Dream Keeper

September 20, 2021
The entertaining standalone that wraps up the Dream Team series (after Dream Spinner) is a solid example of bestseller Ashley’s ability to combine tense action with steamy but heartfelt relationship building. Though single mom Pepper has seen many of her fellow Denver exotic dancers couple off with the members of a local team of security expert “commandos,” she’s focused on providing a safe, stable environment for her eight-year-old daughter, Juno, and resolutely ignores her attraction to commando Auggie Hero—even after she realizes Juno is playing matchmaker in the background. Pepper tries to leave Auggie out of it when she asks his commando team for help finding her estranged brother and figuring out why everyone at her parent’s church is acting increasingly odd. But Auggie inserts himself into the investigation as he and the team uncover much more than religious fanaticism driving the strange behavior. As the action ramps up, Pepper and Auggie overcome their hesitation and sweetly commit to each other. Meanwhile Ashley weaves in enough slightly younger commandos to spin off into her next set of romantic thrillers and delightfully redeems the shady Cisco, a baddie from earlier in the series who here turns Juno’s guardian angel. Fans are sure to be satisfied. Agent: Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect Agency.

November 1, 2021
Pepper, a single mom who escaped the cult in which she was raised, makes her living as an exotic dancer. Her colleagues have all found true love with a group of extraordinary men who work together as commandos for a secretive security company. They keep trying to match her up with Auggie, who is unattached and extremely hot. But Pepper is focused on Juno, her wise eight-year-old daughter, and has no interest in adding a man to her life. Juno decides to secretly invite Auggie to her school for career day where her teacher introduces him as her stepfather. Meanwhile, Pepper's mother is dying and her long-missing brother needs to be found. Auggie takes the case and his team uncovers something troubling about the cult and the people who run it. Sizzling sex and intricate but realistic relationships are well developed and lovingly told. Ashley's page-turning action adventure is a great read that can stand alone even though it is the fourth in her best-selling Dream Team series, following Dream Chaser (2020).

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