Goldfish Dreams
Jim Hines
Regal Crest Enterprises, LLC
ISBN 1-932300-03-1

Eileen Greenwood thought she'd left her problems behind when she moved into Sparrow Hall at Southern Michigan University, but the nightmares started again. Her brother Brad started sexually abusing her at age eleven, after her mother's death and when he became her babysitter. The abuse went on until he left home when she turned sixteen. She tried to tell her father but he didn't believe her. She never talked to Brad about what he was doing to her and she couldn't talk to her sister Krista.

Eileen has trouble adjusting to the closeness of dorm living and must be careful not to let anything slip that would reveal her secret. Her high school boyfriend broke off with her because of the distance her being in college put between them. She majors in psychology, and during a discussion about a particular behavioral approach used to control phobias, she takes it personally, yells at the professor and stomps out of class. On her way out, Teaching Assistant Patrick Hart slips her a note with the location of Outreach, the crisis center on campus.

Eileen goes to the crisis center and eventually tells Patrick about her brother Brad. Patrick meets her two or three times a week and soon they both know they are attracted to each other but Patrick wants her to come to terms with her past. They begin to date seriously but when Brad is killed in a traffic accident, Eileen becomes obsessed with finding out why Brad abused her. Patrick advises her to be careful which upsets her.

GOLDFISH DREAMS by Jim Hines is a complex story of a woman's sexual abuse by her brother that is written with sensitivity. Eileen is a strong character who gives the reader a look at how abuse affects the victim. Eileen and Patrick's relationship adds romance and the hope Eileen's future will be happy. In my opinion GOLDFISH DREAMS is one of those books readers will not forget soon; I know I won't for quite some time.—Reviewed by Hattie Boyd

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