Book 1), Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs (Jane Jameson

Molly Harper has quickly become a must-read author and has me begging for more.The Nice Girls series had me laughing until I cried and unable to put it down. Harper's unique sense of humor and amazing characters will pull you into her world and make you delighted to be there.

I really enjoyed this book. Its not the most amazing piece of literature ever written but I wasn't looking for that. If you like True Blood and other vampire stories then this is for you. Not as sexy as 50 Shades. I've just started Molly's second book in this series and I'm liking that too. Easy, enjoyable read.

A friend recommended this series & I'm glad I used her suggestion. This was a fun, easy read. The book was very amusing & left me smiling & laughing often. Can't wait to read the next book in the series as well as some of Molly Harper's other works.

So I decided to read this because it seemed pretty popular with readers. I like the idea of the book and I remember liking the spin-off series she wrote. (Which I read before this) However, I actually found it a bit boring, the romance was sparse and uneventful. Not much really happened, it's like the author just took this book to teach you the background of her world, a lot of internal monologue. The ending was very anticlimactic.

That being said I will try a sample of the next book, sometimes first books aren't a hit and it takes a book or two for the story to get going.

I absolutely loved this book. Interesting take on the vampire world & extremely funny. Several times, I had family members asking me what was so funny because I could not contain my laughing while reading this book.

I have read all kinds of vampire books lately but NONE of them have left me laughing out loud. I really appreciated the main character, Jane, and her antics. I hope the next installment in this series contains a more developed plot as this one was painfully weak. It was still an enjoyable read and a good start for this new author.

This book had me cackling. Jane is a loveable, funny character, and her escapades are totally believeable within the sphere of her reality. Her interactions with other characters are remarkably entertaining!

I love this author, and I cannot wait to get the second book!

This book had me cackling. Jane is a loveable, funny character, and her escapades are totally believeable within the sphere of her reality. Her interactions with other characters are remarkably entertaining!

I love this author, and I cannot wait to get the second book!

How is it possible to write a book about vampires and have it be so boring?

There's a line in the book, "His expression was as bland as bread pudding." And I thought, this book is as bland as bread pudding.

I'm actually angry about how stupid and boring this book is, considering I dropped $8 on it. I can't even finish it, people. I can't. I tried. Around page 93, I tried to think of a more boring book I had ever read and failed. I am a technical writer. For 40 hours a week, I write the most mind-numbing, boring, soul-crushing software manuals. And on page 93, I asked myself if I would rather be at work than read this book. Molly Harper would not like the answer.

Around page 113 I asked myself if I would rather continue to read this or read the instructions on a Fleetwood enema box.

Around page 117 I asked myself if I would rather continue to read this or eat my own booger.

The answer? I would rather eat one of my cat's litter droppings than go on. I can't do it. I'm upset because I spent $8 on this, but I just can't continue. It's killing brain cells.

This book is....boring. Not bad. Not poorly written. JUST SO FSCKING BORING.

I mean, cheese and crackers, by page 119 nothing has happened. NOTHING. You know how people accuse Bella Swan and Anastasia Steele of navel-grazing? THEY HAVEN'T MET NAVEL-GRAZING until they've read, god, what is the Heroine's name even? I can't even remember. And I literally just put this book down to write this review. You know what's sad? It just came back to me. Jane. My thought pathway was this: What's her name? I can't remember. I'm just gonna refer to her as Jane because she's a plain Jane boring as dirt Heroine. Oh that's funny, her name is actually Jane.

This author cannot tell a story. She's not a bad writer in terms of grammar. Her sentence structure is fine. In another genre, she might do very well too. Like general fiction. Or even non-fiction.

But not romance. (There is absolutely NO chemistry between the leads. I mean, I'd be more intrigued to see my grandparents have sex before these people. And make no mistake, Jesus take my eyeballs before I ever see my relatives hump.) Her guy, Gabriel, isn't alpha or sexy at all. My one year old Shih Tzu is more aggressive and intriguing than Gabriel.

Gabriel is more intriguing than Jane. I live for the moments he's on the page (as dull as he is) because then at least SOMETHING IS HAPPENING. Unfortunately in about oh, I don't know, 120 pages, he's on about 5 of them.

Do you know what's sad? Toward, page 120, Jane recounts her first evening as a vampire to Gabriel. (He was all, what did you do all day?) And so she tells him. And I was like, JESUS YOU MEAN TWO YEARS HAVEN'T PASSED? HOLY CRAP THIS ONLY BEEN ONE DAY, HOLY CRAP I'M ONLY ON PAGE 119? HOLY CRAP IT'S NOT THE YEAR 2017? I FEEL LIKE I'VE BEEN ALIVE FOR ALL ETERNITY READING THIS CRAP AND, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I'VE BEEN DEAD INSIDE.

That's when I stopped reading.

It's because nothing happens. Like, nothing at all. Other than this chick getting turned into a vampire. Which SOUNDS like it should be interesting. But it's not. You'd have more fun having a root canal. Because the author has to come in every few seconds and give us a boring history lesson on something. Or she has to give us some anecdote about some past event. THAT IS IN NOW WAY INTERESTING OR RELEVANT TO THE STORY. Which is why I think Molly Harper should just write regular literature and call it day.

If you can make reading about vampires as fun as constipation, then that might not be your genre.

God, almighty. I need to walk down a dangerous alley at night now just so I can get my heart pumping again. I think those 120 pages aged me by 3 years.

Update: I think I can return this nonsense for a refund, in which case, I'm less upset that I haven't thrown away $8.

Jane Jameson works in Half Moon Hollow's children's Library and loves it. When she gets fired and her horrible boss gives her a gift certificate for a local bar, she takes it as a sign and proceeds to drink it all away. Jane thinks this is one of the crappiest days ever but it is about to get worse because on the way home she is mistaken for a deer and gets shot.

If it wasn't for the dark and handsome guy from the bar she would be dead. The jury is still out on whether being undead is good or not. All Jane knows is that is so hungry she could eat her best friend and that her mother is going to hit the roof when she finds out. Jane's life is changing and it will take some getting used to. Luckily she has the Guide for the Newly Undead to help her as well as her favourite dead aunt who she can now see and hear again.

Finding a steady blood supply and black out curtains is high up on Jane's list of things to do. Getting a job would be handy but making sure her dog and best friend still want to be associated with her even if she is a blood sucking vampire is a high priority. A relationship with her sire may not be such a good idea but he is very interested in her and she really needs his help because it looks like someone is trying to frame her for a few murders.

This debut novel is very lovable. The author has not only managed to create a new vampire type and make it her own but she has also managed to make it fresh and original enough to keep it from being like all the other vampire chick-lit books out there. The story is well written and the plot grows all the way through right until the last chapter.

Fun, witty and very tasty this looks like a series to watch. With book number two already due out in September there is no doubt that I will be looking for a copy of Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men when it becomes available. I have to know what Jane gets up to next and who with ;)

- Amberkatze's Book Blog

STORY BRIEF:
Jane is a librarian. She is fired so her boss can hire an incompetent relative. Jane gets drunk and trips by the side of the road. Another drunk thinks she's a deer and shoots her. Gabriel, a nearby vampire turns Jane into a vampire to save her from death. The rest of the book is about Jane complaining and reacting to annoying and/or unfortunate events with slightly snarky sarcasm. Vampires live openly among humans but are looked down upon as being lower class. Jane is afraid to tell her parents she is a vampire. Her mother nags about Jane getting married, etc. Jane's best friend is a guy who falls in love with a female werewolf. Jane reluctantly adjusts her attitude to get along with the werewolf. Someone is committing crimes and framing Jane. Gabriel is the potential romantic interest, but there is no romance. Their relationship feels more like big brother helping Jane along in her new world. At the end of the book, they were still at the "good friends" stage, but there is a hint that something might develop between them in the future. The purpose of this book is humor as opposed to romance.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
When I bought this I thought I was getting humorous paranormal romance. Unfortunately there was no romance which disappointed me. I also didn't laugh as much as I'd hoped. I did chuckle several times but not enough to recommend buying the book.

DATA:
Story length: 355 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 1, 3 pages long. Setting: current day Kentucky. Copyright: 2009. Genre: snarky contemporary paranormal fiction.

I had a difficult time getting through this book. It drags out every cliche in the paranormal universe, and rehashes them all as if to say, "See how clever and cute I am? Don't you just looooovve me?"

No, I don't. This has been done by so many other, more skilled, more creative authors. Life is too short to be reading Grade C authors.

My Thoughts - 5 out of 5 Unicorns - I loved it!!!
***I choose what I read and review based on what intrigues me!! I bought this audiobook because I liked the narrator and Molly Harper’s humor in her books. I got the first 5 books so far.

This is the 1st book in the series, and it is for adults only due to the steamy content. I really love audiobooks for when you want a book, but don’t want to read.

I love the humor and sarcasm that Molly Harper puts into her stories. The narrator Amanda does a fantastic job bringing out that humor, and she does a great job with different voices for each character.
This book starts with a bang that is hilarious because Jane is mistaken for a deer a shot. Then Gabriel, who was following her to make sure she made it home safely, offers to turn her so that she may live as a vampire. This book is filled with humor that made me laugh. I connected with Jane because she is like me, if it wasn’t for bad luck she’d have no luck. Her adventure in becoming a vampire was fraught with drama with her family, seeing ghosts, figuring out her relationship with her sire, and someone trying to frame her for murder. This book was very entertaining, and I binge listened to it because I just couldn’t stop. I love Gabriel and Zeb and the dog! Molly Harper weaves humor and sarcasm into an awesome story. I can’t wait to read/listen to more of this series!

I highly recommend to any vamp fans who love misadventures packed with humor, sarcasm, and romance whether you are reading or listening!

This is my second attempt at reading this book. The first attempt was several years ago and I couldn't really remember why I gave up on it. So when it showed up on a reading suggestion list, I decided to give it another chance.

Well, I remembered why I didn't like it - I really, really don't like the main character. Her voice grated on my nerves and she was generally unlikeable and unreasonable. Given that vampires are out in this world, her reaction upon being turned didn't make sense. I'll give you that she didn't remember giving permission to be turned, but she should have known how dangerous a new vampire could be and the importance of sticking close to an experience vampire until she had control. Instead she decided to go running home and almost ate her best friend. Not really a character I want to spend time with.

Also, I think the author was going for sassy with the main character's dialogue, but all I really picked up on was bitchy.

I bought this audiobook months ago, and finally got around to listening to it. I freaking loved it! Molly Harper writes hilarious characters, and is full of snark. I’m happy the entire series is out so that I can read them all asap.

I love how likeable Jane is. She pretty much stays to herself until the day she loses her job. Then she gets drunk, and becomes a chatty Cathy. I know I’ve done that a few times in my life. I loved all of the characters in this book. Especially Jane’s aunt. She had me laughing so hard.

A series of events happen pretty quickly. A dead body shows up, and Jane’s life becomes pretty hellish. She’s trying to keep her life normal, but can’t seem to find the balance. Especially when it comes to her parents, and sister. I had an idea who was behind all of the crazy things that were happening to Jane, but I wasn’t sure. I like that Harper’s writing was able to surprise me.

If you’re looking for a fun, and pretty funny, read, you should definitely check out Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs. There’s romance, jealousy, and crazy all wrapped up in one book. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books.

Also, the narrator did an awesome job. I was able to tell which character was speaking, and really felt the emotion coming through from Jane.

I was slightly disappointed with this book. I had already read another of the authors books and had been very happy with that one and wanted to read a series by the author. Unfortunately though this series isn't at all like the other book that I had read. It is very obvious that this is the author's first book. The story doesn't really exist as a story. Instead the author tries the trick of introducing a lot of unconnected events and then trying to connect them all in the last couple of pages. The characters could be interesting, but despite starting out as unusual they soon slip into cliches. And in my opinion new authors should not start with vampires, they are to hard to do both right and uniquely. Lastly, as someone who is also from Kentucky I feel sorry for the author who seems to be secretly ashamed that they are from there. There are a lot of southern idiosyncrasies that the author could have embraced given the location of the book and instead she went the other way, and this book could have taken place anywhere. This is the first book by this author though so hopefully she'll learn and the next books will be better.

Molly Harper has become my go-to author whenever I'm in the mood for a happy-go-lucky story with quirky characters and Amanda Ronconi has the perfect sarcastic tone that helps add some extra oomph to an already hilarious tale. This book is a great way to break a reading slump or to lighten your mood. I think Murphy's Law: "anything that can go wrong will go wrong", was written with Jane Jameson in mind. Each chapter begins with a cute quote from The Guide For The Newly Undead; Harper also did something similar in her The Naked Werewolf series and I'm happy to see that it wasn't just a one-off because these tips are hilarious! Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs will make you laugh so hard that you'll end up in tears (in a good way!).

I discovered Molly's books backwards; after having enjoyed her werewolves so much I just had to check out her vampires too! Please keep in mind that I am left-handed though so I tend to do things a little out of whack compared to most. Jane and I hit it off instantly! How can you not want to learn more about a character who gets fired from her job, drunk, mistaken for a deer and then shot within the first few chapters? You can't. Jameson is ditzy, sarcastic and lovable. She'd probably drive me crazy in real life but as a fictional character, she's freaking hilarious! Her shenanigans are laugh-out-loud funny and the situations she finds herself in are baffling in their absurdity. More often than not I found myself thinking "this could only happen to Jane".

There's a decent amount of world building in this novel which is expected seeing how it is the first installment of this series. I enjoyed learning about Harper's vampires, the undead council and especially Jane through her internal monologues. The main story struck me as kinda odd; at first I wasn't really sure of its direction and then as the pieces came together I was quite stunned by the overall turn of events. They were... unexpected. I'll be curious to see what the next installment has in store because I had trouble identifying a plot line that'd continue into the next book. I'm thinking that these novels might be episodes in the mini-series that is Jane's life which is fine by me because Jameson's world definitely isn't dull!

The side characters are just as lovable as the main one; I especially liked Gabriel and Zeb. The former is undeniably sexy but begins this story with a stick up his butt. At first I found him stuffy, a little stuck-up and rather mundane but, as the book progresses Jane slowly chips away at his snooty outer shell. I enjoyed watching his transformation and by the end I was putty in his hands. Zeb's a normal guy who suddenly finds himself with a werewolf girlfriend and a vampire for a best friend. At one point, he repeatedly stabs Jane just to watch her heal. Their experiments with her undead-ness are beyond funny!

