Customer Reviews

A Match Made in Hell (Nicki Styx, Book 2)

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

 

 

Nicki Styx is back, bigger, bolder & better than ever, in the sequel to Dead Girls are Easy which comes out on June 24, 2008. You meet Nicki & her band of merry misfits in Dead Girls; in A Match Made in Hell, you meet more of Nicki's family & you learn about her birth mother & the circumstances surrounding her adoption & the reason why she was split from her twin sister. Yes, we can all quote Darth Vader, now...."So, you have a twin sister."
Nicki is just as off-beat & saucy in this book as she was in Dead Girls. However, Ms. Garey gives us a keener sense of who Nick is, & how she is dealing with her abilities to commune with the dead. If anything, Nicki is more "real" in this story, & therefore the reader gets pulled into this story right out of the gate. You get a sense of the tale in store for you with the first line, "Too many freaks, not enough circuses." We gain a better insight into Nicki's mind set & continuing struggle to make sense of her life, within the frame work of her new abilities. One of the best aspects of this would be seeing Nicki as a fully formed person, who is at times understanding, grumpy, humorous, cantankerous, stubborn, loyal, sexy & very, very human. At the end of the day, I found myself wishing Nicki really did run a funky vintage clothing shop around the corner, where I could spend too much money on fine fashions & grab a beer with her after the store closed for the night.
All of the core cast from the first book return in this romp through the ghost world. However, the addition to the group who is most interesting would have to be Kelly, Nicki's long lost twin sister. And just to make things interesting, Kelly is the estranged wife of Nicki's boyfriend, Dr. Joe. She returns to Georgia to finalize her "unfinished business" & meet her sister, Nicki. Kelly is Nicki's opposite in so many ways, that the contrasts play up the similarities you do see, and reveal two very interesting, and self possessed young women.
This strange turn of events ultimately leads the group to Savannah for a run in with a Horny Devil, a malevolent Country Club Wannabe Blonde Ghost, & family skeletons revealed. But of course, in Nicki's family, the skeletons aren't necessarily kept in the closet. The interplay between Nicki & Kelly really makes this book. The plotting is tightly paced & the character interaction is often hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud a few times as I devoured this book. (Luckily, I am accustomed to strange looks, so this aspect of reading this book in public did not bother me.) I can honestly say that I can't wait for the third installment; You're the One that I Haunt, next year. In the mean time, Nicki & her buddies will just have to haunt my bookshelf.

After loving "Dead Girls Are Easy", I eagerly awaited this follow up. Here Nicki meets her twin sister Kelly for the first time. Kelly is Nicki's boyfriend Joe's ex-wife, so relations are tense for the sisters from the get-go. In this story, Nicki meets not only her twin sister, but the birth mother who gave them all up and some other family members. Things aren't what they seem, and the ghosts show up routinely. Another new character makes an appearance and threatens to take away everything Nicki ever held dear. It also make her "do unto others" mentally reach shaky ground. The mysteries are a good one, the ghostly spirits enjoyable, even the rotten ones. The writing here is wonderful and the book unravels at a good pace. The follow through may actually have been more entertaining than the first volume. I am taking off one star because of an odd plot twist, that really didn't work for me at the end. Can't say more without giving something away. But still this was a fabulous book and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Nicki Styx enjoyed her life where her worries were keeping up with fashion, her boyfriend and her vintage clothes store. Now she still worries about them, but to quote a movie - she sees dead people. This time Nicki is lead to an accident where one woman is severely injured. The woman turns out to be not only her boyfriend Joe's soon to be ex but also Nicki's twin.

This leads Nicki to discover that she has family she never knew existed and a spooky old house. While trying to deal with the unexpected entrance of her twin sister and more spirits, Nicki learns that the Devil himself has decided he wants her too. Nicki, her boyfriend Joe, her best friend Evan and his partner Butch, all make the journey to discover Nicki's past and of course to defeat the Devil.

A Match Made in Hell pits Nicki against the Devil himself. This time Nicki, Joe and friends not only have to deal with the family Nicki didn't know she had but also the Devil and some of his friends. Joe has told Nicki that he was divorcing his wife who left him, but neither expected her to turn up injured or to be Nicki's twin. The antics and mishaps that Nicki and Joe have to deal with had me enjoying a tale that could have been dark but instead was light and humorous. A Match Made in Hell reminded me of that favorite movie you put in when you want something fun and feel good. Of course Nicki and Joe made it through all the challenges thrown at them and were still together and a bit stronger for them. Along with Evan and Butch who I just had to mention.

