The Sensual Journey of a Young Woman Falling Madly in Love with The Girl of her Dreams. Claire is a young woman who only accepted her sexuality following an enlightening trip to India. Soon after, she falls head over heels in love with a gorgeous girl, Lana, a woman she meets only by pure chance during a captivating encounter between flights within Vienna’s Airport terminal. This love seemed far from being reciprocated and rather hopeless. Or was it? Lana meets Claire whilst going from Slovenia on route to the US making plans for her perfect married life. This encounter reveals the essence of who she is within. She discovers a new side to herself. She becomes torn between two worlds and must decide. Whatever her decision, there will be consequences. She can suppress her feelings and memories during the day. Can she control them in her dreams? Will her dreams be strong enough to make Lana follow her heart?
Nico J. Genes has traveled and worked with many exciting and unique people of different nationalities, religions, and sexual orientations, all of whom helped her understand diversity and accept everyone just as they are.
With her first two novels, Magnetic Reverie and Reverie Girl, she successfully broke the ice into writing. From her readers’ feedback and reviews, Nico can proudly say she has a solid confirmation of her skills as an established writer. An essential element of her writing is that she always has a message she wants to transmit. Her motto sums up: We are all different, and that’s okay!
Besides novel writing, Nico also runs a blog in which she talks about life’s issues and gives the kind of friendly advice everyone needs at specific points in their lives. The positive feedback from her readers became her inspiration for her third book, Lessons in Life.
Continuing her mission of welcoming all diversity and pleading for tolerance and acceptance, she wrote the novel ADHD: Life Is Beautiful, based on a true story.
Nico is eager to hear from you on www.nicojgenes.com or her social media accounts:
Reverie Girl is the second book in 'The Reverie' series written by Nico J. Genes in 2018. I read the first book earlier this year and finally caught the second one while it was on sale this week for only .99. It's discounted thru 9/15/19, so definitely check it out soon. The series focuses on Lana, a ~30ish beautiful young woman who comes to terms with her sexuality and falls in love with two different people. In this second book, we get a larger perspective from Claire as well, learning new details about their lives since the first book's ending.
You can read this specific story as a stand-alone novel, but I think it is much stronger if you read them together. Reverie Girl fills in many of the missing pieces we never understood in the first part. We knew Lana and Claire had met at an airport, but we were never sure if they'd actually met or it was only in a her dreams or some fantasy / other-worldly experience. Now, we know a whole lot more. Not only do we learn what happened during that Vienna airport rendezvous but we also get the background on Claire, whose real name is Klara and also lives in Slovenia.
Life in Slovenia for both women has been a little difficult. Klara lost her parents when she was young and relied on an older brother's unconditional love. When she finally admitted she was gay, he supported her and helped her figure out how to make a new life for herself. For Lana, she had no inkling until she met Claire (the name she goes by now) in the airport. Too bad she was weeks away from marrying her American boyfriend, Greg. While that aspect is covered in the first book, we now see how Claire and Lana built a friendship, attraction, and partnership after their initial meet cute. Several years kept them revolving in and out of each other's lives, including Lana's marriage to Greg.
Reverie is the kind of story that builds on itself with each chapter until you can't help but root for the women to find one another. From a chance encounter in the airport to a lost message, then a misunderstood chat discussion, it feels like destiny wants to play games before allowing Lana and Claire a true opportunity for love. When they give it a chance, it falters, leading to more concerns and issues, especially as Lana tells her family that she's fallen in love with a woman. It doesn't go well at all, and in the end, it helps set Lana on the path she never knew was right for her.
There's a lovely magic in the story that makes the characters and moral lessons shine. It's simple, in terms of showing people that love is love, no matter what form it appears in. Genes has created a beautiful relationship with two women who aren't sure how to handle what's going on between them. Is it real? Is it just through their dreams? How does a pregnancy fit into the puzzle? They live on two different continents. Society still has boundaries that hold them back. Grounded by these realities, the structure of the story blends across time and memory to deliver its message.
I really enjoyed both of these books... and it makes me curious if there will be more. I recommend both, especially for anyone looking to expand their reading genres and horizons to something unfamiliar and almost ethereal.
