Undead and Unappreciated

MaryJanice Davidson

Somehow, reviewing Undead and Unappreciated just after The Historian was simply fated to be. You can't make this stuff up.

If you've already read the first two, you don't need much of a synopsis. (If you haven't read them first.) Most things haven't changed-- Eric still wants Betsy, Betsy is still annoyed with Eric, Jess is still rich as Croesus, Mark is still gay, and Antonia is still a royal pain. Except that Antonia lets slip that Betsy has a half-sister. Who, Eric surmises, is the woman whom the Book of the Dead says is fated to rule the Earth, and happens to be the devil's daughter. (Like the idea that Antonia is Satan would surprise anyone who's read the first two books.) That's enough story arc for at least the next three or four books in the series, right?

These books pretty much define "empty calories." They take roughly an afternoon apiece to read, have no redeeming social value (think about it: how would you feel if caught with one in public?), and will never, ever be featured by Oprah's book club. So why read them? Mostly because they're funny, even to those of us who wouldn't know a Manolo Blahnik from a blasting cap. And while Davidson has the stock romance formula down, there are a few places in this third installment in the series that she seems as if she's knocking on the walls, trying to figure out which of the weak spots she's going to tear through. That should be something to see.

They're dumb, but they're great fun.