Dream Vacation Dream Series
Paranormal Romance/Suspense
Writing Dreams
October 31, 2014
257
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
This is another wonderful book following the lives of the Alderson family, Sara, Brian and their children, Grace, Lizzy, Steffy, Matty, and Ben. I have read every book in the series and have followed Brian and Sara’s lives starting with their first meeting, children, medical school, jail, adopting Grace, and the ups and downs of their family life. Now the family is going on a vacation starting in Paris and ending in Scotland for Sara’s close friend Janet’s wedding.
The dream vacation ends up being anything but a dream. Everyone, except the youngest Ben, has arrived in Paris for what should be an exciting once in a lifetime adventure. However, when Grace disappears, a dream vacation becomes a nightmare. Grace is fifteen now and after her first crush, Will Harper announces his engagement, she is devastated. No one knew she still cared for him in a romantic way; his engagement has changed her.
When Sara sees Grace’s dreams they involve her father and his advice to her about how to win Will’s affections. Even before leaving for Paris, Grace left home and wound up in Coney Island, where she went to meet a boy she knew from her past. Sara should have taken that as a warning something was up with Grace, but she overlooked it as something she herself might have done at Grace’s age. I can understand where Sara was coming from, because as a mother myself I have been down that road. A child does something bad and as a parent we want to punish without doing too much damage. Sometimes loving your child too much is a bad as not loving them enough.
Sara realizes her mistake when Grace once again leaves the hotel to meet up with a boy she met. It is only through her dreams that Sara even has an idea of where she might be. It isn’t through Grace’s dreams but through the dreams of one of the people involved with her disappearance and who is aware of where Grace is. She has had dreams of a boy and his sister; now she knows what the significance of those dreams were.
This is a series that must be read in order. It follows the life of Brian and Sara, their parents and their friends and children. They face many of the same things we face in our lives; it is nice to know others face the same things that we do. Grace is in trouble and has never needed her parents more. Can Sara and Brian save her? What do you do when your child is missing in a foreign country? If they find her, can they help her get over whatever happened to her? This book was very suspenseful when it came to Grace. I was at the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happens, as I am sure you will be, too.