Oof I was really hot and cold with this book. I enjoyed the setting of Clover Lake and I enjoyed watching Dylan and Ramona get to know each other over time but the language used in the writing made me cringe so hard at times. Specifically the nickname of “llama-face” and the phrase “clam-jammed” instead of cock blocked did make me want to throw my kindle across the room. These phrases made me feel like I was reading a YA romance. It’s sad because I owe my introduction to and love of sapphic romance to AHB but I have not enjoyed her last two books (this one and Make The Season Bright). Again it wasn’t awful but it’s not exactly a read I’m going to think about once I close the book. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for my advanced readers copy.

DNF @ 31%

oof, this one hurts because i was looking forward to this sapphic romance but i simply could not connect to the characters and the miscommunication/lying and deceit is just really not doing it for me. as a bisexual woman, i was truly looking forward to this read because of the sheer representation. and while it was there, the rest of the plot could not make up for it.

even at 30% in, i couldn't really connect to our characters, especially dylan. she felt a little too entitled and bratty. ramona was tolerable, but she also wasn't a stand-out character. i wish they were both more fleshed out. as i stated above, i could not get behind all the miscommunication and lying going on between the two.

thank you so much to berkley romance for the opportunity to read this e-ARC.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Romance, and Ashley Herring Blake for the opportunity to read this ARC! This was one of the books I was most excited to read in 2025! 💕

Dream On, Ramona Riley is written from the POVs of Ramona and Dylan. Ramona lives in the small town of Clover Lake. She had dreams to be a costume designer, but had to come back to town after her dad had an accident and her mother had left their family. She works at the local diner and comes into work to find the town filled with excitement when they find out that Dylan Monroe will be filming her new romance movie there. As Dylan arrives into town, Romana finds out that 1) Dylan will be filming at the diner Romana works at, 2) Ramona will be the one teaching her how to act as a waitress, and 3) Noelle Yang (the famous costume designer that Romana has always looked up to) will be on set. What makes this even better? Ramona and Dylan know each other, as they spent one night on Clover Lake together years ago where Ramona had her first kiss with Dylan. As they reunite, will sparks fly again? Or will the complications of Hollywood force them apart?

As I mentioned, I have been looking forward to reading this book since it was announced. I absolutely love the Bright Falls series by Ashley Herring Blake, so I was super excited to find out she was coming out with another book and even more excited when I got chosen to read it as an ARC! Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I will say that I liked the last 50% of the book much more than the first 50%. The premise really reminded me of Make my Wish Come True by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick but in the adult genre and not holiday-based. So if you were a fan of that book, definitely check out this one! I really liked Ramona and Dylan’s chemistry plus the complexity of their characters. I also liked the side characters, especially April (stay tuned for the announcement at the end of the book 😉). It was hard for me to come up with a rating since the two halves were so different for me, but I went with 4 stars ⭐️.

Dream on, Ramona Riley comes out on May 13th, so keep your eye out for it! 🩷💜💙

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I found this book hard to pique my interest. It did include an Iris Kelly cameo.

Thank you @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the finished copy and alc of this book!

I adore sapphic romance, and this one was such a sweet treat—pun very much intended. I loved the small-town setting and its quirky residents that gave me some definite Stars Hollow vibes, complete with a charming little gazebo. Dream On had everything I love: complex characters, crackling chemistry, and a storyline that kept me hooked….also the spice in this is so good I was sweating! The single narrator takes on both voices and differentiates them well. I really enjoyed the audio!

This takes the classic “celebrity falls for a local” setup and gives it a fresh twist—Dylan and Ramona actually met as teens and shared their first kiss at thirteen, only to lose touch and reconnect years later when Dylan returns to town to film a movie. Now, both women have something to prove—Dylan wants to move past her wild child reputation, and Ramona’s finally chasing her dream of becoming a costume designer.

I loved how their family histories shaped who they are and how those layers came through as their relationship deepened. Watching them do all the cozy, small-town things that Dylan usually misses out on as a celebrity was such a delight. And the chemistry? Absolutely sizzling—the steamy scenes delivered.

There is a bit of miscommunication and characters holding things back, which isn’t always my favorite kind of tension, but it really worked here and felt true to the story. My only small gripe is that some of their bonding happens off-page—we’re told about deeper conversations after the fact, which does show how close they’re getting, but I would’ve loved to see more of that unfold in real time. It left a couple of little gaps for me in their relationship arc. Still, I loved how everything wrapped up, and the epilogue felt satisfying and so well earned.

3.75 stars from me! I am personally not a fan of some of the tropes and plot points included in this book but I love a sapphic romance so I tried to let myself vibe with the joy of women loving women. There were times the corniness was too hard to ignore and the third act conflict was unnecessary to me. The spice??? SPICY! Definitely Ashley Herring Blake's best work on that front. Will I be tuning into the next book? Yes.

I adored this small town, second chance romance. Both of the FMCS went through a lot during their childhoods, which was evident from their actions as adults. I related to both Dylan and Ramona for different reasons. At times, Dylan was frustrating, but I understood why she made the decisions that she did. I loved seeing how she grew during the course of the book. I loved Ramona so much. I am so glad she got her happy ending with work AND with Dylan in the end.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the ARC!

Another beautiful love story penned by Ashley Herring Blake, whose ability to write bi panic onto the page continues to impress. Everybody makes some selfish decisions, and nobody is perfect, but readers will get to watch many characters learn to forgive and to grow. A little bit second-chance-romance, a bit big-star-in-the-small-town, and very very gay, this book was a pleasure to read.

Ashley Herring Blake, you magnificent woman you. Once again, a romance where any conflict MADE SENSE and felt like actual adults. And the b-plots were meaningful and sweet. Long live Dylan & Ramona 😍

I enjoyed this most recent book from Ashley Herring Blake! It had the same feel as the Delilah Green series but it was a nice change from it. I liked that this book was a second chance-esc book where Ramona and Dylan have met before, but only for the briefest moment in time. I liked the relationship between Ramona and Dylan but there were definitely a couple of times throughout the book where I was just like please just go and have a conversation with one another. Or there were some instances where the problems could have been entirely avoided if only the character thought just a bit more about what they were doing. Overall I still enjoyed the book and I can't wait for the next one in the series to come out!

I think that this might be my favourite Ashley Herring Blake book. I love that we got an Iris Kelly cameo, I love Dylan and Riley so much, and I love every single secondary character (especially Olive). It's easy to read the chemistry between Dylan and Riley and the story is so entertaining. I cannot wait to read more that features this cast of characters.

I really tried to enjoy this but it was way too long and way too boring. There was not enough tension or stakes for me to be interested in over 400 pages of small down chaos. I do not think their relationship was developed well, nor do I think there was any chemistry. I'm not giving it 1 star because I do think Ramona's character arc was sweet and could resonate with some but overall I could not care less about the story.

I thought this was such a cute romance and I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes. This is a peak queer romcom that has the backdrop of a small town where one of the fmc's Ramona is a waitress and the other Dylan is a famous actress with rock star parents. So both main characters first meet when they were teenagers and share a kiss, now years later Dylan can't remember her when they meet again. I liked the movie and small-town plot especially as the main characters spend more time with each other. The romance was full of lots of attraction and steam though I needed more with the emotional connection. There is mental health rep and both characters have some trauma in their backstory though the book is pretty light. There is miscommunication which I'm not a big fan of but overall this was a good read.

AHB I’m sorry I doubted you for a minute there (Make the Season Bright wasn’t a win for me😅) but have no fear!! This was wonderful!👏

A small town celebrity romance with the girl who was your first kiss?! That one night, long ago, when you both found comfort in one another and got to pretend to be someone you weren’t?🥹 oh sign me up!!