Although it is the second book in the series, it can be read as a standalone story, presumably. The messages revolving around social acceptance, family support or lack of such, discovering oneself, being brave etc. could be regarded as universal. The two female protagonists, Lana and Claire, meet by chance, while traveling to different exotic places. Their life journeys are also deep and heart-wrenching. However, the descriptions of places are well written and culturally significant. Besides, the respective subgenres could be defined as romance, travelogue and inspirational.
Their eyes met, they spent three hours in rapt conversation and then they parted in Vienna’s airport. Lana was on her way to Washington to marry her American fiancé. Claire had finally understood and accepted her sexuality and she knew that Lana was her one true love. Lana didn’t understand why the pretty Slovenian woman had captured her interest so completely.
This is the continuation of their story of forbidden love, conflicting emotions, commitments and fear of the unknown. Told in the voices and viewpoints of both Claire and Lana, this heart wrenching love story spans countries, time and even miscarriages as Lana leaves Claire behind to start her new life in America.
As Lana must decide between two worlds, one with a lesbian lover and one with her husband. Is Claire a fling? Something different, therefore exciting or is she the other half of Lana’s soul? Has Lana told too many lies, given too many excuses to expect Claire to wait for her to finally choose?
They say our dreams help us work through conflicts...what are Lana's dreams telling her?
Nico Genes’s REVERIE GIRL is a tumultuous, soul-searching tale of choices and consequences with no guarantee of a happy ending. Well written, dark and filled with a heavy atmosphere of unrest, this showcases the growth of an author writing in a second language and nailing the emotional turmoil of these characters.
I received a complimentary copy from Nico Genes!
Series: The Reverie - Book 2 Publication Date: January 13, 2018 Publisher: Nico Genes Genre: Gay | Lesbian | Bi Romance Print Length: 261 pages Available from: Amazon For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News: http://tometender.blogspot.com
Lana is a woman with a bright future. She's educated, has her health, family, lives in a wonderful part of Europe (Slovenia), and is engaged to an American businessman named Greg. Her future is set. She's saying her goodbyes to family and friends and ready to make her move to the United States where she plans to be a wife, raise kids, and find a suitable career. What more could she want?
Then she meets Claire, a bright, healthy, beautiful teacher who befriends her and opens her mind and heart to a whole new meaning of love. "I will wait for you to the end of my life," she tells Lana. This catches Lana off-guard. She's getting married and has no feelings for another, especially a woman.
Developments change for Lana as she finds herself drawn to Claire. The two develop a friendship which quickly evolves into something much more. Lana soon becomes confused about her feelings for Claire, as well as her husband, Greg. After what seems a lifetime, Lana makes a decision that will make or break relationships with family, friends, her husband....and Claire.
This is a touching story of love. It's about a person torn upon learning she has feelings for another of the same sex. Right when you think issues like this have long been resolved in our society after years of debate, you find not everyone feels the same especially if it hits home. This is a type of book I normally do not read, which is why I enjoyed it all the more. It reminds me that different genres have a story to be read and are worth my time as well. Character developments are real, as are the love, and pains that come with life-changing decisions. It's a poignant tale of love, romance, and real life.
This amazing romantic novel by Nico J. Genes is the 2nd part of "the Reverie" series. Like it's predecessor, this book has been a truly interesting and enjoyable read. Once again the story-telling is of an excellent quality, the storyline well worked out, and the main characters, Lana and Claire, come superbly to life within this emotional love story. The story is also dealing with real lifelike emotions and human actions, whether they are hetero or lesbian feelings, and brought to us in a very realistic way by the author. The book starts with a nice prologue, and the recollections of thoughts of Lana Novak after her meeting with Klara (Claire) Kovac, at Vienna Airport while heading to the US to be wed with Greg, and after that prologue the book is set into two parts of which the first is dedicated to Claire and the second to Lana. Most importantly of all is that the book is a beautiful reminiscing story about the lives of Claire and Lana, of what they were doing before they met at Vienna Airport, and after departing realising soon enough how they feel towards each other, and developing the feeling of love for one another, in a world of dreams but also in the real world. What will follow is an amazingly enjoyable romantic love story from their first meeting between the two of them until finally of being together as a lesbian couple, with the final statement being that this is not the end, while at the same time I hope that this book will not be the end for this lovely author, but also just like Lana and Claire, a beautiful new beginning! I would like to mention that this is an open-minded and unprejudiced review, and I want to recommend this book very highly because in my opinion this book is: "A True Romantic Love Story"!
