The Dream Lives On

by

Valeriya Goffe

Family secrets, a tense journey to safety, and hope for the future.

The Dream Lives On is a wonderful tale of adventure, romance, and family secrets that will seize the interest and warm the hearts of fiction lovers. As war comes to Ukraine, widower Viktor Yurchenko leaves his homeland for the safety of the United States with his large family, including three young children and his elderly mother. 

Viktor, a professor of finance at the local university, must put his personal desires to enlist in the military and defend his country from the Russian attacks; he’s the single father of three young children and the caretaker of his elderly mother, who has recently begun to decline physically. In the U.S., what Teresa Jameson thought was her happy family suddenly disintegrated when her husband of 16 years left her for the mother of his secret teenage daughter. In a surprising turn of events, Teresa agrees to open her home to a friend’s Ukrainian relatives fleeing the war, even as her shock and misery threaten to overtake her. 

The plot is riveting and well-paced as the various storylines converge. Long-held family secrets and plot twists galvanized the ensuing drama and kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering how things would work out and what could possibly happen next. 

The author’s writing style and vivid descriptions make the scenes come frighteningly alive, such as the family’s journey to escape separation and the destruction of war and Maria and Olena’s scramble to get to safety when Kyiv comes under the attack of Russian forces. However, quieter scenes between characters are equally effective and, at times, intense, with emotions that leap off the page. 

With its frighteningly authentic portrayal of a country at war, exciting plot, and relatable and resilient characters stuck in the middle of it all, I recommend THE DREAM LIVES ON to readers of fiction, historical fiction, romance, and war-time stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.