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betty

Great!

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2023

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I loved this book. The characters were believable and it was well edited. The relationship between all the characters was well written. I especially liked the slow burn between Riley and Jayne.

Kathleen Wills

Nothing better than a confident, successful, straight woman falling for another woman!

Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2023

I read this one in one sitting! I love stories of women discovering their love for another woman, the awakening is so profound. Dreams Found is very well done, introducing us to Riley and Jayne. While Riley is secure in her sexuality, Jayne is the one we watch slowly realize feelings she's been missing for years. And it's lovely.
Add into the mix the sweet story of Riley finding her birthmother, and it's a wonderful book.
Oh! And Jayne is Riley's step sister! Makes for some interesting twists.
Read this!

Tessa Sanders

Loved this story!

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2017

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Just plain AWESOME!!!

MissLynn

A classic romance with fabulous narration!

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2022

4. 5 stars

Riley James gets a whole lot more than she bargained for when she leaves her home for an extended stay in Brisbane to meet and get to know her birth mother. While she's had a wonderful life with her adoptive family, at 25 years old she desperately wants to know more about the woman who gave birth to her and what the circumstances were that resulted in her being given up for adoption. While she hopes for the best and braces for the worst, she has no idea how much this trip will alter the course of her life.

This story has a little bit of everything - family dynamics, strong friendships, annoying love interests - and ultimately a lovely, unconventional romance. The slow-building chemistry between Riley and Jayne is palpable and I was aching right along with Riley that the beautiful entrepreneur might share her feelings.

I am beyond excited that Lyn Denison is releasing her books - including her back catalog - on audio! When an author's works have lived on your shelves for decades, having them released in a new format is particularly special. I was in pure heaven with my first listen - Gold Fever - and revisiting Dreams Found was a real treat as well. I was introduced to Aussie narrator Jenny Walters with the first book and after this latest one, my appreciation of her voice and work is now solidified. For those that love an authentic Australian accent with a top tier narrator, I urge you to give these a listen. While the love scenes in this are certainly stimulating, they're more on the tame side. In Jenny's voice, though, I was seriously weak in the knees. I will neither confirm nor deny that I listened to one particular line an embarrassing number of times. I am spoiled, spoiled, spoiled I tell you!

Really looking forward to my next Denison listen.

K. Johnson

Blood is Thicker Than Water

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2005

Aussie Riley James loves her adoptive parents and brother, but wants to meet her birth mother. With her parents' blessing she locates and arranges to meet Maggie Easton, the woman who gave her up 25 years prior. Maggie, the unfortunate victim of teenage love, has dreamed of the reunion, but has never told her current husband or family about the baby. She asks Riley to hang about and do odd jobs until she tells her husband, but he is on an extended business trip. While she waits, Riley makes friends with Maggie's son Jake and becomes enamored with Maggie's complicated, straight step-daughter, Jayne.

This story is told totally from Riley's point of view. The reader experiences her fears about telling Maggie she's a lesbian and dealing with her growing feelings for Jayne. Jayne deals with some complicated feelings of her own, but the reader isn't privy to her thought process.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a comfortable read that didn't require too much deep thinking. Recommended for a lazy afternoon accompanied with a cold beer (or two).

M. J. Lowe

I wish the butler *had* done it ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2004

"Wait on." Cathy held up her hand. "Maggie Easton and Jayne Easton?" She slapped the side of her head and her graying curls bounced. "Jayne's Maggie's daughter and your sister?"

"Ah, no. Jayne's Maggie's husband's daughter from his previous marriage," Riley explained.

"You mean your boss is your mother's stepdaughter?" Lisa laughed. "That makes you stepsisters."

"I think the butler did it," Brenna said dryly and they all laughed. (p81)

In Dreams Found, the latest romance from Lyn Denison, an out lesbian and skilled carpenter, Riley has known she was adopted for years. However, Riley recently has taken steps to locate her birth parents. She finds Maggie living in Brisbane with a husband and three stepchildren. Imagine Riley's surprise when she also finds herself attracted to Jayne, a woman who, while not blood related, is her stepsister! The required misunderstandings abound, particularly in regard to secrets. Kept secrets are justified because Maggie wants to tell her husband first about Riley before her stepchildren learn of her. With the convolutions and secrets, the plot could have been for a bit more humorously treated without losing its serious quality. Instead Denison goes for the angst in a way that is not particularly engaging to this reader.

