Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Laying a Ghost Boxed Set
SERIES: Laying a Ghost #1-3
AUTHOR: Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 495 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 9, 2016
BLURB:
To celebrate 10 years of Laying a Ghost: books 1-3 in a single, collected edition.
Laying a Ghost
When John McIntyre sees Nick Kelley step off the island ferry, he’s instantly attracted, and fairly certain that he knows what Nick is keeping secret, because he’s been doing it himself for years. When he discovers Nick’s real secret he’s drawn into a world he never knew existed, one haunted by grief and guilt and ghosts. In the shadowed world of the spirits, Nick’s power is all that the ghosts have to help them. But Nick is still mourning the death of his lover in an accident he believes he caused, and John’s determined to keep their relationship secret.
It’s going to take a lot more than attraction and really good sex to solve their problems but will they be lucky? Or will one week be all they have before they’re left alone again?
Giving Up the Ghost
Most of the people in Florida are soaking up the sun. Nick and John are dealing with a plane crash, a gold-digger, a reporter with an eye on more than a good story, and some startling revelations about Nick’s family.
And that’s before the ghosts from the crash get angry with Nick, the one person who can hear them.
They’re struggling with their relationship when the trip begins — sex works, sex works well; it’s the other stuff that’s a problem. Getting away seemed like a good way to work things out. But this is one getaway that might leave John and Nick wishing they’d stayed at home.
Or it might be just what they needed to find out that home is where the heart is.
Waking the Dead
When your lover can speak to ghosts and his half-brother can read minds, you get used to life being a step away from normal. But when angry ghosts take over the bodies of the living, seeking revenge for their centuries-old murders, even John and Nick have trouble coping.
Teenaged angst, pushy tourists, and the dead walking… If they want the peaceful summer they’d planned, they’re going to have to fight for it.
Side by side.
REVIEW:
Back when I first started reading books in the m/m genre I picked up a copy of Laying a Ghost. I had been going thru a bit of a Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow binge and thought it looked like a great story. Ghosts, Scotland, men…well it didn’t sound like a bad thing at all. And it wasn’t. I found the story entirely enjoyable and looked forward to reading book two in the series, Giving Up the Ghost. But I never did get around to it. Other shiny books drew my attention and this series became another to fall victim to my One Day list. One day I’ll get to it. One day I’ll go back.
Well I am happy to say that One Day has finally come.
I loved going back and finishing* up this series. The characters were just as good as I remember them being. Nick with his determination to do right…even at great cost to himself. John with his steady healing and calming presence. These three books (the first more so than the other two) rely heavily on these two characters to bring this setting to life and to make you believe in a world where ghosts are real and Nick and John are your men to help them. By the end of book three I was not ready to let them go. They had grown incredibly comfortable inside my head, and leaving them there was a bit depressing.
I loved these stories and will heartily recommend them.
*Which is probably why I was so happy to find out that book four, Love Strong as Death, has just come out a few months ago.
Laying a Ghost — 4.5 stars
Nick Kelley has never been to Scotland before. Never been to the home of his mother. Never met the uncle who left him his family home on the island of Traighshee. But after losing his best friend and partner, Nick badly needs to be somewhere–anywhere– he has never been before. He hopes that the memories (among other things) will not haunt him as badly there.
When John McIntyre–part-time taxi driver, part-time fisherman, part-time whatever the hell is paying–gives him a lift up to Nick’s new home, he does not have a whole lot of expectations. Not for the house and not for his life. But the house–despite its age–feels like someplace to one day call home. And John, well he feels like someone Nick could at least call friend, if not more.
But Nick is hiding a secret–one that has already cost a life–and the chance that John will stick around once he learns the truth is pretty slim. And that is not even factoring in John’s reluctance to letting anyone know about his more than friendly thoughts towards Nick.
This turned out to be one of the few books that I’ve got a pretty good memory of, even years after having read it. That being the case I had a good idea of what happened during the course of the story before I even started. Not that that did much to diminish my enjoyment of it. Because while the plot was simple, the characters were not. They were wonderfully complex and had a staying power that reminded me exactly why I loved this story to begin with. And why I was determined once and for all to get it off my One Day list.
I love the simple yet deep romance that forms between Nick and John. It is not complicated. It is not full of angst and constant pitfalls. It is steady and heartfelt from nearly the beginning. That is not to say it was without its problems. John was determined to stay in the closet. Nick can see dead people. Both those were bound to make the relationship interesting. But thru it all I could feel the emotion behind it all. I tend to be a bit dubious about I Love Yous spoken within the first few weeks of meeting, but for these two I had no trouble buying it. It was honest and real from almost the get go.
