Dream Maker: A Nashville Nights Novel by Erin McCarthy

If you can suspend disbelief, Dream Maker is an enjoyable read. Avery O’Leary is a naive Kentucky girl who has just wasted 8 years on a romance with a guy who treats her badly and won’t even sleep with her. And he’s not all that great looking either. They’ve both come to Nashville hoping to break into the country-music business. Avery is an aspiring songwriter and she also wants to find her half-brother who doesn’t know that his father had a brief little affair and abandoned Avery and her mother. As soon as they arrive in Nashville, she finds out that the guy who refuses to make love to her has been sleeping around. She jumps out of his truck in the middle of the night forgetting to bring her purse with her. How clueless is this girl?

But lucky for her, Shane Hart, a successful music manager just happens to be right there to help her out since he can’t leave a young woman alone without money or a phone in the middle of the night in the city. He’s a guy who sleeps around a lot, but refuses to get close to any woman because he fears his own demons.

Of course, they’re attracted to each other and spend an unforgettable night together. They can’t forget the other and when they finally meet up again, the attraction is as strong as ever despite Avery’s reluctance to get involved with such a successful guy because no one will then believe that she made it on her own with her music.

It’s a good sign that you’re enjoying the book if you wish it would be longer. But it can also be a bad sign that the author hasn’t developed the characters and their relationship enough. I liked the set-up, but it all got resolved too quickly and neatly. Once that first night is over, the book goes into overdrive to wind it up. I would have liked more depth and a more leisurely finish. But I still enjoyed the book and would definitely read more in the series.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGallery, in exchange for a fair and honest review