Happy Medium

Ramos Family Trilogy #3

by Meg Benjamin

Love is good for the soul… unless it’s one that you’re trying to exorcise.

Ray Ramos has a problem–the King William District mansion he and his business partner purchased for a fast renovation needs more work than expected. Ray could use a quick infusion of cash. Enter Emma Shea, assistant to Gabrielle DeVere, the star of American Medium. Gabrielle is looking for San Antonio houses to use for her televised séances, and Ray’s fixer upper seems to fit.

When Gabrielle does a sample séance, Ray and Emma become the target of a touchy ghost with no respect for boundaries. After Ray learns his family has a special affinity for ghosts, the two decide to investigate the haunted house. It doesn’t hurt that Emma is immediately attracted to the laconic Ray or that Ray is intrigued by the buttoned-down beauty who seems determined to hide her considerable assets behind sober business suits. But can the two of them fight off a vengeful succubus bound to the house while getting a lot closer than either of them planned?

Meg Benjamin writes contemporary romance for Berkley InterMix and Samhain Publishing. Happy Medium is the final book in her Ramos Family trilogy after Medium Rare.

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Paranormal, Ghosts, Mystery, Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Romance

299 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 21, 2014

About the author

Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance. Her newest series, the Folk, is a paranormal series from Soul Mate Publishing set in Colorado. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing). Along with contemporary romance, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers. Meg’s Web site is http://www.MegBenjamin.com. You can follow her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/meg.benjamin1), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/megbenjamin/), Twitter (http://twitter.com/megbenj1) and Instagram (meg_benjamin). Meg loves to hear from readers—contact her at meg@megbenjamin.com.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Happy Medium by Meg Benjamin is a 2014 InterMix publication - an imprint of Penquin Books. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ray is a contractor renovating an old house in the San Antonio, Texas area. When a young woman named Emma knocks on the door explaining she is with a television program called American Medium and she would like to film a seance in this house to see if there were any ghost, Ray doesn't know what to think. Ray agrees to the dog and pony show for the sake of all the money he's been offered. But, when the day comes for the seance, Ray is shocked that he has a real paranormal experience. Emma also felt something and after comparing notes, they both agreed something spooky was going on and it wasn't because of Emma's boss pretending to be a medium for the TV cameras.
Ray contacts his sister, Rose and gets her advice about the house. He is flabbergasted when she tells him she has had experiences with ghost before and it runs in the family. As a historian, Rose does some research on the house as does Emma. They uncover an unsavory story about one of the previous owners. This leads them all to believe they know who is haunting them.
Meanwhile, Emma and Ray find they have a chemistry between them and before long things begin to heat up. If only Emma could find a way to overcome her insecurities about her weight she would be a lot happier.
As work progresses on the house, Ray and Emma both have vivid dreams and visits from other ghost. It becomes very clear that the house is not just haunted, but something much more serious and sinister is going on. It is up to Ray and Emma to cleanse the house of the evil that dwells there.

When I first started reading this book I thought maybe I was about to start a really light hearted paranormal contemporary romance. Well, the story is much more tense than I thought it would be. There is a sensual romance with a touch of paranormal erotica, but there is also a mystery, and a really creepy old house with a serious problem .
This was a really interesting story with a little history, a lot of paranormal activity, and a love story to put the cherry on the cake. I thought Ray was really funny at times and I think he is great for Emma. Emma really deserves someone that appreciates her for who she is and thinks she is beautiful. It is my understanding that this is the last book in this series, which is too bad. I always hate to see the end of a good thing.
Overall this one is a B+

[Simply Love Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amanda‘s review posted on Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

Review copy provided for an honest review

3.5 STARS

Happy Medium by Meg Benjamin happens to be a good story to end the Riordan/Medium series and conclude it with Ray and Emma’s story. Ray Riordan is a construction worker going about his business of flipping homes and expanding his business into the San Antonio’s King William district. He was taking on a new home when he realized that this one was going to take more money and time than he counted on. Lucky for him an answer came right to him when Emma Shea came knocking on his door.
She’s a production assistant for the American Medium TV show and is looking for a place to hold the next séance for her boss Gabrielle DeVere. Ray’s latest home looks exactly what she needs for her next show and asks Ray if they can use it. The negotiate a deal so that each can get what they want and didn’t plan to have more in common than a working relationship. Unbeknownst to both of them that this working relationship would turn dangerous and life altering when they have to work together to fight off evil or become consumed by a demon haunting the house.

I liked the storyline very much. It had a mystery with a romance building between Ray and Emma. It’s a plot driven story but you get some good inner dialogue from both Emma and Ray. Emma is good at her job but she’s turning herself inside out for a person who is just manipulating her just because she can. It took Ray to show her she is beautiful just as she is and doesn’t need to change her looks to please anyone but herself. I was a bit surprised that Ray’s siblings, both Danny and Rosie, never mentioned anything to him about their supernatural abilities. It was pure luck that Ray happened to be in the same neighborhood that Rosie herself lives and is able to help him a little bit. Ray ends up using her home as a home-base when he can no longer stay at the construction site, and the ‘resources’ she has at the house. Skag the ‘family ghost’ helps Ray.

I’m sorry to see the Riordan series end but it was a good bunch of books with imaginative plots and great heated sex and love between the couples. Happy Medium had a good conclusion but it didn’t have the diverse and intricate course to the story as the first two books. Don’t get me wrong it was good but it could have been so much more. It would have been something to have involvement from the other couples. Ray and Emma are good and likeable characters that deserve one another. I like it when characters don’t see their own worth and strengths but it takes a special someone to show them the light. I’m a fan of Meg Benjamin and her other series and would definitely recommend this book and the whole trilogy to anyone looking for a bit of supernatural and heat.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at Reading Reality

I loved the first two books in the Ramos Family Trilogy (Medium Well, Medium Rare) so I’ve been looking forward to the third book for several months. I’ll confess that even though I knew there were going to be three, I couldn’t figure out what the title of the third one was going to be. After the first two I kept thinking “steak” and couldn’t figure out what version of “doneness” came next!

Ray Ramos does not start the story as a happy medium, or at a happy medium. Let’s just say that Ray isn’t happy. He also doesn’t know he’s a medium, so make that two for two. In fact, Ray doesn’t know that both his brother Danny (Medium Well) and his sister Rosie (Medium Rare) are mediums, and that the women on his mother’s side of the family have been practicing mediums in the King William District of San Antonio for over a century.

Ray is not just in the dark, but it’s about to get darker. Ray flips houses for a living, and the house he’s just started working on is a money pit. It needs way more work than he estimated, and he and his business partner have way too much of their capital tied up in it. So when the buttoned up production assistant for the cable TV show American Medium (there we go again) appears at his door asking if he’d be interested in having the white elephant of a house featured on the show, he’s in it for the cash.

He’s also in it for the chance at seeing the assistant again. Something about Emma Shea pulls him in, in spite of, or maybe because of, the way she dresses to diminish her appearance. Emma just thinks that Ray is way out of her league, but she hopes that her eccentric diva of a boss will use the house, so that she will have a chance to see Ray again.

The good news is that Gabrielle DeVere, the very fake medium of American Medium, wants to feature the house. The bad news is that while Gabrielle doesn’t really feel the spirits, the test seance she conducts wakes up something in the house that would have been much better left sleeping.

This money pit of a house is not merely haunted, but whatever malevolent spirit is hanging around is an all-purpose sexual predator who tries to sink her talons into Ray. And that’s when he finds out that talking to the dead is the proverbial skeleton in his family closet. And that the family ghosts are surprisingly talkative...and helpful.

The first thing they tell him is to listen to Emma. Great idea! The more time they spend together, trying to figure out what is going on in the house, the more they realize that the ghost did them a favor...it brought them together. Now they just have to figure out how to get rid of it before it kills them.

