Elsie Silver starts off the Silver Lake series with a forbidden, drama-filled romance set against the backdrop of a picturesque ranch and a chaotic reality dating show.

Emmett Bush is a professional bull rider chasing glory in the arena, while Emmett Brandt is determined to save his grandparents’ struggling ranch. Keeping those two parts of his life separate has always been his priority. But when he’s offered the chance to star on Romance Ranch, a bachelor-style reality show filmed on his family’s property. The opportunity is too tempting to turn down.

Julia Silva sees Romance Ranch as her one shot at making it in the world of  LA production. As the show’s location consultant, she arrives at Emmett’s ranch. Emmett isn’t just a familiar face from her past. He’s also the professional rival of her brother, Theo, and the man connected to a cruise-ship incident two years earlier that changed Julia’s life forever. Forced back into each other’s orbit, Julia struggles to balance her growing attraction to Emmett with her loyalty to her brother and the fragile state of her career.

As filming progresses, Emmett becomes far more interested in spending time with Julia than romancing the women competing for his attention. Their undeniable chemistry slowly deepens into something real, threatening both the show and everything they’ve worked so hard to protect.

Emmett and Julia have sizzling chemistry from the very beginning, and it’s impossible not to root for them. Silver also captures the over-the-top personalities of TV and the fake drama of reality dating shows perfectly. The supporting cast mainly consists of Emmett’s siblings, who will be the protagonists of future books in the series. Fans of Elsie Silver’s previous books will also enjoy seeing familiar characters make appearances throughout the story.

While the romance and setting are undeniably addictive, FEVER DREAM does feel slightly overlong at times. Trimming fifty pages from the story would have made the pacing even stronger. Still, FEVER DREAM is an engaging, chemistry- filled start to the Silver Lake series, and I am looking forward to reading the upcoming books.