Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Flowers Under My Pillow

AUTHOR:  Nell Iris

PUBLISHER:  JMS Books

LENGTH:  17477 words

RELEASE DATE:  June 26, 2021

BLURB:

Smiling brown eyes. A dark beard. Dandelions. Sunny, happy dandelions.

For thirty years, Frode’s had the same dream. Every Midsummer’s Eve since he was a kid accompanying his sister to pick flowers to put under his pillow, he’s dreamed of the same man. A dream he never shares with anyone, that makes him wish for impossible things…like true love.

“It’s you.”

Then one Midsummer’s Eve, the man of Frode’s dreams stands before him in the flesh. Both men recognize each other despite never having met in real life. Both men are instantly drawn to each other and want to know more.

“Who are you, Viljar? Are you even real?”

Their questions are many but do the whys and the hows matter? Or should they allow the Midsummer magic that brought them together to lead the way into each other’s arms? Into each other’s hearts?

Traditional Swedish folklore tells you that if you pick seven kinds of flowers in silence and put them under your pillow on Midsummer’s Eve, you’ll dream of the man you’ll marry.

REVIEW:

Oh what a beautiful amuse bouche this story is – perfect for midsummer – even if we are slightly past that 🙂  Having had the wonderful privilege of spending midsummer not in Sweden, but in Finland, many years ago, I can attest to what a gorgeous time of year it is.  The flowers, the weather, the nearly round the clock light – there really is nothing like it 😀  I totally felt like the author captured the beauty of the season in this story.  The two main characters, Frode and Viljar are lovely characters.  We meet Frode as a child when he first learns of the folklore of picking seven types of flowers and put them under the pillow on Midsummer’s Eve and you’ll dream of the man you’ll marry.  He’s skeptical of course.  But over the next thirty years, he does dream of the same man every Misummer’s Eve – even seeing him growing older.  And when he finds the embodiment of his dream?  He’s sure he’s really still dreaming.  And when he finds that Viljar has also dreamed of him?  Well what is happening here?  It could be the best thing that has ever happened to either on this Midsummer’s Eve 🙂

Nell Iris continues to be THE BEST at short story/novella writing.  Her atmospheric prose just sucks me into the story every time.  Her secondary and supporting characters are well done – not cardboard stand-ins.  We feel the relationships and believe that her characters are falling in love.  Highly recommended.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

JMS Books

Amazon