3 1/2 starsI read the first two books in this series back in 2004. I know, that was ages ago. I loved Undead and Unwed so much I gave it an A- at All About Romance. I loved the sarcasm and the over-the-top superficial heroine and the in-your-face sensuality all of which wasn't overdone yet back then. It was a case of the right book at the right time. I was burning out on traditional romances, after having read too many in a row. I wasn't as thrilled with Undead and Unemployed though. It seemed to pretty much go nowhere and ennui quickly set in as Betsy and Sinclair’s relationship lost its lustiness. After getting through it, I didn't feel the urge to continue the series and mostly forgot about it. So why am I reading book 6 now, you ask? Honestly, only because the battery on my Ipod died, I needed something to listen to on my commute and I had this audio on CD all nice and handy like.I think the time and space and perhaps skipping four books in the series may have been a good thing because I thought this book was fun. Yes, it is mostly filler, and still missing that lusty goodness, but I appreciated the funny quips and unending sarcasm even when nothing much at all is going on. Basically Betsy The Vampire Queen wants a genuine wedding to her lover Sinclair The Vampire King. The mysterious “Book of the Dead” proclaims them already married and that’s good enough for Sinclair but Betsy’s still a girl and she wants the whole shebang. He gives her a few million to get it done and then promptly disappears for a good chunk of the book. This leaves Betsy all alone and forces her to make some decisions and find her inner power when a Big Bad enters the picture. Betsy is miffed; she moans and complains (for most of the book) but never got the impression that she was overly bothered by Sinclair’s extended absence. His assistant is the one who fears he might be dead but Betsy doesn't give it a second thought until she is forced to.So what else happens because surely that can’t fill five hours of audio, right? Well, since you asked, here you go. Betsy is saddled with the care of her baby half-brother, all of her live-in friends and hangers-on have gone missing too, and werewolves show up and try to shoot her dead because one of them is missing as well and they blame her. Something fishy is afoot and Becky eventually investigates.Basically all of the key characters are out of the picture (which is ok for me since I don’t remember most them anyway!) and this book zooms in on Betsy. It’s mostly sexless (boo) but it is funny, silly, mindless fluff and it didn't at all annoy me. It won’t change your life or make you look at the world any differently but it might make you laugh and sometimes that’s better than nothing, right?Here’s a little taste of the twisted humor. If you find this amusing you might want to check the book out or seek help. Whatever works. “Garrett would eat his own balls before he’d ever hurt Antonia, and he’d never, never kill her.” Derik shuddered and covered his eyes. “Must you use phrases that I’ll never get out of my head? Eat his own balls? Who says that?”Betsy does, LOL. I love how she can squick out a big bad werewolf with only her words. And just when I was about to doze off, the dialogue and turn of phrase catches me off guard and forces me to keep on listening.“So you, uh, don’t love me, yeah, I’m getting that.“Not fucking likely, you blonde leech on legs. I dream about locking you up in a sunny cell.”I don’t know, maybe it’s my mood but I found this stuff funny. Feel free to join me in my dark little corner of shame over here.Narration Notes: Nancy Wu has an upbeat voice that’s perky, slightly bratty and truly fits the sarcastic Betsy. Sinclair though? Ugh. He sounds rather snooty instead of alpha whenever he utters his dialogue. Snooty is not sexy. It’s just snooty and a little off-putting. Isn't Sinclair supposed to be sexy with his “big hands, big teeth, big dick”? Or am I remembering him wrong? No matter, he’s hardly in this book anyway.
We start with a prologue about a beautiful, wicked queen whose legacy ripples down through the years. Then our beautiful Queen Betsy’s life begins to fall apart as everyone, one way or another, disappears from her life. I cried and cried. I really felt for Betsy throughout this story. I was aggravated at how some of the characters abandoned her. I knew something was wrong when her mom and sister started acting way out of character. But we do lose several characters that we won’t miss, at all. On top of it all, Betsy gets a big responsibility thrust upon her. I really thought the reason for the problems was going to be different. Especially after the reaction to BabyJon. But I was thoroughly and happily surprised by it. I loved most of the ending, though I think the energy surge solved the problems a little too easily. But hopefully it’d take care of the Tina triangle problem. Then we finally, finally, finally have the wedding! Quick Thoughts: 1)Yep. I guess we are going to keep seeing referencing to the previous books. Looks like that’s going to be a reoccurring theme. And I don’t even like Jon Delk. 2)Most of the spray-on flavors sound yuck! Fave Scenes: Tina and Betsy’s first phone call, Michael’s visit, the wedding dress and Blood Pie.
What do You think about Undead And Uneasy (2007)?
I must say right away that I have adored all the Betsy books, even the ones that I was disappointed to find were over before they started. But this was a real letdown. There is nothing to this plot. Betsy's people disappear, she worries for a second, then she finds them. Oops, the book is all done. A couple mildly surprising life-changing things happen to Betsy in this book, but nothing that impacts this plot very much. We get a brief visit from the devil, who is gone again in a flash. Even the devil can't seem to get much energy up for this story. At the beginning of the book MJD says something about how she can write long or fast but not both, and then proceeds to say this book is the long version. Um, no? This book reads in about an hour and a half, if that. That was with snacks and potty breaks, and times when I had to put the book down to help my kids with something. The conclusion to this book is too clean. She just happens to find herself some new magic powers, that just so happen to cure her terminally ill best friend. Whatever. The only reason I gave this book two stars is because Betsy is still good for a laugh out loud. And I adore MJD, really I do, but this is about as much effort I can put into giving this book a review.
—Stacey
Davidson says in a note to the readers that this is the last in this story arc, but once you come to the end of this, you really shouldn't have to be told that.Eric and Betsy get on my nerves at times, being one of those couples that makes me think, "Yep, y'all deserve each other." But that's mainly because there's never any real working out of their differences, never any resolution to their fights. It's just, "Aw, you know, you just didn't perceptualize my actions correctly." (Okay, neither one them use the "perceptualize," but they would if that was a real word and they knew it.)I did enjoy the twist on the old Monkey's Paw story. And it was a fitting end to this arc of Betsy's tale, complete with fairytale ending. I don't know that I'll read onward, as in Davidson's note she all but said, "From here on out, I'm going to be killing off characters left and right."And while I can appreciate that, that's not why I read guilty pleasure books. Hell, part of the guilty pleasure comes from reading something in which I don't have to worry about people dying. I appreciate the warning, though.
—Chy
Another fun read with Betsy and her friends/family and werewolves (yes, they join us in this one)!Jessica is ill and yet MaryJanice Davidson manages to bring in the fun side of Betsy and her caring side all in one... I was rather worried but with the unexpected 'expected' (I know I know) ending, it turns it all around!!!Things happen that I certainly didn't expect in this book and the 'penny' dropped when Betsy works something out... and this helped me understand what I thought was going to have to take place but doesn't have to after all (Yah)!!! Confused???? Read the books ;)Anyway... the laughter continues and I look forward to continuing the series.
—Ronda
