“Sizzle Starting to Fizzle” Fans of Mary Janice Davidson’s Betsy Taylor should take a deep breath, squint their eyes, and plunge in and through. This is not Ms. Davidson’s best. Oh yes, the witty repartee is there; Betsy and Erik’s relationship is in a sexual frenzy; Laura shows us more of her true hellish self; George learns new crochet stitches. But something’s missing. This is a pale shadow of what we have come to expect from our time spent giggling our way through the first three installments of this otherwise excellent series.

Perhaps the publishers are pressuring for volume churn out, to capture the growing fan base and thereby reap profit. Geez, you’d think they’d learn after Anne Rice (aside to MJD: hey, if Anne could weather it, so can you. When you get discouraged leaf through Rice’s Pandora: oh merde, what a panoply of typos and bad editing; it happens to us all).

Followers of Betsy should still read this work; it is absolutely necessary for continuity. Just don’t expect the mag…

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Product Description

Queen of the Vampires Betsy Taylor is in the middle of planning the perfect wedding to drop-dead gorgeous vamp Eric Sinclair. But all is not bouquets and bridal showers-Betsy is plagued by ghosts who demand her help in rectifying their past mistakes, and a serial killer is on the loose. With his victims all being tall, blond women, Betsy fits the profile exactly.

Running Out of Patience
Okay, I said I wouldn’t, but I saw it at my local Border’s and I spent the money. It’s better than the last but that’s not saying a lot. Judging from how quickly this one came out and the length of the two most recent books in the series, I remain convinced that Undead and Unappreciated and Undead and Unreturnable were meant to be one book, but got split up into two short, unsatisfactory pieces for monetary reasons. In this book, a little more happens, and a number of set-ups were put in place for future books: Sinclair’s declaration that Betsy can have a baby if a living human is the father. Sinclair’s inability to read Betsy’s thoughts becomes an issue, as the Book of the Dead says that he should be able to. Laura’s powers grow, and she seems more and more comfortable with the Devilish side of her make-up. This book is as poorly edited as the last. At one point, Betsy is riding in a car with Laura and a ghost. Laura makes a comment about being dead…except that she’s not dead. Presumably the ghost was meant to have this line. Oh, well, it’s still fun, and it’s hard to blame an author who’s finally hit it big, but in the end, she’ll sell more if she keeps her fans happy, and stuff like this just won’t do it for very long….more info

Is this a bad year for MJ Davidson?
The books are nowhere near the caliber of the first two books. The storyline and the content of the writing is going downhill at an astronimical speed. I returned the 3rd book and now I think I’ll return this fourth one. It’s getting worse not just humorwise, but content and character-wise as well. Seems the author resting on the laurels that the first two books were good enough not to put the effort to write decent books from there on out. …more info

Undead and Unreturnable
Weren’t problems supposed to end at death? For Betsy Taylor, that event began her problems. For every good thing in her unlife, she has at least one associated problem. Yes, she’s made peace with Sinclair being her vampire king and is even planning a wedding. Planning a wedding is definitely a problem, especially when the groom is apathetic to human ceremonies. True, in the last book, she got rid of the book of the dead, but it’s back. Now that she is enjoying her fiancee’, Betsy can read his mind at close moments, but Sinclair is not happy about that. Furthermore, her family life is getting complicated. Her has no desire to become evil, but it looks like Laura might be headed down that road. Betsy also has a new baby half brother, and she is the only person he seems to like. That annoys the wicked step-mother no end, but during one visit to the baby, Betsy acquires a new houseguest, the ghost of the current serial killer’s latest victim. Cathie will not rest until Betsy solves her murder. How is she supposed to do that between making up with Sinclair, planning a wedding, babysitting, writing her vampire advice column, keeping an eye on her devil spawn half sister, keeping the peace between the live in ex vampire slayer, and her queenly duties? Somehow, she will manage, and entertain her readers in the process.

It might be true to say the best chick lit is dead chick lit, or at least UNDEAD chick lit, since technically, this might be considered in that category. It’s a little of everything, actually. If you need a smile, just see what Betsy is up to now.

Amanda Killgore…more info

5 stars for MaryJanice
As usual MaryJanice Davidson delivers a top rate book. If you want a laugh a page story with a paranormal twist, MJD is for you. Betsy the Vampire Queen her mortal friends Jessica and Marc and not so mortal entourage will keep you laughing til your fangs hurt….more info