“I didn’t expect to be woken
up by someone I don’t know dreaming about killing somebody. I thought I
was done with that once and for all…”
But
Sara’s not done with it. As if adjusting to life as a newlywed and
starting medical school weren’t difficult enough, she’s started seeing the dreams
of everyone around her, again. Before everything is said and done, those
dreams might destroy Sara’s hopes of becoming a doctor, wreck her marriage and
even end her life…
“Dream Doctor” is the
thrilling second novel in the Dreams series.
Publisher:
Self
Date
Publisherd: March 20, 2013
Genre:
Paranormal Romance/Suspense
Word
Count: 88,000
Buy
links:
The Scene
Sara
is in her living room, but she knows immediately that this isn’t her
dream. She sees Brian sitting on the
small loveseat, watching a baseball game on their tiny TV but she can tell that
it isn’t his dream either. She’s
confused - whose dream is it?
The
doorknob turns, the door opens, and the answer is revealed: Barbara from next
door. Barbara the tall and attractive
law student, who’s currently wearing a bathrobe and – Sara is absolutely certain
of this – nothing underneath it.
“Your
wife’s not here,” Barbara coos as she approaches Brian. He says nothing, shows no reaction at
all. “You don’t want to do anything that
would hurt her. I admire that, you
know. That’s how a real man ought to
act,” she says, stepping between him and the TV.
Sara
smiles as Brian continues to not react to her, except for tilting his head to
see past her to the TV. She does not
smile when Barbara sighs, takes Brian’s head in her hands and forces him to
look at her. “You are a good man.
But you’re only human,” she says, and then, letting go of him, she
unties her robe and lets it fall to the floor…
***
“Get out of my room, you
whore!” I hear myself shouting at
someone, but who? There’s nobody
here. Brian’s in the shower, I can hear
the water going. And why would I call
him a whore? That makes no sense.
Not Brian. I was dreaming. I saw – God, I saw Barbara! The woman who lives next door to us. The married
woman who lives next door to us. I saw
her dream. And she was dreaming about
seducing Brian. “Whore” is far too good
a word for her.
She's dreaming about my
husband. My husband! Who the hell does she think she is? She's got her own husband! She should be dreaming about him, not
Brian. Granted, I think her husband is
an ass and I’m pretty sure she does too, but still. She can't have mine!
This is very strange. I can't remember ever feeling jealous like
this before. But then again, before
Brian I never had anybody worth being jealous over. I know this is completely irrational. I have nothing whatsoever to worry
about. I'm in his heart and I always
will be. Me and nobody else. Especially if last night was anything to go
by.
Still, I’m going to keep a close
eye on her. And if she so much as puts a
hand on him, I'll cut her heart out. I
know how to do it, too. I’ve been
reading ahead - the instructions are right there in Grant's Dissector. Page 75.
I think I’ll mark the page with a
post-it note. Just in case.
J.J. explains
what's happening in the scene:
This scene
takes place about midway through the book.
Sara has been slowly getting used to life as a medical student and a
newlywed, as well as coping with the return of her strange gift (or curse) –
the ability to visit other people’s dreams, which she really can’t control.
In this
scene, Sara steps into the dream of her nextdoor neighbor, Barbara. Sara and her husband are living in the married-students’
dorm, and law-student Barbara and her husband live next door. In previous chapters, we’ve seen that
Barbara’s husband is, to put it charitably, not much of a prize. Sara has seen his dreams as well, and those
did not endear her to him, either.
In this
scene, Barbara is dreaming about Sara’s husband, and when Sara wakes up and
realizes what she just saw, she is overcome with jealousy, really for the first
time in her life. Here’s this married
woman, who also happens to be gorgeous, having a seductive dream about her
husband!
Casting Call:
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Name: Sara
Alderson
·
Physical Description: 5’2 or so, curly brown hair,
piercing green eyes, not much figure to speak of.
·
Short bio: Medical student, newlywed, bookish, shy
(although less so than in the first book; she’s coming out of her shell), very
smart, able to see other people’s dreams.
·
3 Positive Personality Traits: Compassionate, always
willing to help, loyal to a fault.
·
3 Negative Personality Traits: Prone to
overreaction, very dense when it comes to interpersonal relations, tends to
overextend herself.
·
Name: Brian
Alderson
·
Physical Description: 5’11 or so, short, dark hair,
brown eyes, slim.
·
Short bio: College student, newlywed, as shy as his
wife (again, though, much less so since the first book).
·
3 Positive Personality Traits: Will protect the
people he loves, no matter the circumstances; very patient; hard-working
·
3 Negative Personality Traits: Nervous,
overprotective, inexperienced.
·
Name:
Barbara Stewart
·
Physical Description: 5’7”, long blonde hair, blue
eyes, great figure.
·
Short bio: Law student in a crummy marriage, older
than her husband (mid-late 20’s).
·
3 Positive Personality Traits: Empathetic,
hard-working, book-smart.
·
3 Negative Personality Traits: Awful judgment about
men, anger-management problems, few scruples about going after someone else’s
husband.
J.J. sharess what he really loves about the scene:
This is
probably my favorite scene in the book; it’s definitely the funniest. The entire book is about Sara dealing with
new challenges and new experiences that she thought she was prepared for, but,
as she quickly discovers, she’s not (medical school, facing death, keeping
professional secrets, being a newlywed, etc.).
And in this scene, Sara cones face to face with something she’s never
really felt – or had any reason to feel: jealousy, because another woman is
interested in her husband.
Sara’s
reaction is completely over the top; she really has no idea how to deal with
this emotion, or the situation that’s causing it. And even though she’s 23 years old and has
been through a lot, she’s still has some growing up to do. So when she’s faced with the evidence that
her (tall, blonde, gorgeous) next-door neighbor is dreaming about seducing her
husband, she totally freaks out.
What makes
it funny is that her reaction is so crazy, and by this point, the reader knows
that Barbara, the next-door neighbor, isn’t any threat at all to Sara’s
marriage, and once Sara gets hold of herself, she’ll understand that herself
and realize how ridiculous her worries and her reaction are.
Author Bio:
J.J. (James) DiBenedetto was born in Yonkers, New York. He
attended Case Western Reserve University, where as his classmates can attest,
he was a complete nerd. Very little has changed since then.
He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with his beautiful wife
and their cat (who has thoroughly trained them both). When he's not writing,
James works in the direct marketing field, enjoys the opera, photography and
the New York Giants, among other interests.
The "Dreams" series is James' first published work.
Email:
jamesd@elevendayempire.com
Twitter: @jjdibenedetto
Thanks so much for featuring me!
ReplyDeleteThanks James. It's great having you here today! Thank you for sharing your story with my readers. :)
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