Dreamer - Sophisticated, Suspenseful, Surprising --First in the Forever Series by S. A. Smith...

It always happens in threes. Stars die in threes, disasters come in threes, and my bad luck hits in threes. First my car breaks down… not just breaks down, but BREAKS DOWN. It needs new brakes, exhaust gaskets, and a whole bunch of other things that are going to cost a fortune to get fixed. A fortune, I might add, that I don’t have. Then my boyfriend has a breakdown. He left, just up and went to Portland for a job. He told me that he was breaking up with me because he needed to “find” himself. Then, and this is the kicker, I just biked to work to find a huge note on the front door. It says, Out of Business. Store Closed and then scribbled below it in little print it says, To all employees: checks will be mailed. Fan-freaking-tastic! That's just my luck, Sadie Jones, twenty-one and unemployed...

Walking into the store, I instantly felt like I had entered a refrigerator. It was so cold that goose bumps appeared up and down my arms. I smiled at the woman working diligently to arrange a large bouquet of Stargazer lilies. She looked up at me and then went back to her arranging. I got the distinct feeling from her that she was bothered by me being in the store. Nothing new really, all my life I have felt these weird vibes that allowed me to tell what someone was feeling. It didn’t take much for me to pick up on someone's emotions either. I just had to be in the same room with them to get a hit on their feelings or if I looked directly into their eyes I could make an even stronger connection. Wendy says I’m paranoid, but that’s not the case. I just seem to understand how people feel... whether it’s good or bad. It comes in handy, like on job interviews, but can be a huge pain when it comes to friends. Imagine telling a friend about something important when you can instantly tell they don’t care or even worse, they can’t understand why you’re telling them at all? Total pain, but in today’s case, I don’t know why it bothers her that I am here. I mean it’s a store right?

...“Sadie, Sadie… come back to earth. What are you doing here?” 
I stopped daydreaming about tipping strategies and focused on Wendy.
“Guess whose bookstore closed down today?” I grabbed my cell phone and showed her the picture I had taken of the front of the store. 
“WHAT?! Oh Sadie, that is just awful. I know you loved that job.” She looked at me with her nurturing smile that she always gives me when something goes wrong. Wendy is the classic earth girl, from her smile to her growing of herbs in our kitchen window. All things nature call to her, especially the moon. On full moons you will find her basking in the rays on the roof of the building. Being roommates with a Wiccan can certainly be interesting at times. 
“I know right, I showed up for work this morning and found the sign on the door. It didn’t say why or what happened, just that they were closed for good and they would mail out our checks.” I hope they send them sooner than later, I thought. I used almost all the money I had to pay for the stupid car. “I am trying to get a hold of Marco and see if he knows anything.”

~~~

Dreamer:

The Forever Series

By Paranormal Author

S. A. Smith

This writer has the ability to pull the reader into her writing, holding back enough of the details to gain interest but not enough to completely understand the underlying story line... In fact, she has broken her books down into sections of, the first being less than 100 pages...I got the first one and frankly was surprised that it turned out to be a vampire story... Why? Because of the way the book was written, and the unique details and "names" which, for me, were new to the lexicon for vampire novels... By the end of the book, the author had won me over and I suggest that, if you are into vampires, this may be just the story that will be just as new and intriguing for you as it was for me...

A warning bell went off in my head.
I should have noticed this days ago.
 He can come to me in dreams,
he can disappear into thin air, his eyes
 change colors with his feelings
 and he only comes around after dark.
The only thing I have ever heard of that
 fits anything near that description... is a vampire.
 Could that be what a Mandurago is,
 some sort of vampire highbred?
I stopped myself mid-thought. No, that’s crazy...
 that can’t be. I've watched the Dracula movies.
.Vampires are cold, dead corpses that
drink blood from innocent victims.
I saw him drink beer. I've touched him
 and he is so not cold. I am truly losing
it and it’s only noon. I can only imagine
 how this day is going to turn out.
~~~

Briefly the life story for Sadie is that she lives with Wendy, a Wicca, who has become a close friend. She has just lost her job at a bookstore, which was sold surprisingly quick by the owner. Neither she nor Marco, a friend and supervisor at the store know what happened...

