If you like your paranormals to come with light-hearted storytelling, well-plotted mysteries, and one hot doc, then you must pick up the Nicki Styx series by author Terri Garey.
Nicki was a normal woman, running a vintage clothing store and minding her own business when a near-death experience left her with the unfortunate ability to communicate with the dead. Now all of Atlanta's dearly departed are knocking down her door, charging her with taking care of their unfinished business.
Silent Night, Haunted Night is the fourth book in this rollicking series. Here's the story description:
All I haunt for christmas is you . . .
Joe Bascombe is no stranger to desire, but when a sexy spirit begins haunting his dreams, he finds himself ensnared by dark passions. What he doesn't realize is that the devious demon and her two sisters, otherwise known as the Three Fates, are out to teach the woman he loves a lesson . . .
Unwilling psychic Nicki Styx survived a near-death experience to find herself able to see and hear the dead, but she only has eyes for Joe. Together they've conquered evil spirits, saved lost souls, and beaten back the Devil himself, but they're about to learn that there are more things in Heaven and Hell than they ever imagined. As far as Nicki is concerned, Joe is the man of her dreams, but now they're at the mercy of the creature who's invaded his.
It'll be a Christmas to remember . . . and it could be Joe and Nicki's last.
Good morning, everyone! Thanks so much for inviting me, Melanie!
Before we get started, did you guys see this awesome review from the lovely and talented Eloisa James in her November column for Barnes&NobleReview.com?:
I'm absolutely thrilled that Eloisa considered Joe Bascombe, the hero in my latest book, SILENT NIGHT, HAUNTED NIGHT, to be in the same league as Jack, the hero from Nora Roberts' latest book. Good guys often get overlooked in favor of those bad boys we know and love, don't they?
What about you guys? Do you prefer bad boys, or good boys? 
Terri
Melanie,
I wanted to write a good guy hero who was good from the beginning, not a bad boy with a good side that could only be brought out by the woman he loves. It's a great storyline, one I've enjoyed many, many times, but since I'm married to one of the good guys, I wanted to see them get their due. :-)
Joe is a nice guy, but he's no wimp. He's man enough to go head to head with the bad boys, as he proves in Silent Night, Haunted Night!
Still, I confess to loving the bad boys occasionally, too (in theory!) 
Terri
Hi Nefertari (lovely username), 
Silent Night, Haunted Night is the last book in the Nicki Styx series, but I'm thrilled to say that the series has not died - it will continue from the viewpoint of one of the series' most popular characters, Sammy (Satan) Divine. (Talk about your bad boy!) 
Having always been fascinated by legends and stories surrounding Satan's Biblical fall from grace, I'm excited to be working on a new series, based on the original and most diabolically misunderstood bad boy, Samael, the arrogant fallen angel whose lust for the flesh led him to defy his creator. In The Devil's Bargain, I'll get to delve more deeply into Sammy's world: Where does he go when he's not tempting or tormenting Nicki Styx? Who (and what) are the creatures that surround him in his kingdom of darkness?
Even more intriguing, how do they feel when their Dark Prince is the one being tempted?
It was time for Nicki and Joe to enjoy their happily-ever-after, and I'll be happy to revisit them again in the future, but in the meantime, The Devil's Bargain trilogy will be out in 2011!
Thanks for asking,
Terri
Terri_Garey wrote:
Hi Nefertari (lovely username),
Silent Night, Haunted Night is the last book in the Nicki Styx series, but I'm thrilled to say that the series has not died - it will continue from the viewpoint of one of the series' most popular characters, Sammy (Satan) Divine. (Talk about your bad boy!)
Having always been fascinated by legends and stories surrounding Satan's Biblical fall from grace, I'm excited to be working on a new series, based on the original and most diabolically misunderstood bad boy, Samael, the arrogant fallen angel whose lust for the flesh led him to defy his creator. In The Devil's Bargain, I'll get to delve more deeply into Sammy's world: Where does he go when he's not tempting or tormenting Nicki Styx? Who (and what) are the creatures that surround him in his kingdom of darkness?
Even more intriguing, how do they feel when their Dark Prince is the one being tempted?
It was time for Nicki and Joe to enjoy their happily-ever-after, and I'll be happy to revisit them again in the future, but in the meantime, The Devil's Bargain trilogy will be out in 2011!
Thanks for asking,
Terri
This is great news! What a fun idea for a trilogy. Will Nicki and Joe make appearances in the books, do you think?
Melanie said: This is great news! What a fun idea for a trilogy. Will Nicki and Joe make appearances in the books, do you think?
I don't want to give away any spoilers, Melanie, so I'll just say that there's still a connection between all three characters.
These books will be a bit darker than the Nicki Styx books, because Sammy himself is a much darker character. A very dark, sexy character...
Terri
Hi, Tawny! Hope you enjoy it! *waving*
Melanie, I got the idea for Nicki Styx from several different things - I wanted to write a paranormal romance, but I didn't want to write about a main character who was a vampire or a shapeshifter, etc. I wanted to write about a real person, who'd had a life-changing paranormal experience, and how it affected her life. I started thinking about those of us who are fascinated by the paranormal, and wondered just how many of us would be fascinated by the dark side if the tables were turned, and the dark side became interested in us, instead. I personally find the whole idea of ghosts to be very intriguing, but I don't want to see one, because I'm a big scaredy-cat! So I took something that both scared and intrigued me, and created a character who could deal with it better than I ever could!
Then there was the whole "near-death experience" phenomena, which has fascinated me for years. My own mother was resuscitated on the operating table during surgery many years ago, and told us afterward how she'd actually seen the doctors working on her as they put the paddles on her chest. Until that point, I'd never heard of such a thing, but if you can't believe your own mother, who can you believe? She didn't come back from the afterlife with the ability to see ghosts, but what if she had?
Terri
>>oh wow, that's fascinating news, Terri! I can't wait to read Sammy's book. How many books? And please tell us that Sammy will get a happy-ever-after as well??? He's got to shake that skanky ex of his, pronto. Can't wait!
Eloisa<<
Hi, Eloisa! Thanks again for that wonderful review in your column this month! As for Sammy, here's the official announcement:
The dark side is calling, and it's hard to resist... particularly when it appears in the form of a smokin' hot guy wearing tight jeans and a leather jacket! I'm thrilled to announce a brand-new series based on my favorite bad boy from the Nicki Styx series, Sammy (Satan) Divine! Here's the official announcement from Publisher's Weekly:
The Devil's Bargain trilogy, a spin-off of Rita Award-winning Terri Garey's Nicki Styx series, featuring the ultimate fallen angel, Sammy (Satan) Divine, and the souls of three lost women, again to Erika Tsang at Avon by Annelise Robey and Christina Hogrebe at Jane Rotrosen Agency. (World English)
Yes, the Nicki Styx series continues with a deeper look into the dark side as the world's most diabolical bad boy takes on the job for which he was originally created... that of a guardian angel. Blond-haired, blue-eyed and sinfully sexy, Sammy is hotter than Hell, and lives there, too. Once divine, now cast down, forever blamed for the seduction of Eve and the destruction of Paradise, the angel once known as Samael has his own version of mankind's fall from grace, believing temptation goes both ways. For centuries he's made it his business to lurk the shadows, wreaking havoc in the lives of humans.
Now offered a chance to step into the Light, will he take it, or remain forever trapped by the darkness he himself created?
Yes, that ex-girlfriend puts whole new meaning into the phrase, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned", hm? Sammy will get his happily-ever-after, but it will take him a couple of books to truly grow as a character, I think. In the last book in the trilogy, it's definitely going to be a challenge to save him from himself.
Thanks for stopping by!
