Literary Executive Review: Mellanie Crouell, “Sweet Dreams”
by ReadersMagnet | October 27, 2025 | Literary Executive Review | 0 Comments
There are some stories that really read like the author was purely driven by a message without worrying too much about style or technique.
And to me, Sweet Dreamsby Mellanie Crouell is one of those stories!
It is a very short read, about 60 pages or so. I can imagine some critics might find the style simplistic. But when I just read intently what it is about, who the main character is, and what he may very well represent, my respect for the author only grows.
Now, Mellanie Crouell resides in North Carolina. She is mainly a wife and mother, but she is also someone who is very active in supporting her local community. She has also gotten some very impressive awards, such as the 2001 Editor’s Award for Poetry.com and being a Finalist in the 2024 Pacific Book Award.
Still, when I read through Sweet Dreams, what comes out the strongest to me is really who she is in her community. The story is quite heavy, yet it also has strongly believable elements that only an authentic community participant could write.
The Story of a Soldier Coming Home
Sweet Dreams follows Leyton Preyson, a military veteran who retired and is now raising a son. The story starts with Leyton and his family currently at his childhood home, trying to catch up with a lot of the people in his neighborhood that he met back in the day.
We also learn that being in the military runs in the family. Leyton’s father was away at times, and this goes a bit into how it affected him growing up. Still, he came to understand his father in later years based on his own experience as he has a family of his own.
By the way, this isn’t even the heart of the story! The central element in Sweet Dreams is that there has actually been something haunting Leyton well into his time in service, and then coming back to the place where it happened.
In a strange yet touching way, all of this gets revealed surprisingly early on in the book. It is like I’m watching the ending of a powerful life drama, yet it is playing in reverse. Without giving it all away, the main conflict of the story is Leyton’s past involvement with two other men, Carl and Averret.
Averret is the son of a close friend of Leyton’s family. Meanwhile, Carl comes from a troubled background whose actions are key to several traumatic events haunting Leyton.
And the more I read on, the more surprised I am at how complex the story is despite its length!
It is a good demonstration of why I think this is a story that could have only been written by someone whose work involves helping a community. Don’t let its title fool you. Sweet Dreams actually delves into some very uncomfortable topics like suicide, drug abuse, and sex trafficking.
There are plenty of communities and neighborhoods that are suffering from this problem. It is why they need the help of people like the author. Reading Sweet Dreams is like reading multiple stories of people who are facing such traumatic events, yet also woven in a fairly compelling manner. Peyton and Averret sound like two imperfect yet still upstanding men of character confronting an ugly reality in their community.
At the same time, though, it still hits the right notes for showing how trauma is handled and overcome. As some might expect, a good deal of this story is about Leyton finding closure in multiple areas of his life.
The book also has plenty of faith messages as it plays a pivotal role in his resilience. Again, without giving too much away, the tragedy that Leyton experienced was just one link in a complex web of issues in his environment. When more is uncovered, he is constantly beseeching God and the Holy Spirit to help him see it through.
A Down-to-Earth Story of Healing, Justice, and Hope
Overall, I can easily imagine the kind of audience that this book will resonate with. For those of you eager to read about stories of confronting traumatic events, closure, and the power of faith, then this book is another great recommendation.
The writing is short and simple, but it tells the story in a way that does not downplay the difficult topics. And even when discussing difficult topics, it only presents them to show how they can be healed from.
I would like to especially recommend this story to people grappling with a sense of guilt for things they could not control. The book has a particularly uplifting message for people who feel like they could have done more to keep a bad situation from getting worse. A book like this can really help them see the beauty in just doing their best to save one person.Those who would like to get the full story of redemption, closure, and spiritual strength in Sweet Dreams can get a copy right here at the ReadersMagnet Bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
