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The Dustman

by S.M. Blooding (Goodreads Author)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 19 ratings · 8 reviews

Dustmen are useless.

Meg has two kids, one of which is hell bent to land himself in jail. She’s about to lose her house, her home, her ability to support her children. Her aunt tells her to publish the story of her childhood friend, her dustman, her Luk.

Dreamland is empty.

He’s watching his world shrink, his friends blinking out of existence. Children no longer call for him....more

Paperback, 225 pages

Published April 3rd 2012 by Blooding Books (first published August 1997)

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May 20, 2012 Dee Avila rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: received-from-author

First, THANK YOU to SM Blooding for a copy of The Dustman.

The story of Meg and Luk is intriguing and the details of Dreamland and reality kept me turning the pages. Meg is a single mother of two, that is working several hours to make ends meet and feels as if she is failing as a mother and provider. She is fun to read about, her personality pops off the page. Her to children Nick and Nali are great supporting characters that add to the story and help move the fast pace plot right along.
There ar...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Diayll rated it 4 of 5 stars

Originally Reviewed at: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 4 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Bewitching Book Tours
Reviewer: Heather

The Dustman brings us a fresh fantasy concept – or maybe just for me. Luk is a dustman, a sandman, who is about to lose his Dreamland if he can’t find his light before the wind comes to take him, his land, and all he has created away. But his light is within the one he loves, the one he shouldn’t love, his beloved Meg.

Meg is still tormented by the death of her husband, an...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Jill Cooper rated it 4 of 5 stars

i read this book in two days so it's safe to say that I loved it, and became obsessed with it's theme that dreams are real, and fuel a world where dreams live and thrive. These are themes I love so I was really excited to read this book.

This book takes place in two places the real world and the DreamScape. And while it is common for books to take place in two separate worlds, I thought the take on the DreamScape (basically the dream world) was unique and different!

Nightmares and dreams take on p...more i read this book in two days so it's safe to say that I loved it, and became obsessed with it's theme that dreams are real, and fuel a world where dreams live and thrive. These are themes I love so I was really excited to read this book.

This book takes place in two places the real world and the DreamScape. And while it is common for books to take place in two separate worlds, I thought the take on the DreamScape (basically the dream world) was unique and different!

Nightmares and dreams take on physical forms and personality. I loved the idea that nightmares are like therapists to help humans work on their issues. And dustman (dreams) are responsible for taking humans to the dreamscape.

But something is happening to the DreamScape which puts their lives and dreams in danger forever. This part kind of reminded me of Neverending Story, which I loved as a kid, and still do. Except this isn't a fairytale or a kids story, and reads as such.

In the real world Meg's life is falling apart. She'd behind on her bills, unable to support her kids any longer, and moving back home with her family. She's in a bad place after the death of her husband and she simply can't continue on the same path. You can really feel for her, her anquish, and her situation, but it's not overdone. It's just enough.

She used to write and those stories were put aside after her husband was killed. Those stories led her to the dustman, Luk.

It isn't long before Meg crosses paths with her dustman and realizations come there are more truths about her stories and her dreams than meets the eye. Their connection is strong, immediate, and the intimacy between the two is smoldering hot. (And the sex scenes? They will melt your kindle!)

My only complaint would be at the end of the book that you don't get one more love scene, or connection between the two.

Now it's up to them to save DreamScape and somehow it starts and ends with Meg, but others don't want it saved at all. Why? You'll have to find out.

Meg's life is in danger and when they end up in her hometown I loved the small town feel. I loved the quirkiness, the dialogue, and the We hate outsiders mentality that could work against her. It felt alot like going home and evoked strong feelings of warmth and familiarity, even though that's not how I grew up.

In closing, I highly recommend this book for it's love, adventure, characters. You'll get sucked in, so try to clear your calendars!
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Apr 10, 2012 Lissette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Dreamland . . . a place of magic and wonder, powered by the hopes and dreams of those who believe. For years, Dreamland has existed mostly within the dreams of children and their beliefs that magic is truly real. Their love and memories of fairies, dragons, and everything fairy tale has been the sole force behind Dreamland itself. Yet that power is waning. People have stopped believing and little by little, parts of Dreamland have ceased to exist.

Meg once believed in Dreamland. She poured her he...more Dreamland . . . a place of magic and wonder, powered by the hopes and dreams of those who believe. For years, Dreamland has existed mostly within the dreams of children and their beliefs that magic is truly real. Their love and memories of fairies, dragons, and everything fairy tale has been the sole force behind Dreamland itself. Yet that power is waning. People have stopped believing and little by little, parts of Dreamland have ceased to exist.

Meg once believed in Dreamland. She poured her heart and soul into the stories she wrote about it whenever she had the chance to, detailing the everyday lives of those living within the realm itself. She captured their hopes, their dreams, their triumphs, and their losses. She made their stories as real as possible to those around her in real life. To some her stories about Dreamland were more than just stories, it was a world as real as Earth itself.

