Second-Best Medium

by Ash Dylan

Venus Jackson is the best medium in Seattle. A media-savvy flashy dresser and star of her own web series, she hears spirits and passes on their messages to the living with a beautiful smile. Venus loves her job, but she longs for someone who doesn’t care that she has a supernatural gift. Someone who will treat her like a real person.

Keya Jayaraman sees ghosts all the time, and she hates it. The famously grumpy and reclusive second-best medium delivers her surprisingly accurate readings with an unfortunate degree of sarcasm and hostility. The last thing she wants is to spend time with someone who she thinks is pretending to have the same gift.

Venus and Keya don’t know they’re perfect for each other, but everyone else does, including the spirits, who may have decided to set the pair up on a date. After Venus and Keya receive a common vision of someone in trouble, they find themselves in an uncomfortably intimate setting—sharing a bed at a couples retreat, where they pretend to be dating so they can find out who needs help.

For Venus, fake dating the grouchiest person in the world is the most fun she’s had in years. For Keya, it’s just one more reason to be grumpy, because the more she’s with Venus, the more she wants their relationship to be for real.

Genres: Lesbian, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Paranormal

372 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2018

Reviews

[Mir]

Ghosts trying to match-make mediums? Sounds adorable.

[lauraღ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I won’t do anything unless you ask,” Venus repeated. “Ask and you shall receive, Keya. That’s my promise.”
“I’m not used to asking for things,” Keya said.
“You’ll learn.”

3.5 stars. I'm a little disappointed with this, but it's the kind of disappointment born out of the surety that I could have definitely loved this book if not for a few things here and there. I loved the writing, ADORED the characters, completely fell in love with the banter and the humour, almost from the first line. But alas! The plot. We're following two mediums in Seattle. Venus is fun, personable, with a web show that people love and that brings in a lot of clients. Keya is rude, grumpy  and perpetually a little ticked off, and her business isn't doing so hot. They end up getting together to solve a mystery at a retreat, where they have to pretend to be a couple. Both Venus and Keya are 100% bonafide, can actually see/talk to dead people, but they're each convinced the other is a fake.

And see, if that had been the first act hurdle, and we'd delved deeper into the mystery for the rest of the story, this would have been so so so much better to me. Instead, for the majority of the story, they both continue to be convinced that the other girl is lying about being a medium/misrepresenting herself, even when they get pretty convincing evidence to the contrary, and idk man, as a reader, it just wasn't fun!! Perhaps if we also didn't know if they were for real, this could have worked a but better, but we get both their POVs, so we know they're for real. There were so many passages about them being convinced that the love interest is lying, she's a fraud, she can't actually see ghosts. And meanwhile we, as readers, know that it's the truth, so it really felt pointless and frustrating, and the longer the book went without that reveal, the more irritated I became. I wasn't in love with the mystery either, which seemed pretty hastily cobbled together. This really purely shines when it comes to the characters. Keya and Venus made me laugh so many times. They had a very realistic kind of banter that felt natural, like things two people developing a relationship would actually say. So many of their little in-jokes and quips made me giggle. I can be really picky about humour, so it's nice to find a book that actually makes me laugh. And it was super sexy. A+, no notes.

So honestly, what I wanted most out of this book was any other storyline for the characters, personally. The book gives us reasons why they wouldn't reveal the truth, but they were not compelling to last for the entirety of the book. And I'm disappointed! I really could have loved this, I think. But I'll still read more from this author; his writing did a lot to sell me on the book.

Content warnings: past parental death, grief

[The_Book_Queen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise, though I was left wanting more from the medium aspect of the story/plot, which I felt often got lost. The romance was nice, and the sex was hot. Two queer WOC, one that's grumpy af? Yes, please, gimme!

I would happily read another romance from Dylan.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a ride

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the storyline, but I immediately got pulled into the story of Keys and Venus. I have it 5 stars because it had everything you'd want in a book. You get the romantic relationship that has the deep connection. They also have that animalistic sexual connection that makes you want to re-read the sex scenes. You have a mystery that has to be solved while watching Keys and Venus explore their relationship. Keys is also on a self-discovery journey. There's a lot going on and trust me you want to be in the mix. You'll laugh a lot and get angry quite a bit. It's a great balance of the emotions. Happy reading!

[Shilpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Ash Dylan,

Thank you for writing this book. Thank you for making one of the MC’s a Queer Desi. Thank you for making her not a doctor, not an engineer, but a Real Spiritual Medium, and a figure artist!!! 🤗🤗🤗

Thank you for giving her a loving and supporting family who encourages her to date another Queer WOC Real Spiritual Medium. Thank you for a father her tells her to live her life (the best advice ever).

Thank you for all the steamy sex scenes and All The Consent.

Thank you for sharing their messy journey of learning to trust. Thank you for sharing Kenya’s journey of learning to choose her life for herself.

Thanking for avoiding the plot of should the Desi choose love or please their parents 🤮


I enjoyed every minute and every word of this story.

[Triana Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!!

I really enjoyed the characters and the way the story played out kept me wanting to know more with each page, really loved the supportive family dynamic. Hope to see more!