Escape Rating B+: Happy Medium was a terrific conclusion to the Medium trilogy, although I’m very sorry that it’s the conclusion. I’ve really enjoyed all three books, and I wish there were more somehow. I do think that it helps to have read the entire series; there is information about the family that makes more sense if you’ve read the previous books. And they’re fun!

Although this series is about the Ramos family, it seemed like it was much more Emma’s story than Ray’s. Ray did have to accept that his family history was a little weird, and his dream conversations with the spirit members of the family were hard for him to swallow at first, but Ray is pretty grounded.

Emma is a hot mess. So there’s a story in her taking charge of her life, and taking it back from the bloodsucker that she works for. Emma does spend a little too much of the story lamenting the five pounds her boss says she needs to lose, and whinging about the life her boss doesn’t let her have. It’s great that she finally gets Gabrielle out of her life, but Emma starts out almost too mousy to become the heroine of her own life.

One of the things I love about this series is that in each book a lot of research needs to be done into the history of a house, its potential ghosts, and the King William District. It doesn’t matter to me whether all the history is true or not, what I appreciate is that not all the important heroics involved fighting and pyrotechnics; the historical research is equally necessary to solve the case.

My favorite line in this book: "Not all succubi are ghosts." It’s even better that it’s said by a ghost.

[Stevie Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Previously reviewed on The Good, The Bad, & The Unread:

When I read the previous book in this trilogy, I was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of plot elements squeezed into one novel, although I liked the particular paranormal elements unique to the series’ universe and the specific location that the story took place in. This book revisits not just the same town, but the same district of that town, and manages to give me all the elements I liked before in what feels to me a much more straightforward plot. Although we get to revisit quite a few characters from the previous book, and there are some references to characters and events in the first book, this one would, I feel, work very well as an introduction to the world of the Ramos family.

Ray (Raymundo – I love that name) Ramos makes his money from buying rundown houses with his business partner and fixing them up to sell on. His latest project, however, is turning out to need more work than either of them had expected and Ray is very concerned that they don’t have enough money to get the job finished before some of their debt payments become due. Fortunately his project house has caught the eye of Emma Shea, who is scouting out properties to feature in an episode of the paranormal reality show she’s working on. The fees from the show would certainly tide Ray over until the house is finished, and it also helps that Emma herself appeals to him even more than the cash.

Emma’s very much put upon by the star of the show, who dictates how she dresses and what her weight ought to be (so Emma’s on a constant diet and doesn’t have the greatest self-esteem because of that). On the other hand, Ray thinks she looks great the size she is, although he doesn’t particularly like the suits she insists on wearing until he can convince her that jeans are more suited to helping him get the house ready for filming. Not only is Emma’s boss a prize control freak, she’s also as psychically sensitive as the average concrete block, so when they hold a test séance prior to filming, she fails to notice the ghostly activities that instantly affect Ray and Emma.

While her boss is out of town, Emma goes over and above her usual research plans to help him figure out what’s haunting them both and how they can make it stop. Ray’s sister Rosie (from the previous book) steps in with help and advice, as do some of her supernatural sidekicks. The relationship between Ray and Emma feels very natural, although I’d like to hope she manages to get over the last of her image issues after the end of the book. The history they uncover relating to the house and its previous inhabitants is fascinating and makes a lot of sense. I think I guessed before the characters what the object was that they needed to destroy to get rid of the ghost, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story.

All in all, a great book that makes me want to go back and read the first in the series and also to look into more of the author’s books (I’ve read at least one of her contemporary romances, but there are plenty more I haven’t got yet).

[Ni_kii · Rating 5 out of 5]

FTC : I requested this book from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.

The Ramos family series was one I picked up due to the author’s name on the front of the book. I love Meg Benjamin and, although this series has been very much different to the rest of her work, I have enjoyed it immensely! This is the last in the series and by far my favourite. It seemed to flow better than the others and was far hotter; well, this is a book with a sex hungry ghost :)

This one focuses on Ray Ramos, house decorator extraordinaire. Little does he know, the house he has recently bought is infested with a nasty ghost who wants to sex his energy out of him. The only person to believe and help him is the lovely Emma but he soon decides he wants to do more with her than hunt ghosts.