Yet the day reality caught up with her, everything changed. She stopped believing in the magic that was Dreamland. She stopped believing that fairy tales ever came true. To her, she had no reason to continue living within a world that only existed in her dreams. A dream world she really didn't belong to, or so she thought. She chose to close her mind off to a world that had once meant everything to her, never once thinking about the consequences.

When her beloved dustman, Luk, shows up in her world, Meg wonders if she's dreaming. He's everything she remembers him to be and yet, he's changed. Part of her wants to believe he's the real thing. Another part of her wants to deny the fact that he and Dreamland ever existed. It's the only way she'll be able to cope with the hardship she calls life, but deep inside she knows Luk will never let her forget.

You see, Dreamland is dying. Something is draining its life source and it's up to Luk and Meg to discover what's behind it before the entire realm is lost completely, once and for all. Taking matters into his own hands, Luk's intent on reminding Meg about everything she left behind. He wants her to remember their love and the life they shared before everything changed. Her memories are needed into order to restore the balance between both worlds, a feat that's only possible if she'll allow herself to truly believe.

This was such a delightful story. I enjoyed every minute of it. So much so, that I had a hard time in putting the book down in order to get things done in real life. I think S. M. did a beautiful job in creating Dreamland, basing certain aspects of it around known fairy tales and kid's story that we know of in this day and age. A truly and refreshing take on all things fairy tale - totally recommend it!(less)

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Apr 27, 2012 J.D. Brown rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story is definitely something new and fresh. I love the premise, the use of a dustmen, nightmares, and dreamland. This book took me back to my childhood, when my own mother used to read stories to my sister and I before bed. We called guys like Luk “the sandman”, but “dustman” is essentially the same thing; the magical man that puts kids to sleep and gives them good dreams. I’ve never before seen the dustman used in paranormal literature, and now I find myself asking, why not? What a cool a...more This story is definitely something new and fresh. I love the premise, the use of a dustmen, nightmares, and dreamland. This book took me back to my childhood, when my own mother used to read stories to my sister and I before bed. We called guys like Luk “the sandman”, but “dustman” is essentially the same thing; the magical man that puts kids to sleep and gives them good dreams. I’ve never before seen the dustman used in paranormal literature, and now I find myself asking, why not? What a cool and unique idea!

Though the core of “The Dustman” is about Meg’s childhood friend come to life, the book is firmly rooted in the adult paranormal romance genre with just a slight touch of yummy sex. Many readers can relate to the main character, Meg, who was forced to stop chasing her dreams and take on the role of single-mom after the death of her husband. Family, love, life trials, and innocence are all themes covered in this cute story.

While I did enjoy the overall story of The Dustman, I have to admit I did not enjoy the author’s writing style or craft. The first few chapters where confusing and Dreamland came across as juvenile until much later in the book. I also felt like I was reading the sequel instead of the debut. I felt like SO much had happened before the author started writing, and while she may have had all that prior information in her head, none of it was explained in the story soon enough for me which may be why I was confused for a while. In short, the book could benefit from clearer world building.

I also felt there was a huge break in Meg’s character after they moved back to her hometown. Her personality and voice changed rather suddenly. The author did try to atone for this by saying that Meg was picking up her old Southern twang, but it didn’t fee viable to me.

In addition to all that, there were several grammar mistakes, repetitive words/phrases, scenes that were confusing, and a few paragraphs that seemed like unnecessary fluff.

However, I need to point out that the copy I received was an early copy from before the book was published. I’m going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume that the manuscript has been run through a professional editor before it was published. Though I do feel like even an advanced copy should be a little more polished before being given out for a review.
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Aug 07, 2012 Anya Breton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Meg's life is unraveling faster than she can keep up. Her husband has passed. Bills are piling up. And worst of all, she doesn't have time for her beloved children.
She's finally given up and returning back home to live with her Aunt Jo.
And it's the best thing for her because someone never forgotten is waiting for her--enigmatic Luk.
But is he really the man of her dreams? Or just the fantasy of a desperate woman?

This story was a fun read. It was a clever idea and has a hot hero :)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 13, 2012 S.M. Blooding rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

I LOVE this book! It definitely has a special place in my heart! Dreamland and Luk were favorites of mine when I was a girl and I'd forgotten about both of them until MY girls needed bedtime stories.

Re-reading this book...I remembered so many wonderful things. I hope it touches you the way it touches me.

Frankie

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Aug 16, 2012 Lindsay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fantasy

I liked the book and thought that the idea was unique.

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About S.M. Blooding

SM Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie. She likes to hike the beautiful Rocky Mountains, and is learning to play the piano and guitar. Currently, she’s trying to MURDER them both. Her real name is Stephanie Marie (aka SM). Friends call her Frankie.

Frankie challenges the world around her. She served in the military as one of the first female tactical air traffic controllers, worked...more

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