ARC Review: Butterfly Dreams by A. Meredith Walters

Butterfly Dreams by A. Meredith Walters
Find the Author: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram
Published by Loveswept
on November 24th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Review Copy Provided By: Loveswept


Goodreads

In a powerful romance for fans of The Fault in Our Stars and If I Stay, New York Times bestselling author A. Meredith Walters tells the story of a troubled young woman and the unforgettable guy who teaches her to live—and love—to the fullest.

She’s waiting to die. . . . Corin Thompson is paralyzed by her obsession with mortality. Having lost both of her parents, she is terrified by the idea that she too will die young, and she loses control at any sign of illness. But when Corin connects with someone who has survived a very real brush with death, she begins to see the world in a whole new way.

He’s learning to live. . . . As Corin struggles under the weight of her neuroses, Beckett Kingsley is attempting to rebuild a life that feels all too temporary. With the ever-present threat of heart failure never far from his mind, he just wants to make the most of whatever time he has left. And that means pursuing the girl he never expected to find.

Together, Corin and Beckett finally learn to let go of their fears and take solace in everyday pleasures. Who knows what the future holds? After all, nothing lasts forever—the only promise they have is right now.

I was provided a review copy; this did not influence my opinion of the book.

❝He was my anesthetic. He numbed me. Before he also set me on fire.❞

What makes a good story? Is it in the details? Is it a cohesive plot?  Is it beautifully crafted characters? Is it a story that makes you feel down to your soul and leaves you thinking about it long after the story is over? Well, for me, I can answer yes to all of those. I found ‘Butterfly Dreams’ simply beautiful. It was beautiful in its simplicity. It was a stunning story about living with fears and devastating loss, and learning to love. Another winner for A. Meredith Walters.

One reason I am such a huge fan of A. Meredith Walters, is that her writing never feels forced, instead it feels organic. Her stories ebb and flow seamlessly, as does the switch in POV. Her ability to pull emotions (whether happiness, heart-wrenching sadness or anger) from me with each book is truly brilliant.

As the blurb reveals, Corin suffers from hypochondria which is brought on by the devastating loss of both her parents. She lives daily with the fear that she is dying. She is so focused on this fear that she isn’t living! Her neurosis has kept people at arms length and she is okay with that because she doesn’t have the headspace left for relationships. She is quirky and in the beginning I had a difficult time connecting with her character. But that was because I didn’t truly know her yet. As the story progressed and her layers were revealed, I realized she was just flawed like the rest of us. Her defense mechanisms may have been different from yours or mine, but we all have them. How we cope with tragedy, how we deal with hurt, fears may be different, but we all develop a coping mechanism.

Beckett is just trying to live. He doesn’t know when the next day will be his last, so he is determined to put on his “happy face”, suck it up and LIVE. He tries to ignore the things he can no longer do and relish in the fact that he is alive, today. That isn’t always easy because a once active man, he has now become restricted. His identity has changed.

One day while in the middle of a panic attack, Corin is “saved” by Beckett. They didn’t know each other, but seeing her struggling to breathe and watching her in pain, Beckett knew he had to help.

Once again a chance meeting brings them together and a relationship based upon friendship, and kindred souls develops. Slowly they heal one another. Slowly, they fall in love.

What I loved so much about this book was that Beckett could have easily succumbed to the “victim” role. Because life had dealt him a crapy hand. But he found strength from within and kept on going. And it was his strength that he lent to Corin. He helped her see she had a life worth living. And she gave him something to live for. He was truly an amazing character.

❝For the first time since my heart attack I felt like someone understood me.❞

They shared laughter, sadness and passion. Together they found happiness and they found a way to live.

Ms. Walters creates stories and characters with depth. Her characters may start as flawed, but by the end of the story, you will experience their growth. Her books deal with real life issues and don’t need over-the-top drama to make them good. With ‘Butterfly Dreams’, I laughed and I cried ugly tears too. The love story was gorgeous and one that I will be thinking about for a while.

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