Falling Awake

I just finished Falling Awake by Jayne Ann Krentz. It amazes me that this author has so many pen names, and it's because of that I accidentally bought another author's book. But that's another story. Let's get back to Falling Awake.

The story, I'll admit, kept losing me with some of the Level 5 Sleep terminology. I was able to connect with Isabelle, which for me is a very important part of reading. If I can't like the hero/heroine of the book or some other character, then I don't want to read it. And while I'll never be the size 8 gal with perfect hair and the cute little turned up nose and angular cheek bones, there's always something about a character's personality that I can relate to. Isabelle's desire to reinvent herself and her experiments with hairstyles sounds exactly like something I would do. Oh, and the fact that she's maxed out financially.

The one thing that this book did do for me is turn me off of trying to interpret my dreams. Being offered a Teacup Yorkie puppy for only $9 and asking "what's wrong with it" really has no meaning for me. I just met my friend's new little puppy and it made me realize how much I miss my Yorkies (may the rest in peace). There's no hidden meaning for the future hidden in the dream.

I never thought about the "carriage" that takes me into the dreamworld either. I fall asleep dreaming of winning the lottery that I never play. I'm always putting a tenth of it aside for a rainy day, paying off family debt (mine, my parents, and my brothers), setting some aside for the kids, and then giving the rest away. The other day in my dream I was buying a friend's home on "short sale" and then giving it back to them along with $20,000. Their house is not for sale. And I don't have $20 to my name much less $20,000 to just give away.

The story itself was very interesting. I really didn't see it coming with who was the real bad guy. At one point I thought it was Beth, then Lawson playing two sides (quickly dismissed both of those), and then Isabella's brother-in-law. That last one was a long shot, but with his late meetings, his trouble with Ellis, his agreeing to the dream class, and a few other things I really thought maybe he was suppose to be the bad guy.

And at one point I thought Vincent was the guy in Isabelle's class that Tamsyn fell for. We never heard from him again though. Who was he?

My disappointment was that the book had nothing to do with the Arcrane Society. I got hooked on Jayne Ann Krentz by reading Second Sight (written under her pen name of Amanda Quick) and was excited when White Lies came out in paperback, continuing the story of the Arcrane Society in the 21st Century. I was really hoping that the dreamers were part of the mystery introduced to us in White Lies, but they weren't. The book stood on it's own storyline.

Part of me is hoping to have another story come out about Vincent Scargill or Dave. Since it came out in 2005, not sure if that's going to happen.

Out of 5 stars, I give it a 3.5. Do I recommend it? Yeah, it's a pretty good read. Great for while on the road.

Oh, and when I went to check out to see if there were any other blogs out there about this book, I came across this book (currently out of stock at Amazon), Falling Awake: Creating the Life of Your Dreams by Dave Ellis. Thought it was interesting that Ellis is the main character in Krentz's book, and Dave is the brother of a victim that plays a minor but important role. I found it on a self help site that might be worth checking out. There's an audio clip about the twelve steps on achieving your dreams. If you check it out before I do, let me know.