Dreams Found is one of Denison's shortest works and in this reader's mind something is missing. Perhaps it's the way the author deals with family issues. This is a primary issue to the story. Riley is depicted as a woman for whom family is an important support system. It is perhaps for this reason that she decides to reach out to her birth parents. The two negative, if not just dislikable characters in the book, Darren, Jayne's business partner and apparent love interest, as well as Lisa, a lesbian who is attracted to Riley, both belittle family relations. Darren could almost be tossed off as the self-centered, thoughtless male whose disrespectful treatment pushes Jayne to reevaluate her life. (Darren's stereotypically negative male qualities are acceptable in that several other male characters, family members and friends are depicted as caring, intelligent humans.)

However, the author seems to skim over the fact that neither character seems to have enjoyed the family support that Riley or Jayne do. This is particularly troubling of Lisa. Of her family, we're told that her "parents had been through a messy divorce, and Lisa and her three siblings had spent their childhood years swinging between an alcoholic father and his latest partner and their manic-depressive mother. Lisa left home as soon as she was able and she'd never gone back. She hadn't seen either of her parents for years and was happy to maintain that particular status quo." (p9) The portrayal of Lisa's inability to bond with family is seen as a serious character flaw for the unsympathetically portrayed Lisa, but with a family like Lisa's, who can blame her?

Lisa's family of origin is almost implied as an excuse for some of her behavior: that of being tactless, blunt to the point of pushiness, and unwilling to accept Riley's declination that their casual relationship be explored in a more serious way. We're told, "Riley's sense of family had been a source of tension between them on a couple of occasions. Lisa couldn't or wouldn't recognize Riley's closeness to her family, the respect and love she had for her parents and older brother." (p9)

This simplistic portrayal is particularly annoying when in reality many lesbians, gays and bisexuals have found their families of origin unsupportive in the face of their queerness and have as a consequence worked hard to develop support systems that are based on the love and respect of friends, i.e. "families of choice." A point that is itself personified when Riley hesitates for weeks to tell her newly found birth mother that she is a lesbian. This somehow suggests it is more difficult for Riley to risk Maggie's rejection because family is important to her. Further that Lisa, who did not enjoy that kind of relationship with her family, had it easy and shouldn't be so brusque about the importance of family to Riley. Lisa's point of view does not excuse her rudeness. However, it is Riley's inablility to "get" Lisa's issues with family that made Riley, not Lisa, the one needing to work on her compassion. It is possible that Denison did not intend for this presentation. Indeed, given her other works, it is even likely that she did not. However, the impression left a bad taste with this reader.

Lesbian romances are not merely the idealized tales of love that heterosexual romances can be. Lesbian romances hold a much more complex role. They serve as a validating mirror for lesbians and our community. Hot sex is rarely enough for a lesbian romance to be a success. It can be, as it is in classics like Forrest's Curious Wine. While the erotic moments in Dreams Found will hold most reader's attention, they are not enough to be the primary focus. Denison has put the definition of "family" on the table for this novel and since she has only validated families of origin, those readers who have created families of choice may feel left out in the cold.

Dreams Found is a pleasant enough, albeit brief, read for a slow evening. However, overall the novel is predictable, and not particularly interesting, nor funny. Dreams Found does not hold up to the quality of Denison's earlier novels. Hopefully, this is not a trend. In the meantime, Dream Lover, The Wild One, and Gold Fever are all better reading in this reviewer's opinion.

Top reviews from other countries

Hope Freed, UK

I could happily have read much more…

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2022

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I picked this up recently in a sale and really enjoyed it. Not my first by this author and possibly not my favourite (I still have a really soft spot for ‘The Wild One’, which was my first and which I read in the days before I wrote reviews) but hugely enjoyable as it was. Lots of nice, suppressed, feelings; a couple of characters to ‘hiss and boo’; some, but not too much, angst, and the ending we all want. I could happily have read much more about Riley and Jayne and their lovely extended family!

JMB1779

Synopsis from publisher

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2011

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"When Australian Riley journeys to Brisbane to meet Maggie, her birth mother, she isn't prepared for the tumultuous upheaval that her news will cause her world and the worlds of so many others.

While Maggie is thrilled to be reunited with the daughter she had lost many years before, she wants to wait until the time is right before telling her family about the child she gave up so long ago. Although Maggie assures Riley that everyone will accept her, Riley is uncertain how Maggie's family will react. Not wanting to rock the boat of a family she is only beginning to know, Riley willingly keeps their secret until Maggie can find the right time to come clean about her relationship to Riley.

Then Jayne enters Riley's life and upsets the balance of their world even more. As their friendship builds into something more, the complications surrounding Riley's presence become increasingly difficult to hide.

Can Riley convince Jayne of her true feelings and intentions without giving away the secret that she and Maggie share?"

Hmmm well-written and a good story, but not much meat on it. Worth it for an easy & light read though.

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