Review: Dream Factory by Heather Hepler and Brad Barkley

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Buy the Book: Amazon                         Author's Websites: http://www.heatherhepler.com/, http://www.bradbarkley.com/

When the character actors at Disney World go on strike, the teens hired as replacements learn that it isn?t exactly the Happiest Place on Earth. Ella gets to be Cinderella, simply because the shoe fits. It should be a dream come true, but Ella no longer believes in dreams. Luke is a fur character, Dale the chipmunk. Chip is played by his girlfriend, Cassie, who is perfect in every way. Why, then, does Luke find himself more drawn to imperfect things like the theme park's Phantom? A team-building scavenger hunt brings Luke and Ella together. As they uncover the Magic Kingdom's treasures, they discover an undeniable magic between them.

My Review:

     Heather Hepler and Brad Barkley are pretty much my favorite writing team.  Ever.  No competition.  I've just never read any other chick-lit books that I fell in love with as completely as I've fallen in love with theirs.  So I really hope that this review inspires you so completely that you go to amazon and order it.  RIGHT NOW.

     Disney World, it’s the happiest place on earth right??? Wrong. Dream Factory, which is co-written by Heather Hepler and Brad Barkley, was published in 2007 by Dutton Books. This one-of-a-kind novel is about teenagers who have never met, yet they are given a once in a lifetime chance to work at Disney World one summer. When the characters at Disney go on strike, teenagers from around the world are rushed in for backup. Ella replaces Cinderella simply “because the shoe fits,” and soon learns that there is a darker side to Disney that isn’t exactly in the brochure. Taking the place of Cinderella should have been a dream come true, but after twenty eight marriages to four different Prince Charmings the excitement is all but gone. Luke gets the part of Dale, “as in Chip and ____”, while his completely wonderful, amazing girlfriend, Cassie gets to play Chip.  But after a while Luke starts to realize that maybe all Cassie really has is a beautiful face...

     Surprised to find that Disney isn’t quite as magical when you’re “in the know,” Ella and Luke are brought together by their mutual inability to fall asleep at curfew. Wandering around at night gives a new magic to Disney, and a scavenger hunt definitely makes life more interesting, and even though Luke didn't get the part as Ella's prince, Cinderella and Dale might just live happily ever after, after all.