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs is good, clean, fun and guaranteed to make you look like an idiot because you will laugh out loud and receive dirty looks from those around you.

Jane Jameson works in Half Moon Hollow's children's Library and loves it. She gets fired and her horrible boss gives her a $25 gift certificate for a local bar instead of a severance pay, she decides to drown her sorrows in alcohol. Jane feeling like her day could not get any worse is mistaken because on the way home her car breaks down and she is mistaken for a deer and is shot and left for dead.

The good news is the dark and handsome guy (Gabriel) from the bar saves her life. Gabriel asks Jane if she wants to live, or course the answer is yes. Gabriel turns Jane into a vampire. Jane wakes up 3 days later a bit disoriented, she flees Gabriel's house and is so hungry she tries to eat her best friend (Zeb).

Missy is with the Undead Welcoming Committee and delivers a lovely gift basket and the Guide for the Newly Undead to help her through this change. She can also now see her favorite dead aunt Jettie who died 6 months prior.

Jane's first order of business is to find another job. Of course she now needs a night time schedule. Also on her list of priorities is to find a steady supply of blood & black out curtains.

Gabriel is Jane's sire and has admitted to her that he is very smitten and would like her in his life in a lot of ways. Gabriel loves the innocence that seems to surround her. Jane's sexual experiences have been few and far between not to mention disappointing.

I dislike most of Jane's family. The only family member I actually like is her father and dead aunt Jettie. Her mother is a control freak and her sister is very hateful. Of course they both want to get their hands on Aunt Jettie's heritance, a nice large house & chunk of farm land left to Jane.

Jane's life is turn upside down with being turned and now she is confronted with someone trying to frame her for a murder.

Like in the Chronicles of Riddick "You keep what you kill", this is important to the frame job.

The author's writing style will take me a little time to get used to. It seems a little choppy to me. I don't feel the transitions are smooth to the next scene. I do however really like to story line. Jane is a refreshing & witty character. I always like the "say what you think" type of personality.

I will be reading the next book in the series "Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men".

Jane Jamieson is an average girl - she works in the children's department at the local library, lives in an historical home in her Southern hometown of Half Moon Hollow, and has an overbearing mother who would love to see her get married and settle down. However when she becomes fired from the library, it sets off a chain of events including potato skins, getting rip-roaring drunk, being mistaken for a deer, and waking up undead in the home of her handsome sire, Gabriel Nightengale. As she stumbles her way through her new life, er...death, she learns to deal with coming out of the coffin to her family, renews a relationship with the ghost of her dead aunt, and struggles with her growing attraction to Gabriel - all while being framed for vampire murders!

A friend of mine gifted me this first book in the Nice Girl series, Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, after she read it and loved it. I started it and was hooked - in fact the worst part was waiting the week for the next books in the series to become available from the library! It's not the deepest read, but it is incredibly entertaining. The characters are slightly over the top, but in that way that they remind you of someone who is just like that, you know? The main character Jane? Well, I just love her. She's secretly insecure on the inside, completely accident prone, still trying to find her place, and totally and completely sarcastic. Her mind and feelings were real to me, and I could totally see myself in her - except for I'm not nearly as fabulously sarcastic, lol. Jane had me hooked on the series within the first chapter - I had to see what happened with her.

The Nice Girl series continues with Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men, Nice Girls Don't Live Forever, and Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbours. We get to see Jane continue to grow and change all while charging through increasingly impossible situations - and the supporting characters get their lives nicely wrapped up as well. I found that while I enjoyed the series, I was glad it ended where it did. I found myself giving a bit of a "Really? Come on!" at the events of book 4 as it was starting to be just a little too much, but it was easy to put aside in order to see how the lives of everyone turned out.

Overall I give 4.5 stars to the Nice Girl series. The books are funny and entertaining, with enough suspense and romance to keep things rolling. Purely enjoyable, feel-good books - which I think we all need more of sometimes.

*SPOILER FREE

The Series in ONE Sentence: Fun and Hilarious from beginning to end!

I love a nice funny book, specially one with paranormal elements and Molly Harper's Jena Jameson series definitely gives us that and more. The Jane Jameson series is one of my favorite series ever and finding out that there will be a fourth book made my year!

Jane Jameson's story is reminiscent of Mary Janice Davidson's Queen Betsy, where a comedic series of errors results in a Jane turned into a vampire and trying to deal with her new situation. Add her HOT sire, Gabriel, her best friend and the ghost of her grandmother and you have a laugh out loud series that you will not want to put down.

Molly Harper's genius is in the characters, she has build them and their relationships so well that you can't help but give yourself over to Jane's small town world. Let's not forget the wit, this series has "Gilmore Girls-style" fast and witty talk that had me laughing my a** off in almost every single page.I felt for Jane's plea and I wanted to bash her head against the wall innumerous times. She is hardheaded, paranoid and flat out annoying most of the time, but she is also fun, hilarious, loyal and extremely lovable.

Let's not forget the secondary characters. Jane is great, but without her friends, family and her new paranormal acquaintances where would her funny quips bounce off of and who would they all make fun of?

If you are a fan of the Queen Betsy series, you absolutely have to read this one, and dare I even to say that I prefer this series over Betsy's? There is something so fresh and comforting about reading this series, that I can't recommend it enough!

Originally Posted at Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life {[...]}

While books about vampires being outed and ingratiating into human society have been done many times, Molly Harper puts her own spin on things in her Nice Girls series.

In Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, book one in Jane Jameson's vampire adventures, Jane is just let go from her job as a librarian in her small Southern town. They don't even have the decency to give her a severance check, just a gift certificate to a local bar. Oh and a coupon for free potato wedges.

Drunk, she meets a charming stranger, Gabriel, who keeps her company on the worst day of her life. Little did she know that being fired would be a highlight.

Sober enough to drive home, Jane's car breaks down on a long stretch of country road. Getting out to walk, she didn't want to call anyone and talk about her humiliating day, she stumbles... just as the town's local drunk drives by and, mistaken her for a deer, decides to do a little hunting from his truck.

This is how Jane Jameson dies. Shot and lying in a ditch on the side of the road.

Lucky for her, Gabriel was a concerned vampire who wanted to make sure she got home alright. Three days later, she wakes up in his guest room, a newly risen vampire.

So begins Jane's adventures.

Molly has a hilarious voice. Her characters are real and easy to relate to. They are likable and have flaws. While, yes, you've seen similar stories before, she has a refreshing view on life as a vampire.

One thing I love about these books is that each chapter starts out with a passage from some 'self-help' book for vampires. Such as The Guide from the Newly Undead. I enjoy starting each new chapter just to see what new passage we're introduced to next.

Fabulous series and well worth the read. Four stars.

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Quirky, sarcastic, almost normal--the vampire next door.

Opening Sentence: I've always been a glass-half-full kind of girl.

The Review:

Meet Jane Jameson, normal everyday small town girl. Jane is a children's librarian in the public library in the town of Half-Moon Hollow, Kentucky where she was born and raised. Jane is super smart and quirky, but sarcasm and useless trivia are her strongest points. Jane is so universal she fits right in, like she could just move in right next door. Jane lives in the family home her Great Aunt Jettie left her, and the rest her family never lets her forget how little they feel she deserves it.

Jane has had a bad day. Her boss fired her from the job she loves for "budget reasons" and gave her a gift certificate for a bar as a severance package. After getting decidedly piss-drunk she is met by a man who has perfect teeth, good skin, nicer hair, gorgeous eyes and more upper-class type clothes. In short, "definitely a metrosexual, possibly gay, with a spontaneous yen for mozzarella sticks." Jane's car craps out on her way home from the bar, and she trips and lands face first in a ditch while walking home. Then, in some sort of strange cosmic accident, she is mistaken for a deer by a drunk redneck and fatally shot. Thankfully her new cheese-stick loving friend from the bar is actually a vampire and is able to turn her before she permanently kicks it.

The GQ model vamp who likes to pick up drunk girls in bars is Gabriel Nightengale. A long time resident of the Hollow (and by long I mean over 100 years). Gabriel is pretty decent for a vamp. He's not all I'm a prince of darkness, an ancient being, humans are nothing but food. And he can take a joke, and even make a few himself. Even since the Great Vampire Coming Out in 2000, Gabriel had preferred to live a quiet existence, which is next to impossible in a town this size. In true old world chivalry, he follows Jane home to make sure she is OK, but cannot stop her from getting shot. So, he gets her permission to be turned into a vampire and takes her to his home for the three days it takes to reawaken.

When Jane wakes back up she is frightened, and runs for home--that's after she spends some time attached to the ceiling. Upon her return she is met by her BFF Zeb and she practically attaches herself to his jugular. Gabriel arrives just in time to stop her, save Zeb, read her the riot act, get a lecture in return--along with a quote from Dr. Seuss "I will not drink it in a house, I will not drink it with a mouse," take care of her feeding, take Zeb home...you know, basically save the day again.

Jane spends a lot of time getting used to being a vamp, making new friends, both vamp and human, fighting with her family members--who don't learn of her condition until the end. She also starts a new job working in an occult bookstore, a relationship with her vampire sire, and a couple of permanent friendships with some awesome people.

In this first installment, Jane gets caught up in some weird plot to build a luxury housing development specifically for vamps, one which would require the property her current home sits on. The antics of the criminal mastermind behind the plot, a blond bottle of vampire Pepto named Missy, makes her a suspect for some vampire deaths in the neighborhood. Jane ends up on a sort of vampire probation, which she finds hard not to break. Eventually, Missy just tries to kill her straight out, but loses the duel, and Jane inherits all of her considerable possessions, which is a cool rule if you ask me.

Oh, and before I go, I want you to meet some of the other characters who play a big role in these books.

Zeb is Jane's best friend, a kindergarten teacher with his own family issues, whom she is expected to eventually marry.

Jolene is a werewolf Zeb meets when they both attend meetings of a group called Friends and Families of the Undead, sort of like Al-Anon, but for families of blood drinkers, not booze drinkers. Jolene is as Southern as one could get, and boy does she have an appetite.

Andrea is a blood surrogate, a human who willingly donates her blood to vampires who are willing to pay her prices. Gabriel sends Andrea to Jane's house for a feeding, and the two sort of hit it off from there.

Jane has also acquired another house guest, her Aunt Jettie's ghost, who has actually been there all along; she has just now decided to show her face. And in Aunt Jettie we find where Jane contracted her attitude. Jettie is a hoot.

And last, but certainly not least, is the vampire Richard "Dick" Cheney. Yup, that's right. Dick is a sexy smart-ass you've got to hate to love. Dick rescues Jane from a bar fight with a redneck vamp, and they just hit it right off. Girls, you'll just love him and his god awful T-shirt collection. Dick and Gabriel go way back, back to their human infancy, and the past causes some animosity, some jealousy over Jane, etc.

So, now that this review is LONG, I will leave you saying that I really liked this book, and the others. I traditionally don't get into a series that solely revolves around the same few characters; in fact I have only kept up with two of them in the past. And it's no small coincidence that these three females are all sarcastic, smart and accident prone. Always a good time when you are sitting somewhere, like say the waiting room at the dentist office, and you have to laugh out loud, and people stare at you like you've grown an antenna or something. So, yeah thanks Ms. Harper for making me look like an idiot.

The Jane Jameson Series:

1. Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs

2. Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men

3. Nice Girls Don't Live Forever

4. Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors

FTC Advisory: Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books graciously provided me with a copy of Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.

So much fun - that's what I kept thinking reading this first book in the Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper. Jane is a typical single female, but her worst day ever starts out the story. She's let go from her job as a librarian, she gets drunk later that night at bar. On her way home, her car breaks down, she gets out to walk only to trip and fall into ditch, only to then be shot by a drunk who mistook her for a deer. A man she met earlier at the bar, Gabriel, who was following her to make sure she got home ok, finds her shot and dying and he turns her into a vampire when she mutters that she's not ready to die. And so begins Jane's life as an undead.

Vampires have only recently come out in the human world and are still trying to find their place. This includes their own aisle at Wal-Mart for all their undead needs - they give the economy a boost with their new unique needs in the middle of the night, but it's hit or miss on how humans react to the vampires. Jane has a shock when she wakes up in Gabriel's room after her 3 days of recovery after her turning. She shocked, confused and hilarious as she basically streaks out of his house and back to her own and starts to figure out her new, crazy life. First up: trying not to feed from her best friend, Zeb. He's the first person who finds out about her new undead status and he's rattled, to say the least. Once he comes around, the two try to test Jane's limits as a vampire, which included stabbing her, jumping off her roof and seeing what a toaster in a tub full of water would do. I loved her friendship with Zeb; he's a good guy that finds his own personal life turned upside down again by another woman who's not all human, while he's still trying to recover from Jane's new undead life.

Jane and her crazy humor sucked me right into this story and her life. I don't know how to describe her other than she has that off the wall humor that makes even her straight up comments be laugh out loud funny. She's a woman who loves books, and finds another job at a specialty bookstore that caters to the odd and not so mainstream genres and topics. She fights with her family, especially her nasty sister and her meddling mom and she starts to make vampire friends. Whether she was stalking another vampire down their one aisle in Wal-Mart, buying exactly what she was, or hiding her unicorn collection, her randomness was a big win for me. I never knew what was going to come out of her mouth, or what crazy thing was going to be tossed at Jane next, but she handles everything with sarcasm, laughs and pop culture references that just fit with her personality. One new, possible friendship came from Andrea, a human who's fully involved in the vampire world.

Then there's Dick (Dick and Jane, heh) who likes to flirt, tease and push Gabriel's buttons by doing it with Jane. Dick and Jane's flirty banter was fun and these two will be good for some laughs in future books.

Now on to Gabriel, Jane's sire. He's got the whole smoldering, alpha, sweet vamp vibe happening. He connected with Jane when she was still a human getting drunk in a bar and he took care of her when she needed his help. Even though Jane is still bumbling along through the whole book trying to figure out her new life, we get the sense that Gabriel is not going anywhere. He wants Jane, he refers to her as his bloodmate, even though Jane doesn't know what that means exactly by the end of the book, but I think we all have a good idea about what Gabriel's talking about! They have great chemistry, funny conversations and I really enjoyed the start of their relationship.

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Watching my mood mellow to just south of truly pissed, Gabriel smiled, his canines gleaming in the firelight. He sat near but not next to me, giving me just enough room to feel comfortable but definitely aware that he could reach out for me at any moment.

"So, how was your day?"

"It has been busy," I admitted. "I drank some fake blood for breakfast, talked to my dead aunt, tried - and failed - to come out to my parents, discovered an unfortunate aversion to solid food, got stabbed repeatedly by my best friend, tested the various ways I can't die, went to the grocery store, fed from a human - which was something I said I'd never do. You know, normal, everyday stuff." I laughed far too shrilly. I was starting to sound drunk again. Great.
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There's a small suspense plot, someone has it out for Jane and she's stalked and set up for the murder of another vampire, which causes Jane all kinds of angst, hilarious angst, but still, it's drama that she just doesn't have time for. It's very light on the suspense and while that storyline does get resolved by book's end, this book was all about getting to know Jane and the cast of characters that move in and out of her life on a daily basis.

I found myself laughing out loud, at very bad times (think morning commute on an early, very quiet train) and I completely enjoyed Jane and her story. This type of humor, random, off the wall, crazy - is right up my alley and I can't wait to see what Jane's up to next.

Blog rating: 4.5/5

snark-fest, librarian, vampire, urban-fantasy, were-folk, humor, romance, ghosts
Read on September 28, 2016

If Jayne hadn't been fired she wouldn't have gone to the bar, gotten drunk, met Gabriel, had a fight in the parking lot, met Dick, carefully driven home, had her car break down, been shot by a drunken idiot and turned into a vampire. And then things really went down the tubes. See publisher's blurb for clues, but be prepared for a real snarkfest! Funny as all get out, both verbal and situational.
I got the audio, and Amanda Ronconi gets a medal in the snarkiest narrator competition!

Reviewed at Another Look Book Reviews

I'm gonna have to go with a 3.5 rating on Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs. Did I chuckle? Yes and often. Did I love the all of the constant pop culture references? Oh yes, a lot. I also found a very close connection with Jane's character and the TV character, Lorelei Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls. Both characters do an absurd amount of post culture references and don't take very much seriously. Also, Gilmore Girls was Stars Hollow and it was interesting that Jane was from Hollow. Coincidence? Maybe. Now I am a huge fan of the Gilmore Girls so why am I not rating higher? Because I wasn't quite sure what the book was supposed to be.

If it was meant to be a comedy, then it passed mildly because I didn't laugh out loud and instead I did a lot of smiling and chuckles.

If it was meant to be a romance, then I think it failed. I wanted more from Jane and Gabriel then what was delivered. In fact I have issues on the romantic spin that Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs did deliver.

If it was meant to be an awesome paranormal genre book then I'd have to give it a big, meh. It could have been really cool but the vampires, werewolves and other paranormal creatures in Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs left me bored.

If it was to be an entertaining book that killed a few hours, well then it succeeded.

I know it was supposed to be light book and not a deep dark vamp book but it would have been a better reading experience for me if Jane came down from this comical sarcastic stance she paraded around with and added a few more emotional outbreaks and feelings into the story.

I didn't like that after she rises to her new vampire self she is not one bit vulnerable or sad. She wakes up at her sire, Gabriel's house where he is trying to help her and she flees. Why wouldn't she want to stick around and learn about her abilities and what she can and cannot do. She didn't feel threatened while with Gabriel so it made no sense to me. I would think if you were just told you're a vampire and you had died, there would have been a few panicked questions or an emotional reaction . Even the scene where she finds out she isn't going to have babies was just shrugged off. She used to work at the library in juvenile studies so I would think that not having children would have had some sort of an emotional impact to her.

I was confused on the romance between Gabriel and Jane. They barely knew each other and in fact seemed to have very little contact and then all of a sudden Gabriel took on this MINE! attitude. I wanted him to be all "MINE" but it seemed to happened to fast for the amount of contact they had with each other.

I liked Gabriel a lot and with the potential of a love triangle between Gabriel, Jane and Dick (the other male vampire) I was so happy that the author didn't go in that direction. So so happy about that. There was barely enough romance to keep Gabriel afloat so there was nothing for Dick's character to grab on to.

The mystery of who was trying to kill Jane was luke warm but the story did need something more so I accepted it for face value. It is not a mystery genre book and I did enjoy all the situations that the plot landed Jane in.

I am happy to read on to the next book and since the characters are now well defined, I am really curious to see if the story just gets better and better.

Teasers: Gabriel's reaction to cigarette smoke is EXACTLY the same reaction I personally have. Best scene in the book!

Honestly I feel like this Author read the Sookie Stackhouse series and was like huh that’s a cash cow let me try! Insert buzzer noise here cause ya failed! The only reason I’m giving this book 2 stars is because the writing isn’t horrible. But the plot, the characters, the setting, SNORE. I just really didn’t like it and had to skim through most of the end. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really like books about vampires who are annoying AF.

In this, the first book of the "Nice Girls" vampire series, Jane, the main character, is one of those poor souls to whom bad things just seem to happen. Gabriel, the male protagonist, is a 140 year-old vampire. There is a dilemma from the beginning because he is her reluctant vampire sire; "turning her" only because he couldn't let her die. The attraction between them is undeniable creating an awkward but interesting father/boyfriend dichotomy. The supporting characters are quirky and fun. Among them are her dead great-aunt, who is now her roomate; her still-human male best friend who falls in love with a female werewolf; several mysterious local vampire representatives from the "World Council for the Equal Treatment of the Undead"; and another local vampire called Dick Cheney (he had the name first!), who is Gabriel's ex-best friend. Interspersed between chapters are comical snippets from the fictional pamphlet "The Guide For The Newly Undead". And in true Harper fashion, Jane's family is semi-dysfunctional and she has "issues" with most of her female relatives. Harper weaves commonplace problems that readers can relate to into her stories as well as any author I have read (not that one can relate to being "undead", but the fact that Jane's family problems don't go away even after her "death" is ironic). She places her characters into dilemmas that many of us face and we become invested in the their lives. Almost by default, since humans are such naturally curious creatures, we want to know what will happen next; how they are going to get out of a predicament or solve a problem. To me, this is very characteristic of a great storyteller.

While the "Nice Girls" vampire series is very good, I prefer Harper's "Naked Werewolf" stories, "How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf" and "The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf". Though both of the series are on the "lighter" side of the paranormal genre, they aren't lightweight on story or action. They're very cleverly written with humor liberally sprinkled throughout. It's obvious to me that Molly Harper has a great sense of humor because all of her books are hilarious, some more so than others. Most of her comedic scenes are quite deadpan (no pun intended) and snarky, which most intelligent readers can appreciate. They are often delivered in kind of a quick succession of one-liners so a listener to the audiobook* version should pay closer-than-normal attention.

Besides the two previously mentioned series, I recommend two more stand-alone books by Molly Harper: "Driving Mr. Dead" (which is a spin-off of the "Nice Girls" vamp series) and "And One Last Thing ..." (which is not in the paranormal genre). If you enjoy comical paranormal romance/fiction with a little mystery thrown in just to make it interesting, you should really like all of these excellent books.

{*I listened to this on audiobook, finding listening preferable to actually reading, because my 44 year-old eyes don't seem to work as well as they used to....Amanda Ronconi's voice is perfect for Harper's stories and I'm glad she is the narrator for all of them so far. She differentiates between characters well so I was never confused about who was speaking. I greatly enjoy Ms. Ronconi's style of performing the books, not just reading them.}

Jane Jameson, is your average nice girl. She is a librarian and when she gets let fired from her job she goes on a bender and gets herself pretty drunk. On her way home her car quits working and she starts walking home. She is mistaken for a deer, shot and left for dead.

The last guy she talked to at the bar was Gabriel, a vampire, and he has been following Jane. When he sees what happens he turns her into a vampire. Now instead of getting to eat that great down home southern cooking she is stocking up on blood.

It is not at all easy to be a vampire, so its a good thing she has the Guide to the newly undead to help her out. Jane is just getting use to being a vampire, with the help of Gabriel, but now the vampire council thinks that she is behind a series of vampire murders.

Audible.com is my best friend when it comes to audio books. The only problem is trying to figure out which book to use my credit on. I have read Molly Harper's werewolf series and loved it, and I knew that she had written a vampire series so decided to give it a try. Man, let me tell you this book was laugh out loud funny to listen too. Molly Harper has a way with words that just cracks me up, it was the one thing I loved about her werewolf series too.

Jane Jameson, is just sort of a plain Jane. She doesn't drink (except for her bender), she is a librarian, she pretty much doesn't have much of a social life at all. So she thinks it was just her luck that the one tiime she gets drunk and has to walk home she gets killed and turned into a vampire. She didn't ask for this, she doesn't want to be a vampre. How on earth will she break the news to her poor mother. I like Jane, and its probably because she is just a average woman and now she has to deal with being above average. She can do things she never thought she would ever be doing and she has to deal with the fact that she will live forever. (Unless, set on fire or staked in the heart)

Gabriel, is a fairly old vampire who couldn't resist Jane's scent. It was the reason he followed her from the bar the night she was shot and left for dead. It was also the reason he couldn't resist making her a vampire too. He has never felt so close to someone he has made before, but he likes looking after Jane.

Now one of the things that can make or break a audio book is the narrator. The narrator for this book is Amanda Ronconi, and although she is good, I didn't find her great. I know its hard to make male voices sometimes and that some are better at it than others but sometimes her voices sort of blended together and it was hard to tell them apart. She does have a pleasant voice and is easy to listen to and over all she did a decent job.

Over all I had a great time listening to this book, it was fun listening to all the mishaps that happened to Jane as she tries to figure out how to live being undead. It was a fun storyline and I loved most of the secondary characters like, Zeb and Dick Chaney (yep, that was sort of funny). I would recommend this book for anyone who likes those quirky kind of vampire romance novels.