I can't speak for anyone else, but here's what I think:

Addiction to smoking has two components - a psychological one and a physical one.

In terms of psychological, one likes smoking for its ability to make you feel cool. I don't know for others, but it makes me feel sexy and sophisticated - perhaps like when you're wearing a sexy dress or a cool top. Also, it's like any other prop you use when interacting with others - you would use the holding of the cigarette like you would holding a pen in your hand while talking or gesturing, and if you didn't have it, you'd feel like there's something missing when you talk with others, making you less articulate or less assured (not by much, but enough to knock you off your stride a bit).

There are also things that come with the smoking - the rituals of taking it out of the pack, of tapping the pack or the cigarette on the end prior to lighting it, of blowing smoke (always up or away from people's faces), interacting with others while the cigarette dangles off your fingers, or the feeling of being rude or tough or in-charge when you talk to people while smoking (or sexy and sophisticated if you happen to be flirting or just trying to be nice), of tapping the ashes off, or putting out the butt and throwing it away. These rituals make you either feel like you belong (when you're around others who smoke), or feel special since you're unique (when you're around non-smokers), or it gives you a "ritual" of things to do while interacting with others.

There's also the social aspect of it - bumming a cigarette off someone, or asking for a light, or being the one to offer it, or to offer to light up someone. These can be convenient icebreakers or a means of getting closer to someone enough so that you can have a conversation or share a nodding smile or some such.

There's also the ability to show consideration to others, specifically non-smokers, like, "oh, is my cigarette bothering you?" et cetera, and you can be all kind and considerate by stubbing out your cigarette.

As to what it makes you feel - well, inhaling the smoke gives you a kind of taste of something like menthol, and it gives you a cool feeling in your chest, and it sort of addresses a craving - I suppose it would be parallel to answering a craving for chocolate or some favorite snack. Most smokers would light up after a meal or after drinking coffee. Some include the ritual of hanging out in a coffeehouse with a cigarette, (since hanging out in a coffeehouse is the thing, not to have the coffee, and the cigarette part of that). So, I suppose, smoking is parallel to eating - it can answer a craving, or it can be a habit or it can be a social thing.

In general, cigarettes makes you be in a better mood and make you feel better when you're feeling down. It makes you feel less irritable, makes you less hungry (which is good for keeping the weight down) and it actually improves your concentration and your memory.

These are all part and parcel of the rituals of smoking, and hence it can become like an addiction - not an addiction in the clinical sense, but more like you are used to a certain habit or mode of behavior, or a way one handles her day-to-day. Not having it will make one ill-at-ease, and you would therefore feel a bit off.

But these things are built up over a period of time as one becomes a smoker. I would doubt your character would feel any of that.

As to the physical component - that is all about the physiological dependence that one would have developed after a person has become a smoker. When you don't get your fix, you'd feel some tingling in the hands and feet, you'd probably be sweating, you'd be nauseated and have some cramps, constipation and gas, insomnia, inability to concentrate, a sore throat, you'd be irritable, depressed, anxious, and you'd have headaches that wouldn't necessarily increase in intensity, but you'd be desperate to get rid of them especially since they're accompanied by all the other bad stuff. And coughing - lots of coughing. And if you're able to stick to not smoking for a time, you'll find you've gained weight.

Over and above all that, your craving for nicotine will be there, and increasing over time. It would eventually plateau and recede and be mostly gone, but from then on, you'll always have to consciously actively stop yourself from reaching for a cigarette every time you see it being sold or if someone offers you one, or if you're around your smoker friends. That's what it means to be an addict (there is no such thing as an "ex-addict" - at best, you're going to be a "recovering addict").

As for your character, even if she hasn't smoked before, I can assume that her new body will have that addiction and just smelling the smoke and the cigarette "taste" from a smoker passing by will trigger the craving, and she would instinctively know what she's craving for. If the person whose body she jumped into has stopped smoking already, she'll still have that craving, but if the person was a smoker when she inhabited the body, she'll probably feel all the physical symptoms I mentioned, all coming on gradually and increasing until they plateau, and they will recede.

It took me a while to kick the habit, but I managed it (probably because I wasn't a smoker for that long a time). But it was rough.

So, kids, don't smock. (lol heheheh)

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