Jenny's Dream

A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho

By: Linda Weaver Clarke

Narrated by: Carolyn Kashner

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Jenny Roberts has a dream to escape her small hometown to become a writer. She develops a friendship with a young farmer, who is new to the area and has secretly fallen in love with her. 

After she realizes her friend means more to her than she thought, she must now choose between a career and romance. Which dream should she pursue?

The only thing standing in her way is an unpleasant memory that has haunted her since childhood. She must learn to forgive before she can choose which dream to follow. 

Meanwhile, a legendary 10-foot grizzly is seen in the area, and its boldness has frightened the community.

©2009 Linda Weaver Clarke (P)2018 Linda Weaver Clarke

Jenny's Wish

This is a fantastic series I love the Art work on the book covers and how the Author brings these wonderful stories to life. I feel like I get to know the characters and feel for them as well. The And Author do a fantastic job at bringing the story to fruition and the world building is fantastic as well. I definitely recommend.
Shauna Joesten

I have a dream....

Ahhhh what a choice!! Your dream or your love?

Might there be a way, any way, that Jenny can have both? I suggest you listen & find out :)

It's a beautiful story, well written and well narrated - makes for a treat in my book!

I've loved all of Linda's/Carolyn's projects, and I can't wait for more! :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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They are getting better and better. Good Series

The Bear Lake series seems to be getting better and better. I like that the author tells a little about the facts in the book that are true. Interesting history. Will Jenny fall in love with Will or will they just stay friends. She was a tomboy but now she is a lady. Does that matter to a friend? The dialogue is great and the narrator again brings the characters to life. Great job Carolyn Kashner.


This book
was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Fall in love with a farmer!

Jenny is looking to follow her dream of becoming a writer. When she comes home from college, she is begins her search for a job and considers possibly moving to another state. Will has recently come from the city and is setting down in Bear Lake. He is intrigued with Jenny. She is not your typical girl, has a reputation for being a better shot than many men and is well educated. These two begin to form a friendship, spending time reading and talking. But as the summer winds down, Will finds that he has fallen for Jenny and the thought of her leaving is unbearable. Jenny is truly a wonderful character. She has spunk and keeps Will on his toes. Will is sweet and I love the poetry the two share. The two truly grow together, from the picnics to the dance lessons, they will steal your heart while they go from friendship to love. The other part of the story that I really enjoyed was the hunt for the grizzly. What an adventure this bear took us on, and the suspense of his demise was heart stopping. This is a fun installment and I can't wait to see what Linda Weaver Clarke has in store in book 4 for us.

Carolyn Kashner does a marvelous job with the narration of this book. I love her voices, and she has the perfect sound for the time period. She has a good pace and easily creates the distinguishable voices and personalities of the characters.

Incredibly Relatable and Inspirational

Not necessary to read prior books in the saga to understand the story.

Narration was perfect as usual.

Jenny is a very likeable and I was really able to relate to her on a number of levels. She is home after being away at college and is conflicted about whether she really wants to stay in Idaho with her family or try to get employment elsewhere and possibly move to the great state of TEXAS <3. While awaiting a response to her application she seems to lose herself and doubts her abilities as a writer. A caring family friend encourages Jenny to continue pursuing her dream of being an author and suggests she participate in writing competitions to overcome her self-doubt. Despite her doubt, Jenny works diligently and determinedly on her writing every day.

I really like that Jenny goes through this because I think just about everyone experiences instances of self-doubt or not feeling "good enough" at least once in their lifetime. Jenny's efforts are inspirational and remind us to believe in ourselves and our dreams; it highlights the importance of hard work and dedication to accomplish our dreams.

Also, Jenny struggles with a negative experience from her past that preventsher from moving forward with her life. When Jenny finally able to address this internal struggle that has held her back, the listener is reminded of the power of simple forgiveness.

Shortly after her return to Idaho, Jenny also encounters Will, the gentleman turned farmer. It is a pleasure to watch their friendship flourish into something more over the duration of the story.

The Bear Lake community also experiences a real scare with the grizzly bear. I thought it was particularly fascinating that this crazy huge Grizzly Bear actually existed in real life!

I really enjoyed majority (~98%) of this clean and easy romance. I absolutely hated that their dog died. Booooo to that.

I received a free copy and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

Wonderful example of respect

I love the way this author brings morals into light in her stories. If only young people would still apply these principles when selecting a mate, there would be less divorce and many more happier marriages. Marriage is about compromise and respect, and if people know what their match wants from the beginning, there wouldn't be disappointment in the marriage. I also love how Jenny discovers what her true dreams are. The book is free from the sexuality that plagues so many romances. I would encourage all couples, especially those beginning a relationship, to read this story. The author provided a free review copy of this book, which in no way swayed my decision.

