Title: Shades of Dreams
Author: T.A. Chase
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel (185 PDF pages)
Rating: 3 stars
A guest review by Lily
***Warning, this review may contain information that could be considered a story spoiler.***
BLURB
Stephan Colby is on top of the world. He’s the lead singer of one of the hottest new rock bands, and his best friend is in the band to share the success as well. In addition, Stephan’s madly in love. Yet Fate has a cruel way of kicking a man in the teeth, and when Stephan’s world crashes down around him, he turns to his Rock, his bandmate, the one man who has always been there for him.
Rocky Sanicily has always had Stephan’s back, and they’ve been through a lot together. Rocky has also been in love with Stephan for many years, but has never found the courage to admit it. When Stephan suddenly loses the most important thing in his life, however, Rocky must do everything in his power to keep Stephan from giving up. If he succeeds, will he be able to finally tell Stephan how he feels? And if so, will it bring the friends closer together, or tear apart their relationship forever?
REVIEW
When Stephan’s world crumbles due to the unexpected death of his lover it’s Rocky, his best friend and band mate, who’s there to help him through it. Rocky, who has kept his love for Stephan a secret for years begins to find it increasingly difficult to keep those feelings quiet, especially when it appears that he’s received permission to go after Stephan.
For his part Stephan can barely imagine a life without his lover in it until a voice in his head starts turning his attention towards Rocky. As they try to find a way to deal with their grief Stephan and Rocky grow closer together. Can they work their way through the hard times to a happy ending or will the stress and pain tear their friendship apart?
Shades of Dreams was a nice read although it is quite emotional at times. Stephan and his lover were together for three years before his death and it’s quite a blow when a drunk driver ends their time together. As he completely falls apart Stephan can’t help but lean on Rocky who does his best to take care of him as well as the rest of the band. Before long both men begin to hear someone telling them to go on and find happiness with the other. But it’s not until one of their friends forces a confession out of Rocky that things finally come to a head. Stephan starts to come out of the bubble he’d been living in since the accident and realizes he has unfairly led Rocky to take care of everything and everyone. Now it will be his turn to take care of his friend, and himself, as he begins to accept their friendship is deeper than he ever imagined.
I found both protagonists likable and interesting. Their relationship, evolving from best friends to lovers, was interesting and I was engaged throughout in their romance. The supporting characters are also nice and added depth to the story. Although the main focus of the story is Stephan and Rocky’s relationship the author did a good job of including the others into the storyline which made the book well-rounded and entertaining.
While I did enjoy reading Shades of Dreams I did have a couple of reservations. First, I felt the whole paranormal aspect, the ghost of the dead lover coming repeatedly to both men and telling them to in essence ‘get together’ was a bit overdone. Second, the speed with which Stephan decides he’s in love with Rocky was too fast for me. One moment he can barely function he’s so distraught over the death of his lover and then all of a sudden he’s ready to start over. For me personally, the story would have worked much better without the paranormal spin and just letting the friends slowly fall in love.
Overall however it was a nice read. T.A. Chase can always be counted to write interesting characters and despite my reservations I did enjoy the story. There is a lot of angst in the first half, some lighter moments later on, hot sex and sweet moments as well. While this is not my favorites of the author’s books I’m sure it’s one her fans won’t want to miss.