Fever Dream: A Novel (Emerald Lake)

By Elsie Silver

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Elsie Silver comes a small-town, forbidden, rivals-to-lovers romance, the first book in the brand-new Western romance series Emerald Lake.

Professional bull rider Emmett Bush is not looking for love. Heโ€™s looking for a paycheck to save his familyโ€™s farm from bankruptcy. So, when he agrees to be the leading man on a hot new reality dating show, Romance Ranch, heโ€™s already decided itโ€™s all one big performance.

Until Julia Silva walks onto his property. Smart, snarky, beautiful, and off-limits in more ways than one. As the location consultant on set and the little sister of his most bitter professional rival, sheโ€™s the last woman who should pique his interest.

Julia has been warned about Emmett. She knows better than to fall for his cocky swagger, broad shoulders, and smoldering good looks. Plus, sheโ€™s sworn off relationships.

But as Julia and Emmett work together, mutual distaste grows into an unexpected connection and thenโ€ฆ something more.

Soon, they find themselves searching for excuses to spend time together and out of reach of the cameras. Knowing glances. Stolen kisses. Secret rendezvous.

Still, Emmett signed up to play the role of an eligible bachelor searching for the one. His familyโ€™s land and legacy depend on him completing the show.

The problem is, heโ€™s already fallen in love.

Just not with a contestant.

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Published May 19, 2026

448 pages

Average rating: 6.94

79 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

CeLynasings
Jul 21, 2026
10/10 stars
I did not have โ€œfall in love with a Canadian Cowboyโ€ on my bingo card this year, but this story checked all of the boxes for collecting and reading about this entire family. Elsie Silver is a brilliant author and I have also fallen in love with her work. Fully formed emotions from characters who closed off emotions for all the real world reasons, to the comedic timing of every sassy joke, has me wanting more. Here is to more deep diving reads from Elsie Silver.
fromlizaslibrary
Jun 09, 2026
8/10 stars
This is my year of Elsie apparently! I really do love the small town cowboy thing but what was so fun about this story is seeing characters from her Chestnut Springs series. I love when authors intertwine their series and when Iโ€™ve read them to know the connections makes it so fun as a reader. I loved Emmett and getting to see his hidden persona and having it be Julia be the one to experience that was adorable. The flashback of the cruise was one of my favorite parts because we get to see the origin of these two getting to know each other outside of the rivalry between Emmett and Juliaโ€™s brother while showing who Emmett truly is. The dating show thing was a bit annoying but it did give a different twist to our plot. For once I donโ€™t have a whole series to binge but I am very excited to wait for the rest!
@sweettea_and_a_book
Jul 22, 2026
2/10 stars
โ€œ๐€๐ง๐ ๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ˆ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ข๐ญ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‰๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ข๐š ๐’๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐š.โ€ This cover drew me in, love at first sight ๐Ÿ˜ The story, uhโ€ฆ not so much. This is another dating show/cowboy romance that failed to rein me in. It felt like something Iโ€™ve read before. I was pretty intrigued the first 50 pages or so, but suddenly lost interest. Emmet was an ok guy, but didnโ€™t bring the rugged cowboy spirit I was craving. Julia pmo early on because how could you believe all the negativity things being spread about a guy who helped keep you safe? I did enjoy Emmettโ€™s family closeness. The narration was pretty good!
jasmin
Jul 03, 2026
10/10 stars
Elsie Silver did it again!! Fever Dream had me hooked from start to finish. Fast-paced, swoony, full of banter, and just the right amount of emotional punch.

Julia and Emmett? Obsessed. The chemistry, the tension, the forbidden vibesโ€”I ate it up. And the reality dating show mixed with small-town cowboy romance was so fun and addictive.

Also, the duet narration (Teddy Hamilton + Julia Goldani Telles + special guests) made it even better. I didnโ€™t want it to end.
April B.InkAudioDragon
May 23, 2026
8/10 stars
I absolutely loved this book! Elsie Silver has done it again!! She writes characters so beautifully! I was doing a buddy read with my girls Soozi & Mirna but I did speed ahead ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ lol It was that good I couldnโ€™t help it lol ๐Ÿ˜‚

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