ARC Review: When She Dreams by Amanda Quick

When She Dreams
Author: Amanda Quick
Series: Burning Cove, California (Book 6)
Publication: Berkley (May 3, 2022)

Description: Return to 1930s Burning Cove, California, the glamorous seaside playground for Hollywood stars, mobsters, spies, and a host of others who find more than they bargain for in this mysterious town.

Maggie Lodge, assistant to the reclusive advice columnist known only as Dear Aunt Cornelia to her readers, hires down-but-not-quite-out private eye Sam Sage to help track down the person who is blackmailing her employer. Maggie and Sam are a mismatched pair. As far as Sam is concerned, Maggie is reckless and in over her head. She is not what he had in mind for a client, but he can’t afford to be choosy. Maggie, on the other hand, is convinced that Sam is badly in need of guidance and good advice. She does not hesitate to give him both.

In spite of the verbal fireworks between them, they are fiercely attracted to each other, but each is convinced it would be a mistake to let passion take over. They are, after all, keeping secrets from each other. Sam is haunted by his past, which includes a marriage shattered by betrayal and violence. Maggie is troubled by intense and vivid dreams—dreams that she can sometimes control. There are those who want to run experiments on her and use her for their own purposes, while others think she should be committed to an asylum.

When the pair discovers someone is impersonating Aunt Cornelia at a conference on psychic dreaming and a woman dies at the conference, the door is opened to a dangerous web of blackmail and murder. Secrets from the past are revealed, leaving Maggie and Sam in the path of a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to exact vengeance.

My Thoughts: Quick returns to her Burning Cove series with another excellent romantic suspense title. 

Maggie Lodge is a would-be novelist who is currently working as an administrative assistant for a reclusive advice columnist known as Aunt Cordelia. Maggie is a lucid dreamer who has had trouble with a number of people including doctors. One doctor in particular - Dr. Emerson Oxlade - is a particular problem since he has become obsessed with her talent. 

When Maggie's boss, who has taken off on a tour of the South Pacific, receives a blackmail note demanding that she attend a conference for lucid dreaming in Burning Cove, Maggie decides to hire a private detective to help her track down the blackmailer.

Sam Sage is new in the private investigator business. He's a former LA homicide detective who lost his job when he arrested the wrong man (with a powerful family) and was fired. This new case has some positives. At least, he won't be doing divorce work. It also has some negatives. His new client intends to be a full partner in the investigation and she's taking notes for her detective novel. 

The two find themselves in Burning Cove and finding bodies, uncovering secrets, and falling in love.

This story is filled with period detail and the witty banter which is the author's trademark. I really liked the two main characters and enjoyed watching their relationship grow. The mystery was also well done and complex. 

Fans of historical romantic suspense can't go wrong with this story. 

Favorite Quote:

"I couldn't resist. It was for his own good."

"The one reason guaranteed to annoy anyone without fail."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.