In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams

When Madison Walker returns to Rome, Kentucky with nothing but a tortoise named Sammy and a culinary degree she barely earned, she’s convinced she’s just added another spectacular failure to her résumé. What she doesn’t know is that James Huxley, the stoic farm owner she’s spent years sparring with, has built an entire restaurant just to bring her home. This delicious fourth installment, In Your Dreams, in Sarah Adams’ When In Rome series serves up a heartwarming story about self-belief, quiet devotion, and discovering that sometimes the best place to find yourself is exactly where you started.

A Romance Rooted in Authenticity

Adams has crafted something genuinely special with Madison and James’s relationship. Their journey from childhood antagonists to tentative friends to lovers unfolds with remarkable patience and emotional honesty. Madison, labeled “The Failure” by her own internalized narrative, carries the weight of a thousand disappointments—from teaching jobs that didn’t fit to a culinary education that nearly broke her spirit. Her struggles with anxiety and imposter syndrome feel painfully real, never romanticized or quickly resolved.

James, meanwhile, embodies quiet strength without falling into the typical “stoic hero” trope. He’s been in love with Madison for a decade, yet his devotion manifests not in grand declarations but in cinnamon toast at midnight, believing in her talent when she can’t, and quite literally building her a dream. His willingness to shoulder impossible burdens to protect those he loves creates both his greatest strength and his most dangerous flaw. The tension between his self-sacrificing nature and Madison’s need for honesty provides genuine conflict that feels earned rather than manufactured.

The dual point-of-view structure allows readers to experience both Madison’s spiraling self-doubt and James’s aching longing. Adams expertly uses this perspective shift to create dramatic irony—we know James sees Madison as extraordinary while she’s convinced she’s falling short. The contrast is both heartbreaking and hopeful, pulling readers deeper into their eventual coming together.

Small-Town Charm Meets Culinary Dreams

The Rome, Kentucky setting breathes with life beyond just serving as a romantic backdrop. Adams populates her small town with memorable characters who feel like genuine community members rather than props. From Mabel’s meddling at the local diner to Harriet’s stern disapproval masking deeper loneliness, the supporting cast adds texture and warmth. The Walker siblings—particularly Madison’s relationship with her sisters Emily, Annie, and sister-in-law Amelia—provide emotional grounding and genuine moments of sisterly love that balance the romantic storyline.

The farm-to-table restaurant concept, The Greenhouse, becomes more than just a plot device. Adams thoughtfully explores Madison’s creative process as she develops a menu that honors Southern culinary traditions while showcasing her training. The descriptions of jalapeño skillet cornbread, heirloom tomato stacks, and cornmeal-crusted catfish make your mouth water while revealing character. Madison’s evolution from mimicking trendy New York aesthetics to embracing the food of her roots mirrors her personal growth beautifully.

However, the culinary world details occasionally feel surface-level. Readers expecting deep kitchen insight might find the restaurant development happening too quickly and too smoothly given the timeline pressures. The soft opening chaos, while entertaining, resolves almost too neatly for a venture with such high stakes.

Navigating Imperfection and Growth

Where Adams truly excels is in portraying messy, realistic personal growth. Madison doesn’t transform from self-doubting to confident overnight. She takes two steps forward and one step back, makes impulsive decisions, cries frequently, and sometimes runs away from difficult conversations. This authenticity makes her eventual triumphs feel genuinely earned.

The book doesn’t shy away from difficult emotions. Madison’s panic attacks are handled with sensitivity, never used for cheap drama. Her internalized belief that she’s inherently a failure stems from real experiences—a harsh chef in New York, a relationship where she wasn’t “good enough,” a lifetime of comparing herself to successful siblings. Adams shows how trauma compounds, how one negative voice can drown out a chorus of support.

Yet the resolution of Madison’s self-doubt arc feels somewhat rushed. After spending hundreds of pages building her insecurities, the shift toward self-acceptance accelerates rapidly in the final chapters. While satisfying emotionally, the transformation might have benefited from more gradual development.

Romance That Rewards Patience

The romance between Madison and James simmers beautifully for most of the novel. Their banter crackles with unresolved tension, and Adams excels at creating charged moments from the mundane—shared looks over farm deliveries, hands touching during menu planning, the weight of unspoken feelings in everyday conversations.

When they finally acknowledge their feelings, the emotional payoff is substantial. The “his and hers turtles” gesture perfectly encapsulates James’s character—slightly absurd, deeply thoughtful, and completely sincere. Their intimate scenes balance heat with genuine emotional connection, feeling like natural extensions of their relationship rather than obligatory romance novel checkboxes.

The decision to keep their relationship secret until after the restaurant launch adds realistic complications without feeling contrived. It also creates opportunities for sweet stolen moments that heighten the romance. However, some readers might find the extended “will they/won’t they” frustrating, particularly when both characters’ feelings become obvious relatively early.

