Summer Dreams: Dual Image / Untamed

by Nora Roberts

Two timeless tales by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Nora Roberts are available once again in this single volume. Includes Dual Image and Untamed.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Novels

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 -- The Becoming -- the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

Reviews

[Eleni · Rating 3 out of 5]

In college reading I ended up reading a couple of books that have two stories in one book, that somehow connect with one another. I came to the conclusion after reading this that I probably read too many books that are structured like this, because it quickly became repetitive with certain aspects of all the other similar books, and the stories within them. However with Summer Dreams, Dual Image was the story that caught my attention a bit more out of the two. There was a lot of description and a bit of a different storyline, than Untamed where it took place in a circus.

[Lorraine Madigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved both books in this anthology.
Dual Image ~ I loved Booth and Ariel. Nora told their story beautifully making you understand how Booth was getting Ariel mixed up with her character that was his creation.
Untamed ~ I enjoyed Keane and Jovilette. I had a hard time with this one because I dislike circus acts with animals but I love how Nora explained it and showed the reader that these animals were being taken care of and loved.
I would definitely recommend this book.

[Sandy Forman-Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 decent stories

[Shannahbranham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two great stories loved it

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this book was fantastic. It made you wonder what was going to happen all the way threw untamed.

[Sue Perkinson Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the stories

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the first section more then the second. Both unique in their own ways

[Patricia R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish

[Cathy Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duel image was a sweet love story. As with all books it spends all the book nota love story and the last 20 pages we get down to the heart of it.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dual Image - 3/5 - Another fairly average book - this was readable, enjoyable, kept me engaged and paced very well. The characters were unique and well written. The love scenes weren't the least bit graphic and of the fade to black variety. Ariel Kirkwood is an actress - she's overly bubbly, energetic and has a frantic sort of energy. She is an eternal optimist and I, personally, did not care for her as a character. She was borderline Mary Sue in that she was a perfect actress able to completely morph into a character in which she had nothing in common and she did it instantaneously. She also fell in love instantly, accepted it without question and when the hero hurt her feelings, she was very quick to forgive and forget. It felt so unrealistic. The hero, Booth, is a very bitter man, having been burnt by his previous wife...an actress who hid her true self. And so, he's rather haunted by Ariel's ability to become his ex-wife and is not so quick to trust her or enter into a relationship with her. He prefers to be alone with his bitterness. He frequently hurts the heroine with his lack of trust and his tendency to compare Ariel to his ex-wife. His character's not so bad. Their romance sort of occurs in the typical fashion - attraction, heroine insta-love, hero fights it, hero gives in, heroine admits love, hero freaks out and runs away, hero gives in and finale!

SPOILER ALERT: The ending was a bit strange to me... Mixed into all of the above is a sub-plot in which Ariel is trying to win a custody case so she can raise her 4-year-old nephew Scott. In all her monologued complaints about the hero not trusting her, Ariel never once mentioned Scott to the man she loved. He's supposedly the most important thing in her life...if she wins custody of him, she's going to have a child to raise...which means the hero is going to have a child to raise. I think that is an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT factor to reveal to someone you are convinced you will marry. They never talked kids - does he even want any? It just seems dishonest not to have full disclosure here. And even weirder is that, bitter and solitary Booth didn't have a problem with the kid. He had a problem with Ariel's not trusting him with the info. Seemed very strange.

Untamed - 2/5 - The book started out pretty well. It takes place in a traveling circus - the heroine Jovilette is a lion trainer and Keane has just inherited the circus from a father he never knew. There are plenty of misconceptions and assumptions that get in the way of these two to start and they overcome them pretty well. The hero goes through what seems an irrational asshole phrase (since we don't get his POV we have no idea why he's acting like that) but we get to experience the angst through the heroine. And it all goes pretty well. The insights to the circus were interesting and the characters were likeable enough (even Keane, because we just know he's being an asshole for a good reason, right?) Then the ending. All I could think was, WTF? That's not how to end it. It was rather unsatisfying. And I'll give a spoiler ending...just in case you'd like to know. So he was an asshole because he realized he couldn't be with her. She couldn't give up the circus and he couldn't stay with the circus and watch her risk her life every day. So she gives it up for him. Sweet, really, but when we look at how she's spent the entire book arguing that the circus is her life and that through it she builds dreams and miracles, etc. and then she just gives it up like it meant nothing to her? She was all ready to be pissed if he would have sold it, but she can just quit. And do what exactly? She's been in the circus her whole life - she's not qualified to do anything but sit on her ass. There could have been a compromise. Like, maybe she agrees not to train the cats, but she still works with the circus or something. It just felt like a crap ending.

