Review: A Match Made in Hell by Terri Garey

I read Dead Girls are Easy last year when it came out and although not ground-breaking, I enjoyed it enough to wait and buy the sequel - A Match Made in Hell - when it was released.


A Match Made in Hell by Terri Garey
published by Avon in June 2008

A brush with death and a brief trip to the hereafter left vintage clothing store owner Nicki Styx an unwilling ghoulfriend to the dead. She can see and hear spirits, and boy, do they want to be heard! Luckily, her new boyfriend, sexy doc Joe Bascombe, is there to help, especially when Nicki faces her latest ghost, a woman in pink sequins who holds the key to some family secrets.

Unfortunately for Nicki, it turns out that there are more skeletons in the family closet than she thought, including a twin sister and a mysterious house full of spirits and surprises. Things go from bad to worse when the devil himself shows up, determined to lure Nicki from Joe's side. Will she give in to temptation and sell her soul (or someone else's) for one incredible night?

Demons may be a ghoul's best friend, but with this particular hottie, it could be a match made in hell!

Genre: paranormal romance (ghost)
Series: Nicki Styx series, book #3 (book #2 is novella in anthology)

The Story: In Dead Girls are Easy, Nicki had a near-death experience which resulted in her ability to see ghosts. She also met Dr Joe Bascombe, her new boyfriend, and discovered that she had a twin sister... Joe's wife.

A Match Made in Hell starts out with a bang when a disorientated ghost named Peaches appears in Nicki's store and directs Nicki to the car crash site that claimed her life where her daughter needs help. Imagine Nicki's shock when the daughter discovered turns out to be her twin... but it doesn't end there. Turns out Kelly is also able to see ghosts... and their maternal grandmother, Bijou, shows up at Peaches' funerals, wanting to teach them about their roots... but what if Satan is part of their roots?

My Opinion: Sigh. Okay, so this was a miss for me :( This was a tricky sequel to carry on, but based on the excerpt I read, I thought Ms Garey would pull it off andI really, really wanted to like it, but unfortunately didn't.

There were a couple of issues for me. First of all, Kelly. OMG, I found her annoying ^_^; She ruined it for me. Perhaps I've read too many books with psychics in it, but I know that when you suddenly starts to see ghosts, you should be cautious and careful. However, no, Kelly just barges into it and put everyone at risks. I can understand why she acted the way she did, but perhaps because I was feeling the same as Nicki and so Kelly just rubbed me the wrong way.

I found Nicki a bit standoff-ish in this sequel. The way I remember her, she was a bit more warm in Dead Girls are Easy. Therefore it kind of annoyed me a bit the way she kept Joe at arm length. However, it wasn't so bad until the characters start to mention it so much. It seems Ms Garey was emphasizing on issues that weren't really there.

Finally, the love triangle between Joe and the two sisters. So the situation is that Kelly and Joe married young and for the past 4 or 5 years, Kelly has been MIA. Joe met Nicki and fell in love with her and is looking for Kelly to demand a divorce. Then out of no where, Kelly reappears. Definitively an uneasy situation I wouldn't like to be in. For sure, this was going to be tricky... thing is, I felt like the characters react wrongly. Let's start with Nicki... Did she really expect Joe to ask Kelly for a divorce as soon as she came out of the car accident and announced that his new girlfriend was her twin? I also didn't like how Kelly clung to Joe, although it was understandable. My problem is that she never loved him... so what? Are you just being childish? He's mine, you can't have him? Overall, Joe was okay. Poor guy, stuck in this situation. Thing is, you already know the situation is tricky, plus Nicki has doubts... so perhaps you should do your best to clear things up?

Oh and one last thing... In the story timeline, about a month or two has gone by between the two books... and even in Dead Girls are Easy, I think it spans what, one or two weeks? Everything happened very fast, but to the readers, it seems like a lot of time has gone by... literally months. As a result, I felt Nicki should have been more comfortable with her abilities and accept them. It felt like she wanted really badly to deny seeing ghosts and just want them to leave her alone... however, we all know that it's not going to happen. It just wasn't fun to read Nicki seeing ghosts because they were so inconvenient for her :(

So yes, lots of issues bothered me, enough that the rest of the storyline didn't grab me and couldn't salvage A Match Made in Hell. It seems that the storyline is only going to get more complicated, but at least, Kelly is far away now.

My Grade: C- . I think I've said it all...