✨queer romance
✨spicy spice🌶️🌶️
✨first in a new series - and I already love this cast of characters!
✨tough family dynamics
✨strong female characters getting a second chance at their dreams (and each other🤭)
✨dual POV + great on audio🎧
✨Bright Falls cameos👀

I loved Ramona and Dylan’s chemistry and their growth!! It was charming, heartfelt, and every character was layered and relatable! However! the miscommunication was miscommunicating…though I did understand why!

I'm a huge fan of AHB's books, so I jumped at the chance to read this one. I just loved it! Loved the MCs, loved the side characters, loved the cute small town setting. And I adore romance plots where one of the MCs is famous. This one isn't quite a second-chance romance (they barely had a first chance), but it has that feel to it. I don't love when MCs lie to each other (or aren't truthful), and the plot of this book basically revolves around that. I thought Ramona was a little hypocritical when she found out about Dylan's lie, because she also lied. And since I'm sharing complaints now, I did not like April's character and I thought she was a bad friend -- she encouraged Ramona to lie and to use Dylan. Not cool. But other than that, I loved everything about this book. I had an eARC from NetGalley and I also had access to the audiobook. The narrator is excellent!

small town celebrity romance with a second chance with the person who gave you your first kiss?????

immediately sold. the was a fun and mostly lighthearted read. i loved both fmcs and the chaotic setting of a film set!!

AHB has this thing about her characters hiding things from each other and just not talking about them and it really grinds my gears :’) I hated the third act breakup but otherwise I enjoyed this one!

The idea behind this story felt so unique and original. It’s unlike any romance I’ve read before. The characters and their challenges were so realistic. The story had me hooked and it definitely lives up to my very high expectations based on the author’s previous books!

Thank you Berkley for the e-arc!

If there's anything you can rely on it's the fact that bisexuals create chaos even in the smallest of towns. This book is actually the definition of two bisexuals in a relationship. We're really horny and suck at communicating.

The steam was STEAMINGGGGG. This is more kinky than Ashley's past books and I was here for it!

I don't think this should be categorized as a "fake dating" romance because the characters aren't exactly fake dating, it's more of a grey area. I would categorize it as a celebrity romance.

I enjoyed the characters Ramona and Dylan are likable. Ramona being a caregiver and embracing her own dreams was admirable. I have a lot of respect for her character because of how fast she grew up and had to take care of her family. She's definitely one of my favorite characters that Ashley has written. As for Dylan, I could relate a lot to her bisexual chaos, finding your voice in a world that assumes they know everything about you is hard but I like that she wasn't afraid to embrace the journey.

Although I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope, in my head, I didn't mind it as much in this book. I came into this expecting bisexual chaos and that was exactly served. The relationship timeline did feel a little rushed but it was an enjoyable time.

If Ashley writes it, I will enjoy it!

There are some heavy topics such as parental abandonment, parental neglect, past drug use and alcohol use. Please be considerate of these before choosing to read!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advanced copy of this book!

Ashley Herring Blake has done it again 🥹 I instantly fell in love with Ramona annd Dylan and their stories, and I loved watching them fall for each other! While there were some frustrating elements of distrust and miscommunication, it was also so reflective of both of their upbringings, and it didn’t stop me from absolutely devouring this in a day 😏

Ramona was so soft and sweet, and fit Dylan’s sharp edges so beautifully. I loved the way she helped Dylan understand her acting role more deeply, and inevitably made her a better actor! Ramona and Olive’s relationship was also just so special, and I cannot WAIT for Alice’s story!

This was such a delightfully queer book, with so much bisexual pride and joy! There were also some very heavy topics handled with a lot of gentle grace, and i loved the healing that happened for both Dylan and Ramona by the end. AHB is absolutely an auto-buy author for me now, and I am so excited for more from her!

One thing about me, is if Ashley Herring Blake wrote it, I’m buying & reading it! I’ll be getting a copy for my trophy shelf!

I normally hate miscommunication in romances, I know it’s common, but the way AHB writes hers stories, I don’t mind it as much.

I loved the small town, cute & cozy romance vibes. I liked the flash back & the fact that our FMCs had a past together, however brief.

I really enjoyed this book & look forward to future works by AHB