If you have read Magnetic Reverie, the first book from The Reverie series, Reverie Girl is a must read for you. Lana, Claire and Glenn face the new challenges of love lost and found, of bad decisions and wrong moves. Despair and regret mixed with misery and blissful happiness culminate in the explosion of emotions you won’t be able to resist or stay neutral. Nothing is certain and anything is possible in a thin space between dreams and reality. And no sacrifices are too big or small when you fight for the only thing that matters to you—your true love.
After reading the first book in this series I really wanted to know what happened next. ‘Reverie Girl’ answers a lot of questions I had and really surprised me. This time we get to hear Claire’s take on her relationship with Lana. And then later Lana takes over and I finally understood.
The story is told from the point of view of two Slovenian woman and therefore is told in a language style that at first seems unusual. They are not native English speakers and therefore the dialogue and narrative is how they would speak English as a second language. I would advise relaxing into their way of speaking and accepting the writing for what it is.
It is a very interesting and unusual story that really paid off. I became invested in the relationship between Lana and Claire and wanted them to be together. Just when I thought I knew where it was going, the author surprised me again. I liked this book more than book 1. Four stars for originality of story and for pulling me into Lana and Claire’s tale.
I was given an ARC by the author in return for an honest review.
This book is definitely not for everyone-and adults only please! It depicts what two women go through as one realizes she is a lesbian and falls for a straight woman who is about to get married. I have to admit that some of the scenes depicted made me very uncomfortable.
There are quite a few twists in this love story--back and forth and back and forth until they finally get together for good--I think.
I received this book from the author for my enjoyment and possible review.
This is the second installment of the ‘Reverie Series.’ It starts out in Vienna, a place that has always been a city of wonder for me. I was excited this story was continuing because I just love the two main characters, Claire and Lana. This time it is told in the first person from two points of view. Like before, there is another quick twist. Then the story unfolds.
Claire is full of light and is seeking higher meaning. In the beginning, she doubts herself and comes across as insecure. I found her to be very real and as I read, I felt a deeper understanding of her. She embarks on a journey to a foreign country. I was impressed the author chose this magnificent place.
However, Claire comes off as a bit obsessed with things. She can be a bit antsy and some of her thoughts stirred up emotions in me, intensifying the plot. However, she is lovable and as I read, I couldn't wait for her next words.
Claire's brother, David is back and he plays a much bigger role in her life. The brother-sister bond really touched my heart and the author clearly expressed it.
Lana is very rational. She can get through most situations smoothly. She comes off as being patient and doesn't allow her emotions to take over. She is firm with her language and she impressed me as being a lady. I loved these traits about her and they deepened her character to another level. She is very mysterious which intrigued me.
There were times I really felt for her because of her insecurities. She tends to follow the crowd and doesn't like to step outside her boundaries. She is a well put together character.
The antagonist, Greg, is in the story. He is self-centered and only cares about having his trophy wife and his business. He overreacts, and his words caused me to tense up.
The flow of the story is smooth and carries throughout. The author takes the reader on a journey to different places in the world. The way they are described, you will feel like she is guiding you on a tour and the descriptions of the scenery are excellent. The author enlightened me with culture and history.
What I also like is the depth of character development. I know everyone's secrets and can see inside their heads. I applaud the author for touching on a spiritual awakening. This left a lasting impression on me and I’m glad I was able to witness it.
The dynamics between the two main players can be rough at times, causing intense drama. You won’t be able to stop turning the pages.
The subtle flirting will excite you. The romance is very hot and tender.
The mother-daughter relations for one of the protagonists made me angry. In the book, you’ll see what I mean.
Be sure to carve out about five hours to read; you’re not going to want to miss anything. It may even give you another perspective on things, like it did me. I am recommending everyone to read this book. It is unlike any other book I’ve read.
It is strange, in good way. It gives answers, which were missing after part 1. It gives hope and courage to let everything go and follow love... Great book! Warmly recommended!
I enjoyed this sequel to Magnetic Reverie, a romance story with a twist. Lana boards a plane and receives an intriguing handwritten letter, she begins to question her sexuality and the reader is forewarned of potential problems and prejudices (the man delivering the letter presumed it must be for a man, not a woman). It is love at first sight, however, and Lana and Claire begin their affair. All the ingredients of a good romance novel are present and more, obstacles such as long distance, existing engagements, not to mention the emotional turmoil of accepting her change in sexuality and the difficulties of explaining this to the family. The twist I enjoyed was reading from both points of view of the two main characters. Both characters are individuals and you'll be rooting for them in turn. The setting, mainly in Slovenia, a country I knew nothing about - but now enjoyed an insight into a 'bread custom'!
In the second installment of the Magnetic Reverie series, Reverie Girl, author Nico J. Genes tackles the hard theme of “coming out”. Told from the point of view of Claire who meets the girl of her dreams during a chance encounter at the airport. Lana is on her way to America where she plans to marry her fiancé Greg. The two women start up an online friendship that quickly turns to longing for something more, from Lana who is conflicted between her love for her fiancé and her growing emotional attachment to Claire, and Claire’s belief that Lana is her one true love. For me the most poignant aspects of the story come from the moments when the women share with their families their sexuality and the reactions from those families. Genes, through her writing, is able to show how different families cope with the news that their family member is gay, in a way that is heart wrenching yet extremely organic. This story makes you think, makes you cry, and makes you look at love in a new yet refreshing light. Four stars for Reverie Girl!
An absolutely gripping novel of the struggle of true love against conventional societal attitudes.
I've always felt that true love is nothing other than a burning desire to have someone in your life forever. "Reverie Girl," Nico J. Genes' second novel, is a classic example of this. It's a gripping read, full of suspense and emotion, clearly showing that a person's gender is quite immaterial if that person is the right one for you. It also shows that traditional views on relationships can throw serious obstacles in the way of a fulfilling relationship in which the objectof one's affections happens to be of the same gender as one's own.The tensions arising from the impingement of those traditional views on the protagonists of this story carry the reader along a roller-coaster read until the book's suspenseful conclusion.
In the follow up to Magnetic Reverie, Nico Genes captures more of the magic that made the first one great! Reverie Girl continues the story of Claire and Lana, two women who met and fell in love on a connecting flight. The drama only deepens this time (in a pleasant way) and we get more of a look at Lana and her mysterious dreams. I felt like she is the heart of this story and I love the depth of the relationship between her and Claire. A great romance for anyone who loves drama and a bit of mystery!
I was very involved in this book. I found myself inside the dream where I started feeling the sadness of one of the characters. So, it really impressed how delightful was reading it. You will learn to accept reality through sacrifices to reach happiness in your life.
Claire meets Lana at an airport when they are waiting for their flights. She takes a chance to send Lana as message to let her know that although they barely know one another, reality doesn’t feel that way. Claire lives in hope she will see Lana again, even if Lana is due to get married and have a life in the US. Lana returns home but things don’t feel right, she and Claire are talking online, getting to know one another better when she has to return home to Slovenia. Claire offers Lana and place to stay, and whilst in her home country, Lana begins to realise that the life in US isn’t necessarily what she wants, but she really isn’t sure. Between them, Lana and Claire must fight for love, but it is Lana who is ultimately making choices and sacrifices that affect them both.
I loved how this story showed a different perspective on Lana and Claire’s story from the first book in the series, but I think what is nice is although this is the second book in the series, you really could read these any way around and they would make perfect sense. You can even read them standalone. The story is simple in its makeup, focusing on the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the characters and all the wonder that surrounds them in their attraction to one another. I also loved how the charm of the native language making English the characters second language added to their dialogue and made it very authentic in how people who don’t have English as a first language might converse. It was genuinely lovely, especially as their conversations really made up a lot of this book.
