Friday, February 8, 2013

Read A Long Discussion - What's a Ghoul to Do?




What’s a Ghoul to do? 
by Victoria Laurie
(Book #1 in A Ghost Hunter Mystery series)



What do you think of the use of Doc as M.J.'s Pet? Funny or just silly?

Jennifer - I’ve read other books where the main character has a pet but it’s usually a cat or dog. But this is my first book with a bird as a pet. Pets can be fun secondary characters most of the time the cat or dog will have a big personality that shows through in their actions. With Doc, he can talk and some of the phrases he uses is really funny at the times he uses them. I think the use of a bird as a pet is just another way of showing M. J.’s quirkiness.

Lori - I thought it was a bit odd at first to walk around with an African Grey parrot, but then you learn that Doc also has a sentimental meaning to M.J., he was a gift from her grandmother when her mom passed away. Doc brings humor to any situation with his colorful and sometimes inappropriate phrases, making him the perfect pet for the eccentric M.J.

OMG. The fire drill scene where Gilley tells M.J. “welcome to the gay man's one night” stand was so funny. Did it have you laughing or what?

Jennifer - I loved this scene. IMO it was the funniest one in the whole book. Since Gilley is M.J.’s business partner and best friend I’m sure we will get more scenes like this from him the future.

For those of you that have not read the book Gilley fakes a fire to get a man out of his house after a one night stand. Poor guy, he was running out of the house but took the time to ask if he would hear from Gilley.

Lori - This was a great scene! Gilley is absolutely hilarious...I couldn’t get enough of him and his nonchalant attitude. I laughed out loud while reading this particular scene and am hoping to see more of him in the next book.

Steven’s English cute or just annoying?

Jennifer - I vote annoying. M.J. made a comment about his English getting better so I’m hoping in the following books that it does get better and that we don’t have to deal with it or I’ll want to throw the next book down.

Lori - Steven was sexy to me until he opened his mouth! Someone hand this intelligent, suave man a set of Rosetta Stone! I thought his first couple of mishaps were cute but his “how do you say?” moments quickly became annoying. I couldn’t comprehend why such an accomplished doctor who is fluent in various languages could butcher the English language! Needless to say he’s lost all sex appeal until his English improves.

What do you think of M.J. as the lead character? Who’s your favorite secondary character?

Jennifer - I think that M.J. is a fun and lovable main character. I really like her smart wit and her job as a ghostbuster and interesting.

At this point in the series my favorite secondary character is Gilley. He’s great for comic relief; he’s the stereotypical gay man. He pushes M.J. to dress more like a vixen and as the right amount of bitchiness.

My least favorite secondary character is the love interest, Steven. I looked ahead in the series and he is around for a couple more books so I’m hoping he starts to grow on me in the books to come.

Lori - M.J. is a grounded and fun leading lady. She’s pretty fearless when it comes to her work and uses her medium gifts to help others, OK so she’s made a business out of it but a girl’s got to pay the bills, right? Besides her ability to communicate with the dead, M.J. is a down to earth girl which makes her easy to connect with.

My favorite secondary character is the best friend and partner, Gilley. He’s known M.J. since they were about 12, he is not afraid to speak his mind and I love that he’s a partner of a ghost-busting business but is terrified of ghosts! Gilley is a great BFF and is constantly pushing M.J. to step out of her comfort zone...he’s proof that every woman needs a gay man in her life. ;)

Steven is my least favorite character as of now. He’s got charm but I want to know a little more about him. I might be more fond of him if he works on his English and showed a little more of his personality.


Is there a specific character in this book you’d like to see more of in the future?

Lori - I really liked M.J.’s girl friend Teeko, she’s always dressed to impressed, sassy and flirty. She was only around for a second but she fits right in with her larger than life personality. I’d like to see more sass from her in the future!

Jennifer - I agree. I want to see more of Teeko. She’s like the female counterpart to Gilley.

How did you experience the book, where you engaged immediately, or did it take you a while to “get into it"?

Lori - The book captured my interest in the first few pages, I found the author’s voice to be light, fun and easy to follow. I was entertained by the characters and curious to what would happen next. I expected the story to be fast-paced, light-hearted with plenty of humor and think Ms. Laurie delivered just that.

Jennifer - I liked it from the beginning then Steven was a little off putting for me and it slowed down my reading and interest until about the last quarter of the book. I really liked the mystery of the plot but the romance (which was not a huge part of the book) was not my favorite. I think I just don’t like Steven at this point. Which kind scares me since he will be around in other books. I’m hoping that his character “bugs” gets worked out.

Did the book end the way you expected?

