Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed on 8/25/2010 + 2527 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 6

This looked like a fun read and I was in the mood for something funny. This book met all my expectations it is a very funny, light, and clever read. Incredibly entertaining. It is the first book in the Jane Jameson trilogy. I listened to this on audio book; the audio book was very well done and probably contributed to me liking the book so much.

Jane Jameson is a children's librarian...at least she is until her evil boss lays her off because of budget cuts. After spending the night after her lay-off drowning her sorrows in mud-slides, her day just gets worse. She gets shot walking home by a drunk man who drives by in a truck and shoots her thinking she is a deer. Well this is the beginning of her undead life, as sexy Gabriel (a man she meet at the bar that night) saves her life...kinda...by turning her into a vampire. Now Jane must find a job, figure out how to navigate her new vampire lifestyle, and defend herself against murder charges.

This book was a hoot. Jane is just your normal girl, turned vampire. She is snarky and funny, and is surrounded by polite southern-woman doing their best to insult sweetly. This book drops the mystery surrounding vampires and represents them as the normal people they probably would be if your average everyday Joe got turned. For example, when Jane is awake at 2am trying to figure out what to do with her night she decides to go where any proper southern girl would go at 2am....Walmart...and finds it to be a secret hang-out of the undead. When her new found friend Andrea offers to take her to a vampire bar...Jane is braced for the worst but finds herself in a sports bar not unlike the ones she went to when she was a bit more alive.

The chemistry between Jane and her sire, Gabriel, is off and on but more realistic because of that. There are a lot of great characters in this book besides Jane, and Gabriel is one of them. Gabriel is kind of your brooding mysterious type, but he is also a normal guy. He occasionally does something stupid or finds himself at a loss for words, making him a more real vampire than most you read about. Then there is the ghost of Jane's Aunt Jettie who is always there to add some humor to the situation (as if Jane needed help with that).

The book does have a good mystery woven into the plot. Jane is accused of murder and becomes the victim of increasingly brutal attacks on her person. She needs to figure out what is going on else the Council order a decapitation. The plot moves as a quick pace and never gets boring. This book doesn't have a lot of action and is more a mix of paranormal, mystery, humor, chick lit, and romance.

Overall a fresh take on vampire society, very engaging and lots of fun. I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice departure from what I normally read and had me laughing out loud a number of times. I can't wait to listen to the next book "Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men".

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