There is a lot of conversational content in this story, rather than the author telling a lot of the story through description but I think that adds to the element and the charm. The characters use their interaction with one another to tell the story through texts and conversations.
Lana and Claire have a very special relationship, and it only adds to the intrigue of them as characters. They both had so much to go through for happiness. Claire had to endure heartbreak, and suffer through a one sided (or so she thought) attraction to Lana, wanting to have her in her life even if only as a friend. I admired how reserved Claire was in giving Lana time to make moves, and waiting for her. Lana I sympathised with. It is hard to make a choice when you are such a caring person and know you will hurt someone you care about, no matter what you do, but you could instantly tell she loved Claire so deeply she’d do crazy things to prove it once she got her head figured out.
Really sweet, and great if you have read the first book in the series to get another perspective. Very clever indeed.
This book is a continuation of Nico Gene's Magnetic Reverie – the same magnificent writing in a foreign language for the author, the same intriguing characters, and an apparent continuation of the story. At the end of Magnetic Reverie, the reader is left with a feeling that dream and reality have sorted themselves out, with the real Lana returning to Slovenia and her true love, Claire.
Initially, in a Prologue to Reverie Girl, we spend a few pages in Lana’s mind reliving the final moments at the Vienna airport from Magnetic Reverie, where Lana and Claire first meet. The first half of Reverie Girl puts the reader in Claire’s mind. We move between her life before Lana, her childhood and her discovery that she was attracted to girls, and again takes us back to the beginning when the two first meet at the Vienna airport. As we see the events of Magnetic Reverie through Claire’s eyes and emotions comingled with her background, the sense of what is real and what is dream returns, because much of what seemed to be a dream in Magnetic Reverie seems as real through Claire’s eyes in Part 1 of Reverie Girl.
In the second part of Reverie Girl, we see events through Lana’s eyes as she leaves her home in the U.S. and travels to Slovenia ostensibly to spend Christmas with her family, but really to reestablish her relationship with Claire – a relationship that may have been real or may have been the substance of Lana’s dreams. She accidentally meets Claire’s brother, David, whom she clearly remembers, but he remembers only speaking with her by Skype, never actually meeting her. Dream…reality…it’s still a mystery. She learns through David that Claire is uninterested in seeing her again, but over time, Lana convinces Claire to meet with her. They finally find a way back into each other’s arms, but Lana has a falling-out with her mother over her sexual orientation.
The book ends with Lana’s husband, Greg, planning to visit her in Slovenia, but with Lana writing him out of her life and committing instead to remain with Claire. In a final personal note to the reader, Lana tries to explain the dream-reality enigma, but for me, at least, her explanation reopened the door that blurred the boundary between dream and real, so that I was left with a haunting sense that I had experienced something beyond dream or reality – something I would never forget.
“Reverie Girl” by Nico J. Genes is the sequel to her novel “Magnetic Reverie.” Like the first book, it features Lana and Claire, two Slovenian women who meet by chance in the Vienna airport during flight layovers – Lana is flying from Ljubljana to reunite her fiancé, Greg, in the US while Claire is returning to Ljubljana from an enlightening trip to India. The first six chapters are narrated by Claire, and the last six by Lana. The book fills in many gaps that left me guessing when I read the first book, as the two women struggle to and eventually build a relationship. Claire is the first to accept her sexual orientation, while Lana tries to deny hers, rejecting Claire in favor of the “safer” route offered by marrying Greg despite her obvious love for Claire. The underlying tension in the book is whether or not the two women will ever manage to build a lasting relationship despite Lana’s doubts and her family’s refusal to accept her choices. Will love conquer all in the end, despite the rocky road Claire and Lana travel? Read the book to find out – it’s well worth it. I especially liked the descriptions of the beautiful places that Claire visits, first in India and later with Lana in Slovenia and Croatia. The deepening love affair between the women is well-portrayed, eventually leading to some highly erotic encounters as Lana eventually overcomes her reluctance to embrace a lesbian relationship. Genes’s choice of the first-person narrative style is good, as English is not her native language. Since both narrators are Slovene speakers, their stumbles with the English language (odd word choices and punctuation) –seem appropriate. However, there are a lot of editing issues such as missed and repeated words that still got in the way for me. Also, the narration includes some overly long paragraphs with frequent repetition of ideas, and the dialog is often wooden and unrealistic. In summary, I liked the substance of the book more than the style, much as with “Magnetic Reverie.”. In the end, substance overcame style and I rated the book with four stars.
