In Your Dreams by Kristen Higgins

 Book DescriptionPublication Date: October 1, 2014Everyone loves Jack Holland, but Emmaline Neal needs him. Her ex-fiancé is getting married in Malibu and, obviously, she can't go to the wedding alone. In Manningsport, New York, tall, blond and gorgeous Jack Holland is practically a cottage industry when it comes to rescuing desperate women. He knows the drill, Em figures, so he won't get the wrong idea. What Jack needs is an excuse to leave town. Ever since rescuing four teenagers from a car wreck, he's been hailed as a hero and the attention is making him itchy, especially since his too-pretty ex-wife is back, angling for a reunion. He's always liked Emmaline. She needs a weekend date? No problem. So when they wind up in bed together, Em chalks it up to red wine and chocolate cake, just one impulsive night not to be repeated. But Jack's pushing for more, and if she lets down her guard, either she'll get her heart crushed again, or discover that Jack's worth more than just dreaming about.

 Although this book is part of a series, you will have no problems jumping right in and enjoying myself. There is nothing in this book that makes you feel as if you’ve missed something important by not reading the earlier books.

This was a charming, warm, relationship driven novel. Ms Higgins made it very clear that the characters genuinely liked each other.  Unfortunately, this book did not contain the heat normally associated with this genre.  The plot line was a little obvious, but I find that to be true with many romances.  The story-line of Jack having PSTD was quite interesting, since we have mostly seen the books that deal with that to usually be  about returning Vets.

I still enjoyed this book immensely and found myself laughing like an idiot in parts and then suddenly crying like a baby.  The character, main secondary and even tertiary, are well drawn and thoroughly fleshed out.  Each character has their own flaws and you find yourself either loving them or hating them.  It is difficult for an author to have me feel so many different emotions for this many people.

I have not followed this series because I loved Ms. Higgins first books - they are stand-alone books.  However, occasionally I get the yen to read something new by her and this seemed to be a good choice. It contains everything that is important to a romance - flawed main characters, outside conflicts, miscalculations and mistakes by both partners culminating into a climax of happily ever after.

ARC supplied by publisher.