ARC Review: "Man of my Dreams" by Daphne James Huff ★★★★★

ARC Review: Man of my Dreams by Daphne James Huff

Small-town girl bumps into city boy in this wonderful hilarious slow burn romance “Man of My Dreams”. Brianna “Bree” Peterson is a spontaneous, cheerful yet flighty, walking disaster barista who moves from Minnesota to New York in the hopes of following her dreams. Her first day in the city goes well – until she smacks into a door due to locking eyes with Hayden Carmichael, famous heart-throb movie star and, moreover, her celebrity crush! Except it isn’t him but his doppelganger that comes to the rescue, charming yet reserved personal trainer and aspiring veterinarian Aiden Johnson (“with an A, not an H”, mind) who also happens to be her neighbour. To grumpy Aiden, Bree is sunshine and a breath of fresh air, reminding him of how he was a decade ago when he first came to the city which has now hardened him.

But then the real Hayden Carmichael shows up, and strikes a bargain with them both: Aiden will pretend to be Hayden and fake date Bree to distract the paparazzi, while Hayden spends some time away from the spotlight.

Honestly, what’s not to like? Such a delightful book, I could not put it down! Decent length, pacing was ideal, and the amount of description in each chapter was just right. The characterisation was so good too! I fell more and more in love with Bree and Aiden. They have such depth to them, particularly their pasts, which make them so realistic. My favourite thing is their personalities: Bree is a chaotic person who wings things whereas Aiden is very orderly and plans, typical opposites but complement each other (of course). As the story progresses, we see their influence on each other as Bree becomes more organised and Aiden starts to come out of his shell and tries to not have a set plan for things.

This is much like Bree and her friend Leigh in whom I see aspects of myself: I am motherly, sensible, and will consult the best eating places on Google like Leigh; but I ramble, worry, love coffee, and believe in fate sorting things out like Bree. Their friendship is so wholesome!

Honourable mentions include Chapter 13 when they go on their first “date” (it got me giggling and kicking my feet!). Chapter 22 with that scene, need I say more? And lastly Chapter 29 – let’s just say I love the parallel, you will see what I mean.

As if this was not any better, the best thing was my discovery in the author Daphne’s note that she pictured the MMC as Henry Cavill (perhaps this accounts for the same initials for Hayden, HC, if not it is a pretty good coincidence) – but Daphne is a real one for that! For when does one not think of Henry Cavill as the face behind the love interest?

The only things I would have preferred would be if it was longer (only because I loved it so much), the omission of the no-kissing rule, and perhaps if a little spice was added. But I do not mind either way! The book works as it is, and the rule creates the right sort of tension. I seriously hope this gets made into a Hallmark film!

Classic “The Prince and the Pauper” lookalike trope meets celebrity fake dating vibes from contemporary novels like “Fake Dating Adrien Turner”, “The Love Wager” and “The Spanish Love Deception”. If you like any or all of them, give this a go!

I am honoured to have been selected as an ARC reader for this book, and I’d like to thank Daphne for the opportunity.

“Man of my Dreams” is out November 14th