A story of sexual discovery that takes you across the world Book two in The Reverie series clears up many of the questions I had from reading Magnetic Reverie and is all the better for it. I think the author hit her stride with this book which is divided into two sections each from the POV of one of the two main protagonists (Claire and Lana).
As much as this is a love story, it is also a discovery of sexuality and the inevitable confusion that comes with that (as fans of the Netflix phenomenon Heartstopper! will understand). This author tackles the issue with a delicate touch, though each of our main characters makes mistakes. We are, after all, human.
To add to the enjoyment of the love story, we are treated to a backdrop of Europe, Asia and the USA. What more could a reader want? A happy ending? No spoilers here!
Nada más terminar el primer libro tenía que empezar con la secunda parte. Pero hasta la última página no sabía que va a pasar a final. Muy emocionante. Me encantó. Y una lástima que termino tan pronto con el libro
Nico Genes’s REVERIE GIRL dives deep into Claire/Klara’s point of view. Told in the first person, this explores Claire’s side of the story as told in the first book, MAGNETIC REVERIE. It also returns to Lana's point of view for some parts of the book.
It really is a magnetic story, it draws you in and pulls you from one feeling to the other. This second book builds off of the first and tells you more about how Claire and Lana came to be in each other’s dreams. The most amazing part, for me, is how well the author accomplishes all of this when she’s writing in a second language. At first the language style will seem unusual to a native English reader, but as I read I was drawn in and the language became part of the flow of the story. I also liked how the book travels you around to many different countries and cultures! Claire is an enthusiastic traveler and her reverie takes you along. I wanted to take notes of all the places described in Slovenia and Croatia to be able to visit them someday.
Beyond traveling, the story also takes you through a range of emotions. I found myself really wanting a happily ever after for Claire and Lana and totally unsure they would get it. The main impact of the story that stuck with me was the idea of acceptance. We all need to feel wanted, but we all also want to fit in. What happens when who you want is unacceptable to others? Do you go with the crowd, or admit what your heart loves? This is the point of tension that most of the book works with. I had tears in my eyes by the time it was resolved. I loved the strong message of acceptance and self-love that ran through the story. I received a free copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Favorite quote: “One day she will be mine. I am telling you. I need to have her, and she needs me. She just doesn’t know it yet. There is no one in the world that could love her the way I could.”-REVERIE GIRL, Nico J. Genes
Absolutely loved it. A wonderful and totally gripping love story. Reverie Girl is the second book in the delightful Reverie Series. I think it is always best to read the first book to get the full benefit of a series, which is the marvellous Magnetic Reverie. Two women meet in an airport and there is a magnetic attraction. One lives in Washington USA and the other lives in Slovenia. Will they ever meet again? Is it real or a dream? It was an unusual, enchanting and utterly spellbinding story. I loved the exquisite writing style describing Lana and Claire’s stories so brilliantly. I immediately engaged with these two women who had been given well developed and believable characters. It took me through a range of emotions, and I was totally gripped to the end of the book. A powerful and poignant breath-taking love story superbly written by Nico J Genes. It was a magnificent romantic sequel to Magnetic Reverie.
Another great book by Nico J. Genes! This is the second book in the series and I really cannot decide which I like better. They were both amazing. In this one, we get to see the story from Claire’s point of view, as well as Lana’s. We dig deeper into the realities of Lana’s struggles as she comes to terms with her newfound sexuality. It was definitely a page turner as you can’t wait to find out who Lana chooses in the end. Even if you haven’t read the first book, I still recommend you read this one. You’ll love it.
Well done sequel. I enjoyed Lana's story even more and I loved to hear more about Claire's future, same about their relationship. I wish there is another book in this series as I would love to see their relationship develop further.
A compelling journey of sexual self-discovery…and more!
