Once Haunted, Twice Shy by H.P. Mallory

Narrated by Kate Rudd

Once Haunted, Twice Shy is the second in HP Mallory’s Peyton Clark series, picking up almost immediately after the events in Ghouls Rush In. It has been less than a week since Peyton Clark and her friends ejected the Axman entity haunting her house. She’s hoping that her life can return to normal and she and Ryan can move on to the next stage in their relationship. That is, she and Ryan and Drake, the ghost now sharing her body.

Before Peyton can settle down and figure out how to break the news to Ryan, something strange starts happening. Ever since the “incident”, ghostly phenomena has increased everywhere. And all of the specters are saying something is coming. And it’s big. Peyton, along with Drake, Ryan and the rest of the gang, go investigating, getting deeper into the magic of the area. However, they discover the Axman isn’t truly vanquished, that he’s been gathering his power. Now Peyton has only two days to figure out what is going on before the Axman comes for her and the rest of New Orleans.

Once Haunted, Twice Shy drove me freakin’ nuts! No, I couldn’t like this book and it was all Peyton’s fault, as she came across as naive, even oblivious at times. She had a ghost living in her body but didn’t want to mention it to her boyfriend. Of course she takes said boyfriend with her to meet the people who put that ghost in her body but doesn’t think of how this will come across to this boyfriend who DOESN’T KNOW SHE’S POSSESSED IN THE FIRST PLACE! I kept asking myself “What does she think Ryan will do during that conversation – close his ears?!” It was these stupid bits that made me so frustrated as the book progressed. There wasn’t even a sense of growth at the end to make me feel that Peyton was going to be a smarter character in the future.

Even worse was the rushed feeling of the book. The first three-fourths of the book centered on Peyton and the gang’s investigation of the ghosts and the discovery about the Axman. I was watching the timing on my iPhone and kept getting worried because I had less than an hour and a half to go and they hadn’t defeated the bad guy. I thought I was going to end up with a cliffhanger, admittedly one of my pet peeves! However, the story went the other way. In that hour and a half, EVERYTHING was resolved. Well, most of the plot. There were two things at the end that were indicative of another possible book but for the most part, things were resolved but rushed. I’m not sure if a cliffhanger might not have been a better choice than the conclusion the author chose.

If there was one bright spot, it was Kate Rudd and her performance. She was an absolute blessing when it came to this book. Admittedly, this is only the second or third time I have listened to one of her narrations, but I was very pleased. She came across as very professional and hit all the marks of humor and pacing perfectly. She did a good job bringing Peyton to life considering how much I found her character annoying. If anything, her performance made Peyton sound better than she deserved. Her performance of Drake seemed spot on. I truly believed she was an early twenties male Cajun. Her other Southern accents came across as authentic as well; none hurt my ears or made me cringe. Of course, never having visited New Orleans, I can’t tell you if they were genuine N’awlins accents but they sounded as if they were.

I will definitely be eager to listen to more Kate Rudd narrations in the future. And that works out well since I’ve heard she will be narrating quite a bit of Nora Roberts’ backlist out this year. She has a very good sense of pacing and the comedic timing needed for contemporary romance, even if that talent was wasted with this book.

Trigger and spoiler warning below*

Diana

Narration:  B-

Book Content:  D

Steam Factor:  For your burning ears only

Violence:  Minimal

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Brilliance Audio

Once Haunted, Twice Shy was provided to AudioGals by Brilliance Audio for review.

*Trigger and spoiler warning: There are several parts in this book where Peyton is naked and drugged and being touched by ghostly figures. At one point I thought she was going to get raped. However, the voodoo man just skimmed her lady bits. I’m not sure how readers feel about these things but I know I prefer a warning. It made the book uncomfortable for me at times.