Make Me Dream by Dillon Bancroft - Book tour review

Published: 13 January 2022
Series: The Sage Creek Series #1
Pages: 398
Warnings: Language, domestic violence

⭐️Aria⭐️

They say snitches get stitches. Except I got all the stitches before I ever thought about trying to snitch. My abusive ex-boyfriend, one of the most powerful men in the country, is on the hunt for my silence. He’ll stop at nothing to make sure I’m six feet under for ratting him out to the FBI.

To make matters worse, I’m pregnant…with his baby. So why do I want to fall in bed with the sexy veterinarian who lives two doors down from me on the family farm? I can’t resist starting a no-strings attachment with the hot, single dad who doesn’t do forever. But it can’t be more than that. I’m on borrowed time. Forever will get us both killed.

⭐️Derek⭐️

The prodigal daughter returns to Sage Creek, and I want to send her anywhere but here. I don’t need her brand of drama lurking around. Especially when I have a daughter I’m fighting to get sole custody of. But when my brother from another mother becomes her witness protection and brings her to the farm I work at, I’m forced to help.

Book links: Book tour page | Amazon | Goodreads |

Make Me Dream by Dillon Bancroft is an emotional journey that some readers will find quite confronting. I know in parts I certainly did. But Aria, our leading lady, caught my attention early on and just drew me right in.

Aria’s life in recent years has been anything but easy. She has been in an abusive relationship (this feels like it’s not a strong enough description) and she has now returned to the family home to try to start over. Not an easy task. Especially considering that she’s pregnant with her ex’s baby.

In comes Derek, the local vet, a dad & committed bachelor. With quite a reputation around town.

Neither of them wants a relationship and they’re very vocal with each other about this. But no strings? Perfect! Or so they think.

There’s no getting around the fact that the topics issues covered in Make Me Dream are heavy. But at all times, I thought that Dillon Bancroft handled it all sensitively and appropriately. In many places it was uncomfortable to read, but for me that was because it felt so real.

There are almost two separate stories going on side by side. Aria and Derek on one side, and Aria’s battle with her ex on the other. One is the story of a budding romance. The other is the story of a woman attempting to navigate her way through recovery from a very violent relationship, while not yet being totally free of her past.

I can’t say that I loved this book from start to finish. I thought the first half dragged on a bit, although I was invested enough in Aria’s story to always want to keep persisting.

But once I got to about the half way mark, the pace really picked up and the story really kicked in for me. With the added bonus of some serious tension and drama to make it really suck you in.

I’ve given Make Me A dream 5 hatchets for violence, not for any one thing, but rather for a whole lot of little reasons. The reflections upon past acts of violence are all through this book. And while the descriptions are often short, they come frequently and can be startling in their frank brutality.

On the other hand I’ve only given it 3 hearts? 💕 for romance, as it really was quite slow to get started in this department. It’s more like a 1 in the first half and 4 in the second, so I’ve settled somewhere in the middle.

Make Me Dream wasn’t an easy read, but there was more than enough here to make me glad that I persisted.

Thank you to Dillon Bancroft and Romance Me With Books for my copy of the book.

Banner on green background with stars to highlight, saying 'about the author'

Dillon Bancroft is a contemporary romance author residing in sunny Tampa, Florida.

Dillon began writing ever since she could remember. She was a horrible student, because while the only class in of interest to her was her creative writing class in High School, she spent the rest of her class periods writing stories in her notebooks, allowing just a few of her friends to read stories she never thought would see the light of day.

Since Bancroft never thought being an author was ever an option, she continued writing, but only for her. She’s a sucker for second chances and enemies becoming lovers. She’s a hopeless romantic who loves anti-heroes.

She is a mom of two wild and crazy girls that know every single button to push, wife to a Marine who is probably more romantic than she is, and TV junkie with obscure television quotes only her husband would know.

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