What do you think?
Rate this book
In Dreams...
A Forbidden M/M Romance
Grieving your dead husband is a heavy enough load.
Add betrayal to the mix and it’s impossible to get out of bed.
Because you don’t kiss your stepson on the night of your husband’s funeral.
You don’t dream about his hands on your body.
And for God’s sake, you damn sure don’t confess how long you’ve been wanting him.
approx.: 11k words
A Free Read through Insta-Freebie from August 28th to September 4th together with other authors ->
https://claims.instafreebie.com/gg/FC...
Grieving your dead husband is a heavy enough load.
Add betrayal to the mix and it’s impossible to get out of bed.
Because you don’t kiss your stepson on the night of your husband’s funeral.
You don’t dream about his hands on your body.
And for God’s sake, you damn sure don’t confess how long you’ve been wanting him.
approx.: 11k words
A Free Read through Insta-Freebie from August 28th to September 4th together with other authors ->
https://claims.instafreebie.com/gg/FC...
41 pages, ebook
First published August 28, 2018
58 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Avril Ashton
78 books1,678 followersA Caribbean transplant, Avril now lives in Stone Mountain, GA., with a tolerant Spousal Equivalent. Together they raise an eccentric daughter who loves reading and school (not so much school anymore). Avril’s earliest memories of reading revolve around discussing plot points of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys with an equally book-minded mother
Always in love with the written word, Avril finally decided to do the writing in August of ’09 and never looked back. Spicy love scenes, delicious heroes, and wicked women burn up the pages of Avril’s stories, but there’ll always be a happy ending; Av remains a believer of love in all its forms.
Always in love with the written word, Avril finally decided to do the writing in August of ’09 and never looked back. Spicy love scenes, delicious heroes, and wicked women burn up the pages of Avril’s stories, but there’ll always be a happy ending; Av remains a believer of love in all its forms.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
August 29, 2018
3.5 Stars
It was a good short story and it had potentioal to be better! Still enjoyed it! Told in dual POV, 3rd person. It was full of emotions but I expected something more! Overall, liked it and hope you enjoy it as well!
It was a good short story and it had potentioal to be better! Still enjoyed it! Told in dual POV, 3rd person. It was full of emotions but I expected something more! Overall, liked it and hope you enjoy it as well!
August 28, 2018
**** 4 stars ****
A very short read.
It always strikes me when an author is able to convey so much intensity and emotion in short stories.
Hence the 4 stars.
I was expecting something wicked but got instead tons of feelings.
Really loved this despite the abrupt end.
You can get your copy here:
https://claims.instafreebie.com/gg/x5...
A very short read.
It always strikes me when an author is able to convey so much intensity and emotion in short stories.
Hence the 4 stars.
I was expecting something wicked but got instead tons of feelings.
Really loved this despite the abrupt end.
You can get your copy here:
https://claims.instafreebie.com/gg/x5...
August 29, 2018
3 stars!
Dear author why did it have to be so short? Why? Because it definitely could of been a longer read. I loved it though my rating was only 3 stars, because it was too short but the writing as usual was so good and for a quick read it sure packed a punch of emotions. I’ve read a lot of books by AA and loved all her series. I have to say though that it was also kind of refreshing reading about two new characters that have nothing to do with her previous series.
A solid read for me that just could of and shoulda of been so much more James/Nazir certainly needed it.♥️
Dear author why did it have to be so short? Why? Because it definitely could of been a longer read. I loved it though my rating was only 3 stars, because it was too short but the writing as usual was so good and for a quick read it sure packed a punch of emotions. I’ve read a lot of books by AA and loved all her series. I have to say though that it was also kind of refreshing reading about two new characters that have nothing to do with her previous series.
A solid read for me that just could of and shoulda of been so much more James/Nazir certainly needed it.♥️
September 3, 2018
-2.5 stars-
So much potential though...
...................................................................................................................
HOLY SHIT BLURB!
So much potential though...
...................................................................................................................
HOLY SHIT BLURB!
November 14, 2018
I feel unfulfilled! I thought they were gonna set the sheets on fire but alas none of that went down.
Its a nice little short but it feels like a bomb that didn’t detonate.
Like mans wants his dead husbands son 😲 just imagine how epic that would have been in all of Avril Ashton’s flair but I’ll take the sweetness and say it was a nice short.
Its a nice little short but it feels like a bomb that didn’t detonate.
Like mans wants his dead husbands son 😲 just imagine how epic that would have been in all of Avril Ashton’s flair but I’ll take the sweetness and say it was a nice short.
