Daring to Dream

enjoyed the series

ロマンスの大御所ともいうべきノーラロバーツですが、この作品の中では、マーゴの人生のみならず、マーゴをささえるローラ、ケイトの存在も実に大きいと思う。大失敗の後には、頼りになる優しい男性の存在もありがたいけれど、元気を与えてくれるのは、女同士。ましてや同じようにテンプルトン家で育って来たのだものただならぬ友情にちょっぴりうらやましい気もする。

I loved this book and am so impressed with it as an entree to a trilogy. It all leads up to chemistry of the two romantic leads and they absolutely have this in spades, as well as the chemistry and deep friendship between three women. Dreamer, Margo Sullivan, moves as a young girl with her mother from Ireland when her mother takes a housekeeping job with a wealthy, Hotel Chain owning, Templeton family. Margo is essentially welcomed as a member of the family and sister to young Laura and Josh Templeton, as well as an orphaned cousin Kate who also grows up with them in the lap of luxury. Although Margo has always been treated as an equal, she's always aware that the dream is not hers and she grows up with goals that one day she'll have what the Templetons have. To help her obtain that dream, headstrong Margo grows into a stunning young woman and when she turns eighteen, she decides to move to LA to try her hand as a model. She ends up becoming fairly successful in the European market and during a vacation with one of her lovers, she ends up arrested, discovering that said lover is married and a criminal. Due to her lavish lifestyle and her lack of attention to where her money has been syphoned, Margo hits rock bottom and has to figure out what to do next.Hotel attorney and owner, Josh Templeton, practically Margo's brother with absolutely no blood relation, doesn't know when it happened, but growing up with Margo, he can't help but admit that he's hopelessly in love with her. Josh has watched Margo traipse around the world with her lovers and modeling gigs for 10 years while he secretly watches and waits for his opportunity to sweep her off her feet. He's been an integral part of her life, but he's never found the right time to introduce the concept of anything outside of their platonic relationship.As Margo is trying to straighten out her life, she ends up rushing home to California to help support Laura Templeton through an ugly divorce and she leans on her two best friends Kate, an accountant, and Laura, a mother and heiress, for support of her own. With no liquid assets and rooms full of luxury stuff she's accumluated over the past ten years, Margo, Laura and Kate, with a little push from Josh, decide to go into the consignment business to sell her things. This provides a career opportunity for Margo, a distraction for Laura, and an investment for Kate.Throughout the trials and tribulations of starting a new business, Josh is there every step of the way to provide encouragement as well as a reality check for some of Margo's wild ideas but it's the perfect opportunity for them to get together. The sparks absolutely fly between the two and the "girl time" between Margo, Kate and Laura is absolutely precious. This is truly a wonderful story of love and friendship without the misunderstandings and catty backstabbing that can come along with very human emotions. You can connect with Margo's envy of everyone around her, yet it doesn't turn into ugly jealousy and her growth from spoiled princess to, well, spoiled mature woman, is totally believable. It was a great journey and when I find myself needing a little pick me up, I can always turn back to rereading Daring to Dream. The best part is, there's two additional books, Kate and Laura's stories, to follow this one that provide a peak into this happily ever after.

This was a great book. It is a series of three books. Tied everything together. Nora Roberts is my favourite author.

This novel is book one of The Dream Trilogy. This series is a little older, and it is apparent that Ms. Roberts was still developing her story-telling style that I love so much. This book is good, and I recommend it; however, it does not quite measure up to her more recent works. I love this pattern that Nora has established of writing trilogies and quartets in which each novel is told from the point of view of a different main character of the series. It is very entertaining, and allows her to explore and develop her characters in a way that might otherwise not be possible. This book is romantic and sentimental, as are they all. Looking forward to starting the next volume.Michael Travis Jasper, Author of the Novel "To Be Chosen"