Before I Wake: The Nightmare Chronicles

This book was great! This is the first time i read a story by Kathryn Smith and, i think she is very talented. This world is a very different kind of Para.Romance i've read(no vampires, witches or ghosts). I enjoyed the charaecters alot. I hope this will be a new series for the author.

Dawn is known as a Nightmare. The daughter of Morpheus and a human woman, Dawn has always been aware of just who and what she is. A top-notch dream analyst, Dawn's patients come to her with their sleeping problems and she in turn interprets their dreams. Her latest patient, Noah Clarke, is having more and more trouble sleeping and when he comes to her with tales of his dreams trying to kill him, Dawn doesn't want to invade his dreams but invade them she will if it means keeping the man she has come to love safe. These two enigmatic lovbers have a fight on their hands because evil is stalking them and it will take a concentrated effort from both of them to keep the bad guys away. Kathryn Smith has intrigued me with Before I Wake. Not sure if I was going to like it, specifically since it is written in my most hated format, first person, I set out to begin reading with an open mind. Hours later I closed Before I Wake and couldn't believe how fast time had flown. I was held spellbound from beginning to end and found the suspense, sensuality, and emotions an invigorating mix. I can't wait for the next installment! Talia Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Dawn is a Nightmare. Not a bad dream, as we would mean by Nightmare, but someone whose purpose is to enter people's dreams and help them to use them to deal with problems. Uniquely, she's also half human, doing in the human world a similar job - a sleep therapist who uses psychotherapy to help people who are having problems with the dreams. She's noticed Noah Clarke, of course; not only because he's a rather unusual Lucid Dreamer but also because he's very hot. When Dawn finds a night Terror attacking her own sleep she realises she should have learned more about her Nightmare side rather than rejecting it. When she discovers that the same Terror that was in her dream is attacking Noah Clarke, she realises there is something more significant going on than she previously thought. Her father, Morpheus, might be able to give her instruction in defending herself from this Terror, Karatos, but she's left it awfully late to start learning. With Noah and Dawn getting closer but Noah still keeping much of himself hidden, Dawn has to use all her resources to try to find out how to defeat Karatos and how, as the unique half-human half-Dreamkin, to not cause a problem within politics in the dreamworld. This was a very enjoyable book by Kathryn Smith. There were some interesting characters, the story was by no means predictable, and the central romance also had its believable rocky moments and arguments which I thought was very well written. The pacing was good too, and the book reached a satisfactory conclusion although there were still many unanswered questions. I did find my interest wavered a little in a couple of sections as it felt perhaps a little repetitive as Noah and Dawn go to find Karatos and don't triumph, but overall it was good to read a book that was different and with a rather unusual heroine. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

I just love Kathryn Smiths Brotherhood of Blood series... so when I saw she was writing a new series about nightmares... wow.. what fun could that be? It was lots of fun. What a great and fun concept. I won't spoil it for others... just say READ it!! You won't be sorry. I laughed out loud more than once at Dawn... she is too funny. Read this book. Keep your mind open for the rest of the series... it will be as fun (well.. almost as fun) as her vamp series... GREAT BOOK!!

Dawn Riley is a Nightmare. She has always known this, but being the daughter of Morpheus, King of Dreams, and a mortal is not something that she is proud of or can speak about. So, she turned her back on the Dream Realm to try and live as normal a life as possible in the real world. She graduated from high school, went on to university and got her PhD in neuropsychology which helped land her a job at MacCallum Sleep & Dream Research Center in New York City. Noah Clarke is one of her patients and a lucid dreamer, able to change his dreams and bend them to his own will. When an evil presence starts stalking him in his sleep and altering his dreams, he knows there is only one person who can help him. Dawn must accept who she is in order to help Noah and they must work together to fight for their lives and a chance at love. This book blew me away. I was so impressed by it in so many ways. First and foremost was how fresh and strong Kathryn Smith's contemporary voice is. Many historical authors have tried their hand at writing contemporaries and fallen short. Not Ms. Smith. Not only does she succeed, she does it with striking clarity. I absolutely love Dawn. She is smart and funny and definitely someone I could be friends with. I love that she doesn't have the perfect body or perfect hair or perfect features, but is happy with the way she looks. She even jokes about her love of food. That she can laugh at herself made me like her even more. Her flaws and little quirks just added to her charm. She's so down-to-earth and one of the most likable heroines I've ever read. And because this story is told in first person, I felt like a good friend was telling me her story. I also love Noah. He is an artist, so he's very creative and has such an eye for detail. Due to a tragedy in his past, he is pretty closed off and doesn't like to talk about it. This also makes him a little uptight and wanting to be in control. Eventually, he starts to open up to Dawn a little bit at a time. The thing I love most about him is that he likes Dawn just the way she is, even when he finds out what she is. It doesn't matter, he likes her for her. *sigh* What a guy. Kathryn Smith has created such an incredible, comprehensive world with the Dream Realm. And the way that she mixes it with the real world is nothing short of amazing. The secondary characters in both worlds are remarkable and endearing. It is a combination of all of these things and more that make this story so compelling, so undeniably good that I could not put it down. I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end. If I could give this book more than five stars, I would. It really is that good. I am hungry for more and cannot wait until the second book in this series is released. Do not miss this one. I HIGHLY recommend it! ~Andrea 5 stars