Review: Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson

My Rating: VG, L, H

Published: 2010
Publisher: The Berkley Publishing Group

Author's Website: MaryJaniceDavidson.net

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor is fed up with trying to decipher the strange things prophesised in The Book of the Dead. At the end of her tether, she strikes a deal with Satan who promises to help – but only if she and her half-sister Laura pay a visit to Hell.

Hell, it would seem, is more terrifying than Betsy could have ever imagined – a waiting room with bad carpeting, reruns of 70s TV shows and ancient Good Housekeeping magazines. But when Betsy and Laura find themselves catapulted back and forth through time, they realise they could seriously screw everything up for good...

Undead and Unfinished is the ninth instalment in the Queen Betsy series by MaryJanice Davidson. Hillarious, enlightening and confusing are some of the emotions I was feeling whilst reading this book.

Queen Betsy definitely takes us for a ride in this book. We are given more of an insight into the world of Betsy and Sinclair just when everything seems to be bleak between the two of them. I was seriously worried about our lead couple.

As we flit through the times with Betsy and her sister Laura, the spawn of Satan, we learn more about how Betsy came to be and why everything is the way it is. To say the constant time travelling was confusing would be redundant but hey I am going to say it anyway. I got totally confused but in a good way. It had me constantly guessing where Betsy and Laura was going to take me next and what shenangians they would get up to.

I got a bit mad at the ending because it made me feel that this was the end of the series (it might not be but because I can’t find any proof to prove otherwise, I am thinking this is the last in the series). I really hope this is not the last book in the series as it left the series on quite a cliffhanger that has left me with more questions than I had to begin with.

The Queen Betsy series is the best series I have read so far this year. It has brought me many hours of laughter and endless entertainment. To say MaryJanice Davidson is the goddess of comedic writing would be an understatement. Hat off to this lady and she certainly knows how to write amazing fun-filled and amusing stoylines. Hopefully this is not the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own this book, I borrowed it from my local library. I have not been paid to review this book but everything I have said is of my own honest opinion.

Review: Undead and Uneasy - MaryJanice Davidson

My Rating: E, L, H

Published: 2007
Publisher: Piatkus

Author's Website: maryjanicedavidson.net

Purchase @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Betsy Taylor, undead vampire queen, has been given a new nickname by her nearest and dearest: Bridezilla. Because whether you’re alive or undead, planning weddings is a bitch. Especially when your groom thinks the whole thing is a waste of time.

Betsy’s also dealing with a full house: she lives with a ghost (Cathy), a werewolf (Antonia), a gay physician/human (Marc), her fiancé and vampire king (Eric Sinclair), her best friend (Jessica), and a recovering Fiend (Garrett). But when Sinclair disappears and then, one by one, her friends go missing, Betsy begins to get seriously uneasy…

Undead and Uneasy is the sixth installment in the Queen Betsy series. This book is full of witty comments, action and baby sick.

I don’t know how MaryJanice Davidson does it. Every time I read one of her books I’m constantly giggling to myself. Betsy’s humour , wit and ability to get into trouble no matter what she does just leaves me in hysterics.

Betsy has some trying times in this book but it’s nice to see that she is able to sort out some of her previous problems from the other books in the series. She finally makes amends with John Delk, who was previously a Blade Warrior who killed vampires, and they become friends again. We learn more about Antonia’s pack. Marc finally finds love or more like lust at this stage, but finally he is getting some action.

The book starts with Betsy and Eric looking over wedding announcement cards and as usual Eric shows no enthusiasm for this task. We then go on to Betsy looking for her wedding gown which isn’t successful. Then something terrible happens that affects Betsy deeply and then everyone starts to go missing.

Betsy is alone for the majority of this book apart from the odd phone call from Tina, who is stranded in another country and garbles phones calls from Marc that makes no sense and sounds like he’s in danger. The Vampire Queen is working hard trying to figure this mess all out when she is attacked. Once the attack is over, she is finally able to move on to try and find her loved ones.

Finally clarity hits Betsy, in the strangest of places, during a phone call with her mother. Seriously I think it’s so funny how Betsy comes up with the answers to everything. But even this enemy seems too strong for Betsy. Does she find her loved ones and rescue them? Well I’ll leave you guys to read the book to find out for yourselves.

