Once She Dreamed follows Sammy Jo, a naive young woman who dreams of leaving her small town for adventures in the big city. She plans on accomplishing her dreams by any means possible, even if she has to rely on a man to take her away.
I love Abbi Glines. She’s an automatic buy author and I always know I’m in for a good time when reading her books. However, this novella was awful. The main character is so naive and sweet it was annoying and had me rolling my eyes every other page. The trope of the blond haired southern girl who doesn’t know how beautiful she is and the effect she has on men is annoying and quite frankly insulting. The character comes off as stupid.
The love interest is a stereotypical rich man. He exudes wealth and makes sure everyone knows it.
I felt no connection between he main characters. Sammy Jo is too naive to understand what men want so she’s oblivious to the man’s advances. It was like reading from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl getting advances from a grown man. It was gross and left a foul taste in my mouth.
The arrangement between the main characters is so ridiculous and obviously fake that it pulled me out of the story. If an offer is too good to be true, it probably is.
The last chapter of the novel intrigued me and it’s the reason I rated this novella two stars instead of one.
Overall, Once She Dreamed was an absolute disappointment. Sammy Jo is a naive girl who has no plans for her future other than moving away from her hometown and is perfectly content letting a man swoop in and fix all her problems. I do not enjoy reading characters who are naive and cannot think for themselves.
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