Reverie Girl by Nico J. Genes is another fascinating novel that gives the ménage-et-trois new definitions and new twists. Having read the first novel in this series, I was compelled to read this second offering. The author delivered again and didn’t disappoint. I can honestly say that this author has a gift for storytelling.
The story covers the concept of threesomes (albeit of a very unusual and unique kind) into practical and yet very erotic conclusions where three people find enough love and passion to want to remain together. This becomes all the more extraordinary when one of the party seems to appear only in dreams! As erotica, it is accomplished in the delivery of exciting and titillating prose. From mild illusions through detailed, sexy scenes, the concept is wonderfully delivered in truly remarkable writing. Of course, there’s much more to this story as the layers of sexual self-discovery are peeled back.
The book description stirs a rousing preview: ‘Claire is a young woman who only accepted her sexuality following an enlightening trip to India. Soon after, she falls head over heels in love with a gorgeous girl, Lana, a woman she meets only by pure chance during a captivating encounter between flights within Vienna’s Airport terminal. This love seemed far from being reciprocated and rather hopeless. Or was it?
Lana meets Claire whilst going from Slovenia on route to the US making plans for her perfect married life. This encounter reveals the essence of who she is within. She discovers a new side to herself. She becomes torn between two worlds and must decide. Whatever her decision, there will be consequences. She can suppress her feelings and memories during the day. Can she control them in her dreams? Will her dreams be strong enough to make Lana follow her heart?’
Now, if that’s not enough to stimulate your curiosity juices, I don’t know what will. But if you want to find out what happens, you’ll just have to turn the pages for yourself! However, I will say it was well worth the read. It’s my second time reading this author and I must say I was very impressed yet again.
Like the first book of this series, the story had every element a good story should have. A thought-provoking plot, attention to detail, but best of all fleshed out, well-written and well-rounded character development. There’s an abundance of well-illustrated scenes that make you feel like you are right there in the story, and that’s something I really look for in a good book.
Captivating and commendable, this work had me immersed from the beginning. It’s an emotional fiction interwoven with sexual discovery. The story flowed from scene to scene with ease, and the author shows exceptional ability when it comes to storytelling. There are plenty of attention-grabbing moments in this page turner that will take the reader on a truly compelling and fascinating journey!
It’s one of those books that come along occasionally that makes you want to read it non-stop until you get to the end. I’m giving nothing further away here. And this, I hope, will only add to the mystery and enjoyment for the reader.
This series is highly recommended for the mature reader of any genre, but particularly those of erotic romance. No doubt, fans of the erotic romance genre will love having a nibble on this one! For me, it offered good variety in viewpoint and interaction on a genre that, up until now, was unfamiliar to me.
If this book is anything to go by, I’ll certainly be looking forward to reading more from Nico J. Genes in the future. It also has a distinctly cinematic feel to it and I could easily see it being adapted for a made-for-TV movie or series. This has all the hallmarks of making a great series. Unfortunately, this book appears to be the second and final installment. Perhaps the author might reconsider at some time in the future to bring these characters and story-line back to life again? Nevertheless, it still gets a resounding and well-deserved five stars from me.
Reverie Girl is the sequel to the brilliantly imaginative Magnetic Reverie by Nico Genes. It follows the story of Lana and Claire, two young women who struggle with their sexuality, as well as the distance between them and the prejudice they receive from their families.
I was immediately lost when I started this book. We left Lana at a cliffhanger decision at the end of the first book, waiting to see if her dreams were based anywhere on reality. Instead of continuing this storyline, we are given Claire’s perspective, going into great detail about her past, including how she came to know of her sexuality and come to terms with it in India. While it was interesting to get her perspective, I felt like we already knew Claire from book one and did not need to explore this area in such detail. It was almost like the second half of the book was written first and then the author went back to add this in to make it into a full length novel.
We continue from where we left off at Chapter 9, although some things seem inconsistent. Lana’s dreams don’t really seem to have the same level of importance and we are left in some sort of quagmire about what she actually did and didn’t experience. It felt a little clunky and disjointed, however the story was still interesting and the characters were engaging. To me, the book lacked the conflict that the first one had, namely Lana’s internal struggles and guilt over what she was doing to Greg. There is no real conflict until very late in the book, which often left my questioning what was relevant to include in the text.
