3.5⭐️
A moving book about two people needing to find themselves and each other again. The story follows Mackenzie (Mac) and Samson (Sam). They have been in each other’s lives since they were kids and had plans to get married. An unlucky interaction between them however has Mac deciding to break off the engagement and walk away. She then goes on to meet Chaoxiang (Hunter) who takes her on an unexpected journey and who quickly becomes someone Mac deeply cares for. At the same time, Sam is figuring himself and his needs/wants out as well.

I would use the terms intelligent, diverse and emotional to describe Wildest Dreams. It’s categorized as a (second-chance) romance, but it is a very non-typical one and I would even argue that romance is more of a subplot. This is not a bad thing! However, I was definitely expecting something else when I picked up this book.

The writing took some getting used to: especially at the start, the dialogue seems very formal and a lot of sentences are similar in length. I didn’t notice it as much as the story progressed though. Next to this, a lot is told retrospectively instead of shown, especially regarding Mac and Sam’s relationship, making it difficult at times to understand their long-term relationship and dynamics at all.

While the book has a rocky start, both in terms of writing and the actual storyline, it becomes a beautiful story about self-discovery, friendship, love and dealing with (old) grief. The final chapter from Hunter’s POV was a unique finishing touch which I appreciated! I would easily recommend this book to others as (general) fiction, but not necessarily as a romance novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for providing me with this ARC to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked this one. The characters grew as the story progressed. I liked that Mackenzie had a list to keep her going, goals are important. She probably didn't make good decisions at the beginning of the book but they worked through it and I enjoyed that. The book felt like a nice one to read and didn't feel like a fanfiction. It was really interesting.
If you're looking for something cozy to read while it's raining and you've lit a candle, this one is a good one.

Thanks for sending me this, publisher and author.

―´⁠arc review`✧

3.25★

This book follows Mackenzie Almazan (Mac) and Samson Madden (Sam) who were about to begin their marriage journey. But this childhood sweethearts turned fiancé duo was not prepared for the change in their trajectory of their relationship. Comes a new turn of this dynamic, Chaoxiang Zhou (Hunter), which was what Mac needed to find her whirlwind journey of self-discovery and realization of her worth after her separation from Sam.

Pros:
- Interesting concept
- Growth-filled journey
- Realistic at some points
- diverse rep of characters
- explorative locations
- mystery of 'wildest dreams' bucket list
- unique ending

Cons:
- Need better dialogues, like why the characters were not acting like their age
- disjoined flow
- overly dramatic in the beginning, Mac decision to leave Sam just because he didn't introduce her as his fiancée? i get one mis-action can change the course of any relationship but her, they were practically together since they were child, so that break-up was just abrupt and unreasonable, i expected better communication skills with how long they had been with each other
- more tell than show, i would have felt more connected to Sam and Mac's dynamics if we have got some flashback scenes of them together in the past, showing how much they had changed

Overall, it was a unique heart-wrenching read of relationships, their failures, self-discovery, pursuing one’s dreams, filled with hardships and life-altering choices while showing lights to sensitive topics.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Meridith Claire and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for ARC.

A really beautiful story of love, friendship, and pursuing one’s dreams. The characters were lovable, relatable and also showed and confronted some of their faults. This book made me laugh, cry and dream. It was an enjoyable and emotional read.

I received an advanced reader copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The beginning of this book is a touch clunky. I feel that we don’t spend enough time fleshing out Mac and Sam’s relationship in the beginning, instead jumping straight into the relationship-ending event that becomes the focus of this “second chance” romance book. I also didn’t love that a lot of the dialogue didn’t contain contractions where there would naturally be some, leading to the conversations feeling stilted and unnatural more often than not.

While the premise of this book is lovely, I feel that it didn’t really know whether it wanted to be a romance novel about Mac and Sam or if it wanted to be a lovely heart-warming story of Mac and Hunter and their unexpected journey together.

All of that being said, I did enjoy this book a fair bit. I read it in one sitting, and it did get some tears out of me. Ultimately, I did end up wanting Mac and Sam to get back together in the end, but I think a lot of that was due to Hunter and Clarissa not being viable options for Mac and Sam respectively, and the book being marketed as a romance, thus needing that key element.

The post-humous moments between Hunter and Sam were the highlight of the book and seeing how much each of them cared about Mac was heart-warming and a lovely way to end their stories.

Thank you to Meridith Claire, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles, and as always, NetGalley, for the ARC!

This book didn’t work for me almost from the start. I hate the miscommunication trope and that’s where all the conflict starts from here. Mac and Sam spent so much time refusing to talk out what could’ve maybe still ended in them separating but honestly wasn’t that big of a deal.
There was a lot of research put into this and I think that’s great and I admire the work Claire clearly put in to highlight the different places Mac and Hunter go, but it ended up being so much more about telling instead of showing. I felt taken out of the story because so much background was being explained and not discovered organically by the characters.
I hated Clarissa’s characterization deeply why did she have to be a cartoon villain!! So many of my issues with the characters really boiled down to them being older characters who acted like they were in middle school.

I liked the reveals of both Mac and Hunter’s lists and thought that keeping them secret until they completed them was engaging.

When I say I was not prepared for the heart wrenching, tear jerking, gut punching that this book was about to put me through, I am not kidding.

This book has destroyed me. It has hurt me so badly, I am not okay. I made the mistake of reading this while in work, and it’s safe to say that my coworkers were concerned when I started bawling crying.

Reviews have been published on Instagram, Goodreads and Storygraph.

ARC Review!!!!
Thank you to NetGalley!!!

Where do I begin???? ugh this was such an interesting concept for a book! I don't think I've ever read a book of this plot/storyline.
Mac and Sam have technically been together since childhood, a long time friendship that became more and they were on their way to marriage. Sam was growing in his corporate world while becoming distant from Mac and that world he knew. A moment where Mac becomes aware that Sam is embarrassed by her, Mac ends their engagement. Then she meets Hunter and starts working on her wildest dreams.
Hunter being introduced and his whole plot was a little weird to me and other than that this book would've been a 5 star read for me. Hunter said he wasn't a stalker but gave stalker vibes lol. After looking at that part, I loved Hunter and Mac's friendship. They were friends at most for a couple of days as Hunter sadly passed but Mac learned so much from him within those couple of days. As did Sam, Sam realized what he lost and what he actually wanted in the future.
This book felt really real as myself being in a relationship of 8 years with my high school sweetheart. You are growing as your own person but also with another person as a pair. I love how Mac was able to recognize that she needed to leave and made the decision without a second thought. She mentioned a couple of times throughout the book that she knew if she spoke to Sam she would second guess her decision and take him back and that is so relatable!!! She needed that space and took her and kudos to her.
Sam fought for her back and although he should've NEVER given Clarissa a second glance, I'm glad he noticed that he actually wanted Mac. Fuck Clarissa, she needed her ass beat.
This was such a fast read for me! I ate it up. If Hunter was a long time friend or someone Mac previously knew then it could've easily been a 5 star read for me!!!
4.5 stars!!!

Oh this book was absolutely amazing and well written! The main characters personalities and characteristics were literally perfect. The love shown throughout this book felt so real and beautifully raw. Highly Recommend!

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a deeply emotional and engaging read. It's a testament to the power of love and well-crafted characters.

When I reached for this book, I figured I would get a book about a girl finding herself after separating from her significant other. I did not expect for my heart to both shatter and swell with the intense love within this story. Meridith Clare is able to convey such intense emotions thought out this book; I often found myself feeling those same emotions. Everyone needs to have this on their must reads!

Oh this book was absolutely amazing and well written! The main characters personalities and characteristics were literally perfect. The love shown throughout this book felt so real and beautifully raw. Highly Recommend!

A heart warming book about life, relationships, and the choices we make. Loved that the main character is Filipino and that the book had diverse characters and perspectives that are not often represented. Will be recommending to many people to read this book!

Let me get the hard part out of the way first. This book needed better editing. The writing in the beginning feels clunky and for some reason the author is really averse to using contractions in the character dialogue which made it feel stilted in a weird way and not believable to how anyone from Southern California actually talks.

