Posts
by Meg Benjamin
The second book in my Ramos Family/Medium trilogy, Medium Rare, was recently released by Berkley InterMix—the first was Medium Well and the third, Happy Medium, will be out next January. All three books concern a San Antonio, Texas, family with some special abilities: they’re all mediums.
Now that word, medium, probably calls up a particular mental image—maybe an elderly woman who wears lots of rings and sits in a darkened room communing with the spirits. There’s even a medium very much like that in Happy Medium, but as it turns out, she’s a phony. Actually, mediums are just people who serve as communication channels for the dead. How they go about doing this varies widely, but when you get down to it, that’s what makes a medium a medium.
When I decided to write about a family of mediums, I didn’t want to go the traditional route—no trances, no séances, no holding hands in dark rooms. Well, okay, a little holding hands in dark rooms—these are romances, after all. The mediums in my books aren’t all that happy about their abilities, and they aren’t trying to make money by exploiting people’s grief. Instead, they’re drawn unwillingly into the business of talking to dead people, sometimes very much against their will.
The heroine of Medium Rare is Rose Ramos, a librarian who inherits a mansion in San Antonio’s King William District from her grandmother. What Rose doesn’t know, however, is that her grandmother was a prominent San Antonio medium and that the house is haunted by the Ramos family spirit guide, Skag. When Rose takes over the family business, she also takes over the Ramos family’s enemies, some ancient ghosts who don’t take kindly to Rose’s abilities.
Rose’s Significant Other is Evan Delwin, a skeptic and debunker of phony mediums. But Evan discovers that, like Rose, he has some unexpected connections with the spirit world.
I had a great time writing about the Ramos family. I got to think scary and funny and romantic. And I got to consider what would happen if you had psychic abilities that you didn’t really understand or want. At least the three Ramos siblings get a little romance along with the scares.
Here’s a bit of Medium Rare:
Suddenly, she heard the sound of paws galloping along the driveway, monstrous claws clicking on the asphalt. She fumbled for the key she kept in the old mailbox at the door, jamming it into the lock and twisting for all she was worth.
Close behind her, something yipped as she shoved the front door open, half falling through, trying to shove it closed with her shoulder. A large heavy projectile struck her chest with the force of a missile, blowing the door wide and throwing her down full-length just inside. She looked up into an immense mouth full of yellowing fangs. Threads of drool hung a few inches from her face.
She tried to twist away, pulling as far back as she could beneath the dog’s weight. Dread clenched her stomach as she closed her eyes. “Ohgodohgodohgod.”
“Rose!” Skag’s voice echoed through the hall. “That’s a hellhound. Stay absolutely still! Do not move!”
She couldn’t have moved if her life depended on it, which, of course, it probably did. The dog’s huge paws still held her shoulders flat against the floor. Its breath blew hot against her cheeks, smelling of old meat and open graves. She struggled to breathe under its weight, tensing for the moment it would clamp its teeth on her throat. She heard the faint creak of its jaws as they opened wider.
And then something large, damp, and utterly disgusting swiped across her cheeks.
She peeked through her lashes up into the dog’s face. Glowing orange eyes stared back as the animal prepared to lick her again.
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Rose Ramos was a reference librarian, until she inherited her grandmother’s house—and the family talent for connecting with the other side…
Moving into the lovely Victorian in San Antonio’s King William District is a dream come true for Rose—and also a nightmare. That’s the only explanation she has for the man hovering above her bed. But Skag is a ghost who’s been part of Rose’s family for generations. And now he’s all hers.
When Evan Delwin, a reporter out to debunk the city’s newest celebrity, posts an ad looking for a research assistant to investigate a famous medium making his home in San Antonio, Skag suggests that Rose apply for the job. Delving into the dark side has its own dangers for Rose—including trying to resist Delwin’s manly charms. But as the investigation draws them closer together, the deadly currents surrounding the medium threaten to destroy them all…
Genre – Paranormal
Rating – R
More details about the author and the book
Website http://www.megbenjamin.com/
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