Once She Dreamed by Abbi Glines
4.5 stars
Synopsis
Everyone in the small country town, Sammy Jo Knox had been born and raised, never left. They made their life there. Got married, had kids, lived in the same houses that were always there along the streets that never changed. The whole white picket fence and tree swing might look good on greeting cards but in real life it was boring, at least to Sammy Jo.
When Sammy Jo was a little girl she began dreaming of something bigger. Brighter. Something that wasn’t her town. She wanted to see the world and experience it all. Just how she was going to do that she had no idea. Because if her momma had her way she’d marry one of the boys in town and be spitting out babies and going to church on Sunday with them all lined up in a row.
The day Hale Christopher Jude III walked into the bakery she worked at, she knew he was it. That part of life she was missing. He smelled of foreign places and exciting things. He represented all the bright lights she dreamed of and simply put she hoped he was her way out of this place.
What Sammy Jo didn’t realize was things that appear perfect… aren’t. And chasing her dreams could lead to something very different.
My thoughts
Sammy Jo Knox is not like the others residents in her small town. While they are perfectly happy with staying in the same place their whole lives, marry a farmer boy in town and get kids, Sammy Jo wants to see the world and have an adventurous life. She wants out of Moulton. She’s just not sure how. When a wealthy man walks into the bakery she works at, she sees her chances of leaving growing. But sometimes when things seem too good to be true, they mostly are.
Once She Dreamed is a cute, light hearted story of a girl that’s been dreaming to escape her hometown for years. Understood by very few, she sets out on a path by herself, away from the crowd and chasing her dreams. At least, this story felt quite light hearted to me after reading F*ck Love just before this. Once She Dreamed seems to be on the opposite side of the scale and might be just the cute story I needed after such a deeply emotional book like F*ck Love.
Sammy Jo is young, innocent and naive. She’s stunning on the outside and has a good heart, but her growing up in a farmer town has kept de darker corners of the world out of her life, leaving her unable to see the true intentions behind some people’s actions.
I enjoyed Sammy’s adventure. It was cute and I could feel her excitement rise out of the pages. I liked how she followed her heart, no matter if it made her stand out of the crowd. She knew what she wanted and she was going to get it.
This is a novella series that contains out 3 parts, part 2 coming at the end of November and the third part coming in the beginning of January. This part only had a little over 100 pages, making it perfect as a quick in-between read.