[Melody 🦋📚 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book better than I thought I would, the first story was about..
Playing Booth DeWitt's cruel ex-wife in his semiautobiographical film is the chance of a lifetime for actor Ariel Kirkwood. Not only is it a giant boon for her career, but she also gets to work with the screenwriter himself. Since getting to know him, Ariel can't get the aloof, sexy Booth out of her mind. She'd love to be his real leading lady, but with each passing day he becomes more distant. Now Ariel must convince Booth to see her for the woman she is, not the one she was hired to portray....

The second story I liked better..
"Untamed"

The circus is no place for a lawyer But that's exactly where Keane Prescott finds himself, as the new owner of his late father's circus. Keane has no interest in the Big Top, until he meets Jovilette Wilder. She had a special bond with his father but has made it clear she wants Keane to leave her and her circus alone Yet Jo is impossible to resist--at once graceful, fearless, commanding and about as unpredictable as the lions she tames. She just may be the best thing his father left him...but can he tame her wild heart before it's too late?

[Lin Stepp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer Dreams contained two old Nora Roberts titles written in the 1980s. I'd read neither and enjoyed both stories. The first DUAL IMAGE starts with Ariel Kirkwood on the set of the soap opera she has starred in for many years but her life turns a corner when she tries out for a part in Booth DeWitt's TV movie. In DeWitt, she meets a man with dark hurts … and it takes time before the two can find their way to love and a happily ever after.
UNTAMED was my favorite of the two short novels. Roberts did a masterful job of creating a sense of place with the circus in this story. Jovilette Wilder is furious when Frank Prescott's son Pete inherits the circus Frank has owned - the son Frank's never been close to, who never even showed up for his funeral. Sparks fly between Jo and Pete right away … and a fun plot ensues before the two find love. But more enjoyable are the circus characters sprinkled through the book, the sense and feeling of being a part of the circus life, and the wonderful way Jovilette works with her cats, the elephants and the other animals and people in the circus.

[Leyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me by a person I haven't seen in a quite long time, and that I really hope I'll get to see again. So, no matter how the actual stories were, I enjoyed this book also because of the happy memories that came back to my mind.


My Reviews:
Dual Image
Untamed

[Birgit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm although this was the usual Nora-Roberts-pattern, I did not like this one as much as others. I read it in German, and as much as I do not like to lay blame on the translation, I think that was part of the problem: The German was much too stilted, the sentence construction too convoluted, and the tenses were grammatically correct, but sounded way too posh (not that Nora is not or cannot be posh! ;) )
It would be interesting to read and compare this story in the original language.

[Susan Anders · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good summer read - nothing earth shattering, but two books in one and perfect for the beach.

[Corri Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

They were both pretty good. Don't know that I would ever read over but they were one nighters.

[Terimorse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know when I bought this book that this was one of Nora's silhouette romance novels, but it was pretty good. I like her mainstream novels better.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't read the 2nd part because I was soooooo bored!

[Florence Primrose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two shorter stories--typical summer beach reads with somewhat predictable romances plus some sex but a little different plot lines.

[Peggy Sinden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contained two books of the author, Nora Roberts. Both books were fine but you could tell they were earlier writings from Nora.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Included both "Dual Image" & "Untamed"

[Jamie Calhoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. 2nd story was better

[Joan Ridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good summer reads.....nothing to exciting but as Nora always writes...Romantic with a hint of mystery.
Two short stories both good.

[Brianna Beesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book while on vacation, half of the time I wanted to stay in the condo and read instead of enjoying the sites. I couldn't put these books down.

[Jody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not up to the standard I hold her too

[Marie Ciarrocca]

good book easy reading

[S Miller]

Used - Very good

[Kimberly Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Carrie Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light, quick, fun reads. Liked them both.