DREAM SPINNER (Dream Team 3) by Kristen Ashley

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 25, 2021

two damaged souls must overcome the pain of their pasts to have the love they’ve always dreamed of.

Hattie Yates has finally met the man of her dreams. Yet years of abuse from her demanding father have left her petrified of disappointment. She’s already failed to reach her goal of becoming a professional ballerina—she can’t handle the terrible consequences of another dream becoming a nightmare. But when a stalker sets their sights on Hattie, there’s only one man she dares to hope can help . . .

Axl Pantera knows Hattie is the only woman for him. Yet despite the attraction burning between them, Hattie refuses to let him in. The former soldier is determined to woo her into letting down her walls. And when danger comes calling, he’s up against more than her wary and bruised heart. Axl will do anything to prove to Hattie that they’re meant to be, but first, he’ll need to keep her safe.

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REVIEW: DREAM SPINNER is the third instalment in Kristen Ashley’s contemporary, adult DREAM TEAM erotic, romance series focusing on a group of exotic dancers who call themselves the ‘Dream Team’. This is twenty-six year old dancer/ artist Hattie Yates, and thirty four year old, former soldier turned commando Axl Pantera’s story line. DREAM SPINNER and the Dream Team series is a spin-off from the author’s Rock Chick, Chaos and Dream Man series. DREAM SPINNER can be read as a stand alone but for back story and cohesion I recommend reading the series in orders as there is an ongoing plotline throughout.

Told from first person perspective (Hattie) and third person (Axl) including a couple final chapters from Pepper and Lee, DREAM SPINNER follows the building romance and relationship between twenty-six year old dancer/ artist Hattie Yates, and thirty four year old, former soldier turned commando Axl Pantera. For months, Hattie Yates has refused all advances from our story line hero but someone has placed a target on our heroine’s back, and Axl is livid that she called in help from someone else. Taking control of the situation, Axl moves Hattie into his house, and resumes protection and guardianship of the woman that calls to his heart. Using all of the resources offered by Hawk and his team of commandos (a group of former US soldiers who now work domestic civilian contracts for Hawk Delgado), Axl and his friends must come to terms that sins of the past are threatening the women they love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Axl and Hattie as our couple navigate the fall-out of dysfunctional family dynamics, and the threats to our story line heroine.

Meanwhile, Axl and Hattie have personal family issues that are about to implode. Axl Pantera knows the disappointment of rejection first hand as he struggles with the mess of his father’s misplaced affection. From his long-suffering mother to his father’s inability to see beyond the bottom line, Axl refuses to become what his father has always expected. Hattie Yates is in a co-dependant relationship with her father, a man uses his ill-health to control the only woman left in his life. Hattie’s mother left years before but our heroine refuses to sit back and watch her father destroy his life.

The relationship between Hattie and Axl began months before as Hattie continues to rebuke Axl’s advances believing herself not worthy of love or a happily ever after but as the threats to our heroine take on a more personal and sexual nature, Hattie slowly discovers that Axl is the man that calls to her heart. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense but once again, I struggle with the use of a certain four-letter word in my romance story line.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and familiar secondary and supporting characters including many from the author’s previous series. We welcome the return of Hawk Delgado, Augustus Auggie Hero; Mo and Lottie, Ryn and Boone, Mag and Evie; Elvira; the ‘Dream Team’ dancers, Pepper, and Ava; their boss Smithie, and security specialist and Smithie’s nephew Dorian; Mama Nana, and her security guard Jorge; and Cicso aka Brett Rappaport, as well as the introduction of both Hattie and Axl’s parents.

DREAM SPINNER is a story of family, friendships, relationships and love; a story of dysfunctional family dynamics, revelations and acceptance; romance and love. The premise is engaging, intriguing and captivating; the romance is seductive and steamy; the characters are broken but healing. DREAM SPINNER ends on happily ever after-for now, as the people threatening our story line heroine have yet to be revealed.

Reading Order and previous reviews
Quiet Man
Dream Maker
Dream Chaser

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy