New Vamp, Needs a Job

source: http://books.google.com/

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs
Publisher: Pocket Star
Author: Molly Harper

If I pick up a book and it doesn't grab me right away, I will download the electronic version from my library's website and load it onto my cell phone. Books on my cell phone help me pass the time away at the service centers, doctors' office, restaurants, and other times when I am without my knitting to keep me busy.

You know those times, when I find myself uttering "I can't get this hour of my life back."

Usually, it takes a few weeks to get through a book in this format.
First, I have the excitement for reading a new book and then the let down when I realize that I have read this character type already. This story gave me that "I have read this before" feeling initially.
I did have to pick the book up a few times to get through it after my initial disappointment...

What happens when a children's librarian becomes one of the blood thirsty undead?

Jane Jameson followed all the goals she created for herself.

1. Complete highschool with high grades from Half Moon Hollow and attend college elsewhere.
2. Put all those brains to work by obtaining master's degree in library science.
3. Demonstrate your skills by organizing a thriving young readers program in your hometown's public library.

What could go wrong?
How about being fired from said job and replaced by the town pyromaniac?
Or getting sloppy drunk at the local bar using your severance gift certificate?
And finally dying in a drive-by shooting from a blind-drunk deer hunter after falling face-first into a ditch?
In that span of time when the dying Jane reflected on her life and its inevitable, undignified death, she is given a chance at un-death by a mysterious stranger.

This is her story

Jane has a slightly caustic sense of humor tempered with Southern hospitality. Like any vampire book reader, I find the sharp-tongued heroine to be literary joy-stealers. They are so prevalent in the genre that I just don't care to know why they are so contrary. While not an original character flaw, in this book I found her taunts, barbs, and sarcasm to be very entertaining. Read it for yourself.
Jane on taking a job at her mother's place of employment:

..Mama took at part-time job at A Stitch in Time, a shop that sold fabric and quilting supplies. In the five years she had worked there, I'd received quilted vests for every birthday and Christmas.

I hope this gives you some idea of what I was dealing with.

I couldn't visit my mother at the shop for more than a few minutes at a time. I had allergic reactions to fabric sizing and old women asking me when I was going to settle down. Working there would be my damnation to whatever circle of hell is dedicated to busybodies and fabric artists. 

The book has many colorful characters. Zeb the male best friend. Gabriel the sexy, mysterious vampire sire. Dick Cheney, Gabriel's foil. Andrea the blood surrogate. Missy the aggressive vampire realtor. The mother she "lives" to disappoint. The father who honored her with the horrible middle name. The sister that pretends she does not exist (even before her death). The grandmother who loves all of her husbands to their horrible deaths. And the ghost of a dead aunt who wears funny slogan t-shirts in her spirit form.
The story follows:

Jane and Gabriel's efforts to forge a relationship beyond that of child and master.

Jane's negotiations with her family regarding the delicate nature of inheritance property when the dearly departed doesn't have the good sense to remain dead.

Jane's complicated efforts of learning the intricacies of the vampire community while being accused of vampire murder and debauchery.

Good for Jane that she is a practical new vampire.
For example, when she receives bottled blood from a stranger she checks the safety seal before drinking it.
She is going to be all right.

I did enjoy this little novel by Molly Harper.
It gave me tons to laugh over and an atypical mystery for a vampire romance novel. The author wove a long story with clues just about everywhere.
Once I let go of my expectations for the book, I found a hilarious story I couldn't put down or wait until the sequel.

This of course was difficult for me since I had loaded the book onto my cell phone. I found myself reading it in bed, at red lights, during my lunch hour, and during the short walk to my office from my car.
According to the author's website there are three current books and a fourth book planned.

My score = B-