Reviewer: Tracy Medium Well by Meg Benjamin
Series: Ramos Family Medium Trilogy #1
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: February 2, 2013
Format: eARC
Genres: Paranormal Romance
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Series Rating:
Danny Ramos has always had a gift when it comes to selling houses; it’s as if the homes talk to him. When his jealous boss, Araceli, assigns him to an old and neglected carriage house, he discovers that perhaps his abilities are more than simple intuition. Danny sees and feels the history of the house and the bloody murder that happened there while Biddy, his assistant, feels nothing. If Danny’s going to sell this house, prove to his boss that he isn’t crazy, save his job, and get the girl, he’s going to need all the help he can find, especially when the demon inhabiting the house possesses a client. Lucky for Danny, his sixth sense runs in the family.
Danny Ramos is a real estate agent who is put in charge of selling a carriage house in a historic district of San Antonio, Texas. He’s not thrilled that he gets to sell JUST the carriage house when his boss is selling the actual house but he’ll do his best.
Danny and his awkward assistant, Biddy, head off to show the house to a potential client and it’s the first time they get to see the property. To say its in horrible condition is putting it mildly. The place is a nightmare mess and on top of that Danny starts seeing things – like blood all over the kitchen. Fortunately for him it’s not real but does that mean he’s losing his mind? Biddy feels like the place is freezing, but no one sees the blood but him.
After going to bed one night and being astral projected into the carriage house and seeing ghosts he decides to fess up about what’s happening to both Biddy and his mother whose family has had mediums in it for years. The three of them discover that the house not only has ghosts but so much more. Trying to figure out how to put the boss off from trying to sell the place, keeping his job and also figuring out if he can get rid of the evil spirit that’s inhabiting the carriage house makes for some stressful times.
During all of this Danny sees a different side of Biddy than he’d seen previously. He finds out she sings in a band as well as plays the fiddle. While he’s surprised he also realizes that this is the true Biddy and she’s only at the real estate office to make her sister happy. Danny can’t keep his mind off of Biddy but every love story has its problems.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened this book. It’s not my normal kind of read but I was intrigued enough by the blurb to open it up. I have to admit that it was a bit…odd for the first part of the book – til about 40% in. Then the ghost story got more interesting, Danny and Biddy’s romance took off and I definitely wanted to see what happened in the end.
Danny was a character that I got good and bad vibes from. At some points he just seemed extremely shallow but then he seemed to come around the more time he spent with Biddy who was very down to earth. I liked how he was with his family but there were times that I wanted to slap him in the back of his head for some of the things he said to Biddy. Lol Especially since Biddy was so great. I loved the way the author described Biddy and her band. I could totally hear their music in my head as well as the excitement that their audiences were feeling – it was pretty cool.
My issues with the book included the fact that the ghost story was a bit convoluted in the end. I understood it perfectly but then the author felt that it needed to be explained to me yet again and that didn’t set well with me. I think the author should have had more confidence in her readers to understand. Also, in the blurb it talks about Danny having a gift of almost having the houses he sells “talk to him.” We were told that he had an affinity with the houses he sells but we never actually get to SEE it and it was a bit frustrating. When he sees the blood at the carriage house he freaks right out so I’m guessing that a house had never quite talked to him like that. I guess I thought since it was mentioned we’d get more information about that and we didn’t.
In the end it was a good story. Yes, it started off slow but it definitely got better. If you like ghost stories I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5