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In the realm of Azenor during each new moon, magic flows from the nearby mountain and brings nightmares to life. Only magicians, serving as territory wardens, stand between their people and the mountain’s curse.
Clementine Madigan has been preparing to follow in her father’s footsteps and take over as the warden of her small country town, but when two magicians arrive to challenge her, she finds herself suddenly bereft of home and purpose.
Determined to get revenge, she disguises herself to secretly get closer to Phelan, one of the handsome young magicians. The closer they become, though, the more secrets begin to rise, and Clementine is drawn unwittingly into a century-old conflict. There may be a way to stop the mountain’s curse, but Clementine can’t do it alone. If she hopes to succeed, she’ll have to unite with her rival.
I was quickly spellbound by the whimsical writing from the moment I first stepped into the world of Azenor. For being a romance-heavy fantasy, Dreams Lie Beneath also features lush, beautiful world building and a unique magic system. It can be a little hard to grasp the complexity of the mythology at first, but Rebecca Ross does a good job of avoiding info dumps and instead leads readers through the story in a natural way.
However, there was one letdown. With the hype of the full moon and manifesting dreams, I was anticipating more. Instead, only one dream comes to life each new moon, and, in my opinion, this made the story feel a little anticlimactic.
However, Dreams Lie Beneath reads like a fairy tale, and I had absolutely no idea where the plot was headed. It was exactly what I needed when I read it, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Overall, this is definitely a clean story I would recommend to anyone who loves fairy tales or an enemies-to-lovers romance.
Rated: Mild, for magical fights featuring some blood. Two characters share a bed, but nothing happens beyond that. Characters kiss. There is at least one use of mild language.
