Dead Over Heels (anthology, book) by MaryJanice Davidson

The three stories in this anthology each involve different types of paranormal characters that readers who've read Davidson's various paranormal series will recognise. Overall, this is a humorous paranormal romance anthology involving vampires, werewolves, and mermaids. I'm going to write a separate section for each story, with a read-alike or two for each section.

"Undead and Wed: A Honeymoon Story":

Betsy and Sinclair are now married, and all Betsy wants to do is have an enjoyable honeymoon in New York, having sex with her new husband and shoe shopping. However, her friend Jessica and Jessica's boyfriend Nick unexpectedly tag along. Jessica's excuse for this is that she hopes the experience will make Nick get along with Betsy better - he hates and fears her and Sinclair for messing with his memory after Betsy inadvertently made him her willing slave. Betsy still feels guilty about what she did to Nick, so she agrees to let him and Jessica stick around.

Unfortunately, the hotel everyone is staying at is staffed mainly by vampires, not something Nick is glad to hear. When someone starts killing children near the hotel, Nick is convinced that one of the vampires at the hotel, maybe even Betsy or Sinclair, is the killer. Sinclair isn't happy with Nick, but he agrees that the killings must stop, so everyone tries to find the killer, only to discover the hotel's dark secret.

Davidson's explanation for Nick and Jessica's presence in this story wasn't terribly convincing, in my opinion. Nick has a perfectly good reason to fear Betsy, Sinclair, and other vampires - I don't see how a little exposure to them while they're on their best behavior is supposed to make him forget what they can do when they want or need to. I also don't see why Jessica had to arrange for this during Betsy's honeymoon - you'd think there'd be other times when she could trick everyone into being together, maybe during a vacation later on. Davidson tries to make it seem as though the events of this story might have initiated some sort of change in Nick's feelings for Betsy, maybe made him hate and fear her less, but I've already read the most recent book in the series, and he's so venomous towards her that this story might as well not have happened.

Read-alikes:

• Interview with the Vampire (book) by Anne Rice - Louis tells the account of his transformation into a vampire by the charismatic vampire Lestat. The two seek out others of their kind and eventually turn a young girl into a vampire. I wouldn't normally list this as a read-alike for anything Davidson has ever written - they may both have written about vampires, but Rice's writing style is very different from Davidson's, much more philosophical. However, when I tried to think of another story with a messed up child vampire in it, this book came immediately to mind. So, those who particularly found the idea of a child vampire interesting might want to try this book.
• Dead Until Dark (book) by Charlaine Harris - This is the first book in Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie is a telepathic barmaid. Most of the people in her small Southern town know about her special abilities, but most people can also forget about it a bit because Sookie makes an effort to either not read people or not show that she's read someone. It's an exhausting life, however. Before the beginning of this book, vampires revealed their existence to the world, and in this book Sookie discovers something she thinks is wonderful - it's very hard, if not impossible, for her to read the thoughts of most vampires. Soon, Sookie is dating a vampire, but, unfortunately, being around him gets her involved in more danger than she's ever experienced before. Those who'd like something else with vampires and a similar tone might like this book and series.

"Survivors":

Con is the star of a survival show. The latest episode of his show is supposed to be about survival techniques out in the ocean, but the boat he's on ends up getting separated from the filming crew and all the food. Although he's supposed to be a survival expert, he's not doing too well on his own until he's approached by silver mermaid who offers to help him. She does her best to feed him, keep him hydrated, and tow him to land. While they're on land, she changes her tail into a pair of legs and continues to keep him fed. The two of them soon have sex, and it isn't long before Con starts wondering if he really wants to be rescued. Once he's found, he'll have to go back to doing his show, and mermaids can't be far from water for long.

I might get made fun of for saying this, but I actually enjoyed this story. Con came across as a bit of a likable idiot - I mean, come on, a survival expert who refuses to do things he knows will save his life and doesn't make sure to be properly equipped for ocean survival? The mermaid, Reanesta, pretty much stole the show, and I'm so glad that Davidson alternated chapters written from Con's point of view with chapters written from Reanesta's point of view.

