Customer Reviews

Before I Wake (Nightmare Chronicles, Book 1)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dawn, the half human daughter of the dream god King Morpheus, has shunned her father and his realm in order to be `normal' and fit into the human world. Still even though she tries to deny her heritage, the dream world calls to her and it has shaped her human profession as a dream therapist and a psychologist specializing in dream research. A subject of Dawn's own personal dream research project is sexy artist Noah. Though Noah is only human, Noah has his own power over dreams - as a lucid dreamer, Noah can control and alter his dreams. Dawn finds Noah incredibly attractive but has stifled those thoughts out of professional ethics, but that is about to change as suddenly Noah's dreams start to spin out of control.

When there is a sudden rash of people dieing in their sleep, Dawn begins to suspect that something is attacking and killing people from inside their dreams. And now that something is targeting Noah for an even more diabolical purpose. When Dawn has a disturbing encounter with the evil entity in her own dreams, Dawn realizes that she must claim her birthright and return to the Dream Realm and to her father. Morpheus is the only one who can help Dawn develop the powers that she will need to assume her rightful role as Nightmare, a guardian of dreams, in order to save Noah and defeat the evil that is stalking their dreams

With Before I Wake tying into the contemporary world in addition to the dream one, author Kathryn Smith makes a decent transition from the historical genre of her Templar vampires with only a bit of her roots showing through - instead of the descriptions of gowns and hairstyles, there were make-up centric details: their application, color selections and brands, but Smith does leave that behind once the action kicks in and the story starts to spend more time in the Dream Realm. And even though the scenes there are essentially dream sequences, which I don't normally like, the forays into the Dream Realm were smoothly integrated and essential to the story line. One thing that I really like about the story on the whole, was that even though Dawn has an inherent power, Dawn isn't instantly capable of wielding it and has to scramble to acquire some training in order to ensure her survival.

Dawn and Noah are well drawn characters. Dawn is an intelligent and, for the most part, likeable heroine and Noah was flawed but intriguing - I especially liked the insight gain through the brief exploration of Noah's art. Both have quite a bit of relationship baggage. Dawn has issues with her mother's dream coma abandonment of Dawn's human family -- Dawn's rift with her mother is a bit childish and annoying at times. Noah has some control freakiness stemming from his past and abusive father and is not keen on needing help from anyone. Noah's difficulty with the unevenness of power between he and Dawn, keep their relationship from being an easy one despite their intense attraction. The conflicts caused by Dawn's need to protect and Noah's unwillingness to seek help even when outclassed, causes some tiffs that serve to build the sexual tension between them early in the book, but also suggest that a long term happily ever after between the two is not a done deal.

Though there were major romantic elements in the story, Before I Wake looks to fall a bit more on the Urban Fantasy side of the fence, and it is a promising addition to the genre. Author Smith has only scratched the surface of both the Dream Realm and Dawn's role as Nightmare. There is such potential for further exploration on both of these fronts that I hope to see more from this original new series in the near future.

First off, that cover is so not a size 12 woman. It bothers me when the character on the cover doesn't match. Not that I can't imagine from the story line, it's just a bit annoying. Second, I thought the story was a good idea. It's not a topic that is over done, yet. The whole dream world mixed into folktales and mythology makes an interesting story. Smith even makes the character sound a bit more believable by using realistic sounding psychology terms, and doesn't dig so deep to make it boring.

My fault with the novel is that very few things seemed to be resolved. Noah's past, Dawn's relationship with her family, and even her relationship with Noah is a just a little weird. She thinks she loves him, yet she knows so very little about him. And he's not opening up. Also, I thought the painting of her that he keeps in his bedroom was not "awww," but "ewww." After all, he was a patient of hers. These unresolve issues leaves the plot hanging. Otherwise, it could have been a good novel.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was something I wouldn't normally read, within the paranormal genre I usually stick with vampire/shifter stories but I thought I'd give it a go. And I'm glad I did. Great characters, witty dialogue, sizzling chemistry, gritty action scenes and love scenes had just the right amount of passion and banter. I'm glad the author will be continuing the series with the same hero and heroine. It's the first time I've read her so I'll be looking out for her other books.

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

The Story
Dawn has always known she was different, who wouldn't be with the God of dreams for a father. For 14 years she has denied her heritage and her duty. When a terror named Kataros starts violating her and her patients she has no choice but to turn back to her father, Morpheus. She is a Princess and quite unique. She is the only being in existence that can live in either world. Morpheus trains her to be the Nightmare she is, a protector of peoples dreams. Noah Clarke is a patient in Dawns dream study, but they must work together. They are both under attack from Kataros, and Noah figures out what she is.

Thoughts
This is a fantastically creative book. Dawn was very easy for me to relate to. They are likable characters, complex- especially Noah. I loved the idea of the dream world. I highly hope this series continues! The plots are good, pace is fast and captivating. I will happily read the next book, Dark side of Dawn. This is so well written the passion and romance easily comes off the pages. Very well portrayed!

I loved this work of Kathryn Smiths'. It is a new realm for science fiction (at least for me). She is an excellent author.

Her father is Morpheus, God of dreams, and her mother is his human lover. I enjoyed all of the characters in the stories. They were engaging enough to have me want more. The story itself drew me in and kept me there. I was fully engaged in the alternate life created by Smith.

I hope she focuses on writing more in this series. Her other works seem to focus on historical romance and vampires, and though she appears to have a good following in these, I think she may have the opportunity to gain notability in the science fiction realm with her Nightmare series.

A psychologist/dream analyzer that can actually step into your dreams is a pretty good basis for a book. Throw in a love interest, some family issues,a bad guy, and a really interesting dream world, and it gets even better. The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it seemed to end very abruptly. I wish there was a little more focus on Nightmare training, it was hard to believe the bad guy could go down so quickly. The characters were likable and realistic, and the story as a whole was believable. I'd love to read more about the characters coming into their powers and see what sort of plot there is to overthrow the dreamworld king. This book is a good series starter, I hope the rest doesn't disappoint.

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 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

After reading many reviews making this book sound wonderful I feel like I need to share my thoughts as well. I just didn't really like this book. It was a really easy read, and the premise was something I would have normally liked, but I just couldn't feel for the characters like I normally would.

The plot of the book is pretty simple, girl falls for boy, boy has troubled past, but oops, girl is also a half dream being that can live in both the human world and the world of dreams. Girl then finds something evil stalking boy in his dreams and has to help vanquish it, but since she's been denying her abilities to walk in dreams for 28 years she isn't equipped to help him with it.

For starters, the author kept talking about the male hero (Noah) being troubled, but she never actually tells us why he's so troubled, just that he is. She skirts around the issue so much its almost overboard to make him seem so dark and brooding. Another problem I have with this book is that the heroine (Dawn) doesn't really ever seem to deal with her issues by the end of the book. They just all seem to disappear, which just made me even more confused. There's a subplot with Dawn and her mother and by the end of the book I would have thought it would have been resolved but it was left open-ended. I don't know if she's setting this up for more books about the same heroine or what but it just didn't work for me.