Audiobook Review - Driving Mr. Dead (Half Moon Hallow, Book 1) by Molly Harper (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Size: 166 pages
Publisher: Pocket Star
Release Date: January 31, 2012
ASIN: B0064CLU0C
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Half Moon Hallow series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I listened to this on audiobook. This is the first in Harper’s Half Moon Hallow series which features different characters from her Jane Jamieson series but is set in the same world. The second book in this series, The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires, features different characters than this book and released in July 2012.

Miranda is in the middle of a broken engagement and has disappointed her laywer parents so much that she just needs a change of scenery. So Miranda takes a job with Beeline, Half Moon Hallow’s only vampire concierge service. Her first client is the obsessive compulsive and extremely difficult Collin Sutherland. When everything goes wrong that can go wrong will Miranda lose her job or will sparks fly between her and the most difficult vampire ever?

This book was a short, quick and fun summer read. Parts of the book are absolutely hilarious. The situations that Miranda and Collin find themselves in are laughable and improbable.

Miranda (like all of Harper’s heroines) is quirky, spunky, and prone to disaster...yet somehow absolutely lovable. Collin comes off as standoffish and obnoxious initially, but grows into someone charming and funny. They have great chemistry together and the scenes between them sizzle...sometimes into literal explosions.

The plot is very simple and romancy. Basically Miranda and Collin are trapped on a road trip together and initially hate each other. Of course through a series of events they grow to adore one another. Definitely not brain food here...also fairly predictable. Still it is a fun, hilarious, feel-good read. Great for summer reading or brainless enjoyment.

Overall a fun little read. Hilarious and full of quirky characters, witty banter, and improbable situations. Fans of Harper’s Jane Jamieson series will find a lot here to love. Highly recommended to those who enjoy humorous paranormal romance. I’ll definitely be checking out The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires when I am in the mood for a light and fun read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Audiobook Review - How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper (4.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Humor
Size: 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: February 22, 2011
ISBN: 978-1439195864
Stand Alone or Series: 1st in a series
Source: Audiobook through Audible.com
Rating: 4.5/5 stars


I really enjoyed Molly Harper's first Jane Jameson series, so I was excited to see that she had a new series out. Like the previous series this book was hilarious. The lead character is super snarky, but has a lot of heart. The romance is sweet and sizzling, and the setting is perfect for a winter read. I listened to this book on audio and it was incredibly well done.

Mo has just moved to Alaska in an effort to escape her hippie parents, get over a relationship that totally fizzled, and just in general start over. Grundy, Alaska initially appears to be an isolated but charming town. That is until things start going strange. One of Mo's neighbor's Cooper Graham is scornful of her ability to survive the Grundy winter but when he shows up injured (in wolf form) on her porch things get a bit crazy. Then there is this giant wolf that has been killing people. Mo is beginning to wonder if everything is tied together.

My first thought when Mo started dealing with her overbearing mother is that Harper must have some mommy issues; because all of her female leads have a horrible time with their mothers. Aside from that I really enjoyed Mo; she is a down to earth, hilarious person, who is sweet and helpful to those around her but has a core of steel and toughness when she has to. Cooper is beyond drool-worthy; he is sexy, wounded, and has that whole dark brooding thing going on. He also has a wicked sense of humor, is intensely loyal, and incredibly intense in his love for Mo. He is pretty much one of the better male leads I have read about this year.

The chemistry Cooper and Mo have is amazing; I was sucked into their relationship and really rooting for things to work out between them.

I loved the small town of Grundy; Harper describes the benefits and drawbacks to living in a small town perfectly. This was an excellent winter read because most of the story takes place in the winter and over Christmas. Watching Mo adjust to extremely cold weather was hilarious, since she is from the deep south. As a Minnesotan I could relate to some of her cold weather problems and got a good chuckle out of it.

I did find Mo's quick acceptance of Cooper's werewolfiness to be a bit strange. Mo attributes it to her open-minded hippie flower child upbringing. To be fair she does question her easy acceptance a number of times, but initially she is just like "huh, so you're a werewolf, okay".

The town of Grundy is full of a number of quirky and wonderful secondary characters. All of them were well-done, very real, and fun to read about. The mystery of the mysterious deaths was also well done and I loved the way everything was wrapped up.

I will also say that as much as I enjoy Harper's books they are the type of book I can only take in small quantities. For example reading this one book was a lot of fun, but I wouldn't want to read three books in a row like this. They are a bit too fluffy and chick-lit for that. Still the book was hilarious, incredibly well done, and a fun light diversion.

Overall I really enjoyed this book a lot. It was a fun and hilarious romp. Mo is a perfect character; she is snarky, witty, yet still caring and a bit tough. Cooper was a wonderful male lead he has a dark sense of humor, is sexy as hell, and intense in his love for Mo. The chemistry between the two was sweet and a joy to read about. I loved the town of Grundy, Alaska and because of the wintry setting this book made an especially wonderful winter read. I am excited to read the next book in Harper's Naked Werewolf series called, The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf. I highly recommend this series to fans of humorous paranormal romance. If you enjoyed Harper's Jane Jameson series, this book was ever better than that.

Review - Nice Girls Don't Live Forever (Jane Jameson, Book 3) by Molly Harper (4.5/5 stars)

This is the final book in the Jane Jameson trilogy by Harper.  It was a great conclusion to the trilogy and nicely wrapped up all of the outstanding plot points.

As in book 2 Jane is dealing with a lot in this book.  Her and Gabriel are on the outs after he fantastically screws up their whirlwind tour of Europe.  When Jane returns after getting a call her bookshop has been broken in to, she finds Zeb and Jolene pregnant, her employer's mysterious nephew returned on a mission Jane can't figure out, and an invitation waiting for her 10 year high school reunion.   Jane also joins the Chamber of Commerce to further her business and finds that it is run by evil blond women obsessed with pink.   On top of all of this she is trying to solve the mystery of Gabriel's mystery linen notes; she assumes he is cheating on her, but then she starts receiving similar notes herself.

This book was a bit like the second book in that there are a lot of little plotlines going on.  Unlike the second book I thought this book did a lot better job of tying everything together and keeping the plot well organized even with everything that is going on.

Jane finally solves the mystery of what is going on with Gabriel and it is relief to get some closure on that front.  Another relief is that Jane's evil female relatives are less present and, at least some of them, grow a conscience and are more reasonable and realistic.  It was nice to see that in the resolution of these relationships with her female relatives, Jane isn't blameless and realizes that she was provoking some of the evil behavior.

Other than the above, there is a lot of snarkiness like usual and a lot of fun.  I thought this book was much better paced than the second one, there weren't any boring spots or spots where I was really annoyed at the characters.  Some of the time is also spent working on Dick and Andrea's relationship.  Things even get more dire in the book when one of Jane's friends is kidnapped and endangered by one of the less savory characters in the novel.

All the characters find some level of emotional maturity in this book and the books leaves everything in a nicely wrapped up and realistic place.  In general the ending leaves you feeling good and smiling, which is always a good thing for a book!

Overall I thought this was an excellent conclusion to this series.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I will keep an eye on Harper's future books.  Her fun and snarky writing style is very amusing, although at some points the over-characterization of some of the characters can get a bit wearying.  This wouldn't be something I would read all of the time, but when I am in the mood for a fun light read it fits the bill.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- Summer Romance Reading Challenge

 

Review - Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men (Jane Jameson, Book 2) by Molly Harper (4/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Jane Jameson trilogy (the third book is Nice Girls Don't Live Forever).  It was a great installment in the series, although I didn't like it quite as much as the first book.

Jane has gotten roped in to being the Maid of Honor at Zeb and Jolene's wedding and is stuck playing sympathetic ear to their problems with the future werewolf in-laws.  Meanwhile Gabriel, supposedly in love forever with Jane, keeps disappearing on business out of town and won't tell Jane what it's about.  As if that's not bad enough Jane's grandmother is planning marriage to the guy she brought as a date to her last husband's funeral; and there is something seriously off about grandma's new flame.

I didn't like this book as much as the previous book because the story line is pretty scattered.  Jane bounces between dealing with money problems, Gabriel's absence, Zeb's problems with Jolene's family, Jolene's problems with Zeb's mother, and her grandma's strange boyfriend.   It is kind of unfocused.  Most of the issues are dealt with and wrapped up by the end of the book, but the plot wasn't as tight as the first book.

I still enjoyed all the crazy characters and their hilarious antics.  I enjoy the intelligent and witty banter between the characters.  It was nice getting to know Dick better and getting to learn more about Jane's employer at the occult book shop. 

There were a few things that bothered me some.  We don't see a ton of Gabriel and his relationship with Jane doesn't progress much from where it was in the first book.  Then there are the women in Jane's family.  Where they were pretty funny in the first book, in this book Jane's evil female relatives just got to be a bit much for me.  We do see a little tenderness added to the character of Jane's mother, but Jane's sister and grandmother are evil and vile creatures that I got sick of reading about.  Hopefully Harper either spends less time with these characters in the third book, or gives them a bit...more...well character.

Overall this was a fun and witty read and I enjoyed it.  I thought the plot wandered around more than it should of and I missed Gabriel.  I also am sick of Jane's evil female relatives.  I am really looking forward to the third book though, to see how all of the Gabriel issues are resolved.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- Summer Romance Reading Challenge

 

Review - Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs (Jane Jameson, Book 1) by Molly Harper (4.5/5 stars)

This looked like a fun read and I was in the mood for something funny.  This book met all my expectations it is a very funny, light, and clever read.  Incredibly entertaining.  It is the first book in the Jane Jameson trilogy.  I listened to this on audio book; the audio book was very well done and probably contributed to me liking the book so much.

Jane Jameson is a children's librarian...at least she is until her evil boss lays her off because of budget cuts.  After spending the night after her lay-off drowning her sorrows in mud-slides, her day just gets worse.  She gets shot walking home by a drunk man who drives by in a truck and shoots her thinking she is a deer.  Well this is the beginning of her undead life, as sexy Gabriel (a man she meet at the bar that night) saves her life...kinda...by turning her into a vampire.  Now Jane must find a job, figure out how to navigate her new vampire lifestyle, and defend herself against murder charges.

This book was a hoot.  Jane is just your normal girl, turned vampire.  She is snarky and funny, and is surrounded by polite southern-woman doing their best to insult sweetly.  This book drops the mystery surrounding vampires and represents them as the normal people they probably would be if your average everyday Joe got turned.  For example, when Jane is awake at 2am trying to figure out what to do with her night she decides to go where any proper southern girl would go at 2am....Walmart...and finds it to be a secret hang-out of the undead.  When her new found friend Andrea offers to take her to a vampire bar...Jane is braced for the worst but finds herself in a sports bar not unlike the ones she went to when she was a bit more alive.

The chemistry between Jane and her sire, Gabriel, is off and on but more realistic because of that.  There are a lot of great characters in this book besides Jane, and Gabriel is one of them.  Gabriel is kind of your brooding mysterious type, but he is also a normal guy.  He occasionally does something stupid or finds himself at a loss for words, making him a more real vampire than most you read about.  Then there is the ghost of Jane's Aunt Jettie who is always there to add some humor to the situation (as if Jane needed help with that).

The book does have a good mystery woven into the plot.  Jane is accused of murder and becomes the victim of increasingly brutal attacks on her person.  She needs to figure out what is going on else the Council order a decapitation.  The plot moves as a quick pace and never gets boring.  This book doesn't have a lot of action and is more a mix of paranormal, mystery, humor, chick lit, and romance.

Overall a fresh take on vampire society, very engaging and lots of fun.  I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice departure from what I normally read and had me laughing out loud a number of times.  I can't wait to listen to the next book "Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men".

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge
- Summer Romance Reading Challenge