Following on from Kitty Cook's first book 'Sleeping Together', 'Poison Dream' is the continuation of the adventures of Ness and Alton post-Morpheum - a sleep medication that allows you to live out your wildest adventures while you sleep.

When Ness is accused of Murder and subsequently jailed awaiting trial, her world quickly unravels.

But how do you prove you're innocent, when all of the evidence is in your dreams?

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was well written, and brought together well. However this book just wasn't for me.
This book is very difficult to put into one specific genre, as to me is wasn't simply a women's fiction/romance novel.

Unfortunately I struggled to get in to this story.

Trigger Warning: this book does address rape.

Poison Dream picks up almost immediately after the events of Sleeping Together, the first book in the Perfect Drug duology. Ness has just come back from a trip abroad, having escaped a messed-up situation at work that left a patient in a coma. She gets arrested for murder, as the man who was in a coma died while he was in the hospital. During her time in jail, she finds out that Malcolm, her old boss, is planning to do something awful with Morpheum, the drug that caused all of her problems in the first place. She ends up trying to help her kind-of-still husband, Pete, and new lover, Altan, from jail, but that means having to find access to Morpheum again, the drug that had originally changed the course of Ness’s life.

I really enjoyed this book and would even say that I prefer it more than the first one! The book started right off the bat with solid action, and the plot only intensified as Ness, Altan, and Pete all worked to find out what Malcolm was up to. The dreams were more exciting in this book, but Ness’s and Pete’s dreams also annoyed me because I felt as though they were focusing on all of the wrong things during their time together, until Pete finally opens up to Ness during one of their final dreams. Ness cheated on her husband with Altan in the first book but then cheated on Altan with her husband in this book, which I didn’t think was a necessary aspect of the story. It got on my nerves and personally really lowered my opinion of Ness as a protagonist. She claimed her reasons for it were valid, but it just didn’t sit right with me. However, the story tied up very nicely, and although the Pete situation made me sad, I am glad that Ness got her happy ending.

This chaotic, dramatic, and exciting story was addicting and made me want to keep reading until I got closure at the very end. I flew through this book and am glad I read it!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Brass Anvil Books for providing an ARC of Poison Dream!

It doesnt support or open after I download the pdf version of it. It's also not showing in my shelf in netgalley and I cant open it to read Please look into the issue and if you can send me the pdf in my mail ID- taniagungunsarkar@gmail.com I cant read the book from here. Please look into the issue

As much as I wanted to see Ness' happily ever after following Sleeping Together, Poison Dream went in a different direction entirely. The plot was still action-packed, but also provided closure (or as close to it as I could expect) for both of Ness' romantic relationships. Poison Dream was more in the character's thoughts and emotions, which I enjoyed especially as a follow up to the first book. Although Cook provides enough of a recap,

The sequel to Sleeping Together, takes us to a whole other level of chaos and drama.

Book Two is action-packed, and we fly through the events, but at a very decent pace. Not too slow or too fast. Just right.


The expansion of Altan's diary entries. They were like an episode in itself and introduced more of Altan to us. It kept the story moving, and made it more dynamic. I always loved multiple points of view as the story doesn't get as easily monotonous.

Character development was definitely improved upon from the first book. Pete's character was developed further and offered a chance to shine, sort to speak. The main character finally embarks on the journey of personal development, and gradually undergoes a change that we get to see in the end.


The dialogs between the characters felt even more real, and although the main character adds that note of humour to every conversation, the conversations were more raw and deep.

If you're a reader, and you love the bookish world, and you've found yourself fantasising about what it would be like to live a day in some of your favourite books, you might want to pick this up. All I can say is, Pete is the dream master.

Finally, I couldn't predict the huge twist connected to Ness's past, not until it was happening, and I was totally shocked! This was clearly a turning point, where the Ness started to change. It wasn't forced or unnatural, it happened just at the right time.

I was overall glad that the sequel didn't disappoint. The world from the first book was just built upon, and any frustrations and doubts I had about the main character have disappeared, as we could clearly see the character develop and change, as is natural.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good romance (as it does have some pretty steamy and exciting scenes), but also to those who love a bit of sci-fi or fantasy.

This book was super good. It was super original and I flew through it. It didn't feel like anything I've read in the past. Can't wait to read more from the author!! This book was unputdownable.

It is the sequel to Sleeping Together. In the previous book, the story was more focused on Vanessa and Altan. Here you get to see more of Pete. Things take a different turn every now and then, and you always pray for your favourite character to win. The best part I found about this book is how every character is flawed, but there is more to them. You will judge them based on what they do but when you are having your weak moments. One can grant you some exceptions, as not everyone can be graceful. Yes, terrible mistakes can be made, but later how you look at it is most important. You don’t have to hate a person just because they did you wrong, at the same time you can’t like them either. You land somewhere between where you accept the fact and move on without being bitter about it.

I liked and disliked many things about these characters, and they represent someone you know in real life. So, it isn’t hard to get to them. It’s a book about love and to what extent you can go for the people you love. Your road will not be easy, but you need to stay true to yourself and your partner, in essence. I’m still not sure about white lies where every party involved lives happily because once the lie is out you don’t know the outcome if it would have been favourable the lie wasn’t needed at the first place. Right?

Primarily, it is contemporary fiction (which feels like fantasy) working around the sleeping pill called ‘Morpheum’. I loved the fact that how with the help of this plot the author has brought out the workings of our thought process. How different a person can be in their thoughts as compared to their behaviour in real life! Sometimes you might see a changed personality, but then there will be some who will feel just the same. This one is a light read where you go with the flow while observing what is happening around.

