Winter Dreams

Winter Magic, Book 2

By: Marie Sexton

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Sequel to Winter Oranges

What happens when a player gets played?

Actor Dylan Frasier is known as one of the biggest playboys in Hollywood, infamous for seducing men and women alike. He’s also half in love with his two best friends. Unfortunately, Jason and Ben are madly in love with each other, leaving Dylan the odd man out. When Ben suggests an extended Christmas vacation at a resort modeled after his favorite 80s TV show, Dylan reluctantly agrees. Sure, his heart breaks a bit every time he sees them together, but it’s a vacation in the Bahamas. How bad can it be?

At first, the resort seems like any other. Dylan plans to work on his tan, get laid, and hunt for Hollywood’s most in-demand director – not necessarily in that order. Then he meets Connor, a tennis instructor still hurting from a bad breakup. Connor knows Dylan’s reputation and refuses to be seduced. Dylan sees Connor as just another conquest, but this tropical island isn’t as mundane as it appears. It has its own kind of magic, and it’s about to make things interesting.

©2022 Marie Sexton (P)2022 Marie Sexton

Good Followup to Book One

I really enjoyed book one in this series, Winter Oranges. So when I saw this one was coming out, I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed. I loved Dylan and Connor's story almost as much as Jason and Ben's. It was definitely worth reading but experiencing it with the narration from Nick J Russo made it even better.

Absolute Perfection!!!

I didn’t think this could possibly beat Winter Oranges but I was incredibly wrong! This story was so beautiful, it had me crying happy and sad tears along the way. The characters that Marie creates are some of the best I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The love the couples have for each other but also how strong the love the friendships have are so palpable, it took my breath away. It’s been a long time since a story or stories have made me feel the way Winter Oranges & Winter Dreams did 🥰🥹

Almost forgot to mention how incredible Nick’s performance was! He was perfection and gave the characters their own unique voices without changing his voice in odd ways I notice other narrators do at times. The amount of emotion he puts into his narration really made the book so much more of an experience. It was almost like I was in the same room with these characters and feeling what they were feeling. Nick might be my new favorite narrator after this!

a good romance

After reading Winter Oranges, I wasn’t sure how I really felt about Dylan. I thought that I didn’t like him. Reading Winter Dreams changed how I felt. Dylan and Connor’s story is unique and I am happy to have read it. Nick J. Russo’s narration is so easy to listen to and was enjoyable.

I Loved the ideas of this book

Dylan was a trip, I enjoyed the fall with him and Connor. Nick J. Russo could set me on fire reading...er "performing" stories from the Bible...plz marry me! Thank you Marie Sexton. If only we could dream about our possible futures and possibly be given the opportunity to change things. But I don't think even that would work because humans as a race overall are insane. We do know our nature, we do know our history and we to some extent can view our trajectories (climate change anyone?) And yet still we are doomed to repeat over and over the same things that failed us in the past (ergo the rise and fall of empires)

Loved it!

Read Winther oranges first, so you get the back story of Dylan’s friendship with Jason and Ben. Such a lovely series. Sweet and romantic with a sprinkling of magic

Touching sequel

I loved Winter Oranges, and so was thrilled when a sequel came out. I listened to the two books in two days, loving them. I adore books where I can follow characters through the series and this hit the perfect note. I fell in love with Jason and Ben in the last book – most especially Ben.

In this book, I loved both characters. Connor was so endearing – not wanting to get involved with a ‘player’. I adored Dylan because he was protective of his friends Jason and Ben. And also because, although he has lots of shallow relationships, he is capable of depth.

And, because this is a winter magic story, there’s an element of the supernatural or magic or whatever. It’s the island they’re all on. The matchmaking island. I was sure Connor and Dylan would wind up together – but I was surprised how much they went through to get there.

Anyway, I loved it and I was so happy Marie chose to give Dylan a happy ending and giving me more time with Ben and Jason. Finally, Nick J. Russo. Fantastic. Great narration that seamlessly transitioned between a story he narrated more than five years ago and now this one. I suggest listening to the duology together if you hadn’t found them before. Like, go get them now.

Loved, loved, LOVED this book SO much.

