A beautiful small town, dual POV, opposites attract, second chance summer romance between two queer FMCs who are reunited when a movie film comes to Ramona's town bringing the actress she had a memorable summer with as a young tween. There's great found family/queer female friendship rep, messy family drama and fun Bright Falls Easter eggs (ie a cameo by Iris Kelley, the romance author whose book is being turned into a film). It was also good on audio narrated by Gail Shalan and perfect for fans of Alexandria Bellefleur and books like Holly jolly July by Lindsay Maple. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

What could be better than a rebellious Hollywood starlet and a small town girl with big dreams falling in love?

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for the EARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adore Ashley Herring Blake’s writing and storytelling, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that I fell head over heels for Ramona and Dylan and their love story. Not only was their romance beautiful but it was also the way they both grew and became better versions of themselves which lead them to each other.

First off I love having two bisexual women as our main characters and that was a reason I was super excited about this book. I love seeing this representation especially in sapphic books. Really I loved all the queer rep we got from our amazing side characters as well, and it’s always one of my favorite parts of reading Blake’s books.

I also loved the our main characters and how far they come with their own struggles in the book. Especially Dylan, watching her go from the bad girl of Hollywood to someone who acknowledges the pain of her past and strives to be the person she always wanted to be was incredible. It was so important to see the impacts of being not only a person in Hollywood, but how being a child in the spotlight can lead someone down a path they never wanted. But watching her heal with the help of Ramona and striving to be the person she wants to be was absolutely magical. It was a great reminder of letting others in can allow ourselves to reach out for the help we need.

Then of course there was Ramona, who left her dreams behind to care for her loved ones. But now as they are beginning new chapters of her life she has to learn how to chase after those forgotten dreams. And watching her excel when she does get the chance to shine even when she had doubt was inspiring. Of course watching her also find a new dream with Ramona was pretty great.

And of course I have to talk about the fact their romance started years ago when they were each other’s first kiss. I truly felt all the butterflies in how romantic this was. Every moment of their relationship had me giggling and swooning as I watched them find home in each other. Even when I was waiting for the shoe to drop due to some miscommunications (luckily we already knew how the perfect apology would play out).

The book is definitely the feeling of a Hallmark movie but with Queer rep and some spice…which made it so addictive and fun.

So … I enjoyed this but it’s also probably my least favorite Ashley Herring Blake book of those I’ve read. It’s cute, it’s spicy, it’s queer which are all lovely things!

Most of the plot is based around lies that would have been very easy to just be honest about, so it just felt unnecessary and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole time. I’m also not the hugest fan of celebrity romance, so that’s my bad for reading it when it’s clearly described in the blurb.

Overall, I don’t know. If you’re looking for spicy, queer, small town romance and lying celebrities don’t bother you, then definitely check it out!

A beautiful life-affirming story for anyone who has ever had to take a different path to their dreams- or believed they were stepping away from them entirely. I loved Ramona. It felt like I was reading a version of myself in a different life, good and bad, and April Evans… wow that was my best friend if I’ve ever read one. I’m very excited for her story next!
Dylan was incredibly well written and her struggles with fame and her family were surprisingly relatable, as someone with absolutely no direct experience.
As always, the spice and the love story DELIVERED and I am so happy that this new chapter of stories has begun in Clover Lake!

3.5⭐️

Overall this way a cute story. I really liked the chemistry between Dylan and Ramona. While I did mostly enjoy the book it was just a little too slow for my taste.

thank you to netgalley and berkley publishing group for the eARC!

this book was very cute, i really enjoyed reading it! it’s been a hot minute since i’ve read a queer romance novel, so this was a nice return to form on that front. i was very excited about this one, because i liked herring blake’s bright falls trilogy so much, and she definitely did not let me down.

ramona and dylan are adorable. they contrasted each other perfectly—small town vs city, loving family vs difficult family dynamic—which made it fun to read; it wasn’t a one note story, and the contrast made it more complex and intriguing. their relationship is a super cute premise and a fun take on the “first love” trope. i will say, i am quite glad that herring blake didn’t treat their relationship like they already knew a lot about each other, because watching them reconcile getting to know one another with the night they had been thinking about for years was necessary for their arc.

the side characters were great. herring blake knows how to write side characters, especially ones who deserve a book of their own (i.e. are interesting in their own right and not just getting a book because it’s a series). i can’t wait to read april’s story!

the plot had me stressing a little, because i thought i knew where it was going and i was not happy about it. however, i was only kind of right. i’m really not a fan of the “people tell me to fake date them but then it becomes real and then they find out and are upset” trope. it’s usually just a whole bunch of miscommunication, which to me can feel a little basic/easy as a main conflict, but because dylan was never really “fake” dating ramona i think it’s fine. i did see it coming though.

the setting is great, and good news cause we’ll be here for a bit. clover lake is the quintessential small town (read: the perfect place for a romance novel). all the townspeople we met and the places we explored were so cutesy and delightful to read about. loved it.

all in all, wonderful book. super fun and will be a perfect summer read, so i can’t wait to start recommending it!

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!