REVIEW: Nice Girls Don't Live Forever (Jane Jameson #3)

Nice Girls Don't Live Forever (Jane Jameson #3), by Molly Harper
Published December 29, 2009
Publisher: Pocket Star
Format: audiobook, purchased
Genre: adult paranormal romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 4 STARS

(From Goodreads) Nothing sucks the romance out of world travel like a boyfriend who may or may not have broken up with you in a hotel room in Brussels. Jane Jameson’s sexy sire, Gabriel, has always been unpredictable. But the seductive, anonymous notes that await him at each stop of their international vacation, coupled with his evasive behavior over the past few months, finally push Jane onto the next flight home to Half Moon Hollow — alone, upset, and unsure whether Gabriel just ended their relationship without actually telling her. 

Now the children’s-librarian-turned-vampire is reviving with plenty of Faux Type O, some TLC from her colorful friends and family, and her plans for a Brave New Jane. Step One: Get her newly-renovated occult bookstore off the ground. Step Two: Support her best friend, Zeb, and his werewolf bride as they prepare for the impending birth of their baby . . . or litter. Step Three: Figure out who’s been sending her threatening letters, and how her hostile pen pal is tied to Gabriel. Because for this nice girl, surviving a broken heart is becoming a matter of life and undeath...

There was so much to love in Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. Jane finally grew a backbone in regards to Gabriel and his big secret. Zeb and Jolene start a family. Jane gives Ruthie a piece of her mind. And Dick... is Dick. 

Gabriel has been keeping a secret from Jane for awhile, and when he invites her on a vacation to Europe, she thinks he's finally ready to come clean and focus soley on her. Instead, they kinda sorta break up, and Jane returns to Half Moon Hollow sad and really pissed off. To distract her wayward thoughts, she throws herself into the opening of her new bookstore and the preparations for Zeb and Jolene's impending family. But, then Gabriel returns, and Jane starts receiving death threats. Jane's undead life is waaaaay more exciting than what she had bargained for.

One of my bigger issues with earlier books in this series is that they sometimes have a tendency to be too goofy. Don't get me wrong - I love the humor in this series. In every single one, I have laughed out loud - frequently. But, sometimes, I just want Jane to stop joking about everything and be a woman of action. People walk all over her, and I suppose part of the charm of the series is that she's a vampire and could wipe the floor with most everyone if she wanted to. Yet, she continues to let her family and her community treat her like crap while she laughs it off.

And, lately this secrecy with Gabriel has been driving me freaking crazy. A guy claims he loves you, he vows to protect you, and then he skips town for two weeks and doesn't call. You try to call him, and he's not where he says he'll be. I don't know about you, but most girls I know wouldn't stand for that for very long. They would demand answers, and when they were fed a pat answer of, "There's nothing going on. Just trust me. I'll tell you everything soon," they would kick him to the curb. Yet, Jane says nothing. For MONTHS.

It was a fresh new Jane in Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. The jokes finally fall away (for the most part), and Jane gets mad, cries her tears, and decides to move on with everything else until Gabriel comes to his senses and starts some serious groveling. But, Gabriel's not the only one Jane finally has a come to Jesus meeting with. She has it out with Jenny, Grandma Ruthie, and for good measure, Zeb and Jolene's contractor. Jane has finally located her backbone.

It really was my favorite part of this book. The laughs are definitely still there. Many of them come during exchanges between Dick and Jane. Dick is, without a doubt, my favorite side character in this series. The brother-sister relationship he has with Jane is absolutely adorable. And, his new relationship with Andrea shows a softer side of Dick that was wonderful.

Jane grows up a lot in this book. She makes tough decisions in regards to all the relationships in her life. She, once again, fights for her life with a nemesis that not only is deadly, but one that makes things personal. VERY personal. There are some real shockers in this one that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Once again, Amanda Ronconi delivers an incredible narration in the audio version of Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. Her portrayal of all the characters in Half Moon Hollow blows me away every time I hear it. I've already purchased the next book in the Jane Jameson series - I can't wait to see what happens next.

REVIEW: Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men (Jane Jameson #2)

Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men (Jane Jameson #2), by Molly Harper
Published August 25, 2009
Publisher: Pocket Star
Format: audiobook, gifted
Genre: adult paranormal romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 4 STARS

(From Goodreads) With her best friend Zeb's Titanic-themed wedding looming ahead, new vampire Jane Jameson struggles to develop her budding relationship with her enigmatic sire, Gabriel. It seems unfair that she's expected to master undead dating while dealing with a groom heading for a nuptial nervous breakdown, his hostile werewolf in-laws, and the ugliest bridesmaid dress in the history of marriage.

Meanwhile, the passing of Jane's future step-grandpa puts Grandma Ruthie back on the market. Her new fiance, Wilbur, has his own history of suspiciously dead spouses, and he may or may not have died ten years ago. Half-Moon Hollow's own Black Widow has finally met her match.

Should Jane warn her grandmother of Wilbur's marital habits or let things run their course? Will Jane always be an undead bridesmaid, never the undead bride?

Combining Mary Janice Davidson's sass and the charm of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels, this is an incredibly satisfying read for fans of paranormal romantic comedy.

When I need a sure thing on the light side, Molly Harper is always my go-to girl. Okay. That sounded really bad. But, you know what I meant. I have never met a Molly Harper book I didn't love and didn't laugh out loud at repeatedly. Sometimes, especially after a few deep heavy reads, her books are absolutely perfect to bring me out of a funk.

In the second Jane Jameson book, Jane is playing Best Maid to her BFF Zeb and his fiance Jolene. And, it is the wedding from hell. His family hates her and her family hates him, and they go to extremes to try and derail all the plans. Meanwhile, Jane is dealing with her own stressors - namely, her sister and Gabriel. Her sister is still trying to squeeze her for everything she has and Gabriel is acting shifty and shading one minute and telling her he loves her the next. And, all of this happiness is capped off by the fact that Grandma Ruthie's new fiance is not exactly human.

I love Jane. Really, I do. But, seriously, my girl needs to grow a backbone. A strong one. She is treated horrendously by her grandmother and her sister. Her mother walks all over her. And, most of the time, Jane sits back and lets them. She cracks a sarcastic comment from time to time, but otherwise let's them crap all over her. And, I have no idea why. She could put them in their places in more ways than one.

And, Gabriel's another one. He has these wonderful moments that make me swoon. And, then he acts like an ass and tells Jane to trust him. She catches him in lies, asks him about them, and he blows her off. She lets him. I get that Jane is a librarian at heart and not this big, bad vampire. And, maybe that's the beauty of her and this series. She's this delicious dichotomy. She's an undead bloodsucker that can't hurt a fly's feelings.

With Gabriel in Europe or wherever the hell he was most of the time, the focus shifted to the other people in Jane's life. We learn a lot more about Dick, and I learned there's a lot more to love about him. He's this loveable cad with bad manners and a big heart.

The weres in Half Moon Hollow are a crazy bunch. Jolene's family is nearly as nuts as Jane's and Zeb's. Their customs and traditions, especially around weddings, are completely off the wall, and with the Kentucky redneckness thrown in for good measure, These people are an absolute hoot.

Once again, I listened to the audio version, and once again, Amanda Ronconi's narration is absolute perfection. Even though I have a few of these books in paperback, I choose to listen to them instead. The audio versions are just so much fun. Ronconi's delivery is hysterically accurate, and I love every minute of it.

REVIEW: How To Run With a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf #3)

How To Run With a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf #3), by Molly Harper
Published December 31, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Books
Format: e-ARC, obtained from Edelweiss
Genre:  adult paranormal romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) Down, Boy

Anna Moder has just witnessed a shooting, seen her car pulverized, and rescued a wounded stranger only to discover he's really a werewolf. And by her recent standards, things are actually looking up. Lycanthropes don't faze Anna. Doctoring a wolf pack outside Grundy, Alaska, is the closest thing to home life she's known in years. But hitching a ride to Anchorage with long-absent pack member Caleb Graham that's a risk. Part of her itches to whack his nose with a newspaper. The rest is trying unsuccessfully to keep her own paws off every delicious inch of him.

The problem is, Caleb employs his lupine tracking abilities as a not-quite-legal bounty hunter, and Anna is suspicious of both him and his profession. On the run from her past, with old problems closing in, she'd like to stay far, far away from anybody with connections to the law. Caleb, however, seems determined to keep her close. Are his intentions noble, or is he working a more predatory angle?

Anna's been dreaming of returning to a semi-normal life, but now she's experiencing a strange new urge . . . to join Caleb in running with the wolves.

Molly Harper, how I have missed you and your naked werewolves. 

Anna is on the run from an abusive relationship when she stumbles upon Caleb, a member of the pack of werewolves she used to care for as the pack physician, in a sticky situation. He convinces her to travel with him until they reach Anchorage. She learns his job as a bounty hunter and even helps out. And both of them continue to fight the feelings they start to develop for each other. And, when her secrets and his come out, they both wonder if their time on the road has built enough of a foundation for their tentative relationship to survive.

Molly Harper's books have just a different kind of feel to them, you know? They're light and fun and quirky. They make me smile and laugh. And there's plenty of swooning. I mean, we're talking werewolves here. You can't get any more alpha than that. Even in a book like How To Run With a Naked Werewolf where we're reading about such a serious situation as domestic abuse, I found myself laughing out loud more often than not. 

Molly did a fantastic job balancing out the serious nature of the book with the fun-loving style that she's known for. It's a fine line to walk - how much humor is enough to lighten the mood, yet not so much that it detracts from the seriousness that the situation deserves? Molly Harper walks that line perfectly. She slows things down and gets serious when its needed.

The romance between Anna and Caleb is slow to build as each learns how much to trust the other. Caleb is so sweet for being such a big, burly werewolf man. The way he cares for Anna and watches out for her is completely endearing. I loved seeing the two distinct sides of him - the bounty hunter and the mated werewolf. It was like seeing two sides of the same coin. I dare you to not fall in love with him. 

Anna has been through so much. She's running and hiding from her husband who stalked her and beat the crap out of her. Obviously, she doesn't trust easily. She's strong and capable. Her distrust and at times standoffishness did start to grate on me a bit, but I had to remind myself that this is probably pretty true to life. 

After Anna rescues Caleb in the beginning, the two embark on a crazy, epic road trip. I love road trips and the spontaneity they bring. The towns in which they find themselves and the crazy situations were the absolute best part of this book. 

I loved so much that Molly found a way to inject our favorite characters from her first two books into the story. We saw Cooper and Mo and Maggie and Nate and where both couples are in their relationships now. The fusing of all three books was done seamlessly - it didn't seem at all like they were forced into the story just to have them there.  

The ending was explosive. I loved how everything came to a head and then worked itself out. There was a bit of a strange and awkward interaction between Anna and two side characters from the book, but outside of that, the HEA was perfect. If you haven't experienced Molly Harper's unique style of writing yet, please pick up one of her books and give them a try. They're perfect to get you out of a reading slump and make you smile.