A rich guy having to “slum it” so he can learn the value of money and the meaning of friendship is, in my book, as much fun as a poor man suddenly finding he is rich. In this story, Brian Paulson is a spoiled rich kid who has never worked a day in his life, lives off a trust fund his grandfather set up for him, and surrounds himself with friends who are after a good time. He is a good guy deep down – but it takes the extreme of losing all he has and needing to learn how to survive for him to find out what he is made of. ‘Chasing the Dream” is his story – it pulled me in and didn’t let me go until I had read the epilogue. Brian and Cade are complex characters, the plot is intriguing and has a few twists that made me smile, and the ending is about as perfect as it can get.

Brian is not very likable at the beginning. He is rich, spends his life going shopping, and pays for parties and entertainment his friends attend. I don’t think he likes himself very much either, but, from what follows, it becomes clear that he has never actually considered who he is and what he wants. As he goes through the trials his grandfather has set up for him, he begins to think about what he wants, who is really important to him, and what he will do with the rest of his life.

As it turns out, Brian has never had a very good relationship with his parents. Most of his family are horrible, arrogant, selfish people, and the “friends” he has are only around for the money he spends on them. The minute all of that is taken away, as per his grandfather’s will, none of them so much as talks to Brian any longer. That alone is a pretty hard lesson to learn, but on top of that, Brian now has to earn some money if he wants somewhere to live and something to eat for the next month.

His one saving grace is Cade, a man Brian helped protect from a mugger just before his grandfather died. Cade is poor despite working two jobs, but he has a heart of gold and is determined to help Brian find his feet. They are attracted and eventually begin a relationship, but Cade doesn’t let that interfere with helping Brian. He is tough and demands that Brian learns to stand on his own two feet. Cade teaches Brian what real friendship and love mean by example, and Brian turns out to be a good student. But not everything is as easy as it seems, and dear old grandpa has a few surprises up his sleeve… surprises that destroy Brian’s newfound balance and push him to make a decision about the fundamental principles he wants to guide his life.

If you like stories with events and people that challenge the main character to change and grow, if you believe that love and support can come from the most unexpected direction, and if you’re looking for a read that is full of tough challenges and almost impossible tasks, but also provides some funny, tender and heartwarming moments, then you will probably like this novel as much as I do. I loved it from beginning to end!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )