Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Dream 
SERIES: Skins #1
AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh
NARRATOR: Shaun Grindell
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
RELEASE DATE: February 28, 2019
LENGTH: 6 hours, 34 minutes
BLURB:
When unrequited love leaves Dylan Hart sleepless and nursing his wounds, instinct draws him to the one place he’s found mindless respite in the past – Lovato’s. It’s a place for every fantasy, where a night of insane NSA sex brings relief.
It should be a perfect escape, and for one magical night it seems that way, but then worlds collide, and reality bites when Dylan’s hookup desperately needs a friend. Surely Dylan can’t trust his instincts when friendship has bruised his heart so badly before?
The deck is stacked against former ballet dancer Angelo Giordano ever finding real love. At least visiting Lovato’s offers respite from a life defined by illness; a glimmer of light in the dull gray of his so-called life without dance. But then he encounters Dylan, who makes his heart pound once more with purpose.
Angelo’s mind is blown by this man, but the disease that ended his career won’t let him bask in new love. He’s drowning, and Dylan can’t save him while insecurities swamp them both. The only way to make it means confronting their demons. If Dylan can turn his back on the past, and Angelo can face his uncertain future, maybe they can chase their dreams together.
REVIEW:
I’m a huge fan of Garrett Leigh, she’s written some pretty fantastic books. Broken and dented characters and plenty of angst and feels are par for course in all her stories. As far as dented characters and angst filled pages Dream is right up there. But as far as the rest goes, this book didn’t speak to me as much as her previous books have.
Dylan and Angelo are both dented in their own way. Dylan is wary of relationship since his latest one ended up hurting him more than he imagined. Add in insomnia and anxiety and he had enough on his plate without adding another person to the mix. Angelo on the other hand lost his dream as a professional dancer when his constant exhaustion and pain forced him out. To escape from reality they both frequent Lovato’s, a place not for the shy or faint-hearted. Their encounter made them both want more. Much more.
For everyone loving hot and dirty sex scenes with kink and exhibition thrown in this book will definitely be right up your alley. It starts right off the bat and has a strong presence throughout. It’s not really my thing and made me wish for more. More of a connection, emotional one, not one based on lust, need or want. That’s all on me though.
I think that a lot of the reasons why I didn’t enjoy Dream was Shaun Grindell’s narration. When I started listening to this book I immediately noticed two things; I loved Grindell’s accent, the Irish one was also great. They were without a doubt the best part of the narration. The second thing I noticed was that he didn’t have a natural flow in his narration. He added small pauses between sentences and it made the book feel stilted and a bit off. It kept the listener from connecting to the story and character, to the point where I feel that I most likely won’t listen to the rest of the series. Which is a shame as I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.
RATING: 
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