Eron De Marchelle isn’t supposed to feel a connection. He is a Sandman, a supernatural being whose purpose is to seduce human charges to sleep. While he can communicate with his charges in their dreams, he isn’t encouraged to–after all, getting too involved in one human’s life would prevent him helping his other charges get their needed rest.
But he can’t deny that he feels something for Julia. Julia, with her fiery red hair and her sad dreams. Just weeks ago, her boyfriend died in a car accident, and Eron can tell that she feels more alone than ever. Eron was human once too, many years ago, and he remembers how it felt to lose the one he loved. Eron has always felt protective of Julia . . . but now, when she seems to need him more than ever, he can’t seem to reach her . . .
Sandmen are forbidden from communicating with humans outside their dreams. But will Eron be willing to risk everything for a chance to be with the person he loves?
This is Eron’s book (pronounced like Aaron). Sure, Julia makes contributions to the plot and she has her own chapters, but Eron is the focus and the force behind everything that happens. It took me a while to get into Eron, though.
Cyn Balog did a good job of making his mannerisms and speech typical of someone who was alive 100 years ago and never got a chance to become immersed in a changing culture before now. I think the difference was so marked, however, he was like an elderly grandfather to me at first instead of this young, good-looking guy. He was sweet and respectful and so innocent. Very different from most guys. But he eventually grew on me, to the point where I started thinking Julia didn’t deserve him.
The POV switches from Eron to Julia and back with each new chapter. This has been done before in books I’ve enjoyed, but honestly, I would have been completely fine with Eron getting the entire book. (Sorry, Julia.)
There was a lot of mentions about something bad happening in Julia’s past that made her “famous” (not in the good way), but it wasn’t revealed until near the end of the book. It’s not as bad as you’ll make it out to be, thankfully.
Also, the ending felt a little rushed, which happens a lot in YA books, but overall, it was sweet and a good pick if you haven’t read Cyn Balog before.