The Secret Life of Daydreams by Lucinda WhitneyMy rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Source: Received to Review
Genre: LDS Contemporary Romance
Book Description: Sometimes the dream you never planned for is the one you can’t live without.
Six years after a painful divorce, Josh Conrad is happy traveling the world as a photographer. When he arrives in Portugal, he plans to complete the assignment as quickly as possible. What he doesn’t plan for is Sofia, the girl he baptized eleven years earlier on an LDS mission, and soon he’s making excuses to prolong his trip.
Sofia Monteiro leads a structured life in Braga, Portugal, teaching high school by day and caring for her mother by night. After she reconnects with Josh through mutual friends, the memory of a failed relationship and her new graduate program are enough reasons to stay away from him.
As they collaborate on a project, Josh is wary of repeating his old mistakes and Sofia hesitates to spend time with an American who’s only passing through.
Can two people with wounded hearts bring themselves to trust their dreams to each other?
The Secret Life of Daydreams is a clean and wholesome contemporary LDS romance set in Portugal.
My thoughts: Josh and Sofia met when he served an LDS mission to Portugal. His life has been far from what he planned and he returns broken in many ways. Sofia is a woman whom he baptised 11 years ago. Her memories of him do not mesh with the life that he is now living.
I enjoyed the characters of this book. I like the fact that they have problems and are working to make their lives the best that they can. Together they are stronger than apart. Sofia leans on Josh's strength as she deals with the difficulties of having a mother with dementia. Josh leans on Sofia as he discovers that he does have the capacity to love again and dream of a life that is not lonely.
The book is set in Portugal. I loved how the author was able to bring the Portuguese culture to life for me. The setting sound beautiful and it is now another place that I would love to visit someday.
The book is clean. There is kissing. The premise behind the book is religious, but I didn't find it to preach at me. The characters strove to respect their religious differences.
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About the Author: (Taken from Goodreads) Lucinda Whitney was born and raised in Portugal, where she received a master's degree from the University of Minho in Braga in Portuguese/English teaching. She's a cancer survivor, and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Salt Lake Temple Square Visitors Center mission in Utah.She lives in northern Utah. When she's not reading and writing, she can be found with a pair of knitting needles in winter, or tending her herb garden in the summer. She also works part-time as a substitute teacher.
Thanks so much for the review, Lisa!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such a cute read. I love that they reconnect after so long :). I always wonder what it's like for missionaries to meet up with members they baptized. It must be such a wonderful experience.
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