Judith‘s review of Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever (Jane Jameson #3) by Molly Harper.
Nothing sucks the romance out of world travel like a boyfriend who may or may not have broken up with you in a hotel room in Brussels. Jane Jameson’s sexy sire Gabriel has always been unpredictable, but the seductive, anonymous notes that await him at each stop of their international vacation, coupled with his evasive behavior over the past few months, finally push Jane onto the next flight home to Half Moon Hollow—alone, upset, and unsure whether Gabriel just ended their relationship without actually telling her.
Now the children’s librarian turned vampire is reviving with plenty of Faux Type O, some TLC from her colorful friends and family, and her plans for a Brave New Jane. Step One: Get her newly renovated occult bookstore off the ground. Step Two: Support her best friend Zeb and his werewolf bride as they prepare for the impending birth of their baby . . . or litter. Step Three: Figure out who’s been sending her threatening letters and how her hostile pen pal is tied to Gabriel. Because for this nice girl, surviving a broken heart is suddenly becoming a matter of life and undeath.
Molly Harper is one of those writers that has the skill to maintain the story of a character like Jane Jameson for more than the initial 200 pages. In this third book in the series, Jane is becoming more adept as living as one of the vampire population, has managed to stay out of trouble for most of the past months, has reached a new level in her relationship with her sire Gabriel, has successfully helped her best friend Zeb get past the nightmare wedding from Hell and help him and Jolene, his werewolf bride, to settle in to their new life together. Because of the death of Mr. Wainwright, her employer, Jane is now the proud owner of the occult bookstore where she has worked for a better part of the past year, and now, because of funds that have come to her, has decided to renovate and re-open the store. Together with some of her friends, she moves forward in her life, in spite of the fact that Gabriel has not seen fit to open his life and his heart to Jane. She can do nothing else after what Gabriel had done to her on their recent trip abroad. Finally getting fed up with Gabriel’s repeated evasions about his long absences and the love notes he receives at each hotel on their whirlwind tour of far-flung places, Jane faces him, once again receives nothing for her efforts, and decides to return home. It would appear that her love relationship with her sire is at an end.
Jane’s relationship with her family remains as tenuous as ever, if not worse. After joining the Chamber of Commerce, she is thrown in with her sister, is badgered and nagged into doing projects she feels she cannot do by the head of the Chamber, is subjected to verbal abuse by many in the community, must deal, finally, with Mr. Wainwright’s nephew who has been written out of the will, and continue to be a counselor to Zeb and Jolene as the birth of their baby approaches. Jane’s life is fraught with the stresses and strains of life in a small Kentucky town in addition to her ongoing need to process and mature in her “undead” status. I continue to love all these characters and find them sort of metaphors for the kind of people one will always find in such a setting. The discovery that her friend Dick is really Mr. Wainwright’s great-great-grandfather adds to the fun. Watching the growing love relationship between the ghosts of Mr. Wainwright and her Aunt Jettie (who haunts Jane’s home) is hilarious and adds spice to the background of Jane’s story. The final confrontation is well-written and has suspense and cause for nail-biting galore. Never fear: there are happy endings to be had here!
If you have read the first two in this series you will know that the dialogue is bright and funny, full of wonderful friendship and lots of really humorous witticism. This book is a great read and well-worth the time. I couldn’t put it down.
I give it a rating of 4.75 out of 5.
This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
The series:
When Jane’s mom starches her jeans and she was walking like John Wayne, I died with laughter! I can’t tell you own many times I snorted out loud while reading books 1-3.
This series is probably one of the wittiest books I’ve read in quite some time.
Great review!
I love this series – Jane is the kind of character I wish I could hang out with in real life. I laughed through the series and love the side characters too.
I love this series too, Jane always makes me laugh, loved the ending of this one especially.
I’m reading the first book right now. So far so good. And funny!