It'a been a helluva week
for Betsy Taylor. First, she loses her job. Then, to top things off,
she's killed in a car accident. But what really bites (besides waking up
in the morgue dressed in a pink suit and cheap shoes courtesy of her
stepmother) is that she can't seem to stay dead. Every night she rises
with a horrible craving for blood. She's not taking too well to a liquid
diet.
Worst of all, her new friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen, and they want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious, power-hungry vampire in five centuries - a badly dressed Bela Lugosi wannabe, natch. Frankly, Betsy couldn't care less about vamp politics, but they have a powerful weapon of persuasion: designer shoes. How can any self-respecting girl say now? But a collection of Ferragamos isn't the only temptation for Betsy. It's just a lot safer than the scrumptious Sinclair - a seductive bloodsucker whose sexy gaze seems as dangerous as a stake through the heart... |
Goddddd, it's hard to know how to categorize some books. It's marked as Paranormal Romance, so I suppose I'll leave it at that. The story itself isn't heavy on the romance department as it's focal point, but instead is of a young woman coming to terms with her new undead status, vampires in her life trying to convince her she's the foretold queen savior, and embracing her love of designer shoes. Top this off with her best friend and new sidekick, a homosexual who has the hots for the vamp who has the hots for HER, and a strange and unsettling father-daughter-stepmother (stepmonster) relationship.
Comedy laden, this book was a delight to start but I soon feared it would fall short as the humor never let up. I was in the vein for some serious stuff - somewhere - and I do think that would have improved it a bit, but it was still funny as hell and completely readable. The main character is a valley girl type, completely obsessed with shoes and fashion, judgmental and constantly spurting out almost annoying, slang-filled one liners. Yes, sometimes this was tiresome, but other times I genuinely laughed. She's clearly self-centered and not the brightest candle in the room, yet her personality as an average is amiable and her spunk high.
I loved her best friend, Jessie, and the sidekick Mark (who seemed adorable in almost every way). The main vamp sounds incredibly sexy and I loved his domineering manner, even if I didn't blame Betsy for wanting to slug him half the time for his smugness. I especially grew errr, warm, with the scene of him in the alley and at the beginning with the finger. Grrrrroowwwwl. The ending with Betsy and him (Sinclair) was cleverly amusing and I didn't see it from a mile away. What a great turn-around!
Undead and Unwed stayed alive with active pacing. From chapter one the stakes are high and the plot is hell bent on being something strangely different. This is no average vampire tale by far; in fact, I've never read anything even remotely close. It's not something anyone would grow bored with, as action is always taking place and Betsy's never able to settle down for a simple breather. Her 'differences' as a vampire were a nice touch as well, especially loving the part where she got out of the car and "yawned" in the sun, not thinking about the typical vampire rules.
There are a few very sexual scenes, although that does not dominate the book by far. The romance impact is not high, more like the bickering fun lust-filled hero and heroine who you want to get together, but are not sure they really will (at least in this book, anyway). I'll leave what happens between them - if anything - a surprise. You can never say I ruin a book with my reviews *evil grin* On the violence side, there's some head crashing here and there but nothing strenuous.
Overall the book was laugh-out-loud hilarious, a different vein of vampire novels, with a main character you can't help but like (even if at times she's temporarily annoying enough to where you almost put down the book), and a hero you couldn't help but almost love. *wiggles brows* I'll definitely read more of this series, especially with an ending like that.
Book Quotes:
“Hell couldn't be worse than a WalMart after midnight, right?”
I slipped one of the shoes off, looked at the inside. 'Property of Antonia O'Neill Taylor.' I knew it. My stepmother! The bitch meant to bury me wearing her cast off shoes!
“Back off, boys. You don't want to mess with an out-of-work secretary. We're real testy.”
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