Before I Wake: The Nightmare Chronicles

By Kathryn Smith

You may call it a dream job . . .

And in some ways, you'd be right. I actually get paid to study people's dreams. It comes much easier than my employers at the Sleep Center suspect; after all, I, Dawn, am the daughter of the king of the dream world, and I can roam the dreams of others, battling the nightmares that plague them.

I call it a nightmare . . .

Honestly, I could use a good night's sleep. But ever since I met Noah Clarke, I'm even more torn between the two worlds: smart, sexy, and able to control his own dreams, Noah could be my perfect man—except he's being stalked in his sleep by an unearthly evil, hell-bent on destroying him . . . and the entire world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 6, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061982965

Kathryn Smith

Kathryn Smith has always loved happy endings. From the bedtime stories her wildly imaginative mother told, to the soap operas she wasn't supposed to watch, Kathryn loved to speculate as to how the characters would end up. Needless to say the entire Smith household heard about it when things did not go as young Kathryn thought they ought. Through her school years, Kathryn wrote stories and books for her friends to read. Even during college, when she studied journalism, her need to make up her own tales often drove her to late nights at the typewriter, writing about sexy men and the women they fell in love with. Fortunately, Kathryn's idea of sexy has changed over the years. Instead of rock stars and spies she writes about lords and...well, spies. The best part is she gets to share these stories with a few more people than were in her homeroom class!

Reviews for Before I Wake

[saturnnalia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Something different from the paranormal world. A little bit of mythology and creative thinking, and the place only seen in dreams comes to life. I enjoyed Dawn, she was smart, sassy and strong. Written in first person and only from her perspective, the narrative was fun and fast paced. Noah was a great match for Dawn, just the right shade of tortured and mystery. Not enough romance for me. Dawn and Noah have an established doctor/patient relationship at the beginning of the book and are already attracted to each other. So lots of times spent exploring the dream world and Dawn learning about her powers. Enjoyable adventure story.

[thebooknerd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book with fun characters and fresh, interesting concept; however, it just wasn't memorable enough for me to continue with this series. Nothing left me hanging on for more. Perhaps, if the sequel stirs enough interest, I'll re-evaluate.

[bookwhisperer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my first book by Kathryn Smith. I have to say she is an excellent writer. I throughly enjoyed this book. It was a little different from must of the books I have been reading lately, so it took a little extra attention to keep up. This author was very inventive with this storyline. I like the way she took something so ordinary as dreaming, and made a whole new world for her story. I will be looking for more from this author.

[jjmachshev_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More hot paranormal action! I just finished "Before I Wake" by Kathryn Smith and what a good read it was! Smith's world centers around the 'Dreaming' and spins the tale of the half-mortal daughter of Morpheus.Dawn is the half-mortal daughter of Morpheus. Her mother became depressed after a miscarriage and began spending the majority of her time sleeping. She somehow met Morpheus in her dreams and Dawn is the result. But Dawn's life hasn't exactly been an easy one. She doesn't feel at home in either world and once her mother put herself into a coma to be with her love Morpheus, Dawn quit 'visiting' Dreamworld. She's stuck between a rock and a hard place as she can't tell her human 'father' or siblings what's going on even as they spend thousands of dollars on medical intervention to 'wake' her mom who doesn't want to be woken! Got all that? As if that's not enough, it appears that some of the denizens of Dreamworld think that Morpheus has crossed the line by allowing his human lover and hybrid child into Dreamworld. And these same enemies of Morpheus have apparently decided that the best way to hurt him is to kill his 'heir', Dawn. So now she's trying to learn how to defend herself and her human loved ones while not betraying them.Sorry if that description was confusing, but the book is fabulous. Very original and a refreshing change from the 'normal' paranormal (say that three times fast) stories I've seen lately. It's a very intricate world and there's plenty of material if author Kathryn Smith decides to continue with a series.If you've been looking for something different (with hot, tortured heroes), then look no further. Run out and get "Before I Wake". Sweet dreams!!