3.5, rounded up because it's a well crafted book, but wasn't exactly for me. I think it may struggle a bit to find the perfect audience as it's not fully in a single genre. It's billed as 'romance/women's fiction', but I don't think that's the way to market this book, as it's far more niche than that, as there's a Sci-Fi/Thriller element. Then the chapters from Altan's POV feels a bit like hard mystery fiction, a la Raymond Chandler, which wasn't my personal favorite. The writing of Poison Dream possesses the sort of edginess I love, though again, I'm not sure that fits into the romance/women's fiction. I think I'd have preferred to read more about the relationships between Ness and her lovers, as opposed to the Malcolm or prison stuff. After reading the reviews, I'd be interested in reading Sleeping Together, as it seems to be more focused on the more grounded elements of this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Brass Anvil Books and Kitty Cook for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
I read book one in Kitty Cook’s Perfect Drug series, Sleeping together, last month and loved it. The plot for this series was new and interesting. I am almost strictly a romance reader but I liked the added twist this series promised and delivered! I had high expectations for book two, Poison Dream.
In Sleeping together I felt like we never got to really know Pete. I was rooting for Ness and Altan from the beginning. I loved their chemistry and bater and felt like they were such a good match, much better than Pete and Ness. Right away in book two I could see everything I thought I felt in book one was about to be questioned. Immediately I became team Pete and found myself not really digging Altan. I was as conflicted as Ness. I felt like while Ness’s relationship with Altan was new and dangerous and made her feel alive, her relationship with Pete felt like it could withstand anything and would stay the same over the years. I really had no clue who she would end up with or where the book was going. Always a bonus!
At times I was a little lost because I’d zoned out a bit. Some of the drama felt repeated and drug out, but Kitty Cook knows how to bring a story in and wrap it up nicely.
I think that Sleeping Together had the new love magic that touches everything when you’re first falling for someone. Poison Dream feels like the reality that comes after the honeymoon phase. Kitty Cook is a must read author!

Thank You NetGalley/Publisher & Author for this gifted e-book

Summary--
Even after a pill addiction ruined her marriage, Vanessa Brown is living the life of her dreams: traveling on Parisian holiday with her mischievous mental paramour, Altan Young. A few weeks ago, the two accidentally fell in lust while high on Morpheum, a mind-melding sleeping pill that lets people explore each other’s psyches while asleep. Now, newly sober, they’re discovering they have more in common than a fondness for stolen pharmaceuticals.

Review--
This was a great book. I enjoyed every bit of it.

Rating--3/5

After really enjoying Sleeping Together, I had high hopes for Poison Dream, so it was hard not to compare the two. I loved how Sleeping Together focused on Nessa and her struggles. Poison Dream touches on Nessa's past and her struggles, but the focus was mostly on Nessa and Pete's relationship, which ended up dragging out the book a bit. I enjoyed Pete's development, but it still seemed a bit surface level and his "secret" wasn't very surprising. The ending was also quite rushed, so I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get more between Nessa and Altan.

While Poison Dream offers a solid conclusion, it lacked the whimsical dreams, drama, and romance we got in Sleeping Together, so it was a little underwhelming for me.

A romantic comedy and a Big Pharma drama all wrapped up into one! This was a wonderful sequel to Sleeping Together and it was so fun to read! It's a light and refreshing read and the absolute perfect escape during these times of quarantine.

Sequel to Sleeping Together, which I recently read also. I loved these books. This one picks up right at the end of the previous one, and even stating the plot is going to be a spoiler for the first book. Ness and Altan return from their tirp to Paris, and Ness is immediately arrested for the death of Sam Stevens, the coma patient who overdosed on Morpheum. Altan tries to get proof that Malcolm is a dirt bag who actually caused Sam's death and finds out even worse things that Malcolm is now up to. I really liked this one too, and both books were 4.5 stars. Major spoilers for this book: I was really mad and frustrated in the middle of this book, thinking that Ness would go back to Pete and Altan would end up with Charlie, and angry with Pete for giving Ness Morpheum again when she was finally drug free, and annoyed for the way the Ness/Pete dreams were playing out. I was sure I would be disappointed by the end and it would ruin my enjoyment of the first book too, but nope, everything turned around and ended up just right. Loved these books and I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

This was a great sequel to the original that I love so much! I was waiting for so long for this to come out because SLEEPING TOGETHER was so engrossing, and I'm so glad I got to read the conclusion to this story.

I enjoyed the first book of the series (sleeping together) and I was really excited when I found out that there would be a follow up book that explored more of Vanessa’s and Pete’s relationship. I was really looking forward to get to know the dynamics of their relationship before the events that took place on the first book, because I believe that Vanessa’s past explains a lot about her actions in the first book.

Poison Dream was a easy one-sit read and it was a bit steamier than the first book if that’s your cup of tea.

I really liked that the book showed how much love Vanessa and Pete had for each other and then I made her one he would be there for her which is word you would expect from his character, their dynamics in “dreamland” was everything I would expect from Pete’s imagination and it was truly on of the highlights from the book. Unfortunately,
it bothered me a lot that some plot-lines and character developments got thrown by the window towards the end of the book.

From the “big secret” to apparently Vanessa knowing little to nothing about Pete’s past (hello, they’ve been in a relationship for the past 10 years wtf?). It was just too big of a dramatic mess that I could’ve gone without it.

Things seemed a bit rushed between the legal drama, prison plot-lines, love triangle, another out of nowhere triangle...it was a lot for a short book. I honestly wish that this book was divided in a trilogy were plot lines gave the readers a proper closure of everything.

I absolutely loveEd this book. It’s a romcom wrapped up in a pharma nightmare. The main character is flawed and adventurous but you enjoy spending time in her world.