{"id":76747,"date":"2024-10-18T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T12:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=76747"},"modified":"2025-03-14T03:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T07:55:08","slug":"release-shattered-dreams-dreams-series-1-by-natasha-madison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=76747","title":{"rendered":"Release & ARC Review: Shattered Dreams (Dreams Series, #1) by Natasha Madison"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Shattered Dreams by Natasha Madison is live!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

An angsty, forbidden, enemies to lovers, small town romance where the MMC & FMC are both broken! <\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t miss the first book in the new Dream series!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Charlie<\/strong>
\nIt was supposed to be a regular day out.
\nThree couples celebrating the last days of summer.
\nWhen tragedy struck.
\nI thought I was going to marry her.
\nInstead, I was burying her.
\nI blamed the world for my pain.
\nI buried it all.
\nI became a man I didn\u2019t even recognize.<\/p>\n

Autumn<\/strong>
\nIn a blink of an eye, everything changed.
\nMy best friend was gone, and I was responsible for it.
\nI may not have been driving the truck, but I didn\u2019t stop it.
\nEscaping the town was the only thing I could do to survive the guilt.
\nI thought I was strong enough to go back.
\nI was wrong.
\nOne look from him and I knew I wasn\u2019t welcome.
\nBut this is my home, and I wanted to come back.
\nOne night turned into more. But at the end of the day, I know he\u2019ll never love me.
\nBesides, we all have shattered dreams.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

2 stars<\/b><\/p>\n

Ohhhhh, what do I say about this book? There were things I liked, there were things I didn\u2019t like, but for what is set up to be an emotional read, I unfortunately didn\u2019t feel much at all.<\/p>\n

This is the first book in the Dream<\/i> series, but ties in with Natasha Madison\u2019s Southern<\/i> series. Charlie is the son of Quinn and Willow from Southern Heat<\/i><\/a>, and there is some family tie-in with his parents, grandparents and sister all appearing, but you could read this as a standalone.<\/p>\n

The story starts off full of intensity when six friends are involved in a horrific car accident that changes their lives forever. Charlie loses the love of his life, Autumn\u2019s best friend, and Autumn\u2019s boyfriend is also killed. I was completely captivated as we see it all happen in devastating detail, and couldn\u2019t wait to see how the story all unfolded.<\/p>\n

We then shift to eight years later, and Charlie is still a grief-shattered shell of a man, to an almost obsessive level, spending his nights moving between the grave of his lost love, to the place where she died. He\u2019s never moved on and wallows in his loss, and has no intention of changing that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m breathing through life and not actually living. In reality, I died eight years ago. My heart is the only thing that didn\u2019t stop that night. Everything else did.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Autumn lost a lot that day as well, but she was also caught up in the aftermath, feeling responsible for the accident, and shunned by the people in her small home-town for her perceived role in it. She ran away for a fresh start, but a family emergency has called her back, and she\u2019s now home again and finally facing up to her past.<\/p>\n

From the moment Autumn is back in town, Charlie targets her. He\u2019s furious, and wants her gone, and he holds nothing back in letting her know that. In short, the man is an asshole. He says truly horrendous things to her and treats her appallingly, and Autumn just takes it and does her best to look after her family and protect their struggling business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you want from me Charlie?\u201d I ask him softly. \u201cI literally can\u2019t give you anything else, because I don\u2019t have anything left to give.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The dynamic between Charlie and Autumn shifts when they unexpectedly fall into bed together. They still hate each other but for some reason they can\u2019t keep their hands off each other, and when Autumn reveals her long-held secrets, everything changes for Charlie who suddenly finds himself falling for Autumn, and he goes all alpha male ready to claim his woman.<\/p>\n

We are both not ready for whatever it is that this is going to be.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, I\u2019m all for angry hate sex, but there has to be some build up. This came right out of the blue. Charlie and Autumn haven\u2019t seen each other or communicated in any way for eight years. They\u2019ve hated each other for eight years. Like real, actual, soul-deep hate. They have two angry confrontations with no sign of any chemistry whatsoever, and suddenly they\u2019re tearing each other\u2019s clothes off! Why? It didn\u2019t feel hot to me, I was just confused.<\/p>\n

And then once Charlie realises that he has feelings for Autumn and that he wants more with her, he\u2019s like a completely different person. It\u2019s a complete 180 as he becomes this uber protective alpha male almost overnight. Instant forgiveness for all of the misplaced anger, his grief is forgotten, and he\u2019s all about Autumn, and nothing but Autumn. Again, with very little build up. And it takes very little to bring her around as well, even though they never really talk about their feelings for each other.<\/p>\n

As much as I wanted to, I just didn\u2019t feel it, and though there were some sweet moments in the second part of the book where Charlie is trying to prove himself to Autumn, I wasn\u2019t invested in them as a couple at all.<\/p>\n

My other question \u2013 why was Autumn so hated in the town? There is a reason given, but again, the anger seems WAY misplaced, and I didn\u2019t understand how she ended up being blamed for so much. But I did appreciate her journey to reclaim her life and her business, and find her confidence once again.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a journey in extremes with very little build up, and I felt little emotion because of it. This couple went from \u201cI hate you\u201d to \u201cI hate myself for having sex with you\u201d to \u201cyou are the one for me\u201d so quickly, and I just didn\u2019t understand why.<\/p>\n

The series will continue with a book for Autumn\u2019s brother, Brady, but I\u2019m more intrigued by the idea of a book for Brock, another survivor of the accident.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure a lot of readers will love this book, it\u2019s just not for me.<\/p>\n

2 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Dreams Series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0 \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/h4>\n

Shattered Dreams (#1) <\/strong>(Charlie & Autumn)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>\u00a0
\n<\/strong>Buy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Forbidden Dreams (#2) <\/strong>(Brady & Harmony)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Buried Dreams (#3) <\/strong>(Brock & Everleigh)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Stolen Dreams (#4) <\/strong>(Emmett & Lilah)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Forgotten Dreams (#5) <\/strong>(Caleb & Sierra)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"When her nose isn\u2019t buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she\u2019s in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It\u2019s a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn\u2019t listen to her\u2026<\/p>\n

Keep up with Natasha Madison and subscribe to her newsletter\u00a0https:\/\/www.natashamadisonauthor.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

To learn more about Natasha Madison and her books, visit here!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Website\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0| \u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Facebook Reader Group<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow on Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Follow on BookBub<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Subscribe to Newsletter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out more great reads on our\u00a0Natasha Madison Author Spotlight<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Shattered Dreams by Natasha Madison is live! An angsty, forbidden, enemies to lovers, small town romance where the MMC & FMC are both broken! Don\u2019t miss the first book in the new Dream series! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":2,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"tags":[1589,581,634],"class_list":["post-76747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news","tag-dreams","tag-natasha-madison","tag-release"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Shattered-Dreams.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-jXR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/75858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}