Undead and Unwed (Queen Betsy, Book 1)

There are 2 reasons I never would have read this book. One- the title is a little goofy. Two- it was in the romance section. I looked for the book after I read her short story in "Cravings", which I read because of Laurell K Hamiltons story. This was so different from "normal" vampire stories. I really enjoyed it. I actually found myself chuckling out loud while I read it. I read "Undead and Unemployed" also. I recommend them both!

I've heard so many good things about this book. However, I must admit, that as strange as this will sound, I didn't remember exactly WHY this book was so awesome. But, I was sucked in instantly and knew I had to read the story myself. UNDEAD AND UNWED is a true winner! Written totally from Betsy's view, UNDEAD AND UNWED takes place during the week following our intrepid heroines death. She oversleeps, sits in gum, gets fired from her job, then while trying to get her cat out of the road, gets hit by a vehicle, and oh, all this on her birthday! When she wakes up, much to her surprise, she finds herself in her least favorite color, a pink suit with cheap shoes! Discovering she can't die, decides to get on with being a vampire and thus, a member of the undead. There are so many things that are different with our heroine, Elizabeth Taylor, or Betsy, as she prefers to be called. You always hear how fabulous, how beautiful, or plain but intelligent a heroine is. Well, Betsy has blonde hair, is six feet tall, vain and although not very smart, has what I found to be a very offbeat sense of humor that had me laughing so hard. (I don't think I've laughed this hard since reading Dara Joys' KNIGHT OF A TRILLION STARS.) And she has a shoe fetish, which although slightly strange, seems to lead to Betsy into many of her problems. This ranges from terrorizing her 'step-monster' (gotta get HER shoes back after all!) to falling into the hands of the bad vampires. Ms Davidson isn't afraid to have our heroine or even secondary characters curse up a blue streak, either. Because it is consistent throughout the novel it flows, adds humor to otherwise stressful (or not so funny) situations and, well, works. Likewise, there is plenty of sexual tension thru the book, with Betsy trying to fight off her attraction from our overbearing hero. My favorite situations are when conversations would take place with Betsy that were totally over her head and she would say, "Huh? ...Okay, whatever!" Thus totally playing up the vain and not-so-intelligent woman she is. Because Ms Davidson never tried to make Betsy's character smarter than she really was. This helped to add its own form of humor. If you are looking for a totally new sort of romance, this book is for you. Somehow Ms Davidson has broken the romance formula. After reading some of the other reviews, it seems that both Laurell K Hamilton and Charlaine Harris are on this path, but I have yet to read any of their books. However, I for one am going to order Ms Davidson's next book as well as add her to my auto-buy author list. I can't recommend this book enough!

I was prepared for this book to be so-so, which means I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be really good. The book begins with Betsy Taylor's fantastically bad day - she gets laid off and dies on the same day. However, she later wakes up as a vampire. Her mother and best friend handle her newly undead status rather well, and it's not long before Betsy is contacted by other vampires. The vampires are composed of two waring groups. Both groups want her, but one believes that she is the prophesied vampire queen, since she can do things no other vampire can do. Betsy's not too happy about the idea of joining either group, even though Sinclair, the leader of the group that believes she's the vampire queen, is really attractive. However, Betsy badly needs help learning how to live as a vampire, so, in spite of the fact that she'd rather go shoe shopping with her best friend, she reluctantly joins Sinclair's group.Betsy was a fun heroine, although she was a bit dense at times. Had she been a normal vampire, she wouldn't have survived more than 24 hours. I had to be careful not to read this book in public, because parts of this book made me laugh so hard that I'm sure I would've gotten stared at a lot. I wish some of the characters had been better developed, but the book's humor made up for a lot of that. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, so that I can find out more about some of the other characters. If you've read Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books and liked them, I definitely suggest that you read this book. There's one thing I need to add, however. Although the spine of this book calls it a paranormal romance, I wouldn't call it a romance. Yes, there are several sex scenes, and, yes, there is a gorgeous guy who alternately annoys and attracts Betsy, but there isn't really any romance. This book is pretty much all Betsy, without any romantic relationship development - that, I imagine, will probably come later. Just a warning for those who might be expecting a traditional quirky romance. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book!

I laughed a lot, I teared a little and I shouted for the heroine of this crazy, sexy and cool 'la vampria' novel. The heorine died and became a vampire, but does that stop her, oh no, in fact its just going on with life undead, worries about your pet, your job, your family and friends, the future and what you plan to wear the next evening does not stop just because one survives mutliple death situations. Those situations she can handle but as Vampire Queen, she's going to have deal with fashion cliches, threats against her life and a sexy, sexy man with stamina of bull. What's next for her she does not want to know, but it will be fun for us to read. It was a little of WB's Angel, the clut classic Buffy, Sex and the City and the A-Team. "The Sidekicks", followers and consorts, fun, funny, sexy and deadly. Lines like "My being a vampire doesn't bother you but my giving money to P.E.T.A does?" will have you chuckling behind this book, the sly wit that is in the lines of this book, make one of the best this year!!!This is a must have and if you enjoy it that try Shari Shattuck's "Loaded" The say wit and humor with sass, sex and smarts these two authors are just being their careers and I can't wait to read more.

I first discovered MaryJanice Davison last year when I read and really enjoyed BY ANY ANOTHER NAME. I then was on the lookout for any and all stories by this talented author and read THIEF OF HEARTS and short story collection UNDER COVER all fun and sexy contemporary romances. She's incredibly creative and has also written shapeshifter romantica (CANIS ROYAL) and even young adult stuff (TEEN FURIES). UNDEAD AND UNWED (first released as an ebook in 6/02) is a fun and creative spin on the vampire sub-genre and is really almost parody.What would happen if, say Cher from CLUELESS woke to find herself a vampire? Elizabeth "Betsy" Taylor is a fashion (especially shoe) obsessed former model who just got laid off from her thankless secretarial job and then is hit by a car and killed - all on her birthday! She wakes in a funeral home and it doesn't take much to figure out that she's not alive but not quite dead either. Being a zombie is NOT and option, but when her several attempts to finish herself off fail, and a weird thirst for blood (eeww!) asserts itself, she has to face it - she's a vampire!Its just hysterical watching Betsy adjust to her new vampire lifestyle and powers. But there are some ways in which the usual vampire rules don't apply to Betsy. She can still enter churches, crosses and holy water don't bother her and sunlight is not fatal. What's up with that? Her unique abilities bring her before head vamp Nostro who's determined to bring her under his control. And when sexy "tall, dark and sinister" Eric Sinclair offers to become her vamp mentor are his motives good or evil? Betsy is not sure, nor is she interested in getting involved in "vamp politics", she just wants to be left alone. Sinclair is frustrated by her too human compassion, her self absorption and her immaturity, all of which just highlights her need for guidance from the right quarter - he's also very attracted to her. When she's told that she's the prophesied "vampire queen" it's way too much! She's only been a vampire for a week for heaven's sake! Things become more dangerous when Sinclair asks her to join forces with him against Nostro. She resists until he makes an offer she cannot refuse: her support for designer shoes! The vampire world is in for some changes, baby!Ms Davidson will continue with these characters when UNDEAD AND UNEMPLOYED comes out 8/04. Betsy still needs to find job and also figure out her new place in the vampire world. Sinclair still has a ways to go in proving himself to Betsy. And then there's detective Nick Barry - did he really forget his vampiric experiences? A really fun read that is very highly recommended!! Also look for THE ROYAL TREATMENT an alternative reality erotic romance coming 5/04.