Review: Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey

Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey
published by Avon Romance in August 2007

I took this synopsis from the author’s website, which seems to be a bit more complete than the one on the back cover of the book:

When a former Goth girl has a near-death experience and returns to life with a whole new outlook, she isn’t happy to find that she’s brought a ‘sixth sense’ back with her. Restless female spirits now sense a kindred soul in Nicki Styx, but she’d far rather they take their tales of woe elsewhere. If becoming a reluctant ‘ghoulfriend’ to the dead isn’t enough to turn that pink streak in her hair to white, she still has a vintage clothing store to run and buried secrets to keep from the emergency room 'hottie' who’s doing some digging of his own.

Joe Bascombe gets a second chance when the pretty young woman whose heart just stopped comes back to life, and he’s determined not to waste it. Too much work and responsibility have made Dr. Joe a dull boy, and a quirky gamine-faced girl with a zest for life might just be the cure he needs. Too bad she thinks she sees dead people.

A carefree lifestyle suited Nicki just fine, but life changes after death passes her by. Never one to meddle in other people’s affairs, she now finds herself burdened with the responsibility of seeing justice is done in her friend’s murder. The dead woman’s spirit claims that her live-in boyfriend, already arrested for homicide, is innocent and needs to be set free. When Nicki balks at playing detective, the bosom buddy she had in life becomes a pain in the neck in death, landing Nicki in deep Voodoo. Growing feelings for the wholesome and responsible Joe complicate the issue, and Nicki finds herself longing for something she never expected - a normal life.

In the end, Nicki learns that the ‘dearly departed’ don’t always tell the truth. Her ghostly friend wants revenge, not justice. But no ghost is going to get the best of this former Goth girl. Together, Nicki and Joe make sure justice is served and the troublesome spirit is sent on to the other side.

Eventually, Nicki may find that dealing with dead girls is easier than dealing with reality, but for now Nicki and Joe have found something to live for. The hereafter will just have to wait while they enjoy the here-and-now.

Genre: paranormal romance, ghost
Series: Nicki Styx series, Book #1

Why did I get this book? I was looking for something to read/buy. To be frank, I picked up this book, read the back blurb and went: “not another one!” Especially when this book sounded very similar to another one I read a couple of months ago. I mean, let’s face it, Near-Death-Experience (NDE) coupled with abilities to see ghosts afterwards plots have been done and re-done. But I still bought the book ^^; I guess I wanted something to buy :)

My impressions? This was a light and fast read for me. Yes, the plot is familiar, but the characters are not and I think that’s what saved the book for me. I liked Nicki and I thought Joe was very sweet :D They make a good pair and there are some twists in this plot that makes this book worthy of a try. Also, it turns out that this is the first book in the Nicky Styx series and I think it shows potential.

The Heroine, the Hero and the Romance: Well, let’s start with Nicki, our heroine. She was adopted as a baby by free-spirited parents and after their deaths in a car accident, she bought a store with her best friend, Evan. She’s on the gothic side, very bold and outspoken; however, she’s not too tough either. I think that she’s pretty vulnerable and actually is not as tough as she would like people to believe. She’s a very likeable heroine and reminds me a bit of Stephanie Plum, minus the clumsiness and the crazy family.

You know the next-door girl? Well Joe the doctor would be the next-door guy. In my opinion, he has two things going on for him: 1) he’s not in law enforcement and 2) he’s not an alpha. LOL :) Instead, he’s the more serious, responsible, dependable guy… and definitively sweet.

The romance was nice… Joe was definitively trying and you know, they’re building up something. No soulmate or instant mating… just a healthy dose of attraction and a few dates. I did think that the relationship was evolving a bit too fast, I mean, they didn’t fall in bed together immediately, but still it was a bit fast to my taste, given their situation.

The Story: So once Nicki gets over the fact that she can see dead people and starts to believe it, it gets interesting. She gets the visit of a few unrelated ghosts as well of a supposedly friend who’s been murdered and asked Nicki to prove that her man was not the killer. However, the supposedly friend is not very friendly as a ghost and Nicki stats to suspect that something is wrong when the supposedly friend “hurts” Evan once Nicki refuses the help. Turns out that some voodoo is involved.

Meanwhile, there’s also Joe. Nicki is not sure what to do with him… She knows he is attracted to her and she is to him too; however, he has also asked if she could be a subject in his NDE research. The most interesting twist in the book however, would be the fact that Joe is married... to Nicki’s twin sister, or at least, that’s what he believes.

What I liked: I liked that it was fluff and fast to read. I liked Nicki and Joe and both together. I even liked the best friend, Evan.

What I didn’t like: The voodoo aspect of the book. Never liked voodoo and this book didn’t change that.

Grade: B. This was a good effort from the author and the storyline does have potential to become better. I guess we’ll have to see with the next book; however, the synopsis and excerpt sure are promising.