Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors (Jane Jameson #4)
Urban Fantasy
February 28, 2012
Pocket

Reviewed by Mandi

I adore the Jane Jameson series by Molly Harper and was so excited when I learned she would be writing a fourth book. This series makes me laugh and laugh and Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors is a very cute installment.

Jane has settled down in her somewhat new life as a vampire. She runs her bookstore at night now, hangs out with her vampire best friends Dick and Jane and her werewolf best friends Zeb and Jolene. She also just got engaged to her lover, Gabriel. Life is good for Jane until Jamie; the seventeen year old dairy delivery guy gets run over in front of her bookstore. Jane has known Jamie most of her life and realizes his injuries are so severe, he is either going to die or she must turn him. And that is how Jane comes to have her first vampire childe.

Since Jane is his sire, she is now responsible for him, which means she now has a hormonal teenaged vampire boy residing with her. To make matters worse, other things start to happen to Jane and Gabriel making her wonder if the car was really intended for her. Jane’s grandmother also died and has come back to viciously haunt Jane in her home.

This series is so lighthearted with the best cast of characters. They are all so warm and funny and they turn all situations into the best sarcastic humor. Jane’s lover Gabriel is not your typical alpha male. Although a very old vampire, it usually seems like Jane is the one taking the alpha role in the relationship. I like this scenario – their relationship is different from what you normally see in paranormal romance books. While this book has more emphasis on Jane’s life and the funny moments rather than the romance, we do get a lot of Gabriel and Jane page time. It is nice to finally see them happy and together.

“Why are you limping?” I demanded. “The arrow didn’t hit you in the leg.”

He stopped, his shift in weight pulling me to a halt, too. “I don’t know. It just seems like the thing to do after you’ve received an arrow wound.”

I sighed as he straightened his gait and walked normally.  “You are so the guy for me.”

And now that Jane is engaged, she must plan her wedding with her mother, who has been waiting a very, very long time for this moment. Her mother might be a bit controlling, and that is putting it lightly, and to watch her and Jane butt heads over the wedding plans is very amusing. As they go wedding dress shopping:

“Oh, honey,” Mama murmured, her eyes misting. “It’s so beautiful!”

I turned toward the mirror and flinched. “I look like a bad meringue hallucination,” I said.

The skirt seemed to explode from beneath the bodice, making my hips look a mile wide. The hem was hovering about an inch off the ground and revealed my white gym socks. The sleeves were those padded “belle” sleeves, but they’d long since deflated and hung from my biceps like droopy balloons. Iris had stopped in her tracks across the shop and dropped the tiara she’d been holding.

“You look like Cinderella,” Mama cooed. Behind her, Iris Jolene, and Andrea were shaking their head in sync.

“If she were doing the walk of shame home from the ball,” Andrea muttered. Jolene and Jenny snickered. I bit my lip to keep from joining in.

What? Even I can appreciate a good snark at my own expense.

“You couldn’t have worn nicer socks?” Mama asked.

And of course there is drama over the catering:

“Why is all the food miniature?” Jolene whispered, clearly horrified. Werewolf metabolism ran ridiculously high to help fuel their change. They had to scarf down calories all day just to sleep at night, like a little hibernation. Thanksgiving in a werewolf clan was like a full-on farm livestock massacre. And major celebrations like wedding were the sort of horrifying take that barnyard animals might whisper to their children to keep them in line.

There are also so many amusing moments with Jane’s new vampire childe. He throws tantrums, is very horny and just acts like a typical seventeen year old. He was a really great character to add to this cast.

I recommend you start at the beginning of this series so you can witness the relationships building. Each book is very snarky and cute and Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors is a great addition.

Rating: B

Recent Reviews:
Ramblings From a Chaotic Mind – 4/5
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This review first appeared at USA Today’s Happy Ever After