Once a devoted children’s librarian, Jane Jameson now works at a rundown occult bookstore. Once a regular gal, she’s now a vampire. And instead of a bride, she’s an eternal bridesmaid — which leads her to question where exactly her relationship with her irresistibly sexy sire, Gabriel, is headed. Mercurial, enigmatic, apparently commitment-phobic vampires are nothing if not hard to read. While Jane is trying to master undead dating, she is also donning the ugliest bridesmaid’s dress in history at her best friend Zeb’s Titanic-themed wedding. Between a freaked-out groom-to-be, his hostile werewolf in-laws, and Zeb’s mother, hell-bent on seeing Jane walk the aisle with Zeb, Jane’s got the feeling she’s just rearranging the proverbial deck chairs.

Meanwhile, Half Moon Hollow’s own Black Widow, Jane’s Grandma Ruthie, has met her match in her latest fiancé. He smells like bad cheese and has a suspicious history of dead spouses. But Jane’s biting her tongue. After all, would a nice girl really think she has a future with a vampire?

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men by Molly Harper
Available Now!
Paranormal Romance
Paperback, 376 pages
Pocket Books
Book received from publisher

The second book in Molly Harper’s Jane Jameson series picks up right where book one ends. Jane has been a vampire for some time now, but that doesn’t mean she is totally adjusted to it. She continues to work at her bookstore, but her very small part-time pay checks are barely covering her synthetic blood bills. Great-Aunt Jettie is still haunting her house, and her mother is forcing her to eat pot pies, even though her diet is strictly blood.

Besides her own new needs as a vampire, her friends and family have a lot going on as well. Her best friend Zeb, who is very mortal, is now engaged to Jolene, a werewolf. Jolene is planning a Titanic themed wedding which provides plenty of laughs throughout the book. While Zeb and Jolene are madly in love, Jolene’s protective werewolf clan have decided rough housing and putting Zeb up to ridiculous challenges are funny – even if Zeb loses a toe here or there. Even worse, Mama Ginger is none too happy her little Zeb is not marrying Jane. And when I say Mama Ginger is not happy, I mean that in a very big, obsessed way. Jane is thrilled (enter sarcasm) to be part of the wedding party and wear a peach dress that makes even the most beautiful vampire look unflattering.

Jane is dating Gabriel, her sire, and now the vampire she loves. Their physical relationship is down and dirty, but that is only when Gabriel decides to be in town. He has been disappearing for days at a time, never calling, and when Jane starts to dig a little, Gabriel refuses to admit what he is up to or where he has been. Jane becomes quite suspicious and feels left out of that part of his life. Meanwhile, Zeb is starting to act suspiciously himself, and Jane has a feeling Mama Ginger may be behind it.

Now that I am two books in, I can say this is one of my favorite series. Jane has a wonderful witty voice that I can not get enough of. I’ve noticed through both of these books that there is not a lot of action. There is a slight mystery to each book, but it takes a backseat to the regular happenings of Jane’s life. Now, Jane has quite the life – and rarely a dull moment and even without a strong mystery, these books are very entertaining and fresh.

Although told in Jane’s POV, you very much come to know Zeb, Jane’s friend Dick, and Mama Ginger (for better or for worse.) A lot has happened to Jane in the past few months and she still has the maturity to not wallow in self pity over the fact that her mother and sister are in denial that she is a vampire. She is still there for Zeb and Jolene as they deal with major family issues. We even come to know fellow vampire Dick Cheney (he refuses to be called Richard) quite well, as him and Jane have come to an odd truce between them – but don’t worry, Dick has not give up his sleazy pick up lines yet, although he has adopted more of an older brother status to Jane.

The only person I feel we really don’t know yet is Gabriel. He is the most important person in Jane’s life and as the reader he is still very much a mystery. In this book he is absent for a lot of it which causes conflict in their relationship, but I still don’t have him figured out. I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing! Although you could pick up this book and follow along, I strongly suggest you start with Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs.

Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men is charming, witty and a solid addition to this series.

Rating: 4 Stars

Molly Harper’s Website