Wes is not as nice as his friends seem to think.

One of the things I like about the series so far is the growing community, but what I don’t like is that when stressed, Wes thinks entirely and only about Hudson or missing Hudson, seemingly forgetting his bff, his sort-of-son, etc. He’s all Hudson, all the time, which diminishes my ability to believe in how much he loves his found family. At one point, he tells Evan to keep a secret for him, from Hudson & everyone. That’s bad enough. But the way he did it was telling Evan that We’s love is conditional, the exact thing he promised it wasn’t in book one. His tendency to make everything his “fault” is something that centers his experience at the heart of other people’s problems. Wes spends this entire book being whiny and selfish and vengeful in turn, yet people seem to think he’s wonderful. I almost DNF’d at the end of chapter 9. Lexi’s injury drives his vengeance rather than being about her, and he never fully makes amends for scaring Evan’s boyfriend. He starts to unravel this toxic behavior towards the end, but most of the pain in this book would have been avoided by Wes working *with* his found family rather than trying to keep them at arm’s length. There would still have been plenty to do for plot but they could have been doing it together, which as a reader, I always find more satisfying than characters going it alone for selfish reasons like wanting to be seen as nicer than they are.

My quibble from the first book is bloomed into “well, that’s certainly a choice”. Wes is a part-time ghost who lives mostly as a human, but has been around since the Great Depression. He’s been a gay man the whole time, and the 1980s is one of the cycles of his life when he had friends. Yet the AIDS epidemic isn’t mentioned, ever. He would have seen *hundreds* of acquaintances die. But whenever his unhappiness about seeing people die comes up, he only ever refers to his first love Michael, and Michael’s sister’s family. A gay man who went clubbing for *most of the 80’s* would think about how many gay men had died. Acceptance of same sex marriage came DIRECTLY as a result of AIDS activism. Without the epidemic and groups like Act Up, it’s unlikely gay marriage would exist now. The author could elide thinking too much about the trauma by skating by it in his thoughts with a “still can’t think too much about it” so the cheerier tone of the book doesn’t wallow. But to entirely skip over the impact of HIV & AIDS on gay men who were at their primes in the height of crisis is less plausible than vampires or hellhounds. It’s too glaringly ignored for it not to be a choice and it’s a bad choice for having chosen to use these characters.

Steam: med. There’s on page M/M details a few times but rarely dwells there long. The vampire biting seemed more intense.

Narration: Likely the reason I didn’t quit. I happen to enjoy the narrator’s twink voice, which is the POV voice. It’s bubbly. There were a few sections of static in the copy I downloaded, though, hence the 4 stars.

2 people found this helpful

Give up the Ghost.

Another fun story full of ghosts, vampires and witches.
Also imps, revenants, mad scientists and mayhem.
This was a good story, Wes and Hudson are still finding their way in the relationship, with a few ups and downs. The mystery was a fun paranormal twister.
All the "found family" makes the story even more complete.
Greg Boudreaux is a terrific narrator.

1 person found this helpful

Dysfunctional ghostbuster family - glorious!

Once again, a solid paranormal procedural with humor, heart, and an original MM couple. This was a self contained book without a cliffhanger, although you should start with book 1 before listening to this.

I liked this book better than the first because there’s more interaction with Wes and Hudson’s oddball collection of friends: Evan the baby vampire, Iskander of the now scratchy voice, and witches Leslie and her mom. I also like that the author writes real people, who have flaws and do stupid irrational things. I love the effortless way she builds in diversity of personalities and issues, from Iskander’s conflicts between his sexuality and some of his Muslim family, to Evan’s mental health issues as a lifelong feature rather than a mere plot device or condition to be cured.

I do feel a bit cheated on the villain side of things; like book 1, we don’t really get a whole lot of villain-hero interaction, making the reveals and action scenes less meaningful. This is not a huge deal, however, considering the phenomenal rest of the book.

1 person found this helpful

Unwanted Gifts...

So, I get that Wes didn't ask for the "gift" that he received but I just wanted to slap some sense into the immortal-not ghost for "neglecting" telling all of the people around him. I just wanted to smack the silly out of him. Not telling his best friend. That said, I loved how the author's presentation of this story went at a steady pace and allowed for the exploration of all characters. I was hooked in the first book and this one just tightens the grip on my imagination. Looking forward to where we go next in the series...

1 person found this helpful

#FromTheBeyond

Just as great as the first one.......
With ghost, imps, and he'll hounds running amok around the city, our favorite Not Ghost and Vampire combo struggle to figure out why all these rips between the real world and their other are opening.

1 person found this helpful

Exciting 2nd book in the series

This book picks up a few months after the first book ends. Wes is keeping a huge secret from everyone and Toronto is suddenly under strange magical attacks.

A lot of book centers on the relationships between the major characters. Wes is keeping his secret because he’s afraid everyone will reject him. Hudson is up to something. The partnership in the PI firm seems unbalanced. As everyone works to solve the magical creatures problem and a burglary seems to be more than the sun of its parts tensions grow and Wes becomes more untethered.

Greg Boudreaux’s performance brings the characters to life so well we can feel their pain, anger, loneliness, desperation, and heartbreak through our speakers. The voices are consistent with how I heard the characters in my head when I read the books a while ago.

This performance was so compelling I’m moving right on to book 3 to stay in the dramatic moment.

Great new series

Okay, this is the second book in this series and I was hooked from the very beginning. I alternated between listening and reading (which is my habit) and have to say that the narration by Greg Boudreaux was completely okay.

We were introduced to Hudson (a vampire) and Wes (a "not ghost") in the first book in this series and this book has us seeing what the ramifications are from the events of the first book. At this point, we begin to realize that this crazy group of misfits, just might end up becoming a family. If they are willing to make themselves just a little bit vulnerable. There is Wes - who is trying to figure out exactly what he is. Then there is Hudson, who is just now determining if he will let anyone in. Then of course, there is Lexi - who unfortunately had to undergo a tremendous scare, and then we add to that Evan and Iskander. I'm not even going to hint about those two.

I actually fell more in love with this group in this book and began to really root for them....as a team. I have to admit, for a new author, I am impressed. This book caught me in its hold from the very beginning and did not let go until the end. I am extremely curious about what is in store for this group and am anxious to keep going.

So...I need to go now because I need to move forward to the next book.
(Honestly, I can not think of a better complement than that)

meh

I think I should have stopped at book 1.
This one starts good enough but what I liked more about the first book (the will they won't they between Hudson and Wes) is not there. The relationship DOES have some very nice moments, but there's not nearly enough of them. I think this would have got 1 or 2 more stars from me if it focused more on the relationship.

Add to this the fact that Wes is 25% more stupid here and that the plot was unable to hold my interest... I was barely able to finish it.

I won't buy book 3 (it also seems by reading the reviews that it will end poorly too SO).

If you read book 1 and are tempted to continue with the series... idk, do it only if you're completely in love with Wes. Otherwise leave it as a standalone.

Narrator did a great job.

great voice and great story

I love the story and the person who did the voices. Absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed a lot about this story.

Book 2 is a Delightful Continuation...

Wes And Hudson are reunited in this very HEA, after settling old hash that followed them before they can build their futures. Again with the sexy, delicious intimacy as Greg Boudreaux's deep voice nails it to perfection.

On to book 3!