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Book Addict with Angela Wilson

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A Match Made in Hell by Terri Garey

(A few small spoilers)

Ghost Whisperer Nicki Styx is back, and this time the Devil wants his due.

Nicki’s life is going well. She has a hot boyfriend, Dr. Joe Bascombe, her friend, Evan, is madly in love with his bouncer boyfriend and business at her vintage clothing store is good. But that’s all about to change as the Devil’s hot bad-boy manifestation decides he wants Nicki to drive souls to Hell instead of the Light.

Nicki is special, and everyone wants a piece of her. After a near-death experience in Dead Girls Are Easy, Nicki comes back to Earth with a gift: she can see ghosts. This “knack” means that she had to help the dead but not departed cross over – and sometimes finish their unfinished businesses to help them. A Match Made in Hell begins a few weeks after Nicki’s last ghoulish adventure, where a voodoo queen nearly slaughtered Nicki and Joe in a spiritual battle that ended in a spooky cemetery.

Joe’s soon-to-be-ex wife Kelly, is Nicki’s twin – a woman the adopted Nicki never knew existed. Kelly and their biological mother, Peaches, are in a car accident. Peaches dies. Kelly’s hurt, and Nicki cannot help but feel a pang of jealousy as Joe treats her new sister’s wounds. Things get even more complicated when Peaches’ Mom shows up at the funeral - and Satan himself decides he wants Nicki and her gift for his own. As Nicki tries to navigate unexpected familial complications, balance her growing love for Joe with the sudden appearance of Kelly, and “the knack,” she wonders if she can hold it together long enough to save them all and keep the guy she loves.

The sharp-tongued Nicki leads readers on an insanely ghoulish adventure that will keep you guessing until the very end. A Match Made in Hell is addicting, with a clever twist on every page that makes readers wonder what author Terri Garey will throw at her signature character next.

I have to admit, I was pretty certain where Book Two would begin, and that Kelly and Nicki would meet in some kind of hospital setting to immediately hit the love triangle angle. But Garey offers up such a distinctive plot, I could not guess what would happen or where it would lead. Many times I shook my head, wondering how Garey devised such fabulously wicked plot points. Garey’s wit and unique storytelling style is a refreshing change in a genre that is getting stale from cookie cutter serials.

It was fun to see the few similarities and striking differences between the twins. Nicki and Kelly are not mirror images of each other, and that makes them much more interesting. I appreciated the use the Light and the Devil to show the precarious balance of life. It also reinforces just how important it is for Nicki to remember the message Do unto others as they would do unto you, which she heard strongly as the Light sent her hurdling back to Earth in Dead Girls Are Easy. (Interesting note: Nicki as adopted by the Styx family, Kelly the Charon family. The River Styx runs around Hell. Charon is the captain of the boat that carries the dead to the underworld. I can SO see amazing plot opportunities with these name choices alone.)

The characters seemed to make peace with each other a little too quickly for my taste at the end, but this did not detract from the book. They had to quickly get to that point so they could end this devilish adventure once and for all.

And I guarantee, Satan ain’t gonna let Nicki go that easily. I have a feeling he will be popping up again soon to wreak havoc on the lives of Nicki, Joe and Kelly. I can’t wait!

Read my review of Dead Girls Are Easy

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About Angela Wilson

Location: Midwest

Occupation: Web Producer/Freelance Writer

Bio: I love to read - and write - and surf. My FAV genres include mysteries, romantic suspense and thrillers. I'm finally working on my own thriller (under a pen name) and writing a book on marketing/PR for authors. I blog about writing at www.wickedwordsmith.com, and have accounts on various sites. You can find me on MySpace, Facebook and more by visiting www.angelawilson.net.

Posts: 448

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