REVIEW: Fated by Sarah Ready

In Fated by Sarah Ready, Fiona “Fi” Abry and her brother Daniel have taken their family’s languishing watch business and have nurtured it into a success with untold hours of work. When she’s not in the office, she spends as much time as she can with her wonderful eight-year-old daughter Mila. Thankfully there’s always something to do in Geneva, Switzerland. Especially with Daniel doting on his niece and Fi’s best friend Max joining in the adventures. But somehow, she’s still lonely. As much as she’d like to try another shot at love, she’s been down that road before and has the pieced-back-together heart to show for it.

‘Everyone knows that dreams are where we tell ourselves the truth. All our hidden desires, all our yearnings, all our fears–they come out in dreams, don’t they?’

So, when Fi is given a gift of one of her family’s heirloom watches, one that supposedly will let the owner dream of their biggest desires in life, she figures it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. To her shock, the first night she clutches the watch tight while she falls asleep, Fi has a dream so real, so convincing, that she’s utterly amazed. She’s on a tropical island married to a handsome man and they have two kids. After that first taste of island life, she can’t wait to fall into dreamland again, even if things aren’t as perfect there as one would expect while living in a tropical paradise. But Fi becomes so caught up in her dreamworld that it begins to bleed into her real life. And that leaves her to wonder what kind of lessons the watch is attempting to give her.

‘I can either stay in my dream, living a life that isn’t real. Or I can take what I’ve learned there–that I can love, that I can be loved–and I can accept it in my life.’

A doozy of a contemporary romance that will stretch readers’ imaginations with the thread of magic woven through it, FATED was a reading adventure like no other.

‘I’m in love with a dream, with a man who isn’t real, and there isn’t any coming back from it.’

CW: View Spoiler »Attempted murder, cheating, love triangle(ish), suicidal thoughts, child abandonment « Hide Spoiler

In yet another mind-bending novel in her Ghosted series, Sarah Ready outdid herself with FATED. Just when I thought I had a grasp on what was going on, a new unexpected plot twist would shock me and make me rethink it all. And I loved that. It’s not often an author can so completely surprise me–let alone to accomplish it several times all in one book. But Ready did. And it took this magical realism romance to all new soaring heights.

It feels like pretty much anything I try to discuss will be a spoiler as there were layers upon layers to this story with everything building and changing as it went. Told exclusively from our heroine Fiona’s POV, this followed her as she struggled in her personal life to combat the loneliness she’s always felt. Being burned in love before didn’t necessarily make Fi want to try again. But at the same time she’s given a family heirloom–a watch that lets the person who owns it dream of their deepest wishes and desires–she has a possible romance blooming in her real life. So, when she has fantastically realistic dreams of a handsome man on a tropical island, Fi is torn between exploring her real chance at love and holding on to her dream man.

There were so many parallels between the dreams and Fi’s real life that it was understandable she would be confused, not knowing which way to turn. Her decision on which direction she should head came late in the book, when a series of chilling events and revelations gave Fi a grand purpose. I’ll let readers uncover the details themselves. But I will say that after my heart was ripped out (multiple times), that sweet ending was perfection–and sweepingly romantic.

QOTD: Have you ever had a dream that seemed absolutely real to you?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: July 16th, 2024 | Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC | Ghosted #3

She meets the man of her dreams in her dreams.

Fiona Abry excels at keeping busy, running her family’s Swiss watch company, and guarding her heart. She’s so busy she doesn’t have time for a vacation much less a love life.

But then she’s given a family heirloom rumored to let you dream your greatest desire.

Suddenly, Fiona is spending her nights on a tiny tropical island in a completely different life.

She’s married. She has two kids. She lives in a colorful cottage on the beach.

This dream life is so different from her hectic, busy life in the city that Fiona decides to live her dreams to the fullest.

Swimming in the turquoise sea. Picnics under palms. Star-gazing on the beach. It’s a slow, seductive dream life that conveniently stays in her dreams.

But after kisses and confessions and long nights on the beach, Fiona starts to fall hard for her dream husband and her dream life.

But what happens when opening yourself to love means falling for a life that isn’t real and a man who doesn’t exist?

Because in the end, it’s not fate, it’s just a dream.