Charlie and Cece are getting married at his family’s summer home in Montana in the summer of 2004. Cece arrives a few weeks earlier than Charlie to make sure that all the wedding preparations are in place. One day Charlie’s college friend and the wedding officiate, Garrett, stops by to meet Cece and take her for a hike in the mountains. They are attracted to each other and soon fall in love. Dream State follows these three characters, their families and their relationships to each other for the rest of their lives.

If my description of Eric Puchner’s debut novel sounds like a light, simple, romantic comedy, it is not. It is a fabulous, engrossing, wonderfully written novel. Dream State is one of the best works of fiction I have read in a long time. I couldn’t stop reading it but didn’t want it to end.