June 7, 2021
I feel kind of shorted :(
126 pages and 125 of those are spent with them dealing with their grief. I would have loved to see an actual relationship form. But the writing was beautiful as always.
126 pages and 125 of those are spent with them dealing with their grief. I would have loved to see an actual relationship form. But the writing was beautiful as always.
September 1, 2018
2.5 Stars!
That blurb though....so much potential.
That blurb though....so much potential.
October 28, 2018
Too short, I wanted and needed more of this pair, but how Avril managed to squeeze so much emotion and tension and story into so few words staggers me.
In less than 15k words I had two main characters and two secondary characters, one of whom was dead, fully depicted in my head.
I was expecting something down and dirty but instead I got a short story about hope and love and reconciliation with individual happiness when the one your heart picks isn't a "suitable" choice.
This is another brilliant addition to the Back To School Instafreebie giveaway.
In less than 15k words I had two main characters and two secondary characters, one of whom was dead, fully depicted in my head.
I was expecting something down and dirty but instead I got a short story about hope and love and reconciliation with individual happiness when the one your heart picks isn't a "suitable" choice.
This is another brilliant addition to the Back To School Instafreebie giveaway.
August 31, 2018
3.5 stars
Let's just say the blurb pretty much says it all.
You go through James emotions as he is trying to wrap his head around the loss of his husband and the guilt of his feelings for his step-son.
Let's just say the blurb pretty much says it all.
You go through James emotions as he is trying to wrap his head around the loss of his husband and the guilt of his feelings for his step-son.
September 4, 2024
everyone was saying this was too short and i’m like oh okay, it’s gonna be a ‘leave you wanting more’ type thing…..no babes, it’s gonna end smack dab in the middle of the story😭😭😭 it literally ended and i’m like yooooo??? i’m missing a fucking chapter or sum bc why are their clothes still on!?!😒 it literally gave me so little, i might as well have just stayed curious🤣🤣
August 31, 2018
It was well written, but didn't quite meet my expectations. I think it would have met them if the story was longer and more fleshed out, because while the angst from the grief and guilt of their betrayal to Clive (deceased father and husband) was alive and well in every sentence, I never quite got a sense of why the main characters' attraction existed. It just did.
James (45) and Nazir (30) went back and forth and built up delicious tension, and I expected all that angst to pay off with an out of this world, intense, passionate and "sordid" sex scene only to get a weak resolution. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. 😕 But I have no regrets reading this. Each sentence is beautifully crafted and visceral. I just needed more with all the potential of what this taboo love story could have been.
James (45) and Nazir (30) went back and forth and built up delicious tension, and I expected all that angst to pay off with an out of this world, intense, passionate and "sordid" sex scene only to get a weak resolution. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. 😕 But I have no regrets reading this. Each sentence is beautifully crafted and visceral. I just needed more with all the potential of what this taboo love story could have been.
August 29, 2018
Muy cortito y centrado en los sentimientos, no esperéis cenas sexys si es lo que buscáis al ver el blurb.
June 7, 2022
Re-read 1/13/19. Yep, still love!
------------
Loved it! Was a bit wary of the nature of the relationship, but it all fell into place. So much depth and emotion in such a short piece. I was not bothered by the length. I would LOVE to read a full length novel about this couple, but the short worked really well too. If I had an issue with anything it would be that I found the mother's acceptance a bit implausible but even that didn't take away from it too, too much. I will read this again I'm sure.
--------
Freebie, part of an anthology available Aug 28th - Sept 4th. Visit Avril's page, or go here to claim https://claims.instafreebie.com/gg/bA...
------------
Loved it! Was a bit wary of the nature of the relationship, but it all fell into place. So much depth and emotion in such a short piece. I was not bothered by the length. I would LOVE to read a full length novel about this couple, but the short worked really well too. If I had an issue with anything it would be that I found the mother's acceptance a bit implausible but even that didn't take away from it too, too much. I will read this again I'm sure.
--------
Freebie, part of an anthology available Aug 28th - Sept 4th. Visit Avril's page, or go here to claim https://claims.instafreebie.com/gg/bA...
August 29, 2018
WOAH! This needs to be a full novel or something. A movie, a book, Jesus!!! I mean this packs a twisted punch and I loved it. No incest here or anything just a twisted turn of events. Loved it.
March 21, 2021
I'm experimenting with just scrolling through my enormous book library and randomly choosing something I own but haven't read off my ever-increasing TBR pile and finally reading it. First up, In Dreams... by Avril Ashton. To spice things up I didn't read the blurb I just jumped right in.
