Dreams become reality in this #OwnVoices romcom

     What happens when the man of your dreams literally starts appearing in your dreams? Well, South African author, Therese Beharrie, tries to answer that question in her new romcom, And They Lived Happily Ever After, which just came out on November 30th.
     A lonely childhood in foster care taught Gaia Anders that the only thing she could trust was her dream life. Now a successful romance author, Gaia has the best of two worlds. Anything she dreams at night is magically written into her bestselling novels. Nothing real can compare—until she gets caught up in one utterly surprising, crazy-passionate, waking-life kiss. Workaholic businessman Jacob Scott has had a crush on his brother's best friend, Gaia, since forever, but he never expected this explosive desire. Or that living out his and Gaia's sexiest fantasies in their now-shared dreams would turn his single-minded ways upside down—and make him want all of the woman behind them. But Gaia has secrets from her past she won't reveal. And Jacob's attempts to keep the peace in his own fractured family put him up against her deepest fears. Now, they must somehow face hard truths about who they are and what they're running from. And the only way to break this spell means realizing real-life true love's power…
     This novel (which kicks off a new series) is cute. I appreciate the way Beharrie highlights the foster care system in South Africa and the way mental health is also discussed in this #ownvoices story. However, the romance aspect and plot overall fell a little flat for me. I just felt like it was missing something to connect everything together and I found it a bit difficult sometimes to keep track of what was a dream and what was real life.
     Overall, this was a good book and I’m intrigued to see how the series will continue, but I’ve read better romcoms.

*I received an ARC from Kensington Books in exchange for my honest opinion.

---