever marry him?” It was certainly mine and I don’t have any doubt that it will be yours. You will find that Sarah does have her reasons. One of the reasons being the actual decade in which they marry and how things were back then. Sarah writes:

"Tom and I would fight a lot. The fights were mostly about his drinking, the staying out all night,    about money and about his parents."

The other reasons I can’t tell you because, well…..spoilers, that’s why!

Alex Bentley. You will LOVE Alex. It won’t be hard. Alex is dreamy. I can tell you that you will know what Alex looks like from his description in the book and he’s definitely DREAMY. Alex’s appearances in the book seem to make him a minor character of sorts. However, Alex is a MAJOR character for the entire book for a myriad of reasons. He’s in Sarah’s mind and heart from the day she meets him until the end of the book. So even when Sarah isn’t interacting directly with Alex, Alex is still present to Sarah.

Sarah’s journey isn’t easy. Sure, life isn’t easy but I have to admire Sarah for her strength, her determination and her perseverance. There isn’t a day in Sarah’s adult life when she isn’t working a job. There is one short time where Sarah doesn’t work but there is a reason for it. Sorry, that’s a spoiler. There isn’t a day where she doesn’t have to take care of a member of her family. Not one. Sarah simply never stops working. And it’s not the work-a-holic type of working, it’s not “career woman” working. When Sarah takes on one of two or three different jobs to make ends meet, she goes to clean house for some women in the neighborhood and Sarah writes:

"These ladies treated me like I was their daughter. They loved me, and all I did for them. It was very rewarding."

This is SURVIVAL working regardless if it’s her job or taking care of a family member or being there for one of her friends.

You will briefly meet Sarah’s daughter Kim as well. Kim? Well, she’s the reason I read the book. Because she asked me to read it. Sarah has this to say after a terribly unpleasant event occurs:

"Kim and I would talk everyday on the phone. I would vent my problems, and she would always talk me down from the ledge."

Gee, I know NOTHING about what this is like at all. LOL!

"She's a wonderful kid, and I would ask myself, how did I get so lucky to have a kid like her!"

And how did I get so lucky to have a friend like her? And I know she’s absolutely going to hate the fact that I included this line in my review. She’s humble that way. At one point, I sent Kim a brief message about the part of the book where her birth occurs. Her reply was, “SPOILER- I'm really not in it that much.” Oh but she is. Because embedded in Sarah’s mind throughout the book after Kim is born, she’s doing everything for her child. She never has to come out and say it; you will simply just know this to be a fact.

Sarah’s life will make you laugh and it will make you cry. D.M. Hulme is exactly the second author of my 45-year-old life to actually make me cry tears while reading a book. I do recommend having some tissue available. If you’re sitting on the beach, get the Jackie O sunglasses out for this one. You will shed tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

I don’t know how much “creative” is embedded in this “Creative Non-Fiction” book so I have to accept it all as real as it is presented. If that’s the case then I can promise that you will ROOT for Sarah like I did. You will HATE Tom like I did. You will LOVE Alex as I did. And you will hear the songs that are the soundtrack of Sarah’s life in your head as you travel on her journey with her through every single page.

Finally, I enjoyed the choice and direction that D.M. Hulme decided to go with the ending of her first book. I think you’ll find that this definitely is one of the “creative” parts of “Creative Non-Fiction.” It’s kind of a surprise ending of a different sort. You’re gonna love what she does with it. I didn’t see it coming but, as I realized what she was doing with the ending, I thought it was soooo perfect.

I’m rating this the same way I’d rate a NetGalley or Goodreads by using the five star system and I’m giving it FIVE STARS. Most debut books don’t get 5 stars from me. But when an author can evoke the emotional responses that I had while reading, whether tears of sorrow, tears of joy, or laughing out loud not caring who hears it, you get 5 stars! It’s really that simple.

Before or after you read the book, visit the website, http://www.mymemoriesdance.com. You’ll find some lovely information there about the book as well as some great links.  Once you've perused the website, watch the fabulous VIDEO as well.



So, while I recommend this book for anyone who likes to read, I call on Philly chicks, those born in the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s, those of you who are the children of those born in these decades, and those of you who know what it means to go “down the shore,” to grab this one right NOW. You will NOT be able to put it down.

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