Customer Reviews

Revenge Gifts

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rumor has it that the people who actually choose to live on the Florida Keys are strange. Some are experts in scuba diving [...]. Some are experts in shark repelling suits (chain mail). But Tara Cole is an expert in revenge. [...] People all over the nation must love getting revenge on others, because Tara's business is booming. Tara is even considering accepting Howard Payne's (A.K.A. Muffin) business proposal. Revenge Gifts also gets more than its share of hate mail. Too bad Tara does not have time to read them. She is busy keeping her home's food poltergeist from throwing too many eggs around in the kitchen and her Uncle Lester's ghost from shooing away guests or turning on ALL the lights when she is trying to sleep.

But now someone has put a curse on her. Gris-gris bags, a black cat, a black rooster, even a black goat are showing up. Each is followed by bad events. A voodoo gauntlet has been stuck in the sand and Tara must accept the challenge before she ends up dead.

***** This is one of the most amusing novels I have read this year! Tara has a most unique outlook on life that almost convinced me to join her for a walk on the dark side! This modern contemporary romance adds just enough of the paranormal element to make the characters' lives interesting to those of us forced to live in reality. "Revenge Gifts" will win awards, mark my words. Highly recommended! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I hardly ever like books written in the first person, so I read the first 30 pages expecting to be bored to death. Instead I was tittilated, fasinated, and just stunned by this book. I really didn't know what to think at first. But by the 3rd or 4th chapter I was hooked.

Tara is a non conformist, she is totally self absorbed, and not interested in any romantic efforts by her few friends. But along the way she gets cursed by a voo-doo priest and priestess. Then she gets involved with a man who is lost from Wall Street. To add to the mix she manages a bar for a friend and runs a business called Revenge Gifts on line. The story line has more twists and turns than a snake caught in a headlock.

This is not really a romance nor is it a drama, what it is, is just an unbelievable fun read. A Wild, weird, farce with so much humor it knocks you for a loop. Read it with your tonque in your cheek and a mixed drink at your side.

I loved this book and was stunned to discover that it was a debut; I had assumed that it was from a seasoned author that I had somehow overlooked. It is written in the first person, and in my opinion that style contributes to the success of this book.

Tara Cole lives in the Florida Keys, which she tries to convince us is not the paradise we all believe it to be (probably to keep us from going there). Even better she has a boss from hell and does what each one of us wishes that we could do - she gets revenge. And best of all, she starts a business providing revenge gifts for others, so she no longer has to toil for anyone else. I only had to read a few pages to decide that I wanted to be Tara Cole.

Despite a great idea for a story and really interesting characters, this book could have fallen flat if not for the excellent writing. Tara is sharp witted and the dialog (internal & external) is the same.

I am glad that my local bookstore decided to prominently display this book because I am not sure that I would have otherwise found it. I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to future offerings from this author - although I would not be surprised if they were published in trade size as "chick lit".

This begs to be a series and I can't wait!!!, September 5, 2005
Reviewer: (Auburn, WA) - See all my reviews

Cindy Cruciger has the most unique voice in Romance. Her first novel, Revenge Gifts, is reminiscent of Evanovich's One For the Money and Laurell K Hamilton's Guilty Pleasures. I hope this is the first of many in the tale of Tara Cole!
I want to know more about Sam. I want to know what happens to the 4ft rooster! Is Dennis the ghost gone or just misplaced? Is Chante' a woman or a transvestite? Is Tara really in love with Howard aka Muffin? I'm personally hoping Sam will shed his Beta-ness and become the Alpha he should be and that Tara needs.

I couldn't put this book down, I read it twice and loved it both times.

This book was funny, weird, wacky, and addictive. I can't wait for the next title by Ms. Cruciger. If you run out of things to read as quickly as I do then you'll enjoy this book, if you don't buy another book all year long this is worth the money...it's not like anything else you've ever read!!

The main story is about a girl Tara who has the ability to interact with ghosts. She has a revenge business selling products like a lace pillow filled with cat hair to give to someone allergic to cats. The writing style was different from most romance novels I've read. I was chuckling many times throughout this book, which was full of subtle surprising humor. Tara would say or think something that I did not expect or was not used to hearing, and that made me laugh. Following are some examples that show the kind of humor in the book. By the way, the book is written in first person as told by Tara.

1. Someone left a black rooster on Tara's porch as a curse, pages 55 - 57. Tara says "I headed over to the side of the building, keeping a close eye on rooster-zilla." A little later Tara says to her friend "Hose down the patio and scootch Kentucky Fried there to the end of the porch." A little later the rooster is on the roof and Tara says: "I can hear the cats yowling inside and Finger Lick'n up above is probably wanting to come down on someone's head."

2. Another section on page 17, follows. Tara is thinking: "I'm not into casual anything. I spent ten years working almost exclusively with men whom I couldn't date and still expect respect from them the next day at work. This is because guys categorize women in three ways.
Way one: I'd do her.
Way two: I'd do her in front of your mother.
Way three: You couldn't pay me to do her.
I've worked long and hard to fall into that last category. It's a hard habit to break once it's perfected."

