Dreams Found

by Lyn Denison (Narrated by Jenny Walters)

Riley embarks on a journey to meet her birth mother...and gains not just a family, but the love of her life.

When Australian Riley journeys to Brisbane to meet Maggie, her birth mother, she isn't prepared for the tumultuous upheaval that her news will cause her world and the worlds of so many others.

While Maggie is thrilled to be reunited with the daughter she had lost many years before, she wants to wait until the time is right before telling her family about the child she gave up so long ago. Although Maggie assures Riley that everyone will accept her, Riley is uncertain how Maggie's family will react. Not wanting to rock the boat of a family she is only beginning to know, Riley willingly keeps their secret until Maggie can find the right time to come clean about her relationship to Riley.

Then Jayne enters Riley's life and upsets the balance of their world even more. As their friendship builds into something more, the complications surrounding Riley's presence become increasingly difficult to hide.

Can Riley convince Jayne of her true feelings and intentions without giving away the secret that she and Maggie share?

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, LGBT, Lesbian Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Lesbian Romance

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Lyn Denison was born and still resides in Brisbane, Australia, and attended school in Brisbane and Charters Towers. Before making writing a full-time career, Lyn was a librarian. Apart from reading, Lyn enjoys genealogy, scrapbooking, photography, playing her 12-string guitar and chatting with friends.

Reviews

[John Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another terrific outing from Lyn Denison. Our MC Riley lives in Rockhampton with her adoptive family working in their building business when she decides to seek out her birth mother. When Maggie reaches out to Riley, she decides to go down to Brisbane to meet and connect with Maggie and hopefully her family, who know nothing of her existence.

This worked for me on so many levels and the slow burn between Maggie's stepdaughter and Riley is very well done. The book finished at exactly the right time for me, which has me rounding my 4+ stars up. Good one.

[Guerunche · Rating 5 out of 5]

4. 5 stars

Riley James gets a whole lot more than she bargained for when she leaves her home for an extended stay in Brisbane to meet and get to know her birth mother. While she's had a wonderful life with her adoptive family, at 25 years old she desperately wants to know more about the woman who gave birth to her and what the circumstances were that resulted in her being given up for adoption. While she hopes for the best and braces for the worst, she has no idea how much this trip will alter the course of her life.

This story has a little bit of everything - family dynamics, strong friendships, annoying love interests - and ultimately a lovely, unconventional romance. The slow-building chemistry between Riley and Jayne is palpable and I was aching right along with Riley that the beautiful entrepreneur might share her feelings.

I am beyond excited that Lyn Denison is releasing her books - including her back catalog - on audio! When an author's works have lived on your shelves for decades, having them released in a new format is particularly special. I was in pure heaven with my first listen - Gold Fever - and revisiting Dreams Found was a real treat as well. I was introduced to Aussie narrator Jenny Walters with the first book and after this latest one, my appreciation of her voice and work is now solidified. For those that love an authentic Australian accent with a top tier narrator, I urge you to give these a listen. While the love scenes in this are certainly stimulating, they're more on the tame side. In Jenny's voice, though, I was seriously weak in the knees. I will neither confirm nor deny that I listened to one particular line an embarrassing number of times. I am spoiled, spoiled, spoiled I tell you!

Really looking forward to my next Denison listen.

[Rey Hawke · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

✔Sapphic Book Bingo Challenge 2023 🌈✨: Unicorn board - Shorter butch character

4 stars. Such an easy and comforting read. I loved this from beginning to end. There’s no big drama or angst. Just a lovely story of Riley meeting her birth mother and then falling in love with her stepsister, Jayne. The writing was great and I loved that once Riley and Jayne got together that was it. No third act breakup or anything. They were both pretty mature and talked through things which I always appreciate. This was light and entertaining and I adored it. I will definitely be reading more from Denison because this was a great place to start.

[Kathleen Wills · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this one in one sitting! I love stories of women discovering their love for another woman, the awakening is so profound. Dreams Found is very well done, introducing us to Riley and Jayne. While Riley is secure in her sexuality, Jayne is the one we watch slowly realize feelings she's been missing for years. And it's lovely.
Add into the mix the sweet story of Riley finding her birthmother, and it's a wonderful book.
Oh! And Jayne is Riley's step sister! Makes for some interesting twists.
Read this!

[Donna Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you know you're in love. This gorgeous story explores the love of the foster mum, the birth mum and the girlfriend. Such a coming out story as well

[Amanda Dingman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hideous cover, good book!

[Kayla Brahm · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really could not get into this book. I am not sure if it was the narrator or if it was the writing. I did like the characters but I felt almost no chemistry between Jane and Riley. Also Riley's bestfriend Mac would make pretty weird comments that didn't feel truly playful. Also, I have read a lot of "love at first sight" novels but for some reason this one didn't sit well with me. There was little to no interaction between Riley and Jane before Riley is saying that she is in love with her. To me it would line up closer to lust rather than love. I really did enjoy the premise of the story but unfortunately couldn't get into it.

[isa Simonet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyn Denison has been a pioneer of the lesbian book since 1990, when she released her first book.
She has written over twenty books formerly published by Bella Books. The 90s were not yet very open to lesbianism. but since that date she has been able to write lesbian romances with sexual relations.
Many lesbian books today would not be published if some authors had not taken the lead. Read,The Wild One, Gold Fever, among others.
Read her books and see the modernity of what she wrote.

[Ei Chaeng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insta love so meh for me. Even though ur fiancé an ass, you font go falling in love with your home designer? that fast. Also dont like it when they compare everything with the ex to make the mc look better so just no.

[Katia]

genial-