Dreams do come true

Jenny's Dream is Book 2 of A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho by Linda Weaver Clarke. This series is an enjoyable historical romance series and I think that Linda Weaver Clarke has written each book with excellent characters and interesting problems. Jenny wants to escape the small town in Idaho and become a writer. Jenny is also a crack shot and can ride bare back. Since she is not looking for a fellow, her friendship with a quiet farmer, Will, is destined to be friendship only... if only her heart would cooperate. Carolyn Kashner brings the story to life with her excellent narration. I think that this is a must have in any audio library. I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.

So sweet

Jenny’s Dream is a wonderful continuation of a delightful series (can be stand alone, too). I love following the characters throughout life. This sweet and clean romance includes interesting and realistic characters and has a great storyline. The narrator gives a nice performance once again.

Unique plots and

Story: (3.5 stars)

Please bear with me as I explain a couple of things before I get into the specifics of Jenny's story...

I had to listen to 'Melinda' (Book 1) twice; I waited a few months before listening the second time. I will admit that I didn't know quite how to rate this book after I finished it the first time. I was not sure I even liked it and couldn't put my finger on why.

I just started the third book (Jenny's Dream) in the series when I finally (whew!) figured out why I didn't like this book as much as it deserved: It's all the little grammatical/usage errors! I am a stickler about grammar and proper usage and it's the little errors in this book (and all the others, so far) that throw me out of the plot and have me cringing for a moment. These tiny errors include: homonyms (words that sound the same but have different meanings), colloquialisms that have one wrong word in them, overuse of some words/phrases, or simply using the wrong word...

The following example is found in the first couple of chapters of Book 3 (Jenny), but is indicative of all the books. It says, "Jenny enjoyed being among nature." You can be 'among' trees, you can be 'among' wildflowers, but you are IN nature. Another part has a character saying, "I'll report this to the city council, but during the meantime..." It should read, "IN the meantime." All the books share this issue.

These are things a good proof-reader should have caught...I don't mean to hurt the feelings of whoever the proof-reader was, but little grammatical/usage errors like these really do add up to make a book less enjoyable.

There's one other complaint: the POV switches back and forth quite frequently, sometimes it is confusing to the listener.

Now to the good: These are some of the most creative plots I've ever heard and when you listen to the author's notes at the end, you find out that they are taken from histories of her own family! So cool! The romance is sweet and clean. We readers become attached to the characters and care about what happens to them.

Jenny: She is back from college and is feeling restless. She wants to leave and live somewhere else. She knows the main reason for these feelings is that this is the town where she was bullied when she was young. She knows she needs to forgive and let it go, but she struggles with that. She goes to a certain meadow often to read and commune with nature and it is here that she makes a friend...

Will: He is from a wealthy family and has lived in a city big enough that he's attended operas, ballets and society events. He doesn't trust that women want him for anything more than his parent's money and social prestige. Besides, he loves his new and peaceful life as a farmer. Then one day, in the meadow near his house, he sees Jenny dancing with an imaginary suitor. He is intrigued and pursues a friendship with this lovely young woman.

I loved that Will's male ego was unfazed by the fact that Jenny is a crack shot. I do find it a bit unbelievable that, being a society matron's son, he hadn't learned to dance. That said, it was a great plot device to help Jenny see him as more than a friend!

We are still following Melinda and Gilbert's life and it's lovely to see their family interactions as time passes and their children grow up.

Narrator: (4 stars)

Ms. Kashner does a really good job with children's voices, a difficult thing for a voice actor, I've heard many a voice actor ruin a child's voice. She also had to sing in a couple of the books and did it well! (Again, I've heard voice actors attempt to sing and it ruined the book for me.) On the down side, I felt that she read a bit too slowly, but as the book went along, I became used to the speed. Really, when you think about it, it's appropriate for the slower simpler times of which she is reading. I'd listen to her again.

*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special

Jenny

Jenny’s Dream
Linda Weaver Clarke

This is book three in the "A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho." It's a sweet clean historical fiction romance.

Eleven years have passed since Melinda and Gilbert got married. Jenny is grown and just back home from two years away at college. They have two younger children, a son

and a daughter.

Jenny has a dream of becoming a writer. She's met a young farmer named Will. Jenny may have to choose a career or a family. Listen to find out.

The listener also gets to meet a gang of ruffians , a ten foot grizzly with half a foot, and a past bully. Will Jenny be able to forgive people from her past? If not

will she be able to move on?

I love the true facts and quotes the author sprinkles throughout the book. I also like that she uses true family events in her stories.

The narration was well done. The characters were well portrayed. Carolyn Kashner brings this story to life.



I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.