Friday, April 6, 2012

Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors (Jane Jameson, #4) by Molly Harper



     "Well, I'm sure you'd like to get home and start 'feathering the nest,' so to speak. You only have three days to prepare for your new arrival."
     I nearly dropped Jamie from my lap. "I'm sorry what?"
     Ophelia's lip quirk deepened to a full-on smirk. "You're new childe, he'll be living with you. It's your responsibility to help him make the transition into the vampire world. Didn't Gabriel explain the sire-childe dynamic to you when you rose?"
     "Yeah, but I pretty much told him where to stuff it and lived how I pleased."
     "And look where that got you," Peter retorted.
     "In other words, congratulations," Sophie chirped. "It's a boy!"

Have you ever noticed sometimes in life things happen all at once? Within a matter of 24 hours or so, Jane told Gabriel she'd marry him, she'd almost been killed and had become the not so happy sire of her very own hormonal and horny teenage vampire boy. 'Yay!' is not the word she'd use to describe her feelings. Jane knew Jamie for a long time and had been his babysitter when he was younger. When she'd seen him lying there ready to die, pleading she not let that happen, she couldn't say no. In a split second decision, with the help of Dick, she began the process of changing Jamie into a vampire. She had no idea what that entailed or she might have second guessed the wisdom of her decision.

I'm still loving the series. Who'd have thought the guy Jane and Andrea were ogling in the last book would become Jane's new childe? I love how Jane just takes things in stride and everyone gives her a hard time. She is the 'Lucy' (as in I Love Lucy)  version of a vamp and you can't help liking her. While she may not dream up schemes which land her into trouble, trouble seems to find her. I love seeing her mothering instincts kick in and how she helps Jamie make the transition to a vamp. Plus, Jane and Gabriel are getting married which is something I think everyone has anticipated for a while. Of course Jane has some kind of Murphy's law curse hanging over her that always makes things interesting.

Once again Ms. Harper shows off her witty and hilarious sense of humor in this book. I love the little details she's included in each of the books relating to the self help books she sells at her book store. We've had quotes thus far from:
- The Guide for the Newly Undead (Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs)
- Mating Rituals and Love Customs of the Were (Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men)
- Love Bites: A female Vampire's Guide to Less Destructive Relationships (Nice Girls Don't Live Forever)
- Siring for the Stupid: A Beginner's Guide to Raising Newborn Vampires (Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors)

I adore the predicaments Jane finds herself in and the way her friends would do anything for her as she would for them. As she stated "I am fiercely protective of the people..and canines I love."  That feeling is reciprocated and clearly shines through in quirky and humorous ways such as when the group decides to be proactive for once to keep Jane safe. "I was thinking official 'Keep Jane from Being Murdered Task Force' T-shirts." Hmmm... I wonder if they sell those. *grin*

I enjoyed learning more about Ophelia, the teenage looking vampire in charge of the local vampire Council, although some may have issues with this character toward the end of the book. Also, the death of Grandma Ruthie shakes things up when Jane realizes she's dead, but not gone, and is still looking to take over her home. Plus, someone is once again looking to harm Jane, but she's not the main target this time. Unbelievable, right? lol

Some (not all and I really had to work to whittle this one down) of my favorite quotes/lines/moments:

- "Should I find it disturbing that it took jewelry to make you cry 'yes, yes, yes' in my presence for the first time?"

- "Can we turn into bats?"
  "Sadly, no."
  "Garlic?"
  "Stinky but not harmful."
  "What about sex?"
   I tried to maintain the most neutral