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Carolina Magnolia #1
Impossible Dreams
New York Times bestselling author Patricia Rice writes what readers of romantic fiction love most--irresistible stories and unforgettable characters bursting with life, humor, and deep emotion. . . .
Although home is a dusty curiosity shop filled with rainbows and crystal balls, Maya Alyssum's past has not been filled with good fortune. Her impossible dream is to open a school where kids can find unconditional love and acceptance, the very things she never had as a child. The town council of Wadeville, North Carolina, is determined to stop her until the day Axell Holm walks into her shop. He's the kind of uptight authority figure she loves to hate . . . and hates to love.
Axell knows trouble when he sees it. But he needs the ethereal schoolteacher and the magic she works on his motherless daughter. He's willing to face the wrath of his hometown to get what he wants, but he's unprepared for his reaction to this strange and wonderful woman who turns his ordered life upside down, making him believe in dreams again. . . .
Although home is a dusty curiosity shop filled with rainbows and crystal balls, Maya Alyssum's past has not been filled with good fortune. Her impossible dream is to open a school where kids can find unconditional love and acceptance, the very things she never had as a child. The town council of Wadeville, North Carolina, is determined to stop her until the day Axell Holm walks into her shop. He's the kind of uptight authority figure she loves to hate . . . and hates to love.
Axell knows trouble when he sees it. But he needs the ethereal schoolteacher and the magic she works on his motherless daughter. He's willing to face the wrath of his hometown to get what he wants, but he's unprepared for his reaction to this strange and wonderful woman who turns his ordered life upside down, making him believe in dreams again. . . .
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 4, 2000
124 people are currently reading
622 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Rice
153 books514 followersWith several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today's bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA Patricia Rice writes emotionally-charged contemporary and historical romances which have won numerous awards, including the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards.
Her books have also been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA® finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories.
A firm believer in happily-ever-after for good reason, Patricia Rice is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of Kentucky and New York, a past resident of North Carolina and Missouri, she currently resides in Southern California, and now does accounting only for herself.
She also writes under the pen name Jamie Quaid
Her books have also been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA® finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories.
A firm believer in happily-ever-after for good reason, Patricia Rice is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of Kentucky and New York, a past resident of North Carolina and Missouri, she currently resides in Southern California, and now does accounting only for herself.
She also writes under the pen name Jamie Quaid
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 4, 2012
3.5 stars.
NOTE: I won this book in ebook format through the Early Reviewers program.
This is a very cute book. I read it in one sitting. Maya is a lovable character. She remembers experiencing love during her childhood as a foster child and believes that every child should know love. To that end, she's fostering her sister's young child while her sister is in prison, is close to term on her own pregnancy ... oh yeah, and she's running a program for children in a building that the mayor wants to tear down in favor of parking space for a mall. She does all this with subtle sass and a whole lot of charm. Axell, meanwhile, is trying to raise a young daughter who refuses to speak since her mother's death, runs a local bar/restaurant and sits on the city council. Where Maya is all about being in touch with her emotions and all that lovey dovey, touchey feeley kind of stuff, Axell is all about emotion-less suppressed living. Of course, as is the case in most of these books, they are thrown together as Axell's daughter has only one happiness in her life: Maya's program (of course). Unfortunately, it isn't only the mayor who is out to get these two out of the way of the construction project. This leaves them in some dire straits which they fix by Axell's suggestion of a This was probably the best part of the book where Axell learns to get in touch with his emotions and also manages to calm the flighty Maya. The children are adorable, and do factor into a lot of the situations these two get into. They aren't as well developed as I would have liked considering how important they are to the story. Moreover, the secondary characters that keep popping up like a whack-a-mole game are barely fleshed out enough to count as characters. That could definitely have used some work. Still, an all around very cute read.
NOTE: I won this book in ebook format through the Early Reviewers program.
This is a very cute book. I read it in one sitting. Maya is a lovable character. She remembers experiencing love during her childhood as a foster child and believes that every child should know love. To that end, she's fostering her sister's young child while her sister is in prison, is close to term on her own pregnancy ... oh yeah, and she's running a program for children in a building that the mayor wants to tear down in favor of parking space for a mall. She does all this with subtle sass and a whole lot of charm. Axell, meanwhile, is trying to raise a young daughter who refuses to speak since her mother's death, runs a local bar/restaurant and sits on the city council. Where Maya is all about being in touch with her emotions and all that lovey dovey, touchey feeley kind of stuff, Axell is all about emotion-less suppressed living. Of course, as is the case in most of these books, they are thrown together as Axell's daughter has only one happiness in her life: Maya's program (of course). Unfortunately, it isn't only the mayor who is out to get these two out of the way of the construction project. This leaves them in some dire straits which they fix by Axell's suggestion of a This was probably the best part of the book where Axell learns to get in touch with his emotions and also manages to calm the flighty Maya. The children are adorable, and do factor into a lot of the situations these two get into. They aren't as well developed as I would have liked considering how important they are to the story. Moreover, the secondary characters that keep popping up like a whack-a-mole game are barely fleshed out enough to count as characters. That could definitely have used some work. Still, an all around very cute read.
May 14, 2017
Impossible dreams come true
This plot certainly deserves 5 Stars. Right from the beginning, you are drawn into the mystery of Cleo and Maya and who were their grandparents. Axell and Maya 's meeting was intriguing as he tried to figure her out. The scene when he delivers Alexa was realistic and added to rounding out his character. Maya 's love of teaching and ability to reach children come across loud and clear. Even though Maya did not have a great childhood since her parents had died when she was young, she still had the capacity to love. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot but does unfold in an easy not confusing fashion I will continue reading this series, to discover what happens to others.
This plot certainly deserves 5 Stars. Right from the beginning, you are drawn into the mystery of Cleo and Maya and who were their grandparents. Axell and Maya 's meeting was intriguing as he tried to figure her out. The scene when he delivers Alexa was realistic and added to rounding out his character. Maya 's love of teaching and ability to reach children come across loud and clear. Even though Maya did not have a great childhood since her parents had died when she was young, she still had the capacity to love. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot but does unfold in an easy not confusing fashion I will continue reading this series, to discover what happens to others.
October 12, 2009
Cute romance about a young teacher with impossible dreams and the man who thought all his dreams were lost. Maya believes that every child should know they're loved. She grew up in foster care but remembers being loved. Now she's 8 months pregnant, fostering her sister's son (she's in prison) and living in a building the mayor wants condemned. Axell Holm hasn't dreamed since his wife died but when his daughter starts talking after two years of silence and it's all because of Maya, hope starts a slow blossom and he blooms despite himself. The bumper stickers at the start of each chapter were hilarious. Give Pizza Chants; Forget World Peace. Visualize using your turn signal; I'm not a complete idiot. Some parts are missing. I could go on. Delightful.
May 25, 2020
It was a solid contemporary romance, even though I didn’t exactly like it. My problems with this book are personal rather than objective. Someone else might consider the same attributes beneficial to a work of fiction.
First, the protagonists are pelted with troubles: too many too fast. If it is not one thing it is another. Every few pages, a new obstacle springs up in the characters’ ways. They are hardly allowed any breather.
I dislike this approach to fiction. In my opinion, a novel, like a play, could sustain three to five real problems, not dozens. When there are too many calamities, their potency gets diluted. The reader stops worrying much and says to herself: why should I worry about the heroes? It is a romance after all, they’ll get to their HEA anyway.
My second objection: I didn’t like the protagonists much. The heroine is too scatterbrained. The hero is too cold and detached. Their unlikely pairing doesn’t seem real. It shouldn’t have worked.
Although I did sympathize with the heroine to some degree, I couldn’t identify with her. I wanted to critic her stupid actions, not support her in her travails, most of which seemed self-inflicted. If she would only stop being so flighty and start thinking for a change and behaving rationally, most of her issues in the story could’ve been avoided.
Overall: not bad but not exactly to my taste either.
First, the protagonists are pelted with troubles: too many too fast. If it is not one thing it is another. Every few pages, a new obstacle springs up in the characters’ ways. They are hardly allowed any breather.
