"Man of my Dreams" - a Fabio Romance Review!
While we take brief break from #KateGate fan fiction, let’s dive in for a romance book review! Last week I was traveling and took along a 1992 novel, “Man of my Dreams,” by Johanna Lindsey. Why did I choose this book as my first 80s/90s era romance read?
Prominently features Fabio on a cover
Upon Johanna Lindsey’s death, Fabio said this was his favorite cover he ever modeled for (unverified internet research)
It’s the first in a series, and was readily available on Libby
Before we get into the book, a moment of appreciation for the covers throughout the years. My Libby copy featured the pink cover but I think we can all acknowledge which of these reigns supreme.
Here’s our book description to set the scene:
Wildly unpredictable, the most desirable beauty in the land, Megan Penworthy has set her amorous sights on Ambrose St. James, a man she has never met but has every intention of marrying. And no other suitor will satisfy her especially not the common, if uncommonly handsome, horse breeder, Devlin Jefferys.
Posing as lowborn Jefferys to escape a potentially fatal confrontation, Sir Ambrose is enthralled by the brazen, duke-hunting redhead. Without revealing his true identity, he vows to seduce and tame her, thereby foiling Megan's plans to marry the man of her dreams. But the notorious rogue never imagined the enchanting schemer would turn out to be the only woman he would ever dream of marrying.
I’ll get right to it…this book is NOT TERRIBLE. I had braced myself for the worst, thinking that the writing and storytelling would be Danielle Steele level difficult for me to get through (I acknowledge and appreciate that she is queen of the genre but I’ve tried and failed so many times to get through her books 😭)
This book is set in the mid 1800s and one of the best elements of this story is the hidden identity trope, which we really don’t see much in the modern romances of 2024. That being said, this book really ONLY features our two lead characters, Megan and Devlin, and I found them both to be very off-putting in different ways.
Megan is seemingly the hottest chick in the whole village, but she’s so entitled and just not very smart. I understand she’s supposed to be naive and innocent but that really clashes with the sexual tension jumping off every page in this story. Meanwhile, Devlin/The Duke is seemingly also very hot but is incredibly rude and MOST CERTAINLY NEEDS SOME EDUCATION AROUND CONSENT. I’m not gonna dive too much into the consent topic, but there’s one scene early on that is pretty cringy and I’m glad SOME THINGS have evolved over time.
I actually quite liked the first half of the novel, but it fell apart a bit once I realized it kind of just repeats the same scene over and over. These two are playing a classic cat and mouse game, and the chemistry is REALLY well written, but I think this could have been 75 pages shorter. I would say this book is STEAMY but not SPICY - it’s honestly pretty tame compared to a lot of modern romance of the 2020s.
I do think there is something to be said for a romance book that gets the chemistry right without being super graphic writing the steamy scenes. I’m absolutely not a prude when it comes to the genre, but there are some popular authors in 2024 who are so explicit in their writing it’s honestly laughable. So laughable that my sister gave a dramatic reading of one scene during our book club retreat and had everyone rolling on the floor.
I hope Megan and the Duke lived happily ever after! We’ll see if they make a return cameo in future books from the Sherring Cross series.
Rating: 6/10 ⭐
😳 💏 🌡️ 🍆
FABIO ROMANCE READER Emoji Guide
💘 Hallmark Wholesome
😳 Lifetime Lewdness
🌶️ Skinemax Spicy
💏 0-3 Spicy Scenes
🧨 3-5 Spicy Scenes
🔥 5+ Spicy Scenes
🌡️ Good Chemistry
🍆 💒 🚮 F/M/K leading man (pick one!)
🌌 Bizarre / Unearthly Location
🎞️ Make the Movie
🛑 Immediate No/ Did Not Finish