DREAM ON, RAMONA RILEY is the first book in a new series by Ashley Herring Blake about a small-town waitress who dreams of being a designer, and the Hollywood movie star who comes to town to film her new movie. Turns out, the two met when they were younger and have never forgotten their connection, which only grows as they help each other reach their dreams -- alone and together. Featuring some fun cameos from previous books, this swoony (if at times, a little cheesy) and sexy love story is another readable story by AHB.

I got to do a virtual event with Ashley, and it was great hearing her insights about the book and the writing process. Her books are such a gift to the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the romance genre as a whole.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the e-ARC (and to Berkley for the finished copy) in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

Another good read from Ashely Herring Blake! This is the start of a new series, and we get to meet a lot of new characters in it (shout out to a cameo of a past character as well). I really enjoyed both Dylan and Ramona and their path to happiness. I will say I dislike miscommunication which came up a bit but not too much thankfully. Also super excited to read April's story next year!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

If Ashley Herring Blake writes it, I am going to read it. I was really excited to start a new series, and immediately got sucked in. The small town girl meets celeb trope is something I'm a sucker for. Ramona was such a wholesome character, and I was rooting for her from the beginning.

My favourite part of the book was the flashbacks to the summer when they were teens. It added such a tender element to the evolving love story.

I felt like this one started out strong, and then lost me a bit in the middle - When I started I said right away that I knew this would be a new favourite, but then I found myself dragging through a bit in the middle. The ending wrapped it up nicely, but it wasn't my favourite AHB. That being said, I am DYING to read April's story. She is my fav character, and I have high hopes!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dream On, Ramona Riley is a tender, funny, and quietly powerful romance that brings small-town charm and Hollywood sparkle together in the best possible way. Ashley Herring Blake crafts a heartfelt story of rekindled dreams and second chances as Ramona Riley, a once-aspiring costume designer turned diner waitress, crosses paths with Dylan Monroe—her first kiss and now a rising Hollywood star. When a film crew rolls into Clover Lake, both women are forced to confront their pasts and question the futures they've built around loss, ambition, and the walls they’ve erected. Their chemistry is magnetic, but it’s their emotional growth that makes this story shine. Blake’s signature warmth, sharp dialogue, and inclusive, character-driven storytelling make Dream On, Ramona Riley a standout sapphic romance. It's about reclaiming your voice, remembering who you were, and daring to dream again—with someone by your side who sees all of you. Honest, romantic, and full of heart.

She is beauty, she is grace and she is one of my new favorite fluffy sapphic reads 💅🏻

Dream On, Ramona Riley was my exact brand of nostalgic, small town romance. I didn’t love the messiness at the start of Dylan and Ramona’s relationship, but their chemistry in the second half more than made up for it. Overall, I had a great time reading this book and would strongly recommend adding it to your TBR. Ashley Herring Blake never misses.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅
♡ Bisexual couple
♡ Small town romance
♡ Opposites attract
♡ 90s nostalgia

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the early review copy 🫶🏻

DNF at 40% ~

I just couldn’t connect with this story and it was hard to keep my attention to it. This has a big miscommunication plot point and I just cannot with books like that. The back and forth & the arguments over what is not said is irritating. I really don’t like that sex was used as a way for these characters to make up after the miscommunication. It sets a bad light on sex and what it should be between 2 people.

Thank you to NetGalley & Berkley publishing for sending me a free copy of this book!!

I've loved most of Ashley Herring Blake's novel, and this was an exception. I found their chemistry lacking, the plot mediocre at best, and it had the worst third-act break-up I think I've ever read. I really wanted to love this book, but it just wasn't for me.

I really wanted to like this but perhaps I should’ve know it wouldn’t be for me due to the “one of us is famous trope” being included. Blake’s books always look so cute and fun, but now having read a second book by this author I’m unsure if her books are for me. I think what I disliked most about this book was how predictable the conflict was. I knew quite early what the third act conflict was going to be and it just came off very silly. Overall this was still cute and fun, but not a new favourite romance book, and I was not left thinking about it much after finishing it.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the digital ARC!