I dislike this approach to fiction. In my opinion, a novel, like a play, could sustain three to five real problems, not dozens. When there are too many calamities, their potency gets diluted. The reader stops worrying much and says to herself: why should I worry about the heroes? It is a romance after all, they’ll get to their HEA anyway.
My second objection: I didn’t like the protagonists much. The heroine is too scatterbrained. The hero is too cold and detached. Their unlikely pairing doesn’t seem real. It shouldn’t have worked.
Although I did sympathize with the heroine to some degree, I couldn’t identify with her. I wanted to critic her stupid actions, not support her in her travails, most of which seemed self-inflicted. If she would only stop being so flighty and start thinking for a change and behaving rationally, most of her issues in the story could’ve been avoided.
Overall: not bad but not exactly to my taste either.
February 26, 2014
Didn't finish this book and probably never will. Wouldn't recommend reading this book
August 21, 2020
This Book is Wonderful
Such a beautiful, warm story. Any reader will fall in love with Maya. She is quirky, loving, carefree, and kind, with the soul of an angel. Well doesn't quite know what to do with her. He is a single father who only knows a life of long hours of work. Maya lives her life seeing rainbows. It takes a long time to realize she is not really a helpless scatter-brain, but a woman with a vision and simply has a heart of gold. Excellent characters. Great story. I couldn't put it down.
Such a beautiful, warm story. Any reader will fall in love with Maya. She is quirky, loving, carefree, and kind, with the soul of an angel. Well doesn't quite know what to do with her. He is a single father who only knows a life of long hours of work. Maya lives her life seeing rainbows. It takes a long time to realize she is not really a helpless scatter-brain, but a woman with a vision and simply has a heart of gold. Excellent characters. Great story. I couldn't put it down.
May 21, 2019
If I used one word to describe this story, it would be 'quirky.' Maya Alyssum and her sister, Cleo, grew up in a chain of foster homes. Maya dreams of a primary school for children -- offering unconditional love. However, the town's mayor has other plans for the property she has leased.
Restauranteur Axell Holm walks into the New Age shop Maya runs and tries to convince her to go along to get along. Maya is eight months pregnant, virtually homeless and definitely penniless. However, she has an impossible dream that she will not abandon.
Each chapter has a heading that keeps the reader focused on the quirkiness of the story. One example: Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. Another: Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs.
I liked that both Maya and Axell changed a great deal through their interactions with each other. There are several subplots that keep the story humming until the end.
Restauranteur Axell Holm walks into the New Age shop Maya runs and tries to convince her to go along to get along. Maya is eight months pregnant, virtually homeless and definitely penniless. However, she has an impossible dream that she will not abandon.
Each chapter has a heading that keeps the reader focused on the quirkiness of the story. One example: Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. Another: Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs.
I liked that both Maya and Axell changed a great deal through their interactions with each other. There are several subplots that keep the story humming until the end.
July 18, 2020
I enjoyed this book read it than had to get book 2 the meeting of Axel and Maya
November 9, 2020
This takes place in North Carolina and involves a mystical shop and the character that owns it. I thought it was a good read.
April 5, 2022
Enjoyed how both of the main characters grew and as they stayed the same, yet realized some change was even better.
September 19, 2025
I'm trying to imagine a situation where I published a book called "Impossible Dreams" and then decided, when updating, to change the title to one that explicitly invoked armed insurrection against the government in order to keep enslaving others. It's quite a choice!
I hated this book. I hated how Axell couldn't think about Maya without using slurs against the Romani people (Maya is NOT Romani). I hate the trope of the widower who didn't like his first wife and finally finds love -- especially when he's constantly comparing his "shallow" first wife to the amazing new woman and the reasons he didn't like his first wife are rooted in misogyny. Like hey, you didn't respect her and you didn't like her and you think the problem was HER?
Just everything about this book rubbed me the wrong way.
