Book Review: Man of My Dreams

Man of My Dreams by Olivia Worley will be publised in the U.S. on June 2, 2026. If you love a genre mash-up of romance/thriller, pick up Man of My Dreams as your first summer beach read.

I had other books higher on my TBR—my ARC list is long! But once I opened this book and started reading, I really could not stop. I loved the premise too much; what if you meet the charming male lead of your work in progress IN PERSON. He’s real? This book just flowed and the chapters melted away.

Man of My Dreams begins with a meet-cute. Romance author Ivy Harcourt is stuck (tiny bit of writer’s block) in the middle of writing her book when the romantic lead, a handsome British architect named Liam shows up in front of her, with an adorable dog, too. Her writing is inspired and even though she has some doubts about Liam, she keeps dating him and finds herself well on the way to falling in love.

Man of My Dreams is an intriguing mix of the romance and psychological thriller genres. The set up and first few chapters are giving (almost too-good-to-be-true) romance with hints of dread and maybe even a dark past. Ivy seems to have some lost memories and there’s a mysterious fire in her past. She also has a new stalker named Heathcliff and she wonders if Liam could be her stalker. Uh-oh. I mean, he did just appear and he’s way too much like her book character. And yes, Wuthering Heights fans, there are allusions to this toxic gothic book throughout the text (Haunt Me Then!).

Tension escalates as more weird stuff happens to Ivy; her ex-boyfriend shows up being all chaotic and then winds up murdered! And then Ivy is a suspect. She wants to believe she has nothing to do with it, but she’s not sure she can trust herself, her memories, or her pesky habit of sleepwalking. The last 1/3 of the book just flew by. I could not turn the pages fast enough (on my Kindle, LOL).

If you love a genre mash-up of romance/thriller, pick up Man of My Dreams as your first summer beach read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So Happy Together by Olivia Worley looks so good too! Adding it to my TBR!