This book surprised and delighted me. It was a nice change of pace. A romance develops between Tara and Howard, but it is secondary to the main story which is about Tara's life, work, friends, etc. Read this for fun, not for romance.

Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: five. Setting: current day small tourist town in the Florida Keys. Copyright: 2005. Genre: humorous contemporary romance.

I have to say, I was a bit amazed at just how GOOD this book turned out to be. There was a little bit of everything; romance, friendship, mystery, murder, humor, mayhem and, of course, revenge. Tara's character appeals to the "mischevious" side in all of us, while maintaining a certain innocence and naivity where we don't feel the least bit guilty to love her. I don't often laugh out loud while reading, however I lost count as to how many that happened during the course of the book. The read also did not last long; I finished in one day-- I just couldn't wait to see what kind of "karma" was coming Tara's way. You will fall in love with each character; Howard also had a few surprises up his sleeve. I am defenitley looking forward to the sequel! Cindy Cruciger has a very unique way of writing and capturing the attention of her audience. I am looking forward to MANY more of her writings.

For quite some time now, her friend Kathy has warned Tara Cole that she's acquiring massive doses of bad karma thanks to her business. An online shot that specializes in helping the buyer make someone who has done them wrong's life agony. Furthermore, Kathy is sure that Tara is tempting fate by living with a bevy of ghosts. However, Tara dismisses all this and continues to prosper. Her one regret is that she doesn't have much of a lovelife. Then, two things happen. Someone starts sending Tara revenge gifts and Howard Payne comes into her life. Though at first Tara thinks he could be the one sending the gifts, that idea is without merit, and he becomes the love of her life in short order. The gifts begin to get scary, however, and Tara's life gets progressively more complicated. Someone is definitely trying to jinx her, even kill her. With the help of Kathy's good voodoo, a Loa, Howard, the local womanizer, and a ghost or two, Tara tries to get to the bottom of the mystery by any means necessary;even an out of body experience, and stay alive.

*** Though at times the transitions are a bit difficult to follow, overall, this is definitely a different, non formulaic novel. For over a year now, Romantic Times readers have watched this book develop, and it is worth the wait. However, I just hope no one gets any bright ideas from the company named in the title. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer.

If making people laugh brings good karma, then Cindy Cruciger is set for life. I loved this book with its quick, sometimes twisted humor and unbelievabley unique characters and plot. This has to be one of the most original, wildly funny books that I've read in years.

No one is ever going to classify me as a reviewer of romance novels, but I do dip a few toes in the pool of romance once every blue moon or so. Technically speaking, Cindy Cruciger's delightful debut novel, Revenge Gifts, is a work of paranormal romance, so I think I'm sort of covered on this one. Ghosts, murder, voodoo, revenge: these are topics I'm quite comfortable with. And as for the romantic element of the story, it's by no means mushy or overly dramatic (despite the frequent use of the moniker "Muffin"). They say this is women's fiction, but I say that guys can enjoy this book just as much as the ladies, as it is wildly entertaining, consistently funny, and delightfully original.

We all have moments when we thirst for revenge against someone else - an unfaithful lover, a hateful boss, a nosy mother-in-law, etc. Wouldn't it be great if there was a merchant out there who catered to such needs, supplying all sorts of "gifts" designed to make your personal enemy pay for his/her actions? Tara Cole thought so, which is why she started Revenge Gifts from her home in the Florida Keys. This online site features a selection of goodies guaranteed to torment your worst enemies (anonymously, if you choose). Not surprisingly, her business is thriving. Her personal life, on the other hand, could use some work. It has been ten years since her last serious relationship, she is routinely pestered by a number of ghosts in her home, and she is now the recipient of death threats from a local voodoo priestess. Ah, but there is also a new man in her life (the aforementioned "Muffin," also known as Howard), and that makes living with a refrigerator-raiding, knife-throwing ghost and the threat of a voodoo curse (not to mention the bad karma her revenge gift business is calling down upon her head) a little easier to deal with.

As I said, I know next to nothing about the romance genre, but from what I have heard and read I get the sense that there is a lot of what I would call "fruit cake fiction" out there, with what is basically the same story turning up in one novel after another. Daring to be different, Revenge Gifts just doesn't fit your standard stereotypical romance. Tara Cole is not the type of girl to swoon, that's for sure, and I don't think there's anything swoon-worthy in play here, anyway. This is not a dramatic love story wherein two lost souls find in each other the mate each one has been searching for all of their lives. Howard's and Tara's relationship is more about the moment; it's sexy, it's fun, and both are really into each other, but that is about as deep as it goes for now.

Revenge Gifts is full of great characters and dialogue, with Tara herself really winning me over. She's a fiercely independent, somewhat mischievous, smart and sassy young woman who takes her crazy life in stride without ever losing her sense of humor (sarcastic as it is). To me, she's at her funniest and most charming during her most difficult moments - it's a good thing, too, because, difficult moments take up most of her time.

If you're looking for some kind of sappy, melodramatic romance, you might want to pass this one by. If you're up for some sexy fun, with a little weirdness on the side, though, Revenge Gifts may just have exactly what you're looking for.