Ashley Herring Blake has become a must read for me and while this book didn't grab me as much as her previous ones, there was still a lot to love about Ramona Riley. The family dynamics in this story were complex, well-crafted, and believable. Ramona staying in her home town to take care of her sister was a great way to show her character's motivations and feelings while Dylan's backstory was relatable and interesting. The chemistry between Ramona and Dylan was great and without giving too much away, I'm glad one of their main issues was resolved sooner in the book than expected. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more from Herring Blake.

Ashley Herring Blake has done it again. Dream On, Ramona Riley is queer, messy, heartfelt, and quietly furious in all the best ways. It’s a story about untangling the dreams we’re told to want from the ones we actually want—and what it means to chase them, even when it hurts.

Ramona is the kind of character I always root for: complicated, vulnerable, angry, funny. Her journey is deeply queer and deeply human, balancing grief and joy, longing and liberation. The romance is soft and a little bit jagged, in that achingly real way where no one has it all figured out and love becomes part of the healing, not the solution. It doesn’t shy away from the emotional fallout of family expectations or the quiet rage of being asked to make yourself smaller.

And Dylan? Dylan is the exact kind of love interest I adore: a little chaotic, emotionally layered, and just as lost as Ramona in her own way. Their chemistry crackles with tension and vulnerability, and their dynamic avoids drama in favor of something more honest—two people trying to choose each other while also choosing themselves.

Blake captures the magic of realizing that your life doesn’t have to be the one you were handed. That choosing yourself isn’t selfish. That dreaming bigger—queerer, louder, softer—is revolutionary.

I just love a romance by Ashley Herring Blake. There is something so wonderful about her characters, so cozy about her settings, and so steamy about, well the steamy parts. She knows how to write characters whose flaws and insecurities feel real without being annoying or taking up too much of the plot. And the spice! My god this lady knows what is sexy and how to write it. She also gets emotion. There is nothing contrived about her love stories, the chemistry feels real and the attraction and affection seems right. So when the big emotional beats come they are believable and well earned and have terrific impact. Everything about these books is so enjoyable. Literally everything I want in a romance novel.

Thank you to Berkley, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!

I gave this one a 3.5 rounded down. I loved the Bright Falls series but this didn't hit quite the same for me. The miscommunication trope isn't my favorite, and this one was especially frustrating. These two were supposed to be in love and didn't talk about important things about their respective careers. I did appreciate how the author showed different ways to cope in a dysfunctional family. Ashley is also wonderful at making the setting feel like its own character. Despite the first book's flaws, I look forward to reading April's story.

2.5 stars

This was... fine. I had such high hopes for this one, but it was honestly kind of a letdown. I wanted and expected so much more for it. I liked Dylan and Ramona, but their romance was a bit lackluster. I thought the past timeline was so wildly unrealistic and stupid, and, in the present, the lack of communication was painful.

Also, I've seen rumblings of this being AHB's kinkiest book yet... an interesting descriptor. The "kink" in this book came out of nowhere and was so poorly executed it just shouldn't have been included at all. It felt more like a way to "spice up" the sex scenes, than it was something that genuinely fit with who the characters were and what they needed/desired out of their relationship. Bad kink rep imo. (And that's not to mention it wasn't really even kinky... they basically just used the traffic light system and talked about who was more dominant plus dirty talk lmao)

too predictable, not gay enough, and so cliché

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.25⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I loved the premise of this one but it fell a little flat due to their inability to communicate with each other

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Romantic comedies
Childhood first kisses
Second chance sapphic romance
Small town
Hollywood star
Found family
Fake dating
Slow burn
Opposite attract
Complicated family relationships
Spicy scenes

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
I adored the teenage flashbacks!
Bisexual rep

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Miscommunication
Side characters had no depth
Not much really happens

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “Looking at Dylan was like looking at art—those Pointillism paintings made up of a million tiny dots, so intricate, you could spend hours just staring, getting lost, trying to make sense of how it all came together so perfectly.”
★ “Letting someone in is always a little scary. No matter who you are or what you’ve been through. But it is always worth it.”

