Early #Review Butterfly Dreams by A. Meredith Walters

Butterfly Dreams by A. Meredith Walters
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Published by Loveswept, Penguin Group USA on November 24th 2015
Genres: Romance
Purchase links: Amazon
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Source: NetGalley, Penguin Random House

In a powerful romance for fans of The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay, New York Times bestselling author A. Meredith Walters tells the story of a troubled young woman and the unforgettable guy who teaches her to live—and love—to the fullest.

She’s waiting to die. . . . Corin Thompson is paralyzed by her obsession with mortality. Having lost both of her parents, she is terrified by the idea that she too will die young, and she loses control at any sign of illness. But when Corin connects with someone who has survived a very real brush with death, she begins to see the world in a whole new way.

He’s learning to live. . . . As Corin struggles under the weight of her neuroses, Beckett Kingsley is attempting to rebuild a life that feels all too temporary. With the ever-present threat of heart failure never far from his mind, he just wants to make the most of whatever time he has left. And that means pursuing the girl he never expected to find.

Together, Corin and Beckett finally learn to let go of their fears and take solace in everyday pleasures. Who knows what the future holds? After all, nothing lasts forever—the only promise they have is right now.

We received this book/audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.

BOOK REVIEW: 4,5 STARS

And another emotional punch from Miss Walters… After “Find you in the dark”, I was expecting no less.

“Butterfly Dreams” was about Beck (or his full name Beckett) and Corin. Both suffered from severe illnesses. Beck has a life-threatening heart-condition; Corin thinks from every cough, sneeze or headache, she has to die. Both have to change their lifes completely; Beck because his body can’t do all the exhausting things anymore, that he normally called his hobbies, like for example football or hiking or paragliding. Corin feels every morning like her last day on earth has come around, and that paralyzes her so much, that she merely exists but doesn’t really live. Both struggle and because of that struggle, they meet in a support-group. Soon Beck begins to break through all of Corin’s defenses and they become slowly but surely friends. Not long and both realize, that there is more. They fall in love with each other, both against their better judgement. And they pay for it in the end…

Overall, I liked the book very much. It was written in A. Meredith Walters’ amazing trademark-sarcastic-and-heartwarming-at-the-same-time-style. The facts about Beck’s heart-condition were very authentic. I unfortunately know a lot about it, since a close member of my family had had a heart-attack 2 years ago – at age 25. He survived, but only with a lot of luck and his way back into “normal life” was hard as a rock. But he did it, as did Beck. I can only bow my head for everyone out there, who has been shattered by fate in the worst way; but who picked up the pieces of their existence and made something worth living out of it again. And I can only thank A. Meredith Walters for another so realistic and authentic book.

There were a few things I didn’t necessarily like about the book. But I think, those things were rather personal. But since I like to keep my reviews honest, I’ll list the things I didn’t like as much as the things I liked. First thing I didn’t like was the pace. I get, that we should see the seriousness of how much the MC’s are suffering, but it took too long for them to get together. The short period of time, they have been a couple was not enough for me, to get into the relationship with them emotional. Or in other words, I couldn’t get enough… Another point that just fortifies my opinion is, that this book had in fact less love-marking and mature relationship-related topics in it, than her actual YA-novel “Find you in the dark” had. And the characters in “Butterfly Dreams” were both in their mid-twenties opposed to the teenagers in FYITD. But in the end, I have to say, it was ok. It fit the overall slow pace of the story. And what was the deal with Adam? He came around close to the ending – but what the hell? I had a grudge against that guy in the first 70% of the book and thought, that Corin would be way better off without such a “friend”.

The last 12% of the book have been a roller-coaster-ride for me. I cried like a damn river! No joke, hold a full tissue-box close for this ending!!! But – thank god (or in this case A. Meredith Walters) – the ending left me with a very good feeling. I won’t spoiler if it has a HEA, but can advise to you without a doubt, that you should not be afraid to read it. Even if I cried my eyes out, in the end my sad tears mixed with my happy tears.

All in all, I rate “Butterfly Dreams” with 4,5 stars and can recommend it to everyone who likes emotional books, with a dramatic but realistic main-plot and a good dose of romance woven into and which are on the low side of erotic and angst.

By the way: I’m in love with this cover! That is soooo beautiful, isn’t it?!