I need to put it out on Front Street that when I saw "MM Forbidden Romance" I thought this would be a much more sexy times erotica kind of story, but there's no sex in it. Instead, the story centers around 45-year-old James and his grief after his husband Clive has an extended illness and dies, and his overwhelming guilt as James deals with a growing attraction to Clive's 30-year-old son, Nazir.
The story is well done, told in both James and Nazir's POVs, and gives good insight into the characters and the grief process, and offers some hurt/comfort/caring, but the ending left me completely unsatisfied. I read this on Kindle and it ended at 88%. Being such a short story I wish we could have gotten an epilogue of some sort.
Dual POV, age gap, forbidden romance (stepson and widower), short story, with some hurt/comfort, and a HFN ending.
2.5 stars
I need to put it out on Front Street that when I saw "MM Forbidden Romance" I thought this would be a much more sexy times erotica kind of story, but there's no sex in it. Instead, the story centers around 45-year-old James and his grief after his husband Clive has an extended illness and dies, and his overwhelming guilt as James deals with a growing attraction to Clive's 30-year-old son, Nazir.
The story is well done, told in both James and Nazir's POVs, and gives good insight into the characters and the grief process, and offers some hurt/comfort/caring, but the ending left me completely unsatisfied. I read this on Kindle and it ended at 88%. Being such a short story I wish we could have gotten an epilogue of some sort.
Dual POV, age gap, forbidden romance (stepson and widower), short story, with some hurt/comfort, and a HFN ending.
2.5 stars
September 8, 2018
Damn I really wanted more ! This was almost a memoir of James as he moved through the process of grief, loss and guilt. No heat here, only emotions
November 10, 2018
The author never writes anything badly and this mildly taboo storyline was very likable. It examines some of the feelings that would seem natural from a stepfather attracted to his stepson. The stepson didn’t have the same level of guilt but certainly had reservations. It reads more like an excerpt though, than a complete story despite the nearly HFN of the ending. No sex (quite unusual for Avi!) which was fitting. Good but felt too incomplete for me.
October 11, 2018
Potential. This book has it in spades.
Too bad it was too short to feel complete.
A taboo trope that isn't typically my jam...but I felt the emotions so hard I couldn't deny the draw.
Too bad it was too short to feel complete.
A taboo trope that isn't typically my jam...but I felt the emotions so hard I couldn't deny the draw.
June 5, 2021
Very short. Very sweet. It ended way to quickly, I'm actually a little disappointed :-( . The emotion is very well written, like all Avril Ashton books!
August 29, 2018
It was a bit depressing. I know I would get dead lover drama before I read this. One of my pet peeves. But the chemistry, OMG... It was full on. No sex, but oh-so-good. A short forbidden love story that you just can't help yourself from wanting more!
September 7, 2018
So much potential. If this were a full-length novel, it could've been great.
I felt the hurt, the grief, the confusion and the guilt. But it wasn't enough. And little things didn't add up. One thing that really nagged at me: James couldn't seem to decide if he's grieving his dead husband, or that he can't have a relationship with his dead husband's son. I guess both?
And then for all their trouble - even though the story was building up to something passionate - we didn't even get a kiss other than the one at the beginning, that was "a mistake".
I was left feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.
I felt the hurt, the grief, the confusion and the guilt. But it wasn't enough. And little things didn't add up. One thing that really nagged at me: James couldn't seem to decide if he's grieving his dead husband, or that he can't have a relationship with his dead husband's son. I guess both?
And then for all their trouble - even though the story was building up to something passionate - we didn't even get a kiss other than the one at the beginning, that was "a mistake".
I was left feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.
September 16, 2018
4 ⭐️
I was worried before I started this that it would be outside my comfort Zion’s, but I was up trying something new.
I really enjoyed it. The build up between James and Nazir was well done and to me believable. It didn’t go above my comfort zone so made it a great read for me. Both we aware of what was going on and discussed it. It wasn’t hidden with Nazir getting advice from his mother, and there was also the time frame that worked, yes the kiss happened after the funeral but then there was a gap where both tried to deal with their loss.
I would love more from these two
I was worried before I started this that it would be outside my comfort Zion’s, but I was up trying something new.
I really enjoyed it. The build up between James and Nazir was well done and to me believable. It didn’t go above my comfort zone so made it a great read for me. Both we aware of what was going on and discussed it. It wasn’t hidden with Nazir getting advice from his mother, and there was also the time frame that worked, yes the kiss happened after the funeral but then there was a gap where both tried to deal with their loss.
I would love more from these two
April 24, 2019
B- rating.
January 7, 2019
It was so good, but I wanted more. I wanted this story to be at least 200 pages long, with all the longing and heartwrenching feelings Mrs. Ashton can describe so masterfully. *sad sigh*
September 5, 2018
Intriguing concept that I wanted to get into, but the author just doesn't pull it off. I think this really needed a full novel to do the complexity of feelings justice here, because there just wasn't enough here for me to get into, and it ends in a strange place, so the reader doesn't really get the satisfaction of the characters coming together.
September 4, 2018
Wow.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the blurb, it could've gone either way, but what I wasn't expecting was to be sucker punched by the emotions that were crammed into a 30 odd page short story!
I am a little frustrated that I become so invested so quickly by the MC's, who managed to grab me fully, even Clive!! The lack of page count surprisingly did not hinder the depth of James and Naz's characters - I felt the unrequited love, the grief, guilt and sheer weight of the situation they were in.
I did need more story though, seriously more pages - the potential was huge, but we are left with was a fade to black ending on the cusp of something monumental - I hate fade to black! However, the last page held promise and the poignancy of the moment filled me with a little sweet relief and a contented sigh.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the blurb, it could've gone either way, but what I wasn't expecting was to be sucker punched by the emotions that were crammed into a 30 odd page short story!
I am a little frustrated that I become so invested so quickly by the MC's, who managed to grab me fully, even Clive!! The lack of page count surprisingly did not hinder the depth of James and Naz's characters - I felt the unrequited love, the grief, guilt and sheer weight of the situation they were in.
I did need more story though, seriously more pages - the potential was huge, but we are left with was a fade to black ending on the cusp of something monumental - I hate fade to black! However, the last page held promise and the poignancy of the moment filled me with a little sweet relief and a contented sigh.
February 23, 2022
**********Contains Spoilers**********
This novella was okay but I was a tad confused. I’m hoping that this is a prequel to Nazir and James’s story, as noting really happens during this very short read. It starts on the night of Clive, James’s husband and Nazir’s dad’s funeral and them kissing. Their guilt has kept them apart since. Nazir has one of his men Serch look out for James as be promised his dad that he’d look after James and since they’re currently not talking, at least Serch can keep him updated on how James is coping after Clive’s death. Nazir and James are finally honest with how they feel for each other and that it’s not just a recent thing for both of them. They feel really guilty. Since they both coveted the other while James’s husband/Nazir’s dad was alive. Nazir wants James to actually get know him as Nazir and not just his step-son.
This novella was okay but I was a tad confused. I’m hoping that this is a prequel to Nazir and James’s story, as noting really happens during this very short read. It starts on the night of Clive, James’s husband and Nazir’s dad’s funeral and them kissing. Their guilt has kept them apart since. Nazir has one of his men Serch look out for James as be promised his dad that he’d look after James and since they’re currently not talking, at least Serch can keep him updated on how James is coping after Clive’s death. Nazir and James are finally honest with how they feel for each other and that it’s not just a recent thing for both of them. They feel really guilty. Since they both coveted the other while James’s husband/Nazir’s dad was alive. Nazir wants James to actually get know him as Nazir and not just his step-son.
June 15, 2020
I have no regrets reading this except the fact that it left me wanting more (like so many other reviewers I would have liked to see a little more relationship development after the acceptance of their taboo relationship)....
But I (and this is just me) like the fact that the attraction 'just' existed. Sometimes things can just be, it doesn't need explaining, because it is a feeling that has always been there from the first moment of existence or in their case from the most moment the stepson saw his stepdad.
But I (and this is just me) like the fact that the attraction 'just' existed. Sometimes things can just be, it doesn't need explaining, because it is a feeling that has always been there from the first moment of existence or in their case from the most moment the stepson saw his stepdad.
October 27, 2018
This is an amazing read. Such strong emotions that are at times flay your soul and others poignantly beautiful. Love, guilt, and depression so brilliantly portrayed in a short read that packs quite a punch. Beautifully done. An extra plus for me is that I live 10 minutes away from Tucker and had worked in the Are for many years so it was easy for me to envision the scenery, which is the same while constantly changing. Contradicting but true.
December 31, 2018
I spent most of this book wondering how James could ever get over his feelings of guilt to be with Naz. Then it happened and it worked. I admit that I felt kinda weird about the relationship but I also know that you can't help who you fall for. And they weren't doing anything behind Clive's back so they weren't hurting anyone. I actually like that it was a different take on relationships. Definitely an interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews