A Botched Valentine (A True Dream Novel)

Love was supposed to be simple.
Swipe. Match. Pray. Meet.

Lakeesha never imagined she would meet a pastor on a dating site—let alone feel an instant, undeniable connection. Intelligent, grounded, and unapologetically beautiful, she has learned to guard her heart carefully. Dating in a digital world requires wisdom, and she is not interested in games.

Then she meets Johnson.

Charming. Devout. Soft-spoken but confident. A man of God with emotional depth and spiritual conviction. Their conversations flow effortlessly—from scripture to laughter, from dreams to vulnerability. It feels ordained. It feels safe. It feels right.

Until they decide to meet.

The moment their virtual connection threatens to become real, a shadow from Johnson’s past resurfaces.

Celia.

A name he had buried. A chapter he believed was closed. A woman who refuses to remain a memory.

And she is not “pretty”—not in the way betrayal is ugly. Not in the way obsession distorts love. Not in the way unresolved pain mutates into something dangerous.

What begins as subtle interference quickly spirals into emotional warfare. Old accusations. Twisted truths. Manipulation masked as vulnerability. Celia does not want closure—she wants control.

Caught between trust and suspicion, Lakeesha must decide whether Johnson’s past is truly behind him—or if she is stepping into a story already written in heartbreak. Meanwhile, Johnson faces a reckoning of his own: confronting mistakes he thought time had erased, and proving that redemption is more than words.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, what should have been a celebration of new beginnings threatens to collapse into chaos. Because love tested by history can either deepen—or detonate.

A Botched Valentine (A True Dream Novel) is a gripping romantic drama about faith, second chances, digital-age vulnerability, and the haunting power of unfinished relationships. It explores what happens when past wounds resurface just as love begins to bloom—and asks the question:

Can something truly beautiful grow where something once went terribly wrong?

Or will this Valentine be remembered not for roses—but for regret?