I also found a few parts very repetitive. There are large parts written through messenger which come across like a script, and these are explored again straight after in Claire and Lana’s thoughts. I felt like we were reading the same parts over and over again at times, which made for some frustration.
I enjoyed this book greatly. It did not have the sparkle, magic and intrigue that the first one did but there are some very good parts to it. I really like the work of Nico Genes and look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
Firstly, Reverie Girl is the second in the series and I thought it did very well in filling in the gaps from the first book (Magnetic Reverie), while adding additional detail from another point of view which I liked.
I enjoyed Reverie Girl very much. Compared to the previous book where I felt potentially supernatural dream elements slightly confused the plot, this one was focused solely on Claire and Lana's relationship and emotions, allowing for a much deeper understanding and identification with them both. Claire's immediate infatuation had the potential to come across as unrealistic, but she was written and developed so this was not the case. Compared to Lana's slower, more wary approach to their relationship, I liked the contrast of how different people approach and experience the realisation of their sexuality. I found myself rooting for Claire and Lana a lot more in this book, whereas in the first book I felt more sorry for Greg.
I wish there was the option to give half ratings as I'd say this is a 4.5 rather than 4. It is incredibly impressive for the author to have written in a second language, however it would have been advisable to go through a deeper editing process as the speech can feel a bit stiff (you get used to it though and notice it less once you're into the story) and some sentences oddly phrased. There are also a few times with describing places that it can feel a bit like a travel brochure with a lot of facts at once, which is interesting but interupts the emotion of the story. The biggest example of this is Claire's trip to India which is very near the start, so if that puts you off in any way, don't let it - the majority of the book is very deep and emotive!
Reverie Girl is one long love song. The reader, who knows from the very first pages that these two women are perfect for one another, follows their long voyage as they reach a happy conclusion. There is little room in this book for anything but watching these two young women bounce the ball back and forth, and sometimes this reader at least felt the back and forth was going on a little too long, but eventually they get to the point. There are really only two characters in the book. There is a brother and a husband and a disapproving mother, but the world of the book is made up entirely of these two women. Anyone looking for a book about two charming young women who fall in love, will find much to like here. The only obstacle that has to be overcome is Lana’s refusal to recognize what her heart is telling her. Claire is fully committed. Lana, however, feels the tug of leading a conventional heterosexual life, so she gets married, but in the end realizes it was all a mistake. She then has to deal with a mother who refuses to be sympathetic, and a husband who adores her. The author gives us some of the conflict Lana has with her mother, but does not write the scene in which she breaks off with her husband. Clearly, the author didn’t want to probe too deeply into a male character since, as was said before, this book is strictly about the growing relationship between the two women. There is next to no sex. The emphasis is on emotional development. I have to knock one star off on account of the editing, however. English is clearly not the author’s first language, and she has done bravely writing as well as she has, but the book needs a good job of copy editing. There are many mistakes and missing words and confusions such as stationery/stationary and interpolate/interpret that a good editor could have helped with. It’s unfortunate that these things cause the reader to stumble, because otherwise this would be a very good story of feminine love.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Reverie Girl is a story about the growth of a relationship between two women who have a chance meeting. It’s told from the POV of each of them. Much of the story is about the women’s feelings and how they change as their relationship develops. It also has a lot of content that could be called travelogue as the women go from place to place. All of the introspection tends to mute the action in the story, although it does depict well the confusion that one must feel when discovering their hitherto unrealized sexuality. I had a problem identifying with the characters, which made it difficult for me to remain interested in their relationship. I found some of the action to be superfluous, which may be realistic, but it did draw attention away from the main plot. There was a fair bit of repetition as well, again maybe realistic—one does tend to return to unresolved issues until they are resolved—but this tended to slow things down as well. I also found that the travel details, while well-written, tended to detract from the main plot. I must applaud the author for writing in a non-native language. Most of the writing was technically correct, but a lack of variation in sentence structure tended to make the text drone. I’ll give Reverie Girl 3.5 stars.