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The Ladies of Sweetwater Lake #4
When Dreams Come True
When her DEA agent husband's plane went down, Zoey Witherspoon thought her life was over. But with two kids to care for, and another on the way, she moved back home to Sweetwater to be closer to friends and family. Two years later, her world was turned upside down: her husband was alive! Amnesia-stricken Dane wasn't exactly the same person he'd been, but neither was Zoey. She refused to return to the fractured marriage they'd shared—workaholic Dane had never been around—yet moving forward was a scary prospect. Would a second chance at happiness make all her dreams come true?
ebook
First published March 1, 2006
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About the author
Margaret Daley
209 books491 followersMargaret Daley, an award-winning author of seventy-six books, has been married for over forty years and is a firm believer in romance and love. When she isn’t traveling, she’s writing love stories, often with a suspense thread and corralling her three cats that think they rule her household. To find out more about Margaret visit her website at http://www.margaretdaley.com.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 2, 2022
I really enjoyed this series. I liked reading more about Zoey and her family.
September 11, 2014
Pretty good LI, husband back from the dead, must re-establish marriage and relationship with kids. A little slow in parts, but overall decent.
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September 23, 2017Miniseries: The Ladies of Sweetwater Lake
November 13, 2021
A friend sent me this book in a box of books. I thought it was slightly better than most Love Inspired books.
The couple in this book have been married for several years by the time this novel starts. The husband, a DEA agent, crashed in the Amazon 2.5 years before and was presumed dead--instead, he had amnesia which only recently resolved enough for him to return to his unsuspecting family. So we don't have the common-to-the-genre issue of the couple only knowing each other for a short time before they are engaged or married.
Warning: Spoilers May Follow. Read On at Your Own Discretion:
*****
The plot deals with several important factors:
*Kids sometimes think that they are at fault when bad things happen (such as Blake thinking him telling his dad he didn't care if he ever came back was the reason his dad did not return).
*Men and women have different communication needs. Women often want men to share what they're feeling. Men have often been taught that they shouldn't feel or that they should only feel certain emotions (like anger).
*Control and Trusting God: we seem to want to feel we are in control when in reality, we're not in control of anything. Sometimes things from our past make us feel like we can't trust God to be there for us (prayers that we think go unanswered or prayers that aren't answered in the way we want them to be answered).
*Alcoholism: Dane's father was an alcoholic. This gives him insight into what Eddy faces.
*Teen problems: Various teens in the book deal with: having an alcoholic parent, following another teen who leads them into criminal behavior (robberies), losing a parent, having a parent reappear in their lives, drug abuse. Zoey is correct in that some teens don't feel comfortable going to the school counselor--whether it is because of peer pressure (other students or their friends might see them) or fear that their problem will get back to the wrong people in the small town or some other reason. It's probably good that they will have another option in the youth center--whether it be from adults or peer counseling.
The couple in this book have been married for several years by the time this novel starts. The husband, a DEA agent, crashed in the Amazon 2.5 years before and was presumed dead--instead, he had amnesia which only recently resolved enough for him to return to his unsuspecting family. So we don't have the common-to-the-genre issue of the couple only knowing each other for a short time before they are engaged or married.
Warning: Spoilers May Follow. Read On at Your Own Discretion:
*****
The plot deals with several important factors:
*Kids sometimes think that they are at fault when bad things happen (such as Blake thinking him telling his dad he didn't care if he ever came back was the reason his dad did not return).
*Men and women have different communication needs. Women often want men to share what they're feeling. Men have often been taught that they shouldn't feel or that they should only feel certain emotions (like anger).
*Control and Trusting God: we seem to want to feel we are in control when in reality, we're not in control of anything. Sometimes things from our past make us feel like we can't trust God to be there for us (prayers that we think go unanswered or prayers that aren't answered in the way we want them to be answered).
*Alcoholism: Dane's father was an alcoholic. This gives him insight into what Eddy faces.
*Teen problems: Various teens in the book deal with: having an alcoholic parent, following another teen who leads them into criminal behavior (robberies), losing a parent, having a parent reappear in their lives, drug abuse. Zoey is correct in that some teens don't feel comfortable going to the school counselor--whether it is because of peer pressure (other students or their friends might see them) or fear that their problem will get back to the wrong people in the small town or some other reason. It's probably good that they will have another option in the youth center--whether it be from adults or peer counseling.
March 7, 2008
Review: “When Dreams Come True”
Written by: Margaret Daley
Author Margaret Daley immediately catches the reader’s attention by showing an example of the impossible becoming possible, when the main heroine’s husband comes back from the dead after two years! God’s specialty in action! All on the first page!