I hated this book. I hated how Axell couldn't think about Maya without using slurs against the Romani people (Maya is NOT Romani). I hate the trope of the widower who didn't like his first wife and finally finds love -- especially when he's constantly comparing his "shallow" first wife to the amazing new woman and the reasons he didn't like his first wife are rooted in misogyny. Like hey, you didn't respect her and you didn't like her and you think the problem was HER?
Just everything about this book rubbed me the wrong way.
February 1, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013Impossible Dreams (Carolina Series) by Patricia Rice
4 STARS
Impossible Dreams (Carolina Series book 1)
I was lost in the story. I want to know more about the characters in the Carolina series. Maya acts like a bubble head at times,
but she is not. She cares about children all children. She has a dream of a school helping kids of all kind to excell at the
things they can do and encourage them in all ways. Maya is starting a new school right now it is afterschool program. She moved to
Carolina because her sister was arrested for drugs and has a 5 year old son Matey. She is also helping her sister run her shop so
she will have something to come home to.
Maya's school is out in the country in a big old school between two freeways. She has a three year lease on the school. The Mayor wants to buy the land for a mall parking lot and built a road to connect the freeway. Maya is not giving up her lease. The Mayor is
fighting dirty condeming buildings,inspectors, threatening the bar's license. Hasseling her. She is also 7 months pregnant and not married.
Axell owns a bar and restraunt. He has a little girl Constance who does not speak much to him. He is on the city council. He knows the
Mayor wants to close her school down. Constance loves her teacher and is starting to talk more. He wants to help Maya for his daughters sake.
He even suggests she move in with him and be a nanny for her. When Cleo's shop and apartment is cordon off and she can't go back to it.
Axell brings them to his house.
His mother-in-law wants to get custody of Constance and take her back to Texas. Axell does not want her to go but wants the best
for his daughter. Because Axell is helping Maya the Mayor is trying to cause him to loose his license for the bar. Axell does not communicate well. Maya is helping him. His quiet house is not the same. She is making a difference in Matey and Constance.
I enjoyed the characters. How they all are working together or against each other. I want to see more about Cleo and Maya's business partner.
Too see what they do next. Axell at first was someone I did not like so much but he started to open up and his actions for Maya
and the children were wonderful.
Patricia Rice has built a good community of characters and makes you want to come back and visit them again and again.
There are a few love scenes in the book that I skipped over.
I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it when I had finshed by Librarything Early Review.
Discription below Taken off Amazon.com
Maya Alyssum’s impossible dream is to open a school where kids can find unconditional acceptance—acceptance she and her sister had never experienced while growing up in foster homes. The town council’s representative holds her dream in his hands, and Axell Holm is the kind of uptight authority figure she loves to hate. So how is it that he can ring all her chimes, while she does her best to turn his ordered life upside down?
Readers who enjoy Nora Roberts, Barbara Freethy, and Susan Mallery should enjoy this emotional romp by bestselling, award-winning author Patricia Rice.
Originally published by Random House
Publisher: Ivy Books (August 11, 2010) 368 pages ASIN: B003Z9K8A0
4 STARS
Impossible Dreams (Carolina Series book 1)
I was lost in the story. I want to know more about the characters in the Carolina series. Maya acts like a bubble head at times,
but she is not. She cares about children all children. She has a dream of a school helping kids of all kind to excell at the
things they can do and encourage them in all ways. Maya is starting a new school right now it is afterschool program. She moved to
Carolina because her sister was arrested for drugs and has a 5 year old son Matey. She is also helping her sister run her shop so
she will have something to come home to.
Maya's school is out in the country in a big old school between two freeways. She has a three year lease on the school. The Mayor wants to buy the land for a mall parking lot and built a road to connect the freeway. Maya is not giving up her lease. The Mayor is
fighting dirty condeming buildings,inspectors, threatening the bar's license. Hasseling her. She is also 7 months pregnant and not married.
Axell owns a bar and restraunt. He has a little girl Constance who does not speak much to him. He is on the city council. He knows the
Mayor wants to close her school down. Constance loves her teacher and is starting to talk more. He wants to help Maya for his daughters sake.
He even suggests she move in with him and be a nanny for her. When Cleo's shop and apartment is cordon off and she can't go back to it.
Axell brings them to his house.