Because of her coloring (which she calls a noncolor), Reanesta is convinced that she's ugly, so she's sure that Con wouldn't find her attractive or want to sleep with her. Those who find "woman who thinks she's ugly finds guy who thinks she's hot" stories to be appealing will probably enjoy that aspect of this story. I particularly found Reanesta's non-humanness appealing. Since she hadn't ever interacted with humans before, she didn't really grasp why Con would be uncomfortable with her biting the heads off fish, and she had no problems with nudity. She also didn't have a great grasp of humor - at one point, she teases Con by calling him her pet, because she has to care for him and he's helpless without her. She doesn't mean what she's saying, but he doesn't know that (actually, I wasn't even sure she was kidding, at first).

Read-alikes:

• Diary of a Radical Mermaid (book) by Deborah Smith - The story focuses on Juna Lee, a spoiled (but not malicious) mer-woman, and Molly Revere, a children's author who doesn't know she has mermaid ancestry. The two fall in love with a couple mer-men and deal with an oil company's plot to ruin the ocean as we know it. Those who'd like another light-hearted story with merfolk, romance, and humor might like this book. Also, this is actually book 2 of Smith's Waterlilies series, which began with Alice at Heart (the tone of the first book is very different from this one).

"Speed Dating, Werewolf Style: Or, Ow, I Think You Broke the Bone":

Cain is a competitive werewolf who's just realized that she's almost the last of her friends from childhood not to be married. She determined to fix that, but she's only got 22 days. She enlists the help of her best friend Saul, who's her only remaining single friend and who doesn't seem to mind that status. Saul sets up a speed dating event for her, but none of the werewolves he's found for her are suitable. When she goes on a blind date with a werewolf who's heard she's looking for a mate, she almost gets raped and is saved by Saul. The experience scares Cain a bit, but it scares Saul, too, and he starts making it even harder for her to find a mate. The truth is, Saul has never married because he's loved Cain for years, even if she's never noticed.

If I hadn't known who this story was by, I might not have figured out that Saul loved Cain and was sabotaging her attempts at finding a mate as quickly as I did. As it was, I figured it out almost immediately, which made Cain seem like an even bigger and blinder idiot. Overall, though, I enjoyed this story. I'm a big fan of "the guy who's right for her is right under her nose" stories.

Read-alikes:

• One for the Money (book) by Janet Evanovich - In the first book in Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, Stephanie, a resident of Trenton, NJ who's desperately in need of money, gets a job as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie - never mind that she doesn't know the first thing about being a bounty hunter and doesn't even own a gun. Her first assignment is to bring in Morelli, a cop who's been accused of murder and the guy who charmed her out of her virginity when she was 16. Those who'd like another story with quirky, sometimes goofy humor and a bit of romance (Stephanie has at least two guys who are interested in her, if only she could decide between them) might like this book and series. Sorry, no werewolves.

Undead and Unworthy (book) by MaryJanice Davidson

Betsy Taylor, newly married Queen of the Vampires and lover of shoes, has to deal with complications and dangers in her life yet again. Betsy's dead stepmother, who was the bane of her existence when she was alive, has come back to haunt her - she's annoying, overly critical, insulting, and no one can see her except Betsy. Before Betsy can even begin to try and get rid of her, she's got another problem to deal with: the Fiends (feral vampires) are thinking clearly again and have decided that all their anguish and problems were Betsy's fault. They're determined to kill her, and they don't mind hurting her friends in the process. Garrett admits that the Fiends' new condition is his fault (he fed them his blood), but Betsy forgives him - in fact, she forgives just about everybody, and lets her own feelings of guilt and responsibility get in the way of solving things the way most vampires would, by just killing anything that endangers her and her friends. Nick, Betsy's best friend's boyfriend and a cop who hates her guts, drops by to ask for Betsy's help finding a vigilante killer - despite the other complications in her life and the possibility that Nick is just trying to get her killed, Betsy agrees to help.

The note to the reader at the beginning of this book explains that this book is the beginning of a new story arc. As far as I can tell, that story arc is going to be about Betsy actually shaping up and beginning to do the tough and possibly not nice things that one must do when dealing with vampires. In the past, Betsy has tried to rule by human rules and ideas. This hasn't always been successful, but it's never gone as badly as it has in this book, which leads me to the other change in the series - MaryJanice Davidson actually kills off two of Betsy's group. They're not characters who've had a large part in the series, but it's still sad when they die. In previous books, when a character appears to have been killed, Davidson always pulls some new vampiric ability of Betsy's out of a hat. This time, however, unless Betsy can bring people back from the dead and restore brain matter, the dead good guys are not coming back.

Pretty much everyone shows up in this book: the Fiends (many of whom finally get to reveal their real names), Betsy, Sinclair, Tina (Sinclair's incredibly loyal bodyguard/secretary/whatever), Antonia (both Betsy's stepmother and the werewolf Antonia), Garrett (a former Fiend), Nick, Marc (a doctor and Betsy's gay friend - there are jokes about his gayness, but they aren't meant to be taken as mean jokes), Jessica (Betsy's rich black friend - once again, I remember jokes, but they're not meant to be taken as mean jokes, and Jessica gives as good as she gets), and maybe others I'm forgetting. With all of these characters, some of them naturally get less time than others - Marc is hidden away pretty quickly, and Jessica doesn't show up much more often than him. Antonia (the werewolf) felt like an extra, something that makes a lot of sense once you get to the end of the book. Nick drove me crazy sometimes, with his unwavering dislike of Betsy (it's understandable that he hates her, but it gets to the point when you want to shout, "enough already!").

Tina got a few interesting scenes, and there were parts where I found myself thinking, "It would be awesome if a future book focused on Tina more." It's sometimes easy to forget that Tina is a powerful and dangerous vampire, since she usually acts like everybody's efficient secretary/waitress/bodyguard. I liked reading about her getting truly angry - she didn't sound as frightening as Davidson seemed to want readers to think she was, but she was definitely different. I also can't help but think that she was in the right. Betsy might've had fewer problems if she had just killed all the Fiends she could find after they got loose and started threatening her, or if she had let someone else kill them. Instead, Betsy wanted to apologize to the Fiends and talk things through with them. She wouldn't have been the same Betsy if she'd killed them all, but there might have been less worry and hand-wringing.

In the middle of all the danger, Betsy takes a bit of a break and takes Sinclair to meet one of her few living relatives, her grandfather, a bigoted veteran of World War II who now lives in the care of a nurse. I enjoyed those bits, and I especially liked the part at the end, when Betsy gets advice from her grandfather about dealing with killing and death.

Overall, I liked this book, but this may be the point at which the series becomes much darker. Throughout most of the earlier books in the series, the main appeal was the humor and the bits of romance. This book still had humor, and Sinclair and Betsy are still in love (they have sex, she drinks his blood, she takes him to meet a family member, etc.), but, if Davidson isn't careful, all the lighter stuff is going to start clashing really badly with the darker stuff in later books. Since Betsy can't help being part of the lighter stuff (she's not the brightest crayon in the box, and she can be a bit ditsy at times), the fact that she will be the one who has to deal with the darker stuff, since she's the Queen and all, means that Davidson has a tough road ahead of her.

Read-alikes:

• Dead Until Dark (book) by Charlaine Harris - This is the first book in Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie is a telepathic barmaid. Most of the people in her small Southern town know about her special abilities, but most people can also forget about it a bit because Sookie makes an effort to either not read people or not show that she's read someone. It's an exhausting life, however. Before the beginning of this book, vampires revealed their existence to the world, and in this book Sookie discovers something she thinks is wonderful - it's very hard, if not impossible, for her to read the thoughts of most vampires. Soon, Sookie is dating a vampire, but, unfortunately, being around him gets her involved in more danger than she's ever experienced before. Those who'd like another story with vampires, action, and a bit of romance might like this book and series. Like Davidson's Betsy Taylor books, this series starts off on the lighter end of the scale and gets darker as things progress.
• You Slay Me (book) by Katie MacAlister - This is the first book in MacAlister's Aisling Grey series. All Aisling wants to do is deliver an old, gold dragon statue to her uncle's client in Paris. Instead, she comes across a dead woman and a mysterious and sexy man. The man (who is also a dragon), named Drake, disappears, along with the statue. Aisling has to prove she didn't kill the woman and recover the statue, all while dealing with the revelation that she is a Guardian (basically, the Keeper of the Gates to Hell). Those who'd like another story with fantasy, action, humor, and a bit of romance might like this book and series. Similar to Davidson's Betsy Taylor books, this series gets a bit darker as it progresses.
• One for the Money (book) by Janet Evanovich - In the first book in Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, Stephanie, a resident of Trenton, NJ who's desperately in need of money, gets a job as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie - never mind that she doesn't know the first thing about being a bounty hunter and doesn't even own a gun. Her first assignment is to bring in Morelli, a cop who's been accused of murder and the guy who charmed her out of her virginity when she was 16. Those who'd like another story with fast-paced writing, humor, and a bit of romance might like this book and series. I'd especially recommend this to those who enjoyed Undead and Unworthy but could have done without the sadness and character deaths - as far as I know, Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series isn't going to get dark anytime soon.
  

The Silver Moon Elm (book) by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi

This is the third book in the Jennifer Scales series. In an attempt to strengthen her friendships and improve relations between were-dragons, beaststalkers, humans, and were-arachnids, 15-year-old Jennifer Scales invites her friends Skip (a were-arachnid), Susan (a human), and Eddie (a beaststalker) to the were-dragons' secret refuge, Crescent Valley. Unfortunately, things don't go as happily as Jennifer had hoped they would, and Skip, especially, is made to feel unwelcome. A short while later, Jennifer's parents have a huge fight when Jennifer's mother, a beaststalker, discovers that she is still being blamed by the were-dragons for something that Jonathan, Jennifer's father and a were-dragon, did. This all becomes the least of Jennifer worries when the were-arachnids perform a powerful spell that changes history and makes were-arachnids the dominant species on the planet. Suddenly, Jennifer seems to be the only were-dragon and beaststalker left on the planet, and no one remembers how things used to be except for Skip. Jennifer has to figure out how to set things right again, if it's even possible.

One of the appeals of this book is getting to see how the regular characters and/or their histories have changed as a result of the timeline-changing magic. No one except for Skip is quite the same person they were before. For readers who have already gotten to know these characters in the previous books, this can either be amusing, sad, scary, or encouraging, depending on who the character is and how he or she has changed. My favorite changed characters were Jennifer's mother, who I always thought was daunting enough in Jennifer's normal timeline, and Xavier, who became very likable (more so than Jennifer, at times).

It's also interesting to see what the world might be like if the were-arachnids became the dominant species. Although all we really see is Jennifer's hometown and a little outside that, it's apparent that were-arachnids are everywhere and are well-accepted. All the classes at Jennifer's school are much more advanced and many have gotten strange (everyone learns about poisons in chemistry class, and music class now includes instruments designed for creatures with eight legs).

I enjoyed finding out more about Jennifer's parents' past - in this book, the authors reveal how Jennifer's parents decided to stay together, despite being part of warring groups. Jennifer's parents are definitely not perfect people, and some of the events early on in this book temporarily strain their relationship. Sometimes I think it might actually be more interesting to read stories that focused in Jennifer's parents. MaryJanice Davidson writes a lot of books for adults, so she might one day decide to tackle a spin-off series involving Jennifer's parents. Probably not, but it's a nice thought.

Jennifer learns new abilities, and that's fun to read about, too. She not only discovers a few dragon abilities she hadn't realized she had (her mixed blood means that she has an odd assortment of abilities), she also discovers things that she, as the Ancient Furnace (don't laugh - it basically means that she's an important dragon who has the blood of many different kinds of dragons running in her veins), should be able to accomplish. It's the stuff of myths and prophecy. Of course, some readers may find this more annoying than appealing - there are so many books out there where someone starts out ordinary and then develops a whole assortment of amazing, just-in-the-nick-of-time skills. Jennifer is a little too flawed to be considered a Mary Sue character, but there are times when she may seem close to being one. Jennifer's one human friend, Susan, sometimes seems to think so - Jennifer has the looks, gets all the guys, and has all the powers.

Most of the beginning of the book, before the timeline changed, was a little hard for me to get through. Jennifer spends a good chunk of that time with her friends Catherine, Susan, Skip, and Eddie. This wouldn't be such a problem if several of the people in that group didn't seem determined to stir up bad feelings. Susan is likely jealous of Jennifer's luck with boys and blatantly flirts with Skip and Eddie, despite the fact that Jennifer, her best friend, is clearly not okay with this behavior. Although Eddie blushes and tries to minimize the whole thing, Skip flirts with Susan (maybe because he wants to make Jennifer jealous). Jennifer and Susan's friendship seems to be a little strained, and this will probably come up more in future books. Jennifer and her friends do a bit of light (and tense, considering the subtext) sexually-oriented joking (Jennifer pokes fun at Susan's small breast size, for instance). It's a very small part of the book, but it might bother some people.

All I can say is that I'm happy that Susan and Jennifer's friendship wasn't the major issue in this book, or I'm not sure I could've gotten through the whole thing - stories with teen friendships gone bad always make me think of trashy teen magazines or soap operas. I still think that the first book in this series was the best, but I still enjoyed it, once I got past the beginning.

Read-alikes:

• Undead and Unwed (book) by MaryJanice Davidson - Jennifer Scales' "voice" sounds a lot like that of MaryJanice Davidson's other characters, even though her personality isn't always like theirs. Undead and Unwed is the first book in a series about Betsy Taylor, a woman who unexpectedly becomes a vampire. Not just any vampire, either, but rather the queen of the vampires. Betsy is a bit more shallow than Jennifer (she's an avid buyer of shoes with aspects to her personality that make me think of a Valley Girl), although she and Jennifer seem to be the same amount of dense when it comes to realizing that their friends are upset, hurt, or jealous. Don't get me wrong, Betsy's a nice, likable character, she just doesn't always notice everything going on around her. Unlike any of the Jennifer Scales books, this book and series is intended for adults, not young adults. Although there aren't many sex scenes, there are some, and they're a bit graphic. In Undead and Uneasy, the 6th book in the series, Betsy finds herself suddenly without the support of her friends and family, much like Jennifer in The Silver Moon Elm.
• Dragonsong (book) by Anne McCaffrey - I think this is the 3rd book in McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series, and the first one featuring Menolly. Menolly wants nothing more than to become a Harper (basically, a professional musician), something her father does his best to make impossible. Menolly runs away and ends up with a group of nine fire lizards (tiny dragon creatures). Readers who liked the dragons in The Silver Moon Elm and Jennifer's attempts to survive by herself in a dangerous environment without hardly any friends or family to support her may like this book. If you can find it, and if you care about that sort of thing, the edition published by Bantam in 1977 has a very nice cover that doesn't make the fire lizards look like they're related to house flies.
• His Majesty's Dragon (book) by Naomi Novik - This is the first book in Novik's Temeraire series (another series for adults, so consider that before picking it up - I don't think this first book would be too bad for older teens). It tends to get described as a cross between Patrick O'Brian and Anne McCaffrey. In this alternate history set during the Napoleonic wars, Will Laurence, a captain in the British Navy, accidentally bonds with a newly hatched dragon. This means our poor Navy captain is suddenly part of the Aerial Corps. Dragons are important for the defense of the nation, but this isn't really the life Laurence wanted for himself. As in the Jennifer Scales series, there are different breeds of dragons, each with their own special abilities. Temeraire (Laurence's dragon) must, like Jennifer, figure out what he is capable of, and, again like Jennifer, he turns out to be a very special dragon, potentially vital in the defense of the British nation.
• Moon Called (book) by Patricia Briggs - This is the first book in a series intended for adults. Mercy is a mechanic and a skinwalker, someone who can turn into a coyote at will. Mercy is smart and tough, but she's definitely no Mary Sue - she may be able to shapeshift or not whenever she wants, and she may be fast and have a good sense of smell, but she's also weaker and more human than most of the beings she's around. In this book, Mercy and others investigate attacks on local werewolves - although fairies have revealed their existence to humankind, werewolves haven't yet, and random killings could unveil werewolves before they're ready. As with Jennifer, there's some tension between Mercy, her ex-boyfriend (a werewolf), and her neighbor (a guy who's attracted to her and also happens to be the Alpha of the local werewolf pack). Mercy, like Jennifer, is still discovering all the things she can do. Because she grew up with werewolves, rather than skinwalkers, and because she's never met another skinwalker before, most of what she can do she's learned from instinct. If you're looking for fantasy/horror in a contemporary setting and don't mind a book that was written for adults, this might appeal to you.