I began writing DREAMING DANGEROUSLY three years ago after having a dream about a high school girl and a guy talking, while sitting on a gym floor. Suddenly, he discovers she is telepathic, like him. He is so excited by this that he kisses her in the middle of gym class. I woke up and started writing at four in the morning, until I had recreated the dream in words.

Then, I started thinking about to develop the characters. I read my old diaries from high school to remember what I was like in high school. I was popular, but shy, almost painfully shy. I started thinking about how telepathy would affect Cassie as a person, how that would mold her. It would be cool to know what other people are thinking, but many times thoughts can be destructive and negative. Also, what would happen if you heard a room full of thoughts all at one time? It could either drive you crazy or give you massive migraines.

So, I decided that although Cassie uses her telepathy to her advantage, she has to keep careful control over it. I also had to show what happens to her when she loses control. How it affects her mentally and physically. Cassie was very difficult to get to know even though I created her. She was difficult because she is so secretive. She's friendly, most of the time, but she's also very closed-off to people at times. She's scared that if anyone finds out she is telepathic, they will never trust her again, and she will be left all alone. This is one of the biggest fears of all humans, but especially high school students. Everyone wants to be accepted, and that is something Cassie strives for.

Meanwhile, her complicated relationship with Will begins to change her abilities. She starts to have dreams about the people she knows, nightmares that begin to come true in frightening ways. She knows she needs to stop the future she sees from happening, but she needs Will's help. This is what she has the most difficulty with, learning to trust him before it's too late. People change when they are in relationships, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. What if those two people had paranormal abilities? Wouldn't they influence each others abilities?

I loved that possibility. Dreams were a logical choice for me, since I've always been fascinated by dreams. I've always had extremely vivid dreams, some of them cool and some of them horrifyingly scary. When I was 19, I had a dream which predicted my father's death. I loved creating the character of Will. I wanted him to be just as complicated as Cassie, making mistakes and losing control like she does, but yet fiercely loyal to her, even when she doesn't deserve it.

I hope everyone who reads this book comes away from it thinking about the possibilities that science may bring about someday. What if your senses were enhanced in spectacular ways? ( )

Originally Posted at my Blog at http://concisebookreviewsbymichelle.blogspot.com/

What if you could HEAR thoughts?

Thanks to her ability to mind-drop, Cassie can hear the thoughts of everyone around her. But sometimes her telepathy is more of a curse than a psychic gift, especially when it comes to Will Rossi.

Reason #1: He pushes his thoughts at her, whether she wants to hear them or not.

Reason #2: His sexy, vindictive ex-girlfriend.

Reason #3: His dimples are absolutely, 100% distracting.

To her surprise, Cassie feels drawn to Will's electromagnetic vibes. Yet, as she falls for him, she discovers their relationship has some serious side effects. She begins to have dreams about the future - dreams that come true in horrifying ways.

Cassie needs to learn to trust Will, or she won't be able to prevent the tragedy she sees coming. (Summary from goodreads)

I really, really enjoyed this book, I was pleasantly surprised, but should not have been, but I actually just started reading, really, without reading the summary’s or any reviews. I knew it was a type of book I would like when I first checked it out at Goodreads, and then when I got it, to read, I didn’t refresh my memory, just read.

I was mesmerized right from the start and hooked. Cassie is a great character, and I really love Will. He is a great guy, and has his own ability that Cassie will find out about.
I do not want to give too much away, but to say, it’s a fun, interesting, paranormal/sci-fi romance. I am now reading the 2nd one called Darkness Descends: Children Of the Psi Book 2.

Here is a nice quote, in the beginning when Will is trying to get to know Cassie, before either know about the others abilities, she knows there is something different, as he seems to be able to push his thoughts into her head, when she is keeping her mind closed. He is not aware he is doing it.

Kindle location 490

He leans in close to me. His warm breath tickles my ear. “I wonder if you could help me with something.”
“That depends on what that something is,” I mutter. I spoon a peach into my mouth, hoping that he doesn’t notice my hand is trembling. I finally meet his eyes again. They are dark green with flecks of dark brown and gold in them.

“I need a sketch for an art assignment, and I was wondering if I could sketch you,” Will says. The dimple in his chin distracts me.

{Something about her is different. Unique. It’s like I’m pulled toward her. A gravitational pull into her orbit.}

My tongue is paralyzed. I look at Annie, hoping for some help, but she’s still all goey-eyes with Paul.

Between {} parts are her reading his thoughts. It’s nice how its written like this in the whole book, so very easy to tell when something is thoughts being picked up (in book its in italics). Its very interesting, and I am really impressed with the writing.

I don’t even think I seen one typo or anything either.
Overall, great book, interesting, kept my interest, and I would recommend to anyone who likes some light sci-fi/paranormal romances. ( )

Ok, so I was really excited when Kathleen Harsch contacted me to review this book. (She is the first author to do so) I didn't know what to expect from this book after reading the summary of it but it did seem really interesting to me. It felt new and different because it was still a paranormal type of book but without many of the aspects I usually expect and read about (no vampires, werewolves, or faeries lol) I really, really enjoyed reading this book. For me it was a short and quick read, and once I started reading I couldn't put it down and I just flew through it.

The first thing that I really like about this book is that the plot flowed really well. It didn't drag at any parts and it kept my attention and I never felt bored at any point. I connected with the main character Cassie right away. I couldn't imagine having to deal with everything that she had to go through on a daily basis. She could read people's minds and know what they were thinking at any time and even when they were telling her the truth or a lie. Nobody knows her secret and she has learned that she can't tell anybody her secret, who would want to be friends with or trust someone who knows all their private thoughts and their secrets. Cassie is forced to move to a new town and a new school because her parents are opening their own restaraunt and she is not happy about it. In the very beginning of the book, she meets a guy named Will who she learns has a crush on her, and he forces his thoughts into her head without her having to want to learn what he is thinking. Will, I really enjoyed him and thought he as a really cute and sweet guy and I immediately liked it him. One of things I really liked about his relationship with Cassie is it felt more real to me then some relationships do when you a read a book, yes their relationship moved fast but, Cassie didn't just fall in love with him and that was the end of it she questioned herself and their relationship, admitting that she hadn't known him for a long time and she didn't automatically trust him and that definitely made me enjoy the book more when I really felt their relationship grow and not just have them instantly in love. There was definitely a few twists and turns to the story and I really liked it. I enjoyed the ending a lot also, it tied up all the loose ends but also gave you a little bit of a teaser and cliff hanger of what was to happen next.

I would like to thank Kathleen for giving me the chance to review her book and I cannot wait until he sequel comes out to see what happens in Cassie and Will's story. ( )