Love and the Dream Come True by Tammy L. Gray: Book Review

 **I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All thoughts are my own. 

Their faith will face its toughest test yet.

Four years after getting the biggest break of his life, Cameron Lee's music career has taken a nosedive, leaving him two options: become a sellout or give up on his lifelong dream. He reluctantly returns home for his sister's wedding, hoping to avoid his past and find his love for music again.

Single mom Lexie Walters has suffered her fair share of tragedies and setbacks, but she has finally scraped together the money to achieve her dream of going into business with her cousin as an interior designer. When Lexie's life is at an all-time high, she runs into her teenage crush, Cameron Lee.

Lost in the emotional turmoil of failure, Cameron is immediately drawn to Lexie and her infectious smile and optimistic spirit. Moreover, he adores her mouthy, no-holds-barred daughter. But fantasies only last so long, and soon Lexie and Cameron must face the real world, the one fraught with heartbreak, disappointment, and questions that sometimes can only be answered by a leap of faith.

Tammy L. Gray (www.tammylgray.com) lives in the Dallas area with her family, and they love all things Texas. Her nine modern and true-to-life contemporary romances include the 2017 RITA Award-winning My Hope Next Door. When not taxiing her three kids to various events, Tammy can be spotted crunching numbers as the financial administrator at her hometown church.

Love and the Dream Come True is the third book in the State of Grace series. Personally, I had read book one---though it had certainly been awhile--- and somehow missed book two so there was definitely a bit of story there that I had missed. However, it didn't feel like it. I found that despite knowing that we get more backstory on some of the characters in previous books in the series, I was given enough that I could enjoy this one as a standalone as well. 

This book was written in the present tense, which I must admit is one of my very least favorite styles. I find that it can be quite difficult to do it well, and as such I tend to not enjoy them. While at first it might have been a little distracting, it didn't take long for me to become to drawn into the story that I didn't even notice it. I found all the characters to be well written, and despite my initial hesitations, I needed to keep reading on. The leading characters Cameron and Lexie were very well written, imperfect as they were. I enjoyed seeing them come together and growing throughout. Morgan- Lexie's daughter- added just the right amount of sass to the story as well, and really was a great character. I loved that in some ways, she was quite mature for her age... but that we also saw her act like a teenager as well. 

As someone who deals with panic attacks often, I thought the depiction of them in this book was handled very well. It's certainly not the most pleasant of experiences to read about, but I think for those who have never dealt with them, it could be eye opening as well. 

There was a lot going on in this story, but it was very well written and kept me hanging on right through to the end! If you enjoy a good Christian romance, this series is one to check out!