Heated Dreams by Julie Grissom

                                                                               

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Heated Dreams
Author: Julie Grissom

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Publisher: Carnal Passions

Genre: Paranormal/Time travel/Romance/m-f/f-f/m-f-f-m

Length: 282 pgs.

RATINGS FOR:

Cover: 5-It’s sensual and the people on it are attractive. The expression on the woman’s face conveys something all women want to feel.

Presentation: 5

Editing: 5

Story: 5

Writing Ability: 5


Reviewed by: Violet Harper

About The Book: Roxanne Frost has more problems than she can count, but they pale to insignificance when Brett Sperry, man from the future invades not only her bookstore and her home, but her dreams, filling them with erotic images of the two of them having incredible sex. Sex in which she always reaches fulfillment. Then, he invades not only her dreams, but her very mind, telling her he can “fix” her “disabilities.”

Brett is a man with a mission. When it’s completed, he will return to the future and she will be alone again. Will the lessons she’s learned from him make her a woman fully capable of enjoying sex again, or will they fade as his voice fades from her mind?

The Review: This book was extremely difficult to put down. Julie Grissom is a very talented writer and she weaves a very realistic paranormal tale.

Roxanne Frost is a real woman. Recovering from the after-effects of being married to a selfish, egotistical jerk, she’s spending her time running a small bookstore in Vancouver and taking care of her ex-husband’s sister who suffers from an unspecified form or dementia. Her big heart is bruised, but not enough for her to turn her back on someone important to her. She’s the kind of person we all wish we had for a friend or sister.

Roxanne’s life is complicated by more than caring for her sister-in-law and worrying about making next month’s mortgage payment. The mystery man who has been invading her dreams in a sensually erotic fashion strolls into her store and rents one of the apartments she owns above the shop. He’s a time-traveler from the future looking for the man in line to become the next ruler of Earth. To make matters even worse, a real estate developer wants the land where her sister-in-law’s house is located. Since Selma lives with Roxy, she has somewhere to live. However, the tripled value of the land brings Roxy’s ex-jerk back into their lives as he tries to sue for custody of Selma (which Roxy doesn’t have) so he can sell her house, stick Selma into a cheap nursing home, and pocket the money.

I liked that Brett, the time-traveler, doesn’t sweep into Roxy’s life with the intention of solving all of her problems. I like a heroine who has the gumption and the intelligence to solve her own problems. What Brett does for Roxy is far more potent—he helps her realize that she is a vibrant, viable, sexy woman who deserves the love of a good man. She’s already strong and independent. He respects that.

Roxy shares a psychic link with Brett, though neither of them can explain it. When he walks into her shop, she knows him because he’s played the lead in all of her erotic dreams, the only place she can seem to orgasm. I purposely didn’t tag this book as erotica, because it isn’t, even though Roxy’s dreams are erotic. She’s a passenger on an 18^th Century ship that’s caught the captain’s fancy. She’s a wife playing fantasy games with her husband. She’s an escort entertaining a client after hours. In each, she is in control. She’s guiding the action. When she is with Brett for real, the scenes are sensual and loving.  There is no graphic language or detail.

The only critique I had was that it seems to me that Roxy is bisexual, but Ms. Grissom goes through extraordinary lengths to assure the reader she’s straight. If the reader is going to stay with you through scenes involving two women, or two women and two men, then they’re okay with women being attracted to one another. There’s no need for labels or protests. I thought part of that denial was Roxy learning to embrace her sexuality, but that thread dropped, so that wasn’t the intention.

The way Ms. Grissom wove those scenes into the storyline was brilliant. I began to look forward to Roxy going to sleep just to see what scenarios her mind would conjure next.  The level of sensory detail was amazing throughout the entire novel. I could feel the wind whipping around me as she faced the captain on the prow of the ship. I felt the salt of the sea settle on my lips as she walked along the harbor. I could see and smell the bookstore, autumn in Vancouver, the burnt grilled-cheese.

The plot was masterfully developed, and though some parts were told from Brett’s point of view, we only see those that directly relate to his time with Roxy. It is her story, layered with the hurdles of life. The cast of supporting characters helped develop Roxy’s character into a real person. If I met her on the street, I would only be surprised that I was three thousand miles away from home. Of course, if she was with Brett, all would be explained.

I loved reading this novel, and I look forward to reading more by Julie Grissom.

Pagan Elements: There were many Pagan ideas here. The untapped powers of the mind are completely tapped by the time Brett is born. However, the religious significance is completely denied, with credit being given to technology and gene therapy.

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