Oh my god, I loved this book so much. You MUST read the previous book first, which I also HIGHLY recommend & I also loved, in order to truly get full enjoyment, but if you've already read that (or once you do read it), you MUST, MUST MUST read this book. I felt SO many feelings during this book. I was completely swept up in the story, the characters and how much I wanted that happy ending. It has so much sweetness, so much love, a good healthy dose of humor, not a bad amount of heat, but to be honest, also serious pathos & darkness at times. Despite the magic inherent in the story, there is realism that was definitely appreciated. Life isn't always fluffy and easy for these characters and they need more than magic to make their dreams reality. But again, there is sweetness and humor to balance it out. I did have a goofy smile on my face pretty often.

There is one warning I should give, as much as I feel like this is a fantastic book that I personally loved and totally recommend. There ought to be a trigger warning for suicide of a loved one. I can't say more than that because of spoilers, but really, if that's a really serious trigger issue, there is something similar in this book. Also minor trigger for substance abuse & slight for sexual coercion.

Nick J. Russo did an EXCELLENT job of performing this book. He brought these characters to life and I'm sure that added to my experience of so many emotions as I binged through it in about a day, only stopping when necessary.

While I cannot imagine a need for a third book, I feel like I love these characters so much that I kind of wish for an excuse to see more of them.

Great story, great audio performance.

It’s been several years since I listened to the first book in the Winter Magic series but I still remember how much I enjoyed listening to that audiobook. While Winter Dreams is a sequel to Winter Oranges, I think you can probably enjoy it as a standalone story. However, I highly encourage you to read Winter Oranges first so that you will have the background on Jason and Ben who are substantial characters in Winter Dreams.

Having been a huge fan of the TV series Fantasy Island (1977-1984 according to Wikipedia) I loved how Marie Sexton incorporated things from that show into Winter Dreams. It gave the story just enough of a magical feel. While Dylan is kind of a jerk at the beginning of the story, he gradually grew on me; I love it when a not-so-nice character finds redemption. Connor is an unbelievably patient man and I liked how he was cautious with developing a relationship with Dylan.

I think this was a perfect follow-up to Winter Oranges and I’m so happy that Marie Sexton wrote it. I’m also grateful that Nick J. Russo performed the audio book since he also performed Winter Oranges. He captures the characters perfectly – especially Ben. His voice conveyed all of the wide-eyed wonder that makes Ben who he is.

A copy of this book/audiobook was provided to me at my request and my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author/narrator.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

enjoyed it

📖 Story comment: easy pace, likeable characters, entertaining story.
I enjoyed Dylan's story - I was invested in his character from Winter Oranges and I'm happy he eventually got a story - it's a story that did justice for his character and I was delightfully entertained. I enjoyed Winter Dreams, having grown up with "Fantasy Island" in the 80's, the concept was one I enjoyed.

🎧 Narrator comment: I enjoyed Nick J. Russo narration, he suits the characters, has good cadence, inflections and intonations and it's easy to distinguish the characters from each other. Overall an enjoyable performance and he bought the book to life.


⚠️⚠️ ***** Possible spoiler **** proceed with caution ***** ⚠️⚠️
Many of the "lessons" Dylan learns are through his dreams - written in italic font in the book version which makes a clear distinction from the current story text - the distinction didn't always easily carry through to audio. Because I hadn't read the book beforehand, I didn't listen to the book in one entire sitting and always stop at the end of a chapter, not knowing when a new chapter started with a "dream sequence", there were times I was completely lost and thought I was missing part of the story because there was such a different change between where I left off and what I'd come back to. [I'm not knocking Nick's narration], just be aware there a few dreams scattered throughout this book - you're not missing anything from the story!

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📌 Where does it fall on my personal scale? 7
• 1 not my thing • 2 didn't like the narration • 3 didn't keep my attention • 4 was good, but once was enough • 5 enjoyed it • 6 will listen again if I'm in the mood for the narrator • 7 goes on the "re-listen" list [4⭐] • 8 kept me up past bed-time [4.5⭐] • 9 recommended to family/friends [4.75⭐] • 10 own it in multiple formats [5⭐] • 11 keep a copy with me at all times [5⭐]
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Dylan from Winter Oranges

I'm going to be brutally honest. Marie Sexton's Winter Dreams wasn't what a was hoping for. It's probably my own fault because I rarely read blurbs, but I thought this was a continuation of Winter Oranges which was so incredibly sweet and creative and unique. Come on... if you look at the cover for both books it does look like they're both about Jason and Ben.

The characters from that book do feature in Winter Dreams, but it's mostly centered around the spoiled playboy ex f-buddy of Jason's, Dylan. Grrr - Hollywood brats behaving badly but learning how to love again. Ah well.

The audio version is nicely performed by Nick J. Russo, so that was lucky.