Yes, I read a paranormal romance book. Why? Because Molly is a friend of mine, and it is a semi-solemn pledge that if you are a friend of mine and publish a book, I will read it, regardless of how far outside my normal sphere of interests it may be. And I’m definitely not sorry I read it. My favorite thing about Molly’s writing, since the days when I first read it (around 1998, when she writing must-read columns for the College Heights Herald), is that she is so funny. If Dave Barry was a woman with a slightly more drily caustic wit, it’d be something near the same effect. Except that I don’t think Dave Barry has written a paranormal romance novel.
Molly’s main character, Jane Jameson, is a fired librarian in the podunk town of Half Moon Hollow, Kentucky. When she is shot in a freak accident, it would appear that she is dead. But no. Instead she meets a wily and mysterious vampire who, shall we say, drafts her for his team. Wacky hijinks ensue, with the complications of the living world and the undead world being a constant feature. Jane also gets framed for a crime she didn’t commit, and has nasty things said about her. This seems to indicate that the only thing worse than normal a-holes would be a-holes who could live forever. And yes, there are some tasteful sex scenes interspersed occasionally.
This book is the first in an on-going series, with the second to be published around September. Harper does a wonderful job of setting out backstory in an interesting way that explains her fictional universe. It has to be a daunting constraint of a science fiction-ish writer’s job to set out a parallel and totally different universe which can also be explained and understood within our actual universe. But Molly is pretty much as smooth as butter here.
This was a funny book with likeable characters and an easy, conversational tone. I have high hopes for the rest of the series, and for that matter, for anything else that Molly Harper writes.
Joe
Tags: 50 books in 2009, Molly Harper, Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs
June 2, 2009 at 7:31 pm |
Sounds interesting! As a librarian….not fired yet, thank goodness….I need to check this out.
June 5, 2009 at 5:24 pm |
Wow, my local library actually has this. I’ll have to place a hold on it. Always willing to support a fellow Hilltopper…and a friend of a friend.