Undead and Unappreciated

Originally posted at FanLit.

???Blurgh! Death loomed (again), and I was grossed out. It was the worst week ever. Again.??? ~Queen Betsy

In Undead and Unappreciated, the third book in MaryJanice Davidson???s QUEEN BETSY series, a lot of stuff happens to Betsy ??? she reads the Book of the Dead and becomes evil for a little while, she hurts her friends, she learns that her stepmother (who she hates) is pregnant, she negotiates with her unionized employees, she discovers that she has a half-sister who is the daughter of the devil, and she admits her feelings for ???sin-in-a-suit??? Eric Sinclair.

I???ve been half-heartedly enjoying this silly little paranormal romance up to this point but I???m starting to lose my patience, mostly because of a lack of character development. After all that happens to her, Betsy is still the same old snarky shallow selfish brat that she???s been since... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/undead-and-unappreciated/

Queen Betsy is now a nightclub owner drowning in family dysfunction as her stepmother announces her pregnancy and oops she also gave birth years ago to Betsy's half-sister, the spawn of Satan.

Davidson writes Betsy's relationships with the secondary characters with care and depth. There is humor and with this book some darkness as they confront the realities of Betsy being vampire. What is lacking is the connection with Sinclair, Betsy's love interest. There is sarcastic flirting, but no foundation to explain the sudden change in their relationship. I have no sense of a real connection between them - no bonding moments. The everyday moments and real conversations that make a relationship instead we just have “save the day” and “pat her head” moments. There was also two secondary characters brought in that if I hadn't read a short story as a fluke, I would have been lost as to who they were as no real detail was given but they played a part of the story.

Something was missing in this book and for me it was the romance - which funnily enough Betsy said too.