Lori - I really thought that M.J. and Steven would go their separate ways once the “mystery” was solved but should have known better. I like that Steven is sticking around, M.J. needs a little romance in her life with all that ghostbusting. What I didn’t expect was Steven’s offer to join M.J.’s business and become a ghostbuster...that one caught me offguard!

Jennifer - I was hoping that Steven would go away. LOL Like you I was shocked that he joined the team. I read ahead on the summaries for the other books and saw that he would be around for a few more books so I figured he would not leave but I was interested in seeing how he would become part of M.J.’s life. Now I guess I know.


What did you guys think of What's a Ghoul to Do and it's characters? Do you agree with Lori and my assessment of the book? Will you read the next book? Let us know in the comments.


Make sure you head over to Lori's blog Romancing the Darkside to read her full review of What's a Ghoul to do.


Next month the discussion will be at Romancing the Darkside. I'll post my review of the 2nd book, Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend here at The Book Nympho.




Read-a-Long Schedule:

 3/8/2013: Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend
review/discussion @ Romancing the Darkside 
 4/12/2013: Ghouls Just Haunt to Have a Good Time
review/discussion @ The Book Nympho 
 5/10/2013: Ghouls Gone Wild 
review/discussion @ Romancing the Darkside 
 6/14/2013: Ghouls, Ghouls, Ghouls
review/discussion @ The Book Nympho 
 7/12/2013: Ghoul Interrupted
review/discussion @ Romancing the Darkside 
 8/9/2013: What a Ghoul Wants
review/discussion @ The Book Nympho

 


6 comments:

  1. I'm going to have to get to this tomorrow or Sunday-still haven't finished the book! (I'm a slow reader.)

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  2. 1. I'm not a fan of birds as pets. I worked for a doc. film company & learned a lot about exotic birds. They do live as long if not longer than people and you have to be very committed to own one. That being said, I love how her grandmother gave her the bird and the responsibility that goes with it. I wondered why the author chose a bird and then I read in the back of the book that Laurie actually has a bird named Doc.

    2. I loved the fake fire drill but I felt bad for the guy. Especially the "You'll call me, right?" question.

    3. I thought Steven's English was cute at first, but then it got annoying. I mean for someone so educated it was just a little hard to believe.

    4. I really do like Laurie. She's very approachable. Gilley is my fav. secondary character. I want a Gilley in my life.

    5. No one really stood out for me wanting to see more, except maybe Gilley, but I can see him being around for the long haul, so I don't really have to worry.

    6. I was engaged immediately in the book but then there were parts that I felt were a bit slow.

    7. I was really surprised that Steven is sticking around. I don't know what that will mean for their relationship. I felt bad that he can't conduct surgery anymore and that twist surprised me. I thought maybe he would go into a depression or leave the country or I thought that he and MJ would have relationship. I never expected it to turn out the way it did.

    I loved your answers! This is what I love about book blogging - discussion...so thank you for that. I may give the next book a try, but it was a bit "light" for my tastes although it was a nice break from the dark stuff I usually read. Thanks for hosting this Read A Long.

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    1. Thanks for stepping out of your usually reading "box" and joining us for the read a long. Hope to see ya next month. If not that's ok too.

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  3. 1. I honestly kind of forgot about Doc after I finished the book. But I did find Doc's phrases hilarious while I was reading the book. I don't know that it's a particularly important part of the book, but maybe he'll come into play more in the rest of the series.

    2. The fire drill scene was hilarious! Oh that poor boy.

    3. Steven's English was ridiculously annoying. I don't understand how such an accomplished doctor in America wouldn't have a better grasp on English.

    4. I loved MJ as the lead and found her to be wonderful, tough, and quite funny.

    My favorite secondary character is definitely Gilley. I love him and hope that he goes back into the field in the following books.

    5. I want to see more of Teeko. I feel like she would be a great balance to M.J.

    6. I found that this book sucked me in right from the beginning. It was easy to get a hold on all of the characters and the world that M.J. is a part of.

    7. I did not see the end coming, honestly. I was a surprised and I'm still trying to see where Steven and M.J. will go from here.

    I am so glad that I am doing this read-a-long. I have been wanting to read this series for a while.

    Here is a link to my review: http://www.thebibliophilescorner.com/2013/02/12/book-review-whats-a-ghoul-to-do/

    ~Ashley @ The Bibliophile's Corner

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  4. I'm listening to the audio, i'm about halfway through... I'm not really feeling it. Not sure if it's cause I had a headache, or it's that I find the book really silly. The fire drill scene, I found it more silly than funny, and really, kinda stupid. Eh, don't know if this book is my cup of tea... does it get better? Book Savvy Babe

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