A Match Made in Hell is the perfect book for people who want a book that shows the lighter side of paranormal. While this is the second story in the series, I felt it could be read as a stand-alone. However, if you fall for Nicki and company then you might just want to go back and read the other.

Jo
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

this book is much better written than the first one,and Garey really took some time with the plotting. Nicki is a more fully formed character, the other people in the story seem to lack a little substance (no pun intended.) Dr. Joe is mostly a sex machine, Kelly didn't start to have a personality until almost the end of the book, and the other characters are little more than stereotypes. While I liked this better than the first, Garey still has a ways to go before I would consider her a five star author - but if she keeps trying, I'll keep reading!

This was a thoroughly enjoyable romp in the world of paranormal romance and mystery. Loved it.

This is another good one about Nicki, read the first one to have an understanding of what is going on.
The first is Dead girls are Easy.
Nicki has found out since she has passed over, that she can see the dead.
She was brought back to life and gave a set of instructions: do unto others.
So she tries.. she has found out she has a twin sister, not only a twin, but her boyfriends former wife...her name is Kelli
When she is visited by a spirit in her shop, the spirit takes her to a automobile wreak.
In the wreak is a dead woman and a serverly injured young woman, that looks like a toned down version of Nicki.
It is the twin, and Nicki finds out that the dead woman was her birth mother, Peaches.
They are coming to find Nicki to bring her to Savannah, GA to learn about the gift.
Nicki and her sister go to Savannah and take Joe with them, at the blue delihlia they find a grouchy house keeper and a eccentric old man, but not the grandmother they were expecting..
they have creepy encounters with ghosts, malvolent spirits and a hunky guy named Sammy wanting to seduce Nicki away from Joe.
Sammy turns out he is more that what he appears and Nicki must make some fast choices or hurt her new found family and boyfriend with those choices.

This book was just as good as the first one in this series. I'm so glad to have found another mystery series. Can't wait for the 3rd book to come out in February. Keep up the good work. Thanks, Terri!!

Some twisted coincidences, and the ending is definitely not something I would have thought of. Overall, a great book. I can't wait for the 3rd book to come out!

In Atlanta, Nicki Styx is grateful to her new boyfriend, ER Dr. Joe Bascombe whom she met when he saved her life though lacking exact change for ferryman to escort her across her surname river also proved a factor (see DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY). Returning to the living she dedicates her life to helping the dearly departed cross over to the other side.

However, life takes a wacky spin for Nicki when Joe's soon to be former wife Kelly suddenly reappears in his life and hers as a car accident victim rushed to the hospital. She is Nikki's identical twin. Helping them with the awkward reunion is their biological mother who happens to a ghost. Finally a devil of a hunk wants Nikki as his girlfriend.

The second Nikki Styx romantic fantasy is a lighthearted romp as the heroine's family adds to the fun. Readers who appreciate the adventures of the "Ghoulfriend" working Little Five Points in downtown Atlanta as Nicki adapts from shoes in the closet to literally skeletons in the closet. Although the story line is a bit fluffy, the amusing A MATCH MADE IN HELL is an entertaining frolic.

Harriet Klausner

I read a lot of books in several genres and one of the most important things for me, at least, is characterisation. I want to believe in, and like, the main characters in the story - after all, if I'm giving up a few hours of my time, I want to enjoy the company of the people with whom I'm spending it.

'A Match Made In Hell' was a bit short on characterisation, which isn't particularly unusual, but suffered from an overall more significant flaw - I didn't like the heroine. I'm not sure what it was about Nicki Styx that so annoyed me - perhaps her egocentric view of the world, her lack of care for those around her including her newly-discovered twin sister, or her apparent disregard of people's feelings at difficult times - such as choosing funeral items. Her love interest, Joe Bascombe, was a very indistinct character - nice, handsome, a doctor, but I couldn't say much else about him... except that he had previously been married to Nicki's twin sister.

The action (not that there is much) in this story shifts from Little Five Points in Georgia to Savannah. This is the second book in a series and I hadn't read the first so I had to catch up on some plot aspects initially - Nicki had had a near death experience and as a result is able to see ghosts who haven't yet crossed over to The Light. Her job is to help them cross over, to do good to people, but I couldn't help thinking the deity should have picked a nicer woman to do it.

When Nicki discovers her sister can also see dead people, and that Kelly may be dabbling in dangerous waters, she tries to take charge. As they both begin to uncover some of their relatives they find that their talents may run in the family, as may a dangerous adversary.

At the halfway point in this book I found myself skim-reading it as I was rapidly losing interest. The premise of the book shows some originality but there isn't enough plot or characterisation to hold the attention of this reader and I found myself overall disappointed.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010