Emma is attracted to Ray as soon as he answers his door but she has no time for a romance. When she witnesses strange things at a sceane, she is thrown into the path of Ray whilst trying to make sense of what is going on in that house. She can’t help but acknowledge the strange attraction that is between them but it’s clear that any relationship they would have has a sell-by-date. Can they really go through such extreme situations together and not give in?

I loved both main characters, both of them having many character flaws for me to get my teeth into. Emma was an absolute wet lettuce at the start of the book because all she has is her job in her life. Then she meets Ray, and the ghost, and she becomes more of a person that I could relate to, a woman with a backbone and a stubborn edge, determined to get rid of that scary ghost. Ray also begins as a work-driven grumpy git but, again, when the ghost makes her presence known, he has to do something more than just decorate the house because he truly feels in danger. This ghost drives them both out out of their comfort zone and forces them to actually live a life for themselves. They were a fabulously compatible couple and the chemistry really does fly.

The ghost story really drives the romance forward. The creepy, and often dangerous, path of the ghost gives their story a hint of pace and danger. I loved the mystery and the never-ending twists in the plot; it isn’t often I have seen a truly spooky ghost story mixed so well with such a gritty romance. I truly enjoyed it and am quite sad that this is the last in the series. It really seemed that the series reached a new height with this one which just leaves me gasping for more.

This is a spooky, gritty romance book that packs a punch and keeps you guessing all the way through. With a twisty turny plot and combustible character chemistry, it was by far the best book in the series. I truly recommend it.

[Gigi staub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ray Ramos has a problem— the King William District mansion he and his business partner purchased for a fast renovation needs more work than expected. Ray could use a quick infusion of cash. Enter Emma Shea, assistant to Gabrielle DeVere, the star of American Medium. Gabrielle is looking for San Antonio houses to use for her televised séances, and Ray’s fixer-upper seems to fit.

When Gabrielle does a sample séance for Ray, he witnesses something inexplicable and has an unsettling dream later that night. He then learns from his sister Rose about the Riordan family’s affinity for ghosts. But Emma also had a similar experience during the séance. The two decide to investigate the haunted house, even if it means taking on the vengeful succubus bound to it. It doesn’t hurt that Emma is immediately attracted to the laconic Ray or that Ray is intrigued by the buttoned-down beauty who seems determined to hide her considerable assets behind sober business suits.

Review:

Does this have to be the last book in the saga??? can't we get more of the Ramos family???

This is a great series, and this book is a terrific ending to the series.

This story is a little more sexy then the first two books because the supernatural entity they are up against is a succubus. The story is a perfect blend of romance and suspense, and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Ray is the last in his family to know about their medium abilities, all that changes when Emma comes looking for a location for the taping of American Medium. Ray agrees to let them film in the house he is renovating because they need the money to finish the project. When Emma's boss sweeps in and conducts the seance it frees the succubus and boy does it let itself be known. Ray and Emma come to find out that they both felt and dreamed about the "ghost". Agreeing to work together to get rid of the entity, their journey starts and they grow closer. The ending is nail biter and very satisfying.

The characters are as always in Meg's books, well written, smart and realistic. I loved Emma and Ray together I think they complimented each other well. I enjoyed the whole supernatural aspect of the story and how that played with the characters not just physically but emotionally.

You know it is a good book when you do not want it to end and that is what it was for me.

Meg is a great writer and if you have not read any of her works you really need to!

4 stars

[Sunny (Kindles & Wine Book Blog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ray Ramos was constantly frustrated in Happy Medium . He was frustrated with his business partner, who wasn't too honest with him about the amount of work needed on their most recent project. He was frustrated with his new-found gift of being able to feel/see ghosts. He was frustrated with the feelings he was experiencing for Emma. I really enjoyed the third and final Ramos of the trilogy because even with these frustrations, he was able to work through them and really shine throughout Happy Medium .

Emma Shea, a timid production assistant, gets walked all over by the star of the show she works for. It was fun to root for Emma throughout the book. She found some new gifts of her own in Happy Medium and her love for research provided some great leads into solving the case of the haunted house. Her sensitivities to experience the paranormal and her naïveté provided some bright spots in this story and I thought Meg Benjamin did a nice job with Emma's character.

In the first two books of the trilogy, I struggled a bit with the paranormal aspects. I enjoyed them much more in Happy Medium . They seemed a bit more plausible than in the other two stories. I also enjoyed Skag's re-entry and getting to know more about Grandma Riordan. However, I would have loved to see more of the siblings and Ray's mom in the final story of the trilogy.

Rating: B (4 stars)

Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

[Librarian Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woo hoo! I think my ereader is scorched.

Happy Medium is a super hot, fun and interesting read. The author does a great job with her characters, and that's always what sells me most on a book ... strong, unique and interesting characters. Ms. Benjamin hits that one out of the park.

The plot is no slouch either, but is also what contributes to the heat. This isn't a typical ghost story ... nope, our paranormal being is a succubus and since sex is a succubus' middle name, it's a driving force in this story. That's not to say that plot suffers for it, just that you should be aware this isn't a sweet romance by any stretch.

There's also quite a bit of profanity here -- from the first line (which I have to admit was a jolt for me to start that way). If you're sensitive to that, this may not be the book for you.

That said, I really enjoyed this. I wasn't really cognizant of the fact this was part of a series when I took it to review and honestly, I never felt lost. I'm sure I missed some "in" jokes or other things series followers would enjoy, but it definitely stands alone.

So, if you're in the mood for a fun, sexy, interesting novel, grab a copy of this one -- and maybe the first two books in the series. I think you'll be glad you did.

[Books Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of fun, heat and suspense, Happy Medium was a story that entertained from start to finish.

I really liked Ray. He was primal and earthy and interesting and loyal. He was who he was and if you didn't like it, too bad. But you knew where you stood with him and that goes a long way with me.

Emma was just a little sad. She felt so desperate at the start, eager to please and always feeling like she was falling just a little short. Gabrielle was so much larger than life, I'm sure Emma never felt like she measured up. It broke my heart a little every time Gabrielle insinuated that Emma was fat, and Emma's self-esteem dropped.

That's okay, though. Ray changes all that... boy howdy! He's hot to start with, but when they start going toe-to-toe with a succubus, things get even hotter.

Happy Medium is an interesting story, populated with unique, three-dimensional characters and plenty of action in the bedroom. It hit all my happy buttons, and I'll definitely be looking for more from this author.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in the "Medium Trilogy". I didn't read the first two. I had no problems getting into this story and didn't realize it was part of a series until I got to the end of the book and saw a preview of the 1st book. Ray is renovating an old house in San Antonia and allows a TV show to to rent the house for a seance. This unleash an evil succubus that tries to destroy his new girlfriend, an assistant to the TV "medium". They discover that Ray's family is legendary in fighting old ghosts. He is helped by a ghost uncle unleashing his powers. A nice love story with a mystery attached.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Happy Medium by Meg Benjamin, Ray Ramos is renovating an old house in King William District. He just wants to get the work done and flip the house, but it’s turning into a bigger, costlier project than he anticipated. When Emma shows up wanting to use the house to film an episode of American Medium, Ray is not too sure about the whole thing. After much hesitation, the money Ray manages to negotiate is what convinces him to allow it. Read More

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This last book in Benjamin's Ramos trilogy is actually about mediums! It's also the darkest and the one that requires the reader to suspend disbelief beyond elasticity. The main character is the third sibling, again a man (!). As with any formulaic romance, the reader knows how it will turn out in the end, but in this one there are a lot of bodies along the way.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was the best of the series so far. Dark, but not so dark as to be horrifying!