“After we closed the store last night and you left, I stayed to turn in the timesheets. I was working in the back when Lyle came in and told me he was closing up the shop. He said that he had an offer on the place and was selling.”
I watched as he added some cinnamon from the shaker to his coffee. “Selling the place? That doesn’t even make sense. He worked his whole life to buy that bookstore.” It had originally belonged to Lyle’s father and from a teenager on he had worked at the store putting away money to slowly buy him out.
“I know. I was shocked too. He worked so hard to buy it and then not even saying anything to us about it being up for sale. I was blindsided. I just had no idea he was thinking about selling.” He went to take a sip of his coffee, blowing on the foam and carefully testing it before taking a large gulp. He looked worried. He had a lot more to lose from the store closing than I did. “Maybe the new owners will reopen soon and rehire us? Did Lyle sound like that was a possibility?” 
Giving me an unsure look, Marco frowned. “I doubt it. Lyle said the new owner is from Europe or Sweden, someplace like that. I was so surprised when he told me, that I just shutdown. He had promised me the manager’s position in September. A new owner means starting all over again...

~~~

Fortunately, Sadie was able to get another job quickly...especially since the "real" story is just beginning... 

Sadie has begun to dream... of a man...

I found myself in a white empty space alone. It went on forever, never ending and never beginning. I was frightened for a moment. Then piece by piece people and things started to appear, coming into view and materializing around me, almost like puzzle pieces hooking together to bring the dream to life. You know how when you dream and you can tell it’s a dream? Well this was completely different. I could see, feel and smell it… just like in the real world. Never had I felt such strong sensations in a dream before. 
As I looked around, I immediately knew that I was in some foreign land, it looked like something straight out of an exotic Hollywood movie with cobblestone roads and paper lanterns lining the walk ways. It was a very warm night and I could feel the light breeze on my face. I was wearing a beautiful, long, jewel-toned sari, something I would guess an Indian princess might wear. I started walking down the long, busy street wondering why I was there. Glancing around, I was immediately aware that the street looked like a farmers market, but with the most beautiful, lush items for sale. The market stalls were lined with rich, vibrant colors and gorgeous tapestries... things that I wouldn't normally see in my real life. Fantastic exotic fabrics of all types, most with gold thread spun throughout. Some looked handmade, while other items looked like things you might find at a mystic store...
At the other end of the market I saw him. He was the most handsome man I have ever seen, standing very tall with broad shoulders and bold, striking features. His hair was blonde and shimmered in the moonlight. It was on the long side, almost to his shoulders and in many layers. Wisps of hair swept across his forehead and dangled in his eyes. He looked like a Norse god had come to life. He was wearing a beautiful, dark, blood-red shirt that hugged his form as he moved. The street full of people seemed to scatter as he walked, as if they were frightened of him, but in awe of him at the same time. How they could fear that face, was beyond me. It was obvious in the way that he carried himself that he was not someone I wanted to be frightened of. Suddenly, as though he could hear my thoughts, he stopped walking and froze in place as if caught by an unseen force. Pausing momentarily he slowly started looking around, scanning the faces of the crowd, looking for something I felt he had lost. I watched curiously, wondering what he was so desperately hoping to find… while still studying his face and pondering who he could be. All at once he stopped and tilted his head to the side as if listening to something. He turned his head first, and then his whole body towards me and instantly his eyes were on mine...

~~~

not being able to take the intimate stare this gorgeous stranger was giving me. Unable to resist too long, I looked back up and melted into the deepest brown eyes I have ever seen. They were a dark chestnut brown with gold flecks around the edges. Amazing eyes that I could get lost in forever. A handsome smile appeared upon his lips. “At last I have found you my Kali”… and then he kissed me… and the dream went hazy. I woke up instantly. Feeling as if I had lost something and wondering how I could get back into my dream.

