AAR

[jaime]

I am reading Dreamlake now, I am at the last third and it is such a good book, I am loving it. It made me cry already several times early in the story.
I did like Rainshadow Road but this one I am loving. For one the supernatural aspect is much better integrated here. And the characters are wonderful - bristly, troubled Alex and the funny things he sometimes says, lovely Zoe and her cooking - the way Kleypas describes the food is giving me cravings! The ghost. And Emma. Oh my.

I am sure I will cry at the end too.

[Nicole]

I finished this book last night, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Kleypas never lets me down. I've been taking a bit of a break from romances, but this book left me perfectly satisfied. Just what I was looking for. I also thought the magical realism elements were incorporated into the narrative more smoothly into this book than Rainshadow Road. I felt the ghost added something to the story, and contributed to Alex's character growth, which I felt was lacking from the other book. I also really liked Zoe as a heroine. I thought her personality was very appealing, and I felt that she really fit what Alex needed in a partner. I'd rate this one at a B+.
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She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain. -Louisa May Alcott

[jaime]

Word of caution - if you are on a diet this book will sabotage it, it's a foodie's wet dream.

[Sputnik]

I'm 2/3rd done and I really love the ghost. I'm not a paranormal fan at all, but this ghost is cool!

[Charina]

I liked the series, but didn't love it. Honestly, I miss her historicals and hope she'll go back to writing them.

[jaime]

I read the Dream Lake review over at dearauthor and it's now official - the main reviewer there and I have totally different reading tastes: she usually gives good reviews to books I find meh and tends to pan books I like.

[HEAreader]

[Kerstin]

[Mark]

I read Dream Lake last night and mostly liked it. The expansion of the stained-glass window magic (showing that the modern incident was a reversal of history) was interesting. I had no problem with the ghost, but the miracle near the end came out of left field & surprised me. The book was very sensual/sensuous (not just in a sexual sense).

[LordRose]

I just finished Dream Lake, and it made feel feel incredibly hungry, even when I had just eaten.

The ghost was actually kind of interesting (although the ending depressed me, but those sorts always do), but he could get kind of annoying at times when I wanted more of the main romance, not finding out more about the ghost. The miracle part was a bit too WTF for me, though. I think I preferred the lighter magic in the previous books, but since the next one appears to be about a witch, there'll probably just be more. (Video games are good, though. I like video games.)

[Charina]

My fear with Lisa Kleypas is that she is falling into Julie Garwood territory... that is, I'm not crazy for her contemporaries as I was for her historicals. Like Garwood, she is a much better writer of historical romances, definitely relationship and story building and the tortured hero... and the sex scenes were magical.

I connect much better with her historicals, than I do her contemporaries. I feel she is a much stronger writer, writing historicals and her contemporaries are 'eh'....

[Lynda X]

Got DREAM LAKE at the library, and though I liked it, it was not up to Kleypas's best, IMO. I wonder if she's trying to break into women's fiction. I thought you could skip or skim the first 25, 30--or more--pages easily, up until the hero goes to work for the heroine. I liked the her strength and the ghost's quest, but the hero was a little too uncommitted too long for my tastes, even though I knew the cause. I personally prefer when the hero is more involved, more loving then the heroine whom he chases; in this book, we see the heroine's attraction to the hero, but he resists her a lot.

I agree with the AAR reveiwer here that it was refreshing to see a woman who has to deal constantly with the stupid and demeaning assumptions made by men who are instantly attracted to her figure. I wish we had actually seen more of that, in the past and the present. I did appreciate Kleypas's theme that sometimes what seems to be smart (and cynical) assumptions about life and being removed from the romantic chase is really just fear, hurt, and cowardice.

Bottom line is would I recommend it Yes, although it's not Kleypas's best.

[Tee]

Got the book late and have to agree with the few here who said it was not up to expectations. I'm a bit biased because I don't do ghosts very well in contemporary books that are supposed to make sense. Just takes all the credence out of the story for me. But even beyond that, the story itself was not that unique and not unlike some of the characters she's worked with before in different books and settings. I think from the brief excerpt I read from the final book, it'll not be on my wish list at all. Lisa Kleypas has been spiraling downhill for me lately and I believe this book sealed the deal. I really enjoyed the very first short book in this series; the rest, not at all. I know--spoilsport!

[Blackjack1]

Yes, it's unfortunately been quite a while since I've read and really liked a Lisa Kleypas book. The last one for me was Smooth-Talking Stranger and that was in 2009. I'm still interested in reading her new releases but more and more she's not an author that excites me or guarantees a good read. Her books have not fallen into completely bad reads for me either, but I'm just aware that she's a fairly average writer for me now. I'm still grateful though that she has such an amazing backlist of wonderful books.

[Charina]

I adore Lisa Kleypas and she is an auto-buy for me. It pains me that I cannot get into this series. I am so disappointed, but more importantly, there's no word whether she will go back to writing historicals, or even contemporaries like her historicals.

I understand an author's need to do something else... that to grow as an author, it is essential to do broaden horizons and from a creative stand point, to do so not to get burned out doing the same-old.

But, the books she's writing now, I just simply can't get int to them. There's something missing and I think it's the passion that was so apparent in her other books. It's like when she toned down on the sensuality and passion, she lost something, and her 'voice' changed.

Maybe it's just me that feels that way.