"humorous paranormal romantic thriller"

Revenge expert Tara Cole runs her booming on-line business, Revenge-Gifts.com. located in the Florida Keys. She has a ton of customers though she also receives plenty of hate mail that she chooses to ignore. Business is so good that Howard "Muffin" Payne offers her a business proposal that she is considering except he seems more interested in her bed than the boardroom.

Tara does have problems with a poltergeist in her home tossing eggs everywhere and the ghost of Uncle Lester scaring her guests by turning on lights or waking her up amongst other pranks. However that all pales as someone has either hired a Revenge Gifts clone or more likely she has been voodoo cursed. Her car contains gris-gris bags and black cats, rooster and goats constantly cross her path as if she is a magnet; each visit is followed by something terrible. Each is followed by bad events. Tara has been challenged to a voodoo duel, which if she fails to accept could mean her death and if she does accept she could be dead anyway. Even to Tara dead sounds too deadly of a revenge for some slight she may have inadvertently done.

REVENGE GIFTS is a humorous paranormal romantic thriller starring a wonderfully cursed heroine wondering if her business has cost her plenty of karma when she is not pondering why someone is after her. The story line never takes itself seriously as Tara runs her business by meeting her customers' needs, but also struggles with someone coming after her probably using voodoo and then there is that ghost to deal with while also meeting and trying to find time for a hunk. Readers who appreciate something off kilter and different will enjoy this wacky Keys (oxymoron?) tale of a very busy and adorable heroine.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 29, 2005

Summary

TARA COLE SPECIALIZES IN REVENGE

In fact, she's an expert. Lace pillows filled with cat hair-for your least-favorite, most allergic relative; boxer shorts that set off metal detectors-for your cheating spouse; and her best seller at RevengeGifts.com: chocolates for your worst enemy, so you can watch gleefully as she packs on the pounds.

Tara's best friend warns her that all this revenge is damaging her karma, but Tara doesn't care about her next life-she wants to enjoy this one. Besides, her kitchen is full of cranky ghosts. Tara figures she'll be the same one day, when she leaves the mortal plane.

That might happen sooner than she thought, because someone has put a curse on her. A black cat, a black dog, even a black goat, appear, each followed by bizarre, almost-disastrous events. And it all started around the time Howard showed up. Howard says he wants to go into business with Tara, but it seems like he wants to go to bed with her. Unless he's the one who cursed her . . . .

Is this karma coming full circle-or destiny knocking on Tara's door?