If it were only that easy…

Very quickly, without me even really registering that he had moved, I found him standing directly in front of me, staring at me in a very odd way. Looking deep into my eyes, he smiled at me and I almost went weak in the knees. I felt a strange electricity course through my body. It was like having goose bumps, but a thousand times more intense. I looked away...

~~~

Now, once the paranormal stuff started, I was hooked... A perfectly average girl, worried over getting her car fixed, finding a new job...and having enough to eat, suddenly is caught in dreams that take her to various places around the world. She is only able to recognize the potential location because of the setting in which she finds herself...

I was enthralled with the idea, even though I've read similar dream-theme books, it was the author's writing that was able to sustain the suspense for me, to draw it out without becoming excessive in duplicating scenes to which she traveled...

But what happens when the dreams become so real that you spend your waking hours watching for him on the streets or where you work, or live?

The mysterious man circled around me, making me feel a little like his prey until he finally stopped in front of me. “I keep trying to find you, my Kali, but it seems you can only find me in your dreams.” “Find me, who are you?” I asked as I watched him play with a long strand of my hair. Turning from me he walked towards the large open window against the far wall. “I think you should be asking the same thing of yourself."
~~~

And what happens when he
starts holding, touching you in your dreams...

In the distance I could hear faint music playing that seemed somewhat familiar, like a long lost dream. He slid his arm around my lower back and pulled me to him. We started to slowly dance together. His hands on my back, slowly moving up to my shoulders, our eyes locked onto each other. His gaze pierced through me as if he could see right into my soul. Looking at him I felt like I knew him, like he was familiar to me yet I had no idea who he was. He leaned down, his lips lightly brushing against my cheek as he placed a kiss upon it. My knees almost locked at his touch.

And then she saw him on the streets!

He looked deep into my eyes but before he could say anything I blurted out, “I saw you today? I saw you on the street. You are a dream, how could I see you in my real life?” 

He looked down at me and into my eyes. “You really don’t know do you?”

 I could feel his concern as his emotions came over me. They felt stronger than what I am used to feeling from most people. “I am not a dream,” he continued, “I am made of flesh and blood, the same as you. I can see you in my dream state the same as you can see me in yours.” He held my hand and kissed it softly, slowly stroking it.

 “But today on the street, I saw you…” 

he put his fingers to my lips as if to hush them. “Yes I was dreaming and you called to me, you brought my spirit to where you were. I saw you at a flower shop and you were walking towards me. The day was so beautiful, the sun so bright and warm on my skin. I haven’t been out in the day in a very long time. Thank you.” And he put his fingers under my chin and lifted up my face to his. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me soft and long, sparks igniting in me as if I was becoming alive for the first time. “Your soul keeps calling to me, I must answer. I have been waiting for you for so long.”

~~~

WHEW! I've got to say that this is a sexy little story, but it is so romantically written that some of you may even swoon--at least those who, like me, know what swoon means! LOL...Actually, I've never fainted in my life, but you get my meaning, don't you? The story is exciting, suspenseful, and just enough of the feel of the paranormal that, as a reader, you are ready for anything and everything that might happen...

But I really don't think you'd even guess as to what's coming next or what you learn about Sadie...

Enjoy! You know you want to read it!

GABixlerReviews

I always hate writing these things. I'm not some exciting individual that lives an adventurous life, writing while driving cross country in her tour bus. I am a mom, wife and book lover. I live in Central Florida with my family and dog. I love snow, yet I live in the world of sun, go figure? My favorite things to do are curl up with a good book or write a good book (well hopefully). I am also a music junky. I love live music and often dream of running away with the band. Other than that, I am just your normal chick that is lucky enough to get to do what she loves for a living, and hope it pays the bills. 

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