Customer Reviews

Dead Sexy (Garnet Lacey, Book 2)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One year ago Garnet Lacey's inner Goddess, Lilith, murdered a group of Vatican witch hunters after discovering they had killed her entire coven. With the help of her vampire ex-boyfriend, Parrish, she had buried the bodies. Now, with some unforeseen weather issues, the bodies have surfaced. Garnet Lacey's past is catching up to her, leading the way is the good looking psychic FBI agent, Dominguez. He has come to Madison, Wisconsin to investigate the recently discovered dead bodies.

Garnet has her hands full in this, the second book of the series. Along with dealing with the FBI and trying to beat a murder rap, she has some conflict and issues with her current vampire boyfriend, Sebastian; one of those issues includes her ex-boyfriend, Parrish. Garnet has also discovered that the town is crawling with zombies carrying and using really old money.

I wasn't that crazy about the zombie portion of this story, it seemed a little far fetched to me and I had a really hard time believing or buying into it. I think Ms. Hallaway really wrote a tale with a lot of feeling this time around. There is so much going on between Garnet, Sebastian, Parrish and Dominguez, emotionally, and she writes it beautifully on each page. Garnet must come to terms with and say good-bye to her past and there are several heartfelt moments that made this reader weepy.

This was an excellent follow up to the first book, I really enjoyed Dead Sexy, and it was a hard book to set down. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving this reader hoping Ms. Hallaway is a fast writer and will be coming out with the third book, soon. Enjoy!

Vampires, zombies, and Vatican killers... what's a witch to do with so many supernatural distractions?

Garnet Lacey's life didn't used to be so complicated. However, the slaughter of her coven by the Vatican killers, The Order of Eustace, and her subsequent possession by the Goddess Lilith has made things difficult. Now, an FBI agent is questioning her about those deaths (because of course the Vatican killers couldn't survive the wrath of Lilith) while zombies are littering the town she now calls home. Never mind that her ex-vampire boyfriend, Parrish, is hiding out at her place without her current vampire boyfriend, Sebastian, knowing anything about it! Garnet's got her hands full!

Tate Hallaway continues to blend together romance with a dark fantasy tale. The added touches of humor, such as her familiar cat's allergy to magic, make for a very interesting tale. DEAD SEXY is the second book in this series and can stand alone, although readers will appreciate the relationships better if TALL, DARK, & DEAD is read first.

DEAD SEXY is an intelligent and fast paced paranormal novel with some fun but quirky characters. I liked seeing more of William as he is going through his various phases. However, Garnet herself is the driving force behind the success of this series. Her continued battle between her peace loving former life as coven member Meadow Spring and her current life with Lilith battling to the surface is exceptionally well done. Tate Hallaway's brilliant characterizations make even the secondary characters spring to life in this wonderful series. Just be forewarned....DEAD SEXY ends on a very emotional cliffhanger!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

I was delightfully surprised by this second installment in the Garnet Lacey series. Hallaway has furthered the plot while introducing new elements and new characters to enjoy.

As for our oldie but goodie characters, I thought Garnet and Parrish's relationship was adequately explored and was left at a very satisfying place for me. Sebastian continues to be an A1 HOTTIE and I think it's incredibly brave for an author to continue to explore the ups and downs and growing pains of a relationship, rather than going the easy route and just setting up a different pair of characters. It can't be easy to continue past that first blush of romance, when nine out of ten authors would have just left it at "happily ever after" at the end of book one. I have a lot of respect for Hallaway's decision to continue to explore Sebastian and Garnet's romance. It makes both characters seem more real.

Garnet continues to be the plucky, powerful heroine she was in "Tall, Dark, and Dead," and in this book, we get to see her dive into other paranormal action happening in her world. It's made the whole Garnet Lacey universe expand and I am eager to encounter what new surprises lie in store for Garnet.

In all, reading "Dead Sexy" was a wonderful diversion, and I can't wait to get my hands on Book 3.

I liked the first book in the series, Tall, Dark & Dead, and this one was a great continuation. The plot kept going, the characters were likable, there was a little suspense, a little romance, some humor, so overall a good read!

When you're host to a Goddess, it's even more difficult to control your life than for normal people. Especially when that Goddess isn't, you know, nice. When she can crush the life out of people trying to hurt you. Seeing those haunting images doesn't really help you live a normal life. Meet Garnet. Bookstore manager. Witch. Vamp-boyfriend material.

Your life is back on tracks. You've just gotten control over your life again. Not many people got killed this time. And now there's zombies suddenly crawling around your town. There's a voodoo queen around. And there's the FBI-guy. Cute. But FBI... And looking for the person guilty of tearing out the hearts of the Vatican murderers that killed your coven on the night you and your private Goddess got really personal. So: what we have here is a gigantic mess.

Tate's given us another smooth read. The story is very engaging, well-written and easy-flowing. What I miss, just a little bit, is the surprises of the first part of this series: the witch/Goddess, the non-vampire vampire, the Vatican Inquisition-murderers. This book is a little surprising on the witching details: herbs, loa & voodoo. Characterwise, it's not as surprising as the first book. But overall: a worthwhile read.

The book was a mindless read - what people refer to as a good beach book. While I didn't hate the book, I didn't love it either. My main problem with it was the ending. The author spent most of the book building up the zombie/Voodoo Queen storyline, only to have the big showdown last about 1 page. The showdown read like it was added into the final chapter at the last moment, almost like the author realized she forgot to wrap up that little plot point.

I thought it was better than Tate's first Garnet Lacey book, and way better than a lot of vampire chick lit titles out there. No, it's not "serious" literature. No, reading this book won't change your life. But, yes, it will entertain you and maybe even make you laugh in a few places. The setting (Madison, WI) is believable, and in spite of the snarky comments of some other reviewers, I find it very easy to believe that a few zombies have registered for classes at UW-Madison. (Thinking back on my 7am Intro to Psychology class at Madison many, many years ago - maybe more than a few. And then there were the guys in the end dorm room...) Buy the book, it's a lot of fun!

Mercury Crossing bookstore manager and witch Garnet Lacey muses about how many dead essences live in Madison, Wisconsin. However, she also ponders fate that by being late she missed a sure date with death as a Vatican paramilitary assassination squad killed the other eleven members of her coven (see TALL, DARK & DEADLY). Of course conjuring up Lilith to dispatch the Vatican killers helped.

Garnet and her boyfriend at that time, Parrish the vampire disposed of the bodies and other related evidence. Meanwhile to her chagrin, a zombie student paid for a copy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Voodoo" with counterfeit money. That is followed up by FBI Special Agent Gabriel Domingues investigating the homicides of six priests whose corpses have returned with all evidence pointing towards Garnet. She informs her current boyfriend, Sebastian the vampire that she needs Parrish's help. Sebastian is outraged by this while the zombie populace is growing geometrically with some of them not even students at U of W. Garnet and the new Voodoo queen have a high noon showdown as this college city is only big enough for one practitioner.

The second Garnet gem is a delightful whodunit fantasy starring a likable protagonist who keeps the tale together as she relates what is going on, mostly wrong, in her life in a sort of offbeat chick lit style. The story line is fast-paced and can stand alone though references to the previous novel abound. The supernatural species like vampires, zombies, and FBI agents seem genuine even though the plot is tongue in cheek. Tate Hallaway combines romance, paranormal and mystery into a fun read.

Harriet Klausner

I read this book in 1 day! I absolutely loved it and the series. I would love to see Garnet grace the pages of a new series.

This series is so funny and I can't wait to see how it ends, but then I wish I could have read it slower, so I could have enjoyed it longer!!!