Family Dynamics and Sibling Relationships

A particular strength of In Your Dreams is the exploration of family expectations and sibling dynamics. The revelation that James risked the entire family farm on Madison without telling her creates genuine conflict with layers of complexity. Was his gesture romantic or patronizing? Protective or dishonest? Adams doesn’t provide easy answers, instead allowing both perspectives validity.

The Walker siblings’ relationships feel authentic, particularly the sisters’ group dynamic. Their unconditional support of Madison contrasts sharply with her self-perception, creating poignant moments when she finally sees herself through their eyes. The pregnancy subplot with Amelia adds sweetness without overshadowing the main romance.

The Huxley brothers’ fraught relationship provides additional depth. Tommy isn’t simply an antagonist; he’s a complicated character whose frustration with James’s martyr complex has merit, even when his delivery is harsh. Their reconciliation, while perhaps coming a bit quickly, addresses real issues about communication and family burdens.

The Critique: Where It Stumbles

Despite its many strengths, In Your Dreams has notable weaknesses. The restaurant’s timeline feels impossibly compressed—three and a half months from conception to opening for a venture this complex strains credibility, even in fiction. The financial stakes are repeatedly emphasized as dire, yet solutions appear almost too conveniently.

The soft opening disaster, while entertaining and emotionally resonant, relies heavily on Murphy’s Law—everything that can go wrong does, all at once. The subsequent opening night success feels slightly anticlimactic by comparison, resolved largely off-page through magazine reviews rather than shown experiences.

Additionally, while Madison’s growth is central to the story, James’s character development feels somewhat neglected. His tendency toward self-sacrifice is identified as problematic but never truly addressed. He learns to be more honest, but his fundamental patterns remain largely unchanged, which may leave some readers wanting more reciprocal growth.

The pacing also suffers in the middle section, where the restaurant preparation details occasionally bog down the narrative momentum. While these scenes develop Madison’s professional confidence, they sometimes feel repetitive and could have been condensed.

Writing Style and Tone

In In Your Dreams, Adams writes with warmth and accessibility that makes the pages fly by. Her prose balances humor with genuine emotion, never taking itself too seriously while still honoring the characters’ pain. The Southern setting influences the rhythm and voice without relying on caricature or excessive dialect.

The alternating perspectives work well, though Madison’s voice is distinctly stronger and more fully realized than James’s. Her chapters crackle with anxiety, wit, and vulnerability, while his sometimes feel more observational and reactive. Both perspectives are necessary for the story, but the imbalance is noticeable.

The humor lands consistently, particularly in Madison’s internal monologue and her interactions with her sisters. The running joke about Madison’s impulsive decisions and James’s steadiness creates a nice counterbalance. However, some readers might find certain comedic moments—like the turtle purchase or the skinny-dipping jail incident—veer toward sitcom territory.

For Fans Of…

If you enjoyed the earlier books in the When In Rome series, In Your Dreams delivers the same cozy small-town charm with familiar characters. Readers who loved The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams will appreciate the friends-to-lovers dynamic. Fans of Beach Read by Emily Henry might appreciate the protagonist’s journey to overcome creative blocks and self-doubt, though this is lighter in tone.

Those who enjoy chef romances like The Recipe for Perfect Happiness by Abby Jimenez or the small-town warmth of The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren will find much to love. The book also shares DNA with Book Lovers by Emily Henry in its exploration of a career woman returning to her small-town roots and discovering what truly matters.

For readers who appreciated Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston’s focus on anxiety representation or People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry’s exploration of long-term friendship turning to love, this offers similar emotional beats with a Southern culinary twist.

Final Verdict

In Your Dreams is a warm, emotionally satisfying romance that celebrates second chances, self-discovery, and the courage to trust both yourself and others. While it occasionally stumbles with pacing and some resolution feels rushed, the authentic portrayal of anxiety, the delicious culinary details, and the slow-burn romance create a deeply satisfying reading experience.

Adams has crafted characters worth rooting for and a love story that feels genuinely earned. Madison’s journey from self-doubt to self-acceptance resonates because it’s messy, nonlinear, and hard-won. James’s quiet devotion provides a beautiful counterpoint to romantic heroes who grand gesture their way to love—sometimes the most romantic thing is simply believing in someone when they can’t believe in themselves.

In Your Dreams works both as a standalone and as part of the series, though returning readers will appreciate the deeper context for the Rome, Kentucky community. It’s comfort reading at its finest—a story that wraps you in warmth, makes you laugh, might make you cry, and ultimately leaves you believing in the possibility of finding home, both in a place and in a person.

Perfect for readers seeking: friends-to-lovers romance, small-town settings, culinary themes, anxiety representation, found family dynamics, and hope that our greatest failures might actually be stepping stones to where we’re meant to be.

• Recommended for fans of: Sarah Adams’ other works, Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, Christina Lauren, Casey McQuiston, and anyone who believes the best love stories are the ones where two people help each other become who they’re meant to be.