There is not a lot happening plot wise outside of the couple. There are a few instances of ghostly visitors, but for the most part this story hinges on the relationship and its issues. The ghost just make it a bit more fun. I’d have loved for there to be some more outside influence, but for this story the way it happened actually worked for the best. Nick and John were fully able to support the weight of the story and they made it a joy to read.
Giving Up the Ghost — 4.5 stars
Nick never knew his father. Apart from a couple visits when he was a kid, Nick hasn’t even ever really met the man. That doesn’t stop the man from drastically changing Nick’s life with little more than a phone call. Now Nick and John are flying across the ocean and heading towards Florida. Where secrets are revealed, Nick’s powers are tested, and both John and Nick have to deal with the aftermath of not one, but two problems. That isn’t even counting the ghosts that have taken a shine (or hate) to Nick.
Except the the Thing at the beginning (which I can’t talk about because spoilers!, eh) I really liked this sequel to Laying a Ghost. Can’t help but feel a desire to kick past!me in my very large tushie for not getting around to it sooner. But past!me is a bit of a coward when it comes to sequels, so there is not much I can do (except perhaps totally ignore the remarkable resemblance between past!me and present!me).
Anyways…
Except for the Thing I really liked this book. It had a bit more action in it than the first one and I liked seeing Nick and John out of Scotland and in sunny sunny Florida. The reason they are in Florida, also a spoiler (goddammit!), is not exactly nice, but it does contrast nicely with the homey feel of book one.
And the ghosts are not just scary images or voices haunting Nick in this book. Here they have some real mojo and like to push people around. Which means we get to enjoy a bit more danger for our two MCs. I like the added bit of unknown that this added. We don’t really see Nick interacting with ghosts–more than just conversations–in the past, so having him actually come face to face with something he doesn’t know how to handle was cool.
The relationship between Nick and John is a bit more complicated in this story, though. It has been several years since the events in the last story and like most relationships things have got a bit tough. How they work thru it and how they cope with the decisions they make is really important for them if they really do intend to go further.
And except for the Thing (which I can’t say or else it will ruin things for people) I really enjoyed this. I know why the Thing happened, I just don’t like it. And well, I wish it hadn’t have happened. Stupid Thing.
Waking the Dead — 4 stars
This book takes place a decade or so after the ending of Giving Up the Ghost. Josh, the brother Nick discovered he had in book two, is all grown up (if grown up means 18) and coming over to Traighshee for a short visit before he heads off to college in the fall. By all accounts it should be a fairly easy few weeks. Even for a pair of brothers that can either see the dead or hear people’s thoughts. But then, of course, a couple of ghosts start acting up–possessing people and trying wreak their revenge–and things go a bit to hell.
I have to admit that after reading this box set for the last week, by the time I got to book three I was pretty much ready for it to be done. The page count says about 500 pages, but this felt a lot longer. Even with how much I was enjoying these stories, there was a part of me that was just looking forward to the end.
Well this book clearly decided to end it with a bang. Or well, will a couple of murderous ghosts and a whole lot of possession. Not so good for of Nick and John (or Josh…probably especially Josh), but good for me. Because it really helped get me thru the last 20% of this box set. The action elements of this story made this a quick read, and the addition of Josh into Nick and John’s lives made things interesting.
Though I will have to say I sometimes had problems with how John reacted to Josh. Though that is mostly to do with how well he handled Nick, initially, with all his powers. Though, Nick couldn’t see into his mind, so that probably helped there. John is a good guy, but sometimes it felt like he was coming down a bit hard on Josh.
Also, the two J-names, Josh and John, led to a few miss-reads. I kinda like to have all the major characters have names that start with different letters because I tend to gloss over them when reading and it sometimes gets confusing. Not horribly so, but still…
The end of this book kinda reads like a (very very sweet) wrap-up of the series. I can only assume that the authors might have intended to leave it there. But I am happy to see that there is a book four out in the world right now. Though I have to admit that I’m a bit burned out on Nick and John so it might take me a bit to get around to it.
And yes, I totally just One Day’d the rest of this series. Again. It’s how I roll. 😛
I think this book might have got a lower rating simply because I was fatigued by the end of this box set. After reading so many pages I think I was just tired and needed a break. But I still think it was a very good story. It is shorter than the first two, and packed with more action, but also has the same lovely romance between Nick and John that has kept me going up till now. And while I would probably recommend you not try and read this whole box set in less than a week, I would say that each book is well worth reading.
RATING: 
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