His mother-in-law wants to get custody of Constance and take her back to Texas. Axell does not want her to go but wants the best
for his daughter. Because Axell is helping Maya the Mayor is trying to cause him to loose his license for the bar. Axell does not communicate well. Maya is helping him. His quiet house is not the same. She is making a difference in Matey and Constance.
I enjoyed the characters. How they all are working together or against each other. I want to see more about Cleo and Maya's business partner.
Too see what they do next. Axell at first was someone I did not like so much but he started to open up and his actions for Maya
and the children were wonderful.
Patricia Rice has built a good community of characters and makes you want to come back and visit them again and again.
There are a few love scenes in the book that I skipped over.
I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it when I had finshed by Librarything Early Review.
Discription below Taken off Amazon.com
Maya Alyssum’s impossible dream is to open a school where kids can find unconditional acceptance—acceptance she and her sister had never experienced while growing up in foster homes. The town council’s representative holds her dream in his hands, and Axell Holm is the kind of uptight authority figure she loves to hate. So how is it that he can ring all her chimes, while she does her best to turn his ordered life upside down?
Readers who enjoy Nora Roberts, Barbara Freethy, and Susan Mallery should enjoy this emotional romp by bestselling, award-winning author Patricia Rice.
Originally published by Random House
Publisher: Ivy Books (August 11, 2010) 368 pages ASIN: B003Z9K8A0
November 27, 2013
Maya in another time would be considered a hippie. She has a Masters in Education, but lives a precarious life. She has come to small town North Carolina in order to take care of her 5 year old nephew while his mother serves a term in jail. She has a school that treats each child as a special person with emphasis on individual talents. She is also running her sister's odds and ends shop.
Axell is a successful business man in town. He owns a family restaurant and bar. He is a very well organized city council member who manages several aspects of city government. He is a widower with an 8 year old daughter who seldom talks or smiles or acts as if she is a very happy child.
When Axell comes to discuss his daughter with Maya, it is evident to him that his little girl should stop going to that school. Such an unorganized person is not a prime example for his daughter.
Maya has lived her life by avoiding confrontation of any type. She is 8 months pregnant and when the father of her baby walked away and found another girl friend there was not much resistance on Maya's part. And she is not attempting to get any child support for her unborn baby.
I really enjoyed this story. There is immediate physical attraction between Maya and Axell. But, there are many hurdles they would need to overcome in order to develop any kind of relationship.
The plot includes city politics, secondary characters who have agendas that would change lives.and a great deal of humor. Even when the future dreams of both Maya and Axell are threatened by outside influences, there is humor from both of them.
My only tiny comment would be that it seems a very wordy book. At times it appears that there is a repetition of facts.
The physical and emotional attractions are evident. The differences in personalities are part of the on going humor. I liked this book. I really liked Axell. He is a strong person who has been taught to hold emotions deep within. He feels he is not equipped to deal with his little girl and it is making him feel totally inadequate. All this and yet he finds humor in situations, he feels he must take care of the world around him, and he keeps trying to find a road to his daughter's heart.
If you like romance with outside conflict which unites the hero and heroine in a common cause, this will be a book you enjoy.
Ms Rice is a very talented writer. This is my first time reading one of her books. I hope to read other books by this author.
I hope you enjoy this story of two very appealing people as much as I did.
Axell is a successful business man in town. He owns a family restaurant and bar. He is a very well organized city council member who manages several aspects of city government. He is a widower with an 8 year old daughter who seldom talks or smiles or acts as if she is a very happy child.
When Axell comes to discuss his daughter with Maya, it is evident to him that his little girl should stop going to that school. Such an unorganized person is not a prime example for his daughter.
Maya has lived her life by avoiding confrontation of any type. She is 8 months pregnant and when the father of her baby walked away and found another girl friend there was not much resistance on Maya's part. And she is not attempting to get any child support for her unborn baby.
I really enjoyed this story. There is immediate physical attraction between Maya and Axell. But, there are many hurdles they would need to overcome in order to develop any kind of relationship.
