 2008-11-20 - Well, I still enjoy the series, anyway.
MaryJanice Davidson, Undead and Unworthy (Berkley, 2008)
The seventh book in Davidson's Queen Betsy series is an obvious attempt at a makeover-- just look at the cover, which is far less the chick-lit pastels of the earlier books and far more the cool, competent thriller-heroine. Berkley seems to have said "with the old plotline over, it's time to move MaryJanice Davidson away from the world of chick lit and into the world of the 'women's mystery novel'." I mean, really, that cover begs, "Put me on a Kathy Reichs book."
Davidson, thankfully, doesn't seem to have gotten the memo. While this book is more mystery-focused than the previous novels in the series, Betsy herself is just as charmingly ditzy as ever, and romance is still just as much in the air as it ever was. It's almost impossible to go into the plot without giving anything away, so I'll just say that the two packs Betsy has managed to get herself involved with both find themselves unhappy with her at the same time. When it rains, it pours. It doesn't help matters that the two aren't fond of one another, either...
A lot of people had a lot of problems with this entry in the series, and I can see why. This is an ending you're either going to love or hate, and a lot of people hated it. I'm not one of them; I won't say it seemed inevitable, but it did certainly fit with everything that's going on in the book. As always, Davidson is readable and witty, though she does still overuse curse words like a sixth-grader. I know a lot of folks disagree with me, but I think it's still a fun series. ****
2008-11-15 - Another Great Queen Betsy Novel
MJD is one of my very favorite authors--her books made me enjoy reading after the ordeal of earning a PhD made me forget why I loved novels in the first place. So thanks, MJD! And please hire yourself a proofreader! Good grief, the typos and gaffes get worse with each novel! They are becoming distracting. Betsy seems to cross over into doormat territory with her efforts to appease Nick, her best friend's cop boyfriend with a bad bad grudge. Nevertheless Betsy is embracing her responsibility as Vampire Queen with more seriousness, and the series appears to be moving in a new direction. Will she become as Machiavellian as her husband? Will she start reading the Art of War or, worse, his Wall Street Journal? The sexiness, humor, and "family" of eccentric major & minor characters make this novel worthy of the series. I never would have expected to like paranormal romance, so I encourage readers of smart romance novels by Jennifer Crusie et. al. to give this series a try!
 2008-11-01 - Yep, Unworthy, Alright
Let's face it when we read about Betsy Taylor Queen of the Dead we want a quirky, perky, funny story like we've previously been delivered and come to depend on. The quality of the story camouflaged the horrendous sticker shock of such short books!
This time we get some cover that looks like the artist never read the book and a short story that never fully delivers. I mean, it was O.K. But we don't want O.K. from our favorite authors. We want magic. And it annoyed me that I missed one anthology where apparently Betsy and Sinclair honeymooned and I felt majorly left out.
I'm not horrified because some of the characters die. You kind of expected it to happen eventually. But there were several editing errors- and I don't mean spelling or grammar, but storyline. And the whole vibe of the book was kind of flat. There can be darkness in Betsy's life, I mean we readers were there when Betsy got rammed by an Aztec and died saving her cat, that's a tear-jerker. But( hoping I don't sound sick) it was an entertaining tear-jerker that was really well written. Give us more of that.
2008-10-09 - HATE THE NEW COVER ART!
I love Queen Betsy, but I haven't even purchased this in hardcover because the cover is so dreadful. It looks like Babysitters Club gone Goth. What were they thinking. I have bought all the hardcovers up to now. Also, it doesn't match the rest of the series. That may be weird, but I'm a librarian and I want my sets to match! Pleeeaaase go back to the old art!
2008-10-06 - Not my favorite in this series
I have enjoyed the Queen Betsy series but have mixed feelings about this book.
To start with, I really hate the new cover art. If the first books in the series had this art, I don't think I would have picked them up. I don't care for the more serious vampire novels -- I only read the light and humorous ones.
I'm somewhat troubled by the author's note that the new cover art signals a new direction the series is going. This cover is darker and this book was darker and not as funny as the previous books. I hope the author remembers that many of her readers want a good dose of humor along with their vampires and doesn't make the books too dark.
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