Again, I have enjoyed this book as I have all the previous book in the series. I think this book is exceptional, highly entertaining, full of antics and baby sick. What more do you want from a book? Well maybe less of the baby sick. I would recommend this book for young adults and upwards and is definitely worth the read.

Disclaimer: I have not bought this book or been given it free of charge and I am not receiving money to review this book. I borrow this book from the local library and everything I have said is based on my honest opinion.

Review: Undead and Unpopular - MaryJanice Davidson

My Rating: E, B, L Published: 2006 Publisher: Piatkus Author's Website: maryjanicedavidson.net Available @ Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Betsy Taylor, Vampire Queen, already has plenty on her plate. For one thing, next week is her 31st birthday – and her 1st anniversary of being undead. On top of that, she still has wedding plans to finalise – and it’s not helping that the prospective groom is avoiding anything to do with it. And then there’s her decision to stop drinking blood – something she has yet to share with Eric Sinclair, her fiancé. So the last thing she wants to deal with is uninvited guests, even if they happen to be powerful European vampires who have finally come to pay their respects the week before her birthday. Some of them don’t want Betsy as their Queen, and will do anything to get rid of her. As if turning thirty last year (not to mention dying) hadn’t been traumatic enough. And trying to give up blood is making her really cranky... Undead and Unpopular is the fifth book from the Queen Betsy series. It will definitely make you laugh out loud, giggle non-stop and have you demanding to have a pair of designer sandals in winter time. I absolutely love this series. Every page I turn, Betsy is always saying or doing something that makes me laugh. Her humour is utterly fantastically flippant but she is a bit precocious when it comes to her Queenly duties and very self centred regarding everything else. Betsy was just a normal girl fascinated with designer shoes, until one day, she died and rose as a vampire. But she wasn’t just any vampire, she was the Queen of all vampires. Apparently this was all foretold in The Book of the Dead, a sort of vampire bible. Some of the vampires weren’t too happy about this and don’t believe she is their Queen. They soon realise once they meet her that there’s no doubt that she is their Queen. She is now organising her wedding to Eric Sinclair, who doesn’t seem to be interested in this human ceremony because to him they are already married and are to be together for at least one thousand years. This irks Betsy something terrible. Her one year anniversary of being dead is just around the corner along with her thirty first birthday and now she decides to go on a hunger strike thinking because she is the Queen she can do anything. As she finds out, it just makes her really cranky and irritable. (WARNING - POSSIBLE SPOILER’S FOR PREVIOUS QUEEN BETSY BOOKS AND FOR THIS BOOK SERIES IN FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH) As in all the Queen Betsy series books so far, there is always some dilemma for Betsy. I think in Undead and Unpopular all the drama for her is based on how she decides to rule her vampire kingdom, at the moment the majority of vampire are still sticking to the old laws. Betsy doesn’t want any vampires killing humans. When she finds out that one of the vampires that has come to pay their long overdue respects was the one that murdered and turned her friend Sophie, she has to take a stand and do the right thing by her friend and by her subjects. But she doesn’t want to just kill the bad vampire, she wants to start afresh so she decides that he has to pay one way or another. It takes a friend’s illness, their reluctance to be turned into a vampire and a fight with a zombie to make Betsy realise what she has to do about Sophie’s problem. Betsy finds clarity in the strangest places. (END OF SPOILER WARNING) Jessica is going through a major crisis in this story as you will find out as you read on and of course Betsy makes it all about her. Betsy is rather self-centred when it comes to most things, but in the end she works it all out and realises it’s not about her at all. Marc is still going about but he’s not really a prominent character in this book. Tina is her usual self and slaving after Eric. Undead and Unpopular isn’t really big on serious plots, but more of a humorous and light read. It’s good for a giggle. There are a few sexual scenes in this book but nothing I would call explicit enough to warrant an ‘X’ rating but I still wouldn’t recommend it to young readers. I think the series is really great and I really enjoy reading them. I can’t wait to find out how the wedding goes. Good luck Betsy! Disclaimer: I have not bought this book or been given it free of charge and I am not receiving any money to review this book. I borrowed this book from the local library and everything I have said is based on my honest opinion.