The plot includes city politics, secondary characters who have agendas that would change lives.and a great deal of humor. Even when the future dreams of both Maya and Axell are threatened by outside influences, there is humor from both of them.
My only tiny comment would be that it seems a very wordy book. At times it appears that there is a repetition of facts.
The physical and emotional attractions are evident. The differences in personalities are part of the on going humor. I liked this book. I really liked Axell. He is a strong person who has been taught to hold emotions deep within. He feels he is not equipped to deal with his little girl and it is making him feel totally inadequate. All this and yet he finds humor in situations, he feels he must take care of the world around him, and he keeps trying to find a road to his daughter's heart.
If you like romance with outside conflict which unites the hero and heroine in a common cause, this will be a book you enjoy.
Ms Rice is a very talented writer. This is my first time reading one of her books. I hope to read other books by this author.
I hope you enjoy this story of two very appealing people as much as I did.
June 11, 2013
I really enjoyed this story between Maya and Axell. And I loved the story written inside as well that was about their grandparents. Naturally, Axell is used to his life being normal and all corners squared, however, his daughter is not speaking. Once he enrolls her in Maya's afterschool program, she seems to come out of that a little and lights up. Maya is all colorful, bright, never for a moment still and can't get anything together. The only thing she wants in life is to make everyone feel loved. The one thing she has never felt. The school she has her hopes and dreams in is in jeopardy and Axell doesn't want to see that happen after his daughter has come around. Between several road blocks, comical and dangerous disasters, these two take way too long to tell each other how they really feel about each other. But that is really true with life. We all protect ourselves too much and put up those shields so we don't get hurt, even if we hurt more by doing so.
March 2, 2013
Pregnant Maya Alyssum comes to Wadeville, NC to take care of her nephew and manage her sister’s shop while she is in jail. Maya and a silent partner also open an after-school program called Impossible Dreams, which she hopes to expand to full-time. However, the school sits on land the mayor wants for a road to a proposed shopping center. Widower Axell Holm is indebted to the school and its unusual teacher because they have gotten his silent daughter to open up for the first time since her mother’s death. He decides to help the school and finds that the dirty politics effecting the school and shop are now being extended to his restaurant. Everyone in this book has issues and some plot devices are a little unbelievable, but I enjoyed it.
July 14, 2013
I had the book in my shelf since 2nd year hs. I remember well because I bought it from my allowance.
I would include it in my read-a-thon entries but truthfully, I never read it fully. When I saw it again, dusty and all, I decided to try again.
It's a positive book, a proof that no dream is destined to end in a graveyard.
The romance part did not at all disturb me as it was told in a descriptive yet not with too cheesy adjectives. The involvement of children and the goal to help them added wholesomeness to it, that made it easier to read and it increased the friendliness of the characters.
A thought lingered as I reached the last part: had I read this book with understanding and eagerness before, would any of my dreams be called impossible?
I would include it in my read-a-thon entries but truthfully, I never read it fully. When I saw it again, dusty and all, I decided to try again.
It's a positive book, a proof that no dream is destined to end in a graveyard.
The romance part did not at all disturb me as it was told in a descriptive yet not with too cheesy adjectives. The involvement of children and the goal to help them added wholesomeness to it, that made it easier to read and it increased the friendliness of the characters.
A thought lingered as I reached the last part: had I read this book with understanding and eagerness before, would any of my dreams be called impossible?
March 12, 2025
Although difficult to get a handle on, Maya is a great character, excellent with children and she makes many good points about the ways they learn. Axell is also difficult to get to know, but at least I've met men somewhat like him. What you see is the tip of the iceberg. Their many trials and tribulations gave me the shivers about local government. I sincerely hope it doesn't work this way but can see how it might. I have to admit I was worried about Ralph. Selene is also a great character, as cynical as they come and for good reason. Cleo, like Maya, is difficult to know, but she also doesn't get much more than a look-in in this book, so that might explain it. Matty loves her, so she can't be all bad.