Now that that's out of the way, these are minor flaws that could have easily been fixed and if you can get past them you will go on one of the most human, beautiful, heartbreaking, and growth-filled journeys through the pages of this book. The emotions are gritty, the characters are real (minus the stilted dialogue), and the layout and execution of the actual story had me unable to put this book down. This book genuinely broke me but in a really beautiful and real way. The way the actual story is crafted and laid out is really well done and I genuinely could not put it down.

So, if you can get past an awkward beginning and really weird dialogue that’s not how anyone in LA speaks, I really recommend this book. This is a book that will live in my heart for a long time to come.

#WildestDreams #NetGalley

It's a melding of the bittersweet movie, "The Bucket List" with the heartfelt, emotional book, "Me Before You" that didn't work.

The happenstance meeting between Hunter & Mac was a bit creepy in this day and age. Even with the precautions that he encouraged to take it was unsettling. Would've been better if there was a more buildup from their initial encounter to their whirlwind global adventures. Then there's Samson. The reader needs to understand how he transformed from the constant in Mac's childhood life to the hyper-focused career driven man he later became. As for Hunter, perhaps flashbacks rather than narratives would help shape his trajectory.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Meridith Claire | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

NetGalley provided this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

American-born Filipina Mackenzie Almazan and golden Jewish boy Samson Madden have been joined at the hip since she was eight and he ten. Even after the devastating death of her uncle Deano, the man who raised her, it should be the happiest time in Mac’s life as she is planning her wedding to Sam, the center of her heart. Sam’s trajectory in the corporate world moves fast; he doesn’t realize he’s fallen into the “White Man Privilege” rabbit hole until one look exchanged between him and Mac shatters the oneness they once shared. Admittedly, the emotions felt stiff in this situation, being the catalyst that propelled each character on the path of self-discovery, it sorely lacked the gut-punch factor.

Chaoxiang Zhou, or Hunter, is a guy who seems to come out of nowhere, yet he is precisely what Mac needs. Hunter is terminally ill, and with the last few weeks of his life, he wants to help someone create their wildest dreams list and see if he can make them come true. The two of them and his assistant, Ollie, embark on a whirlwind journey where Mac learns about herself, crosses items off her dream list, and helps Hunter complete his. The friendships Mac knits with Hunter, Ollie, and Parker are steadfast, and the hardships of being with a loved one in their final days, those emotions rang true and hit the emotional chords.

Sam’s journey is a bit disjointed. Claire wrote the book in a dual POV; however, Mackenzie is the prominent voice. Still, readers get to know Sam, understand him, and see all the wrong turns he took while climbing that corporate ladder, and the idiom hard pill to swallow comes to mind. Still good on him for taking the time, with his mother’s and best friend’s help, to evaluate his changes and realize they weren’t necessarily for the better and what truly matters going forward.

Claire’s writing can go from active to passive, bordering on info dumps. It’s the show vs. tell conundrum. Maybe showing readers all the beautiful things Claire wanted would have turned this book into an eight-hundred-page monster. Who knows? However, the tight-knit friendships, the sense of community, and the values and honoring of loved ones passed through music, art, jewelry, and other little things are what mattered and what readers retained the most. The ending is original, gut-wrenching, and hopeful, all rolled into one. This book is a definite 3-star read.

This book was super difficult to get into - it was a struggle to find enough to care about the relationship, there was so much time listing off reasons why they all knew and cared about each other rather than showing. I feel like there was a lot of missed opportunity with this plot line as well, the sad points didn’t exactly hit the way that they should have. This seems like a good first draft that has potential, Mac should have been a character I cared more for but it felt more like a pity party and Sam wasn’t likeable in the slightest I didn’t feel that there were many redeeming factors.

🗣🙀🙈?:
I actually would recommend this book, because, despite my upcoming opinions, they are just my opinions. And the book is Interesting. The ending is very interesting and different.

👌🏽😲🌃 Flow:
The pacing of this book feels uneven, particularly at the beginning. The drama at the start early on feels forced.

💫👥🙈 Characters :
Her decision to break up with Sam over a single look and because he didn’t introduce her as his fiancée feels overly dramatic. Given their long relationship a break up without any communication seems so out of character and unreasonable.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC😲🌃