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Honeymoon of The Dead

Tate Hallaway

Published 2010         291 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

In wintry Wisconsin, occult bookseller – and witch – Garnet Lacey isn’t immune to the cold. Thank the Goddess she has love to keep her warm, even though her new husband doesn’t actually have a pulse…

“No honeymoon is ever exactly perfect, but mine won’t even get off the ground. Literally! After an extremely eventful wedding – and that’s putting it mildly – Sebastian and I are about to jet-set to Transylvania for some quality R&R. Yeah, I know its not exactly every girl’s fantasy honeymoon, but it suits me just fine.

“Unfortunately, thanks to a vengeful frost demon, Sebastian and I – and our plane – are stuck in exotic Minneapolis, Minnesota. Honestly, it wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t seeing Gods and Goddesses everywhere I turn. I’m starting to think my new visions might be caused by the Goddess possessing my body, because ever since She moved in, I’ve been getting these waves of dizziness and seeing beings of a higher power. And let me tell you, there are plenty in Minneapolis. Go figure.

“Now I’m learning quickly that dealing with Gods and demons – not to mention running into some people I would rather have left buried in the past – doesn’t leave much quality honeymoon time for me and my new vampire hubby…”

The Review

Honeymoon of The Dead is the fifth and final part of Tate Hallaway’s Garnet Lacey paranormal romance series.  This book is part of a serial romance so new readers would be best advised to start at the beginning and read the books in order rather than trying to start with this final part of the story.

The series has followed the adventures of Garnet, a Wisconsin witch who is occasionally possessed by the goddess Lilith as she met and fell in love with Sebastian, a 900-or-so year-old vampire alchemist. Previous instalments in this series have shown that Garnet’s path to true love is anything but smooth; with spells gone-awry, Vatican hit-priests, Sebastian’s zombie ex and an angry frost demon being just a few of the obstacles that she has had to overcome to get married.

In a triumph of hope over experience Garnet and Sebastian plan to go on their dream honeymoon but in typical fashion end up being escorted off the plane by the FBI and Homeland Security before the honeymoon can get started. Humour abounds as inevitably things quickly go downhill from there – with kidnapping, a stabbing, an arrest and a shoot-out managing to foil the happy couple’s plans for a romantic honeymoon.

Honeymoon of The Dead gives Garnet and friends a worthy send-off. In keeping with previous series offerings it is well paced and lightly written, mixing magic, romance and humour to good effect. Although the story is set in the dead of a Minnesota winter and also features a frost demon (as if a Midwestern winter wasn’t cold enough!) it still has something of a light-hearted beach read vibe – perfect for lazy summer afternoon reading.

In these times when some fantasy and romance series just seem to keep going on forever, it is a brave author who decides to write a series with a final ending – and stick to finishing it. It must be tempting to keep writing new adventures for popular characters but the danger is that some authors keep churning out book after book until the latest series offerings bear little resemblance to the stories that hooked readers in the first place. For one, I’m happy to read Garnet’s final magical (mis)adventure because it completed the overall story at the right stage and left me wistfully wishing for more – rather than wishing the author had stopping writing about these characters X books ago.

Honeymoon of The Dead is recommended reading for vampire fans who like their romance served with a side order of witty dialogue and supernatural hi-jinks.

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