September 19, 2015
After reading the first chapter or so I was tempted to put the book down. Maya is super new-agey and really just didn't make a lot of sense. But I'm glad I kept reading. The plot was maybe a little bit more complex than it needed to be, too many pieces & mysteries that didn't seem well enough flushed out. The diary pieces interspersed also made no sense under 3/4 of the way through the book so I think they lost some of their value. Characters were interesting, even if not entirely relatable. Even the kids were very well rounded. Axell & Maya had some incredible chemistry which was well-used throughout the second half of the story. I would read the next book in the series.
June 10, 2016
I loved when Axell lost his patience I found it sexy, "grabbing her arm, he pulled her hard against him, despite her twisting protest. To hell with arguing. He was ready for the next part. Past ready. "Yell at me if you want, but don't run away, dammit!" Axell sure can become a wild man at times, "garters. Damn, you wore garters. I want to see..." He uttered a guttural groan as she stroked him. "Maya-a-a... ah-h" She thought he tore her panties in two— her stoic businessman reverted to uncivilized Norse god." I loved this book, I fell in love with Axell.
September 17, 2010
– Patricia Rice’s books have a complexity thats seldom found in today’s market. Her characters have depth and her work isn’t a race to the finish. Rice’s plots unfold naturally and she doesn’t fall back on cliches and exploding buildings/cars to move it forward. If you’re looking for a fast read, Impossible Dreams isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for a contemporary romance with a wealth of emotion and three-dimensional characters then this book is for you. ~ Renee, www.ireadromance.com
September 26, 2015
Very well written.
This appears to have been well researched. The author dealt with some hard hitting issues in book one of this series. The unfortunate shortfalls of our child social services is well observed through the eyes of young adults who have been through the system as well as children effected by it in the story. Other issues face our lady but kindness and love persevere.
This appears to have been well researched. The author dealt with some hard hitting issues in book one of this series. The unfortunate shortfalls of our child social services is well observed through the eyes of young adults who have been through the system as well as children effected by it in the story. Other issues face our lady but kindness and love persevere.
October 23, 2014
Loved it. Consistent intriguing characters with a good story line that kept me (virtually) turning the page. Love the contemporary take on marriage of convienece for really levitate reasons. The struggles and the HEA made sense based on the characters.
The quotes at the beginning of each chapter were quite funny and insightful.
The quotes at the beginning of each chapter were quite funny and insightful.
August 1, 2015
This book is a story about life coming full circle and how relationships can start in the most unlikely of places. The story takes you through the full gamut of emotions - love, loss, happiness, sadness, and everything in between.
If you are a fan of Sharon Sala's "The Gamblers Daughters series, you will love this book.
If you are a fan of Sharon Sala's "The Gamblers Daughters series, you will love this book.
February 20, 2016
Although it started out slow, this book was an okay read. A marriage of convenience that eventually works out in the end with a lot of twists and turns involving the married couple. I enjoyed it but if it wouldn't have started out so slow, I would have given it more than two stars.
June 10, 2013
This is a wonderful story about opposites attract. And how different personalities handle adversity. Maya is a airhead pacifist who dreams big and avoids conflict. Axell is strong and silent who has to be in charge. The 2 together make an excellent team. Great story with ample love and drama.
October 30, 2013
Maya Alyssum has a dream of opening a school where all children can excel. Axel Holm is a straight laced restaurant owner who expects everything to be in order. Merging the two personalities makes a delightful story.
September 26, 2015
Through twists and turns comes a good story
The story was full of ups and downs that made me want to finish reading the book to find out how the love story would work out. I also loved the chapter headings. Funny and twisted. ;-)
The story was full of ups and downs that made me want to finish reading the book to find out how the love story would work out. I also loved the chapter headings. Funny and twisted. ;-)
April 11, 2016
a super-duper story! the book is worth the read just for the chapter headings! my favorite is the "forward": Meddle not with dragons, for thou art crunchy and good with catsup! Axell is really a pretty typical guy in a lot of ways. there was plenty of plot. yeah, read this!
May 11, 2011
Read years ago for All About Romance. The review is archived HERE.
May 24, 2011
It was a very light easy read, and I enjoy Patricia Rice's books.I liked the fact that the "hero" stayed steadfast no matter what!
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