Zoey Witherspoon lives for two years, raising their three children alone. Suddenly, her husband is back and everyone is forced to adjust to the changes. Zoey has to learn to rely on Dane, try to rekindle the love they once had and had lost before he disappeared. Zoey and Dane’s son, Blake has to accept the fact that his father is alive, learn to forgive him for leaving, and realize he is home to stay. Dane has to struggle to remember the relationships he had with his family, including a daughter he’s never met, before his plane crashed in the Amazon and erased the last two years; all the while living in a house he never lived in, a town and people he doesn’t know, and a cold shoulder from his son and wife. Mandy is the only one, with a child’s innocence, who forgives and forgets. Tara, the baby is simply adorable and a miracle from God both for Zoey and Dane.
The commitment to wedding vows, something that is lacking so much in today’s day and age, is commendable and admirable; and much needed. The relationship between husband and wife under the authority of God can survive the toughest of tests, Zoey and Dane’s story is a wonderful example of this.
The importance of a father in a son’s life, on a daily basis, is another social issue tackled in this wonderful, inspirational and heart-rending story.
Three aspects of the story troubled me. First, the issues of Zoey’s trust that Dane had truly changed; and Dane’s struggle with sharing his innermost feelings, seemed to be repeated too often and hindered the progression of the story somewhat. Second, the transition of Dane from living in the den to sharing a room with his wife was never addressed. The change in the relationship between Dane and Zoey would have made this imminent. Third, nothing is ever said about Dane’s salvation. It is clear that he was saved in the past, and it is not addressed in a rededication or act of salvation.
Summary, the plot is great; the characters are believable and likable. The setting is welcoming. "When Dreams Come True" is a truly good read.
I didn’t realize this book was a sequel, it is so well written it stood elegantly alone and yet there was hints just enough of the other stories in the series to hook the reader.
Margaret Daley is a rose among thorns in Christian Literature. She is definitely an author to follow. I intend to.
Tammy Varner Hornbeck, Author
“Faith, Hope…and the greatest of these is LOVE”. Publish America, December 2006.
Written by: Margaret Daley
Author Margaret Daley immediately catches the reader’s attention by showing an example of the impossible becoming possible, when the main heroine’s husband comes back from the dead after two years! God’s specialty in action! All on the first page!
Zoey Witherspoon lives for two years, raising their three children alone. Suddenly, her husband is back and everyone is forced to adjust to the changes. Zoey has to learn to rely on Dane, try to rekindle the love they once had and had lost before he disappeared. Zoey and Dane’s son, Blake has to accept the fact that his father is alive, learn to forgive him for leaving, and realize he is home to stay. Dane has to struggle to remember the relationships he had with his family, including a daughter he’s never met, before his plane crashed in the Amazon and erased the last two years; all the while living in a house he never lived in, a town and people he doesn’t know, and a cold shoulder from his son and wife. Mandy is the only one, with a child’s innocence, who forgives and forgets. Tara, the baby is simply adorable and a miracle from God both for Zoey and Dane.
The commitment to wedding vows, something that is lacking so much in today’s day and age, is commendable and admirable; and much needed. The relationship between husband and wife under the authority of God can survive the toughest of tests, Zoey and Dane’s story is a wonderful example of this.
The importance of a father in a son’s life, on a daily basis, is another social issue tackled in this wonderful, inspirational and heart-rending story.
Three aspects of the story troubled me. First, the issues of Zoey’s trust that Dane had truly changed; and Dane’s struggle with sharing his innermost feelings, seemed to be repeated too often and hindered the progression of the story somewhat. Second, the transition of Dane from living in the den to sharing a room with his wife was never addressed. The change in the relationship between Dane and Zoey would have made this imminent. Third, nothing is ever said about Dane’s salvation. It is clear that he was saved in the past, and it is not addressed in a rededication or act of salvation.
Summary, the plot is great; the characters are believable and likable. The setting is welcoming. "When Dreams Come True" is a truly good read.
I didn’t realize this book was a sequel, it is so well written it stood elegantly alone and yet there was hints just enough of the other stories in the series to hook the reader.
Margaret Daley is a rose among thorns in Christian Literature. She is definitely an author to follow. I intend to.
Tammy Varner Hornbeck, Author
“Faith, Hope…and the greatest of these is LOVE”. Publish America, December 2006.
April 29, 2016
Not a typical romance. I liked the suspense!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews