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DEAD OVER HEELS
Mary Janice Davidson
Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 978-00425-21941-6
March 2008
Paranormal Romance
This book is a collection of stories from Mary Janice
Davidson which encompasses three of her worlds: the
vampires, the merfolk and the werewolves. Each story is
a part of a larger series, but can be read on its own
without having read the earlier books. I hesitate to
recommend that you start with this book if you have not
read those other stories even though you could, I don’t
think you should.
Are you a fan of Ms. Davidson? Have you read her Besty
vampire stories or her sexy Wyndham werewolves? Do you
know her short, snarky writing style? You will find all
of that here. The first story is UNDEAD AND WED: A
Honeymoon Story. Besty and Sinclair are finally married
and they travel to New York for their honeymoon. Betsy
is in heaven: shoppers heaven and tourist heaven, and
Sinclair is, well, Sinclair - tolerant of Besty’s
foibles. Jessica and Nick decide to tag along, and the
dialog just flies between all of the protagonists.
The second story, SURVIVORS, is Con Conilson and
Reanesta’s story. Con is a TV personality and hosts a
survivor reality show. After sending his crew away
during a storm, he finds himself adrift in the Pacific
ocean. He is dying of exposure and dehydration when
Reanesta the mermaid approaches his boat and saves him.
I have to say, this was my least favorite of the
offerings. Con is an extremely unlikable character, and
while I know that is what Ms. Davidson was going after,
he was just a little bit TOO obnoxious for my tastes. He
redeems himself at the end, but by that time, he just
became a caricature in my mind and I really did not
care.
The last story is a Wyndham werewolf story. I first fell
in love with Ms. Davidson’s werewolf characters in the
Red Sage books, and they continue to be my favorites.
Cain and Saul have been friends forever. All of their
friends have found their mates and Cain, ever the
competitive female, does not want to be the last one at
age 30, to be unmarried. She comes to Saul to help set
her up dating so that she can find a mate in 20 days.
Thus sets the premise of SPEED DATING, WEREWOLF STYLE.
These two are an old married couple and just do not know
it yet. How can Saul make Cain see that he loves her and
is not just a workaholic joke?
All in all, these stories were good, albeit, fast reads.
Too fast. I finished the whole book in about 2 hours.
Big font, big margins and a lot of one word or quick
rejoinder conversations make for very little substance
to these stories. If you like Ms. Davidson’s writing,
you know this is her style and will not be disappointed
with this anthology.
Reviewed by Sarah Silversmith
Rating: 3 Plugs |
