Stolen Dreams

A Cassie Scot Novel, Book 4

By: Christine Amsden

Narrated by: Melissa Reizian Frank

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Edward Scot and Victor Blackwood have hated each other for nearly a quarter of a century, but now their simmering hatred is about to erupt.

When Cassie Scot returns home from her sojourn in Pennsylvania, she finds that her family has taken a hostage. Desperate to end the fighting before someone dies, Cassie seeks help from local seer Abigail Hastings, Evan Blackwood's grandmother. But Abigail has seen her own death, and when it comes at the hand of Cassie's father, Victor Blackwood kills Edward Scot.

But things may not be precisely as they appear.

Evan persuades Cassie to help him learn the truth, teaming them up once again in their darkest hour. New revelations about Evan and his family make it difficult for Cassie to cling to a shield of anger, but can Evan and Cassie stop a feud that has taken on a life of its own? Conclusion to the Cassie Scot series.

©2014 Christine Amsden (P)2014 Christine Amsden

A Spectacular Ending to an Enjoyable Series!

If you could sum up Stolen Dreams in three words, what would they be?

Intriguing, Fun, and Satisfying.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I've enjoyed all the characters in this series - and it's hard to chose a favorite. But it would be crazy not to choose Cassie, since she's the star, so to speak, and since we mostly see the world through her perspective. I enjoy her dry wit and blunt honesty, although sometimes she makes me want to shake her and say, "Wake up, for goodness sake!" She's not as honest with herself as she is with others - so there's a bit of self-delusion and denial always going on in the background. Fortunately, this is all resolved in this last book of the series, with a very satisfying result. ;o)

Which scene was your favorite?

I loved the scene where Cassie and Evan finally put aside their anger and talk to each other. The bedroom scene was very well done. And the part where Cassie refused the item Evan was offering her was sweet and heartwrenching. (I'm being purposefully obtuse because I don't want to spoil the story for others who might not have read it yet.)

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Again, I can't say specifically which scene I mean, but it's where someone we all love and care about is reportedly killed. I was actually quite angry when I listened to this scene, and planned to have some words with the author! But she redeemed herself beautifully, with a solution to this problem which caught me totally unaware - and which melted my heart. Well done, Ms. Amsden!

Any additional comments?

I was very disappointed in what happened to Cassie's cousin, Jason - but I know why he made the choice he did. I just hope in the future (I know this is the last book in the series, but in case there is ever a sequel...) that Caitlin really doesn't go with him and let him turn her - for the sake of her baby! That would be horrible. ;o(

Thank you, Ms. Amsden and Ms. Reizian Frank, for a wonderful, entertaining production.

Fantastic Series

I became invested in Cassie's journey early on and it has been a thrilling ride. I love seeing her grow and accept herself and others around her. The narrator does a fantastic job bringing the story & characters to life.

Finally - all the answers and resolutions.........

Stolen Dreams is the book for which we have all been waiting: the fourth in this paranormal mystery series and the book that answers all of our questions and gives us resolution for Cassie and Evan. I must admit that I was nervous to begin this book because I wanted so badly for it to end in a certain way, and I am happy to admit that Asmden delivered as always, and I finished the book with a huge smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart. The book starts out with a bang as Evan is fighting to escape bounty hunters and Cassie is trying to talk her family into ceasing their lifelong feud with Evan's family, the Blackwoods. All Cassie's hopes are destroyed when the Blackwoods strike an irreversible blow against the Scots, and Cassie must not only fight to protect her family from opposing forces in the magic world but also to hold them together.

If this wasn't enough for Cassie to handle, she is also learning about a previously unknown and untrained power within herself. As she begins to develop this power, she also begins to love herself exactly as she is, magical powers or not. I loved watching her come to this healthy place, and I loved it even more that this made a future with Evan seems possible again. Stolen dreams is the perfect blend of action scenes, family drama, romance and the paranormal, and I am as sad as I am happy that it wrapped up Evan and Cassie's story so beautifully. Luckily, Amsden continues the series with stories about Cassie's friends, Madison and Kaitlin, so this magical world isn't quite at an end.

Melissa Reizian Frank narrates all the books in the Cassie Scot series, and she is amazingly talented. I already love the story, but Frank's narration makes the books even more enjoyable as audiobooks. She plays each character with a unique quality, and her tone and pitch are perfect for the varying scenes from action-packed to romantic to serious to joyful.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

What an ending!

Finally the end of the series has arrived. I was really hoping all those pesky questions would get answered. Thankfully most are, some are kind of vague still.

A is typical with this series we jump into the middle of things. There are gaps in time between books that are told but not shown. Sometimes that makes you feel like you are playing catch-up with the story. Things are explained, it just takes a little time.

Everything is not happiness and light in this book. Things are coming to a head and there are casualties. A few really heartbreaking moments, have the tissues handy.

The romance is finally sorted out, I think you will like the end result. There also seems to be a hint of HEA for her friends Madison and Katelyn. It might be nice to have a follow-up novella to tie up those strings.

The story is mostly from Cassie's POV, but there are a few sections of Evan. It gives you a broader view of what is going on. I kind of wish we had more of Evan, it would have balanced things out a bit more.

There is a bit of cracked bedroom door. This means a few people get intimate, with a tiny bit of detail. It is barely worth noting, but I know some people do not like any mention of sex in a book. Up to this point there has been on smexy time in the series.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Melissa Reizian Frank, who has been wonderful throughout the series. She had great voices and characterization a that were easy to identify. She drew you more into the story and had you by the heart at emotional moments! Her pace was perfect for all the action and energy of the story.

