Book Review: Undead and Unwed

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Undead and Unwed     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
MaryJanice Davidson
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Romance   Horror   Humorous   Vampire
Series: The Undead Series (Davidson) # 1
Berkley, Mar 2004, $5.99, 288 pp.

In Minnesota, Elizabeth “Betsy” Taylor has had a week that only the damned would understand. First she arrives at her clerical job at Hamton & Sons to be handed a pink slip on her birthday. When she returns to her home she finds Giselle her cat missing. With an April snow making the roads treacherous, Betsy notices Giselle in the street. She goes to rescue that darn cat, but a driver sees Betsy too late and kills her.

Betsy awakens in a coffin dressed in an ugly pink suit and her wicked stepmother's throw away shoes. Apparently when she was assaulted a few months ago, she became bitten and converted to a vampiress. The minions of her undead world believe Betsy is the Queen. While all she wants is to remain dead in nice garb, shoes, and hairdo, the vampiric crowd covets sex with her to solidify their power. Only the tall, dark, and handsome Eric Sinclair offers to mentor her on things she needs to know about vampirism, but was afraid to ask.

Readers who enjoy something different will not want to leave the hilarious satirical UNDEAD AND UNWED unread. The story line spoofs the chick lit, fairy tale, and supernatural romance sub-genres leaving no icon unbitten. Betsy holds the tale together as she wants nothing to do with her new life (death), but has no choice with an addiction to ruby colored liquids and scoring a lot more as a dead person than she did when she was alive. This is a terrific tale that cleverly lampoons everything and anything in its path.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner