Tate Hallaway – Tall, Dark & Dead

The first book in the Garnet Lacey series, published May 2, 2006.
Genre: urban fantasy / paranormal romance
Cover: fun



The line between magic and sanity is very thin. That’s part of why I, Garnet Lacy, quit cold turkey. Never touch the stuff. No exceptions.
But magic is so addictive … and my inner Goddess Lilith, is hard to resist. Besides, restraint isn’t easy when you manage Wisconsin’s occult bookstore, and get customers like Sebastian Von Traum - piercing brown eyes, a sexy accent, and a killer body in black leather and denim. The only thing missing is an aura. Which means he's dead.
That means trouble. I guess I’m a sucker for it. The Vatican witch hunters are on to us. My long-lost vampire ex has crawled out of the woodwork looking for action. And Sebastian’s frustrated ex is stirring in her grave.
What's a girl to do if she's hot for a dead man walking? Run like hell-and take full advantage of the nights…


For years I had the second book in this series on my shelves, and every time I wanted to read it, I went: o no I can’t, this is book 2, I want to read book 1 first! A few months ago I finally bought the rest of the series, so now I could start reading it. I am really not sure if I like this series though. The cover suggests something fun and light, and it is not light. This book has a lot of violence in it.

The book started strong, Garnet Lacy, the heroine, talking to her cat who is also her familiar. And she can sort of read the bodylanguage of the cat to know what she is telling her back. Then thinking back of what happened to make her flee Minnesota to this small town she is not living in, makes the goddess Lilith take over her body. And that is never good.
Garnet’s coven was murdered a few years ago by Vatican Witchhunters, and as Garnet was late, as usual, she escaped the slaughter, but walked in on it. And by channelling the goddess Lilith, she took her revenge on the witchhunters, killing them all. And now Lilith has taken residence inside of Garnet, and sometimes takes over her body. And when that happens, Garnet usually finds dead bodies and a lot of damage when she regains consciousness again.

And then a tall, dark and gorgeous man walks into her magic shop, asking for mandrake. He has to be a powerful warlock, perhaps a necromancer. How else could he have no aura like a vampire, and be able to walk around in daylight, drink coffee and eat normal food? Yes, he asked Garnet out for coffee in the coffeeshop next door. But when Sebastian Von Traum (which means the Dream in German) leaves suddenly, a strange woman is suddenly very interested in what Garnet knows about him, and Garnet recognizes her as a witchhunter. She really needs to leave town immediately, and warn Sebastian.

Luckily, he left his card with his address at her shop, as she had to special order the mandrake root for him. When he doesn’t answer the phone, she will just have to get her bicycle and drive out to his farm. There is a storm brewing, but that is not important, she will have to warn him. When she finally arrives, soaking wet, there is no sign of Sebastian, but the door is open so she enters the house. Only to be attacked by a vicious poltergeist. Channelling Lilith saves her, but also leaves her unconscious. When she comes to, it is late and Sebastian has undressed her, and put her clothes in the dryer. She really cannot go home tonight. Fighting the attraction between them, Garnet sleeps on the couch that night, but the next morning they can’t keep apart any longer. As Sebastian is a vampire after all, Garnet expects him to be cold to the touch, like her ex-boyfriend, but he is warm. And the sex is amazing.

Garnet learns a lot about Sebastian, especially when she is found naked in his house by his son, who is a dhampir, and tells her all about his father and how he has buried his mother alive. He certainly holds a grudge.

When she gets home that afternoon, she finds her ex-boyfriend waiting for her in her house. She broke up with him months ago, and after that, he still helped her get rid of the bodies. But now those have surfaced and the FBI is looking into the case. The witchhunters will be after her again, and if he could find her so easily, so can they. But when he finds out she has taken Sebastian’s grimoire (Lilith made her) his plans change immediately.

What follows is a fast paced story, filled with violence and blood, and Garnet trying to do the right thing and not kill anymore. Her vampire lovers have no such qualms though, and Garnet will protect her human friends.


I did like the story, but there are parts I really disliked as well. Like Garnet going from Sebastian’s arms into her ex’s arms on the same day. At first she wants to forget all about Sebastian, and then she risks everything to safe him again. I was also expecting more cat-Garnet interaction, perhaps some help with her magic, isn’t that what familiars do? But no, her cat is allergic to magic, and plays virtually no role in the rest of the book.

I liked the friends, especially her geeky shop assistant, who tries to find himself in embracing all sorts of cultures. From Druids to Goth to Trekkies and everything in between.

Yes, I will read the next book but am not in a particular hurry to do that.

7 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian