Undead and Unwed

Rating:
Summary: Unapologetic Fun!
Review: Mary Janice Davidson first hits gold with her compilation of sassy contemporary romance Under Cover that brought her under the wing of Brava. Her first full length novel with Berkeley, Undead and Unwed, retains the sass and the brio - manifested in the pert heroine Betsy Taylor who rises from the dead to battle with a 500-year old vampire, Nostro as well as her manipulative stepmother who stole her Manolo Blahniks upon her death. The laughs are fast and furious especially with an ensemble of secondary characters like her loyal friend Jess and a gay sidekick. It is a vampire parody that digs from the closets of Dracula 2000, Buffy and even a stab at fellow paranormal writers when Betsy has the power to defy holy water and sunlight. It is unfortunate that the end sags but the delicious romance with brooding hero Eric Sinclair more than compensates. This outing proves that Ms. Davidson is uncompromising and undaunted to be creative. It is macabre, refreshing and savagely funny.

Rating:
Summary: Funny, no substance
Review: You're not going to learn anything from this book, or get an emotional epiphany from it, but it is funny and entertaining and hard to put down.

Davidson has a lot of fun with the vampire idea and comes up with a lot of cute quotes: "I had never smelled a mix emotion before; it was kind of like chocolate pudding on fire" that capture what it feels like to be a vampire.

Betsy is, of course, no ordinary vampire, but the Queen of Vampires, which means that she is immune to garlic, crosses and holy water, but not Sinclair. In terms of Sinclair's interactions with Betsy and his harem, it's pretty sexy - but not women's lib! It's all done with a light hand, though.

There are a few coincidences that are hard to believe (someone in Sinclair's camp turns out to be loyal to Sinclair's enemy, Nostro) and it is also annoying that all the "good" characters are blonde while the baddies are brunette.

Nevertheless, I'll probably be reading the sequel, Undead and Unemployed. Davidson is a good storyteller who knows how to pull you in, though it's not a sophisticated tale.

Rating:
Summary: Please let me give this more than 5 Stars!!
Review: Mary Janice Davidson shows the creativity with her sharp wit and humor. I must say the chick lit meets vampire lit is a great twist and added spice to the normal chick lit that I read. The main character, Elizabeth (Betsy) Taylor has just found herself fired from her job and to top that off she's dead. The Undead series is a must for chick lit fans with a great sense of humor.

The book allows you to get inside of the head of Betsy and her feelings towards the sexy vampire Eric Sinclair. She has such a love hate relationship that seems to get more complicated than ever.

She wakes up in the morgue much to the surprise of her friends and herself. She has to come with terms that The Book of the Dead has foretold many things about her. She's still having to learn these things and that she truly is the Queen of the Dead.

Again, a *must* have for fans of the chick lit genre. I do have one warning: these books are addictive.

Rating:
Summary: Undead and I am loving it!!
Review: I have read alot of authors in the past 15years. I loved this book so much. I started laughing from the beginning and I had my husband laughing when I explained why I was laughing. Besty has you laughing and cheering her on like a regular cheerleading section. Mary Janice Davidson's wit and writing are absolutely wonderful. This book you will pick up and not put down until you are done and then you will crave more from this book. I cannot wait for the third installment of this series. Even if you are not into vampire novels, you will pick up this book and love it. It is funny and sensual but most of all it is addicting. This is a must read!!!

Rating:
Summary: Funny Vampire Chick Lit
Review: This was my first foray in to the world of vampire chick lit - a world I didn't even know existed! I bought the sequel (Undead and Unemployed) and I can't wait to read it, that's how much I enjoyed this book!

Books like this are not meant for the serious at heart. This book is meant to be lighthearted and funny, something amusing to pass the time - much like a simple comedic movie. Definitely NOT meant to be taken as a serious work of literature!

The basic story is about a 30-year old (former) secretary with a shoe fetish who recently got laid off, then killed. She wakes up in the morgue and finds she can't die and really wants to drink some blood. Finally she comes to terms with the fact that she's a vampire, but then she's introduced to the vampire subculture and proclaimed the Queen of the Undead, which she finds SO laughable and cliche.

Add in her best friend Jessica as the bored socialite sidekick, along with a homosexual doctor and a sexy vampire named Eric Sinclair and you've got a motley crew of funny and interesting characters interacting with one another and creating hilarious scenarios.

Definitely worth picking up as an airplane or beach read. It's quick, easy, and fun - I give it 5 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Terrific tale of a reluctant vampire
Review: Betsy Taylor has just been sacked from her secretarial job, and her chief worry is that she won't be able to afford to buy the designer shoes that her soul craves. then she's killed in a car crash, and is surprised to find herself waking up in the morgue. The worst part is finding that her hated stepmother has - horror of horrors - dressed her in CHEAP shoes! She finds she is now incredibly strong and fast and has a craving to drink blood, in fact she's a vampire. Not just any old vampire either, but the Queen of the Vampires, whose coming is foretold in the vampire's Book of the Dead.

Betsy has to break it to her family and friends that she is not dead, but rather Undead (her stepmother, naturally,is furious). She finds herself being pursued by sexy vampire hunk Sinclair and his followers, who want her to help them rid the word of the evil Nostro, who treats other vampires like slaves. The other vampires are disconcerted by Betsy's refusal to act like a proper vampire, she insists on keeping in touch with her family, goes to church, wears a crucifix, doesn't burn up in sunlight, and is still crazy about shoes. This comes in handy when they have to bribe her to help them rid the world of Nostro.