I am sad that it is over, but thrilled to see how it turned out. Really entertaining series that kept you guessing!

Disclosure - I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions and ratings are my own.

Oh the emotions!

All of the Cassie Scott books have been great to listen to, but I think this one is my favorite! So many emotions in this book. Some things didn't turn out the way I was hoping they would and some things turned out even better!!

*I requested this book and am voluntarily leaving this review

another good listen

This was another good listen. Cassie  is still letting her stubborn nature rule and as a result ends up in dangerous situations. The narration is great.
I was given this free audiobook copy at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

the end has arrived

this series was extraordinary fantastic and spectacular I loved every single thing with this special and very very incredible series as I already told in my reviews the ending was incredible spectacular and fantastic it was very very enjoyable I loved every single second of this book and this series

Stolen Dreams

Everything comes to a head! I love how the characters have grown throughout the series and the resolution to the long-standing feud. It would be great to see more of the secondary characters in future books. I’m sure their stories are just as gripping.

A very entertaining book and series written by Christine Amsden and narrated by Melissa Reizian Frank.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

Beautiful finale for a wonderful story

So worth it. I have never been so on edge listening to a book. Fantastic story. Love the characters. So great.

this series frustrated me so much

***Spoiler ahead, but if you've read this far into the series you've probably guessed it anyway.***

I'll give this a three based on objective-like quality. It probably deserves more, as it is well-written. But as has been the case with every book past the first, I've become increasingly frustrated with each one. And this last one had me so irritated I was ranting to my husband about what was obviously going to happen before it even did. And when it finally came about, I just wanted to one-star the sucker and DNF it.

I like Cassie. I even like Evan. I understood that the actions of their family aren't theirs and they were not in control of the situation. It's not actually them I dislike. (Though watching Evan try and manipulate and trick Cassie into marrying him, just like the dozens of other men, almost condemned him in my eyes.)

But something about the treatment of women in the book has been niggling me from the beginning and getting worse as the series went on. And I finally pinpointed it here. It's two fold. The first is Cassie being powerless and eventually accepting that.

Let me be more clear. Cassie spends the whole series successfully learning to defend herself without active magic. And importantly, she wants her magic and to be able to defend herself. (Not be defended, she wants to defend herself.) And she gets a lot of pushback for this from men who want to protect her instead.

One of the large turning points of the book is that Evan (who has her power) finally offers it back and she refuses it. She finally accepts that not everyone is a warrior and she doesn't have to be one because she married one instead. In other words, she accepted that it's a woman's place to stand back and be protected, not to actively protect themselves.

This whole, 'not everyone is a warrior' wouldn't have been as egregious for me if it had been Meredith or someone who didn't want to fight anyway. But for Cassie, who does, to finally accept this felt like a feminist kick in the teeth. She basically just stepped back into the traditional female role she had been fighting all along.

What's more it put her firmly back in the traditional role of sacrifice. She sacrificed her own power (and for a little while her family) to be with him. While he got to keep all of his ill-gotten power and get the girl. That made me angry.

As did seeing him try and force her into loving him. I promise you, a person can be so angry as to never want to see or have anything to do with someone and still love them. Happens in families all the time. Just because she might have lingering feelings of love does not mean she wants to tie herself to him. The whole 'bet me' plot line felt like a skeezy trap. It made him no better than all the men who slipped her love potions, in my opinion.

My second issue is bigger and vaguer. A running theme in the series is the slave trade, in which women (and apparently only women, if we go by anecdotal evidence) are kidnapped, drained of their magic to make them biddable, and sold into 'marriage' (which one would assume also means rape). This is spoken of as horrible. The one stranger the characters meet who is such a woman is obviously being abused. HOWEVER, every such woman we meet and get to know is perfectly happy in her captivity. All the men (and everyone else) refer to them as wives, bought wives, but wives. The slavery aspect is subtly erased.

If these were women who put themselves on the market to be bought, that would be fine. But remember the kidnapping, rape of magic and sale? These aren't wives any more than Sally Hemingway was Jefferson's 'mistress.' She and they were slaves. So, for the mayor's wife to lecture Cassie on how she and her husband love each other, for Evan's father to wax lyrical about trying so hard to make his first wife happy, etc, dismisses the gravity of slavery. He said he loved his wife, but he still had to let her go. She wasn't free to do so on her own. She was owned.

This acceptance of slavery, despite calling it bad, was strongly reinforced by the fact that throughout the series men are trying to enslave Cassie through magic and everyone just accepts it as normal. Cassie herself even decides to go work for and help the man who came closest to catching her. She understandood perfectly that he tried to enslave her mind, magically roofied her and tried to rape her. She sees this. But he's apparently not a bad enough man to avoid contact with or judge as evil. And neither is his father, despite buying a traumatized slave as a 'wife.'

The combination of these issues finally led me to hate this series, even as I liked the characters. There's something pervasively anti-woman in them. If you remember that the word 'nice' once meant foolish or stupid, you can then understand what I mean when I say it encourages us to be 'nice,' to not step out of our role, to not strive for more. Cassie did, and it was frustrating for four whole books. She only got her happiness when she stopped and accepted that she needed to let Evan do the protecting (and by extension much of the decision-making) and accept that she was better off without power.

The author did try and mediate this a little by saying Cassie didn't want her magic because she loved herself the way she was and giving her a gift she couldn't access with her power. But the first felt pat and the second wasn't part of Cassie's decision-making. She didn't know until after the decision was made.

So, I clicked the three-star button. But in my heart this was a one-star read.