Review: Undead and Unwelcome by MaryJanice Davidson

Undead and Unwelcome (Queen Betsy, 8) by MaryJanice Davidson
Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy
Berkley (June 2, 2009)
304 pages

From Amazon:

Betsy Taylor has problems that only a vampire queen/suburban wife could possibly understand. Such as taking the body of her werewolf friend Antonia—who died in her service—to Cape Cod, where she’s not sure if the Wyndham werewolves will welcome her with fangs or friendship. Meanwhile, her posse back in St. Paul is sending frantic e-mails alerting Betsy to her half-sister’s increasingly erratic behavior. Looks like the devil’s daughter is coming into her own—and raising hell.

Betsy's back and this one picks up during the same week that ended book 7, Undead and Unworthy. Aside from having to face the werewolves, Betsy finds herself trying to solve the mystery surrounding her half-brother and ward, BabyJon. To top it all off, her half-sister Laura, and daughter of the devil, is stirring up things at home while she's away.

While all of this make the book sounds action packed, and I suppose it technically is, I couldn't help feeling like this was one long novella - like it was a transitory tale between books instead of a book itself. The issues that the novel deals with are either being put to bed (i.e. Antonia's death) or being introduced (i.e. Laura's impending Antichrist-ness). The problem with BabyJon is the only part that felt like it wholly belonged to this installment.

Davidson's trademark humor is still there, however it's toned down. Somewhere along the line this series stopped being mostly paranormal romance and became a bit more urban fantasy. Even Betsy's changed. It may be hard to believe but, she's not as big of a ditz anymore. The slightly darker mood can also be attributed to the more serious issues dealt with in this edition.

The story was good, if it left me a bit wanting. It satisfied some concerns that the last book raised but I wasn't satisfied. Maybe that's because there weren't as many laughs as usual this time around given the darker turn it took. Or maybe it was because the novel was seemed so short. Whatever the case may be, when the end came I was still waiting for the story to get started.

Grade: C+