This is a wonderfully funny book, and Betsy is a delightful heroine. Her passion for shoes, her enthusiasm for 'Gone With the Wind' (she really identifies with Scarlett), and her bracing contempt for vampire customs, are all endearing characteristics, as are her courage and her generosity. The supporting characters are good too, especially Betsy's abrasive black friend Jessica, and of course the smouldering sexy Sinclair. A real treat.

Rating:
Summary: Coffin chick-lit? Amusing, but vapid.
Review: I enjoyed this story, but the shallowness and deliberate ditziness of the main character became more of an annoyance than an endearing quirk. No great writing here, but it definitely qualifies as an amusing diversion for a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: A Laugh a Minute!
Review: 'Undead and Unwed' is, without a doubt, the funniest book I've read in a long time. Davidson has a gift for dialogue, and some of the phrases used had me rolling with laughter. I've now read this book around five times, and I still giggle each time I read it.

Betsy Taylor led a fairly uneventful life, and decided that's how she wanted to live her death. Waking up in the morgue was enough of a shock, thank you very much. It took throwing herself into the river, drinking bleach, stabbing herself through the heart and wearing cheap PayLess flats to make Betsy realize that she couldn't die again. And to help her realize what she was-an unholy denizen of the night...a vampire!

After being kidnapped by a Nostro, a badly named villain in love with clichés, she meets the most gorgeous man she's ever seen, Eric Sinclair. Why, oh why did she have to die to meet an interesting man?! Soon Sinclair comes to the realization that Betsy is not only an incredibly strong vamp, she is the vampire queen that was foretold in the vampiric Bible, The Book of the Dead. This creates a bit of a problem: Eric needs her, and Nostro wants to destroy her. What's a girl to do?

With an uber-rich society best friend and a homosexual roommate with an anxiety disorder along for the ride, Betsy goes about the business of learning about her new powers. But soon, she is forced smack dab in the middle of a war she wants no part of. How will the presence of the foretold queen effect the war, and who will ultimately win?

Again, I don't know how to adequately describe how much I loved this book. This would be a fun and sassy read even for those who don't read many vampire books. The heroine is a vain, shallow, bubble-headed blonde with very few things on her mind, but she is as lovable as they come. A new laugh comes with each page, sometimes each sentence, and it seems you can't turn the pages fast enough. If you're in the mood for a fun, fabulous book, you MUST give `Undead and Unwed' a try!


Rating:
Summary: A Sassy, Exciting and Hip Read Not to be Missed!
Review: Told in first-person narrative in a chick lit type tone, "Undead and Unwed" is a story about Elizabeth (Betsy) Taylor. Betsy is a loud, smart-mouth woman with a penchant for fine shoes. After a week from hell, she gets hit by a car and dies. However, she wakes up "undead" - in a coffin. After a few startling discoveries, she realizes that she is not only a vampire, but an extraordinary one. For instance, garlic and crosses don't bother her in the least, and she has superhuman powers - she can scale a building, and fight off other vampires with a flick of her wrist. And more.

After going against the "code of vampire ethics" and letting her family know she isn't really dead, Betsy attracts the unwelcome (or is it?) attention of Sinclair, an annoyingly handsome and enigmatic vampire who is interested in her for various reasons. She also gets on the hit list of the ruler of vampires and has a contract out for her head (literally) within days. What's a girl to do? Find out in this laugh-out-loud, deliciously outrageous book.

This was a great read - I was unable to put it down once starting it. Mary Janice Davidson has a wonderful gift of storytelling and keeping the reader hooked. Betsy is a heroine that is not to be messed with. The romance in this novel is a subplot to the actual story, which keeps things interesting. This novel is not "technically" a chick lit novel, but it's not a romance either. It effortlessly falls into the paranormal/vampire chick lit category. (If such a category really exists!)

The only downfall to this novel, I felt, was sometimes Betsy was too loudmouthed. Part of her charm is that she doesn't put up with anything, but occasionally she was just too annoying about it. Some parts of the story were drawn out too long because she refused to listen to anything. I must admit to wanting to smack her into silence a few times.

Overall, I highly recommend this book, which is actually the first in a series. I'm about to begin the second one, Undead and Unemployed. (The third is coming out this May).

Rating:
Summary: Light, a bit fluffy, but still entertaining read
Review: At first, I thought I'd like the book. Then, I wasn't sure. By the end, I did enjoy it, but it's not perfect.

The author just tries to hard. She makes the character force jokes, gags and puns continously, line after line. And while some are amusing, oftentimes, it's too much. Too saturated with the jokes and the humor gets strained and a bit old.

I found myself liking the character more by the end of the novel and I would pick up the second just to see where she takes it and whether or not she's toned down just a smidge. Because, honestly, if she did, it'd be a much better book.

The thing I don't understand is the catagorization of "Romance" this book is given. It's not romance fare. It belongs more in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy or even just straight Fiction section. Romance implies more then what it is and had I seen it in a Romance section, I would have walked right past. Which is a shame since it's no bodice ripper. In fact, there's only one real sex scene (at the end of the book) and it's very mild - especially compared to things like Hamilton's "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" series has turned into. (Which is found in Sci-Fi/Fantasy and not Romance despite being all sex lately.)

It's light and simple read but a mostly enjoyable one. Good for those who enjoy non-dreary and non-melodramatic vampire fiction.