DreamRating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Dylan has been in a relationship with his best friend and his best friend’s girlfriend, but he feels like the third wheel and knows he needs more. When Dylan breaks it off with them, he finds himself back at his preferred sex club where he can indulge in his favorite pastime of anonymous hookups. It brings Dylan a little bit of escape and a chance to get out of his own head. But this night is different, and he finds himself thinking about the anonymous man and then suddenly, that man is no longer anonymous.

Angelo was in his prime as a ballet dancer, but illness brought him back home. His financial situation is desperate and his body won’t cooperate anymore. Dylan gets under his skin after just one night and when the men see each other again, their chemistry is undeniable. But neither man knows how to ask for more and neither of them knows how to navigate a relationship. But if they can figure it out together, they might not have to be so alone.

Dream starts off Garrett Leigh’s new Skins series. Leigh’s books always have a heavier atmosphere and this book is no different. The book starts with Dylan as he is breaking off a sexual relationship with his best friend, Sam, and Sam’s girlfriend, Eddie. If you have read Leigh’s m/f book, What Matters, you will recognize both Sam and Eddie and that was where Dylan was first introduced. I haven’t read that book and while I was certainly able to follow along here, I may have enjoyed this story even more if I had been invested in that relationship.

Dylan likes to go to the club and he gets a thrill out of anonymous hookups and being watched. It comes out in the later part of the book how Dylan discovered that he likes to be watched and that was a brief, fun tie-in to yet another one of Leigh’s series. On this one night, Dylan is paired with Angelo and there is magic in the air. The guys meet randomly in the club and then they meet outside by accident and then they meet again accidentally on purpose. The chemistry is intense with these guys and they can’t stay away.

Angelo is in rough shape, both physically and financially. Both areas are addressed early on, but it helps to enjoy the story to see it unravel first hand. The club is also an escape for Angelo and there he can be confident and sure of himself in at least one area of his life. Both of these guys need a friend, but there is hesitation because they met in the club and because they both have a lot of stuff to sort through. Most of their intimate encounters take place in the club with some being a little more private, but these guys like to be on display and they also have no issues adding in a third for the night. Still, there is an intimacy that surrounds them that Leigh weaves in throughout each scene.

Both guys are in a transitional stage of their lives. Dylan is trying to figure out what’s next for him and Angelo can no longer dance and has a list of issues to address and they all don’t have a solution. I appreciate that Leigh writes about real issues that don’t have easy solutions and her books always have an exposing truth to them.

I would have liked to get to know these guys just a little bit better with more personal background added in for them. As it is, there is some basic backstory, but the book is about them moving forward and not so much looking back.

Dream is another worthwhile offering from Garrett Leigh and a promising and engaging start to a series that is sure to have more interesting characters share their stories.

 

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