Book review: Dream A Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

"Sarah is doing just fine. Sure she's been single for the last five years, and has to spend an uncomfortable amount of time around her ex-boyfriend, his perfect new girlfriend and all their mutual friends. And yes, her job as a PA to one of the most disgusting men in London is mind-numbingly tedious and her career is a constant disappointment to her mother. But it's really okay. She's happy (ish).

So it's not surprising that when Sarah starts dreaming about a handsome stranger, she begins to look forward to falling asleep every night. Reality isn't nearly as exciting. That is until her dream-stranger makes an unexpected real-life appearance, leaving Sarah questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Because no one ever really finds the person of their dreams... do they?"

Now, first of all I have a confession to make... I'm fairly new to the Giovanna Fletcher fan club as I only read You're The One That I Want a few months ago (you can read my review here). However, reading that made me a firm fan of hers, I fell in love with her descriptive and imaginative writing style and ability to create unique and lovable characters. As soon as Dream A Little Dream hit the shelves I dashed out to grab a copy, eager to throw myself into another of Giovanna's fantastic creations.

Dream A Little Dream follows Sarah, who is in a pretty weird situation. She is in a tight-knit friendship group with her old uni mates, which sounds nice doesn't it? except that one of those 'friends' is actually her ex-boyfriend, and another is his new, perfect girlfriend who he ended their seven year relationship for. Not so nice.

Now, at first I thought 'why would she stay in that group and put up with seeing the two of them flash their wonderful relationship in front of her?' but the more I thought about it and read more, learning about Sarah, I understood why. The group of friends are really close and the other members of the group are great - supportive, sympathetic to the situation and really funny. Their weekly stints at the highly competitive pub quiz had me in hysterics and I really want to head down to the pub with them! 

Sarah's job as a PA within a TV production company isn't quite what she had in mind. She wants to go further within the role and actually do something more creative, so when she gets the opportunity to 'step up' and become part of the planning team she is ecstatic. This is a part of the story I really enjoyed as it was full of imagination and really showed off Giovanna's writing strength - the ability to form entertaining situations. I loved the different and creative ideas that were batted around, and Sarah's idea, 'Grannies go Wild' had me smiling from ear to ear.

Of course the story centers around romance and dreams. Sarah begins dreaming about Brett, a man she once met for a short time at a party but didn't see again. She isn't sure why she starts dreaming about him, but she begins to look forward to falling asleep just so she can see where her next dream takes her. When he starts working alongside Sarah she is thrown by having to separate dream Brett to normal, real-life Brett and there are some funny moments when she mentions something to the real Brett that actually involves dream Brett, creating a confusing atmosphere that really made me laugh. I loved watching their working and personal relationship develop and see how she coped with this strange set of events. Brett is a great character - handsome, slightly cocky (but not too much so) and funny. I really willed for them to get together as the tension between the two of them from the start is electric. 

Giovanna's imagination never fails to amaze me. Each chapter begins with a detailed dream and some of them are so quirky or ridiculous they had me laughing out loud. I also loved the connections she brings from her real life to the book - 'Tom from McFly' makes an appearance in one dream, and you meet a granny who's ambitions are to be like Nanny Pat from The Only Way is Essex, a TV programme her brother actually appears in. The dreams 

Although I felt the start was quite slow, the book picks up a few chapters in and draws you to it, making you desperate to read more. As usual, Giovanna excels with her ability to create romance, humour and interesting scenarios. This book is an absolute dream to read (sorry I couldn't resist!) - if you haven't already, be sure to grab yourself a copy!