Another great small town queer romance from Ashley Herring Blake! I don’t typically love celebrity romances but this one worked for me a lot because they were just so cute together. I wish there was a bit less miscommunication at the end but I liked the way it all wrapped up.

💗🏳️‍🌈 BOOK REVIEWS 🏳️‍🌈💗

🎥 Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫/ 5

🎥 Plot: Dylan Monroe has always lived an unconventional life, having famous rock icons for parents. But she wants to prove that she’s not some chaotic, talentless nepo baby, that she has actual skills, that she’s just a normal person. To do that, Dylan takes on a project at a charming lake town—she even works at the town’s café (very quaint), shadowing a local waitress there (very cute), and asks her to take Dylan around to do Normal People Things.

But Dylan soon realizes it’s not just some small-town waitress she’s getting to know—Ramona Riley is someone she’s met before, someone who remembers her even more vividly. Before long, however, reality hits them, and both women must decide if the spark between them can fan the flames of their individual dreams, or if it will extinguish their light.

🎥 Thoughts: I do love a famous x normal person romance (hello, Notting Hill 🫡) trope, so I loved the set up of this book! I’ve read all of Ashley Herring Blake’s novels and some previous characters made cameos— which is so fun! I didn’t personally connect as much to these characters as others of hers, but the spicy scenes were fire 🔥 👀🌶️.

🎥 Read For:
@diversepridereadathon: Fat/Plus Sized MC

🎥 A huge thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for getting me a digital ARC of this book! #DreamOnRamonaRiley #NetGalley

#sapphiclit #sapphicromance #sapphicbooks #sapphicbookstagram #pride #pride2025 #pridereads

I adore The Bright Fall series. Delilah Green Doesn’t Care changed my life. I really enjoy Ashley Herring Blake’s stories and characters. I will read everything she writes. I did enjoy this story, but prefer The Bright Fall series better. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for a review.

This was such a fun book to read! I have been a fan of Ashley’s writing since I first read Delilah Green Doesn’t Care a few years back, and I am so happy I got to read this one!

The storyline, the characters, the dialogue; I loved each and every part! The overall theme was such a good life lesson, I can’t wait to see what comes next from this series!

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

Some books shouldn’t be written at all, some absolutely need to exist, and some just need different authors. Unfortunately, Dream On, Ramona Riley does not thrive under Ashley Herring Blake’s writing. This is my first book of theirs, and I was super excited when I got accepted for the arc, but something about the execution of a premise that seems right up my alley just made me disappointed rather than overjoyed about this book.

I really hate the exposition. It’s the worst offense of this book, making it so unenjoyable that it felt rather distracting. Personalities are told rather than shown through action, like the random side characters. Info-dumping is STILL happening like 60% in, about events the novel has already explained. I felt like my hand was being held the entire time any information came up. I do understand that there is a balance between exposing too much or too little, but the scale leaned toward the former much more than the latter. I want to learn who these characters are, not be told that a character had an annoying charm. Show me that!

On a surface level I enjoyed the romance. It’s sweet, it’s comfortable, it’s easy. I understand the appeal of this book and why everyone loves it. Sapphics rarely get to have a second chance with their first love so it was nice to see that trope applied to a relationship between two women. Unfortunately, everything felt too good to be true, combined with the fast-paced ending that wrapped up everything way too conveniently, put me off a little more.

While I’ve never read AHB before this, it’s obvious that everything she writes is for the queer community. A strong supporting cast where every character is queer, happy lesbian ever afters for everyone, and character call backs to old series. I wish I could have enjoyed this book so much more than I ultimately did.