Review: Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson

Title: Undead and Unwed
Author: Mary Janice Davidson
Publisher: Berkley
Publishing Date: March 4th 2004
Pages: 320
Genre: Adult Paranormal Humor
Series: Undead #1
Source: Audiobook

Goodreads Summary:
It’s been a helluva week for Betsy Taylor. First, she loses her job. Then, to top things off, she's killed in a car accident. But what really bites (besides waking up in the morgue dressed in a pink suit and cheap shoes courtesy of her stepmother) is that she can't seem to stay dead. Every night she rises with a horrible craving for blood. She's not taking too well to a liquid diet.

Worst of all, her new friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen, and they want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious, power-hungry vampire in five centuries - a badly dressed Bela Lugosi wannabe, natch. Frankly, Betsy couldn't care less about vamp politics, but they have a powerful weapon of persuasion: designer shoes. How can any self-respecting girl say now? But a collection of Ferragamos isn't the only temptation for Betsy. It's just a lot safer than the scrumptious Sinclair - a seductive bloodsucker whose sexy gaze seems as dangerous as a stake through the heart.

Review:
I read mainly YA and when I decided to branch out a little into the adult world, this book was recommended to me by a friend as a really funny book. There were definitely some funny parts, but I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I would have liked to.

The synopsis sounds great; woman wakes up after an accident in a funeral home and learns shortly her life has gone to pots. She finds out she died and is now not dead, she was to be buried in an ugly pink suit and cheap shoes, her step monster mother stole all her designer shoes, and she can longer eat solid foods. She was killed and came back, as a vampire.

I really wanted to like the character, Betsy. I mean she was drew the short straw when it came to living but it’s not all that bad. She has a evil step mother, a wimpy father, a pretty down to earth mother, and a rich best friend, out of these half of whom accept her right away as a vampire. There was a bit too much whining going on for me. At times, she came across okay, when she would put on her snarky suit and those moments gave me a giggle, and she tended to move more towards the fighter stage towards the end of the book. I really liked the other characters in the book, her best friend cracked me up, and Sinclair, the vampire who is stalking her, was pretty hot. The characters did connect to each other really well, so for the most part, I was okay with the characters of the book.

The part I had a bit of a hard time with was the story and the writing. The story seemed a bit cliché for me with cliché vampirism. I think I could have even been ok with that if it wasn’t for the writing. The writing style was good. The book flowed well, great pace, not too simple and not too deep. I didn’t like the raunchy parts of the book. I guess I have been stuck in YA for too long, but the raunchy stole from the funny for me. I would have liked the book way more if it had been just a tad bit cleaner.

All in all, the book was okay, I may continue the series when I feel my book OCD kick in or if it fits a challenge. I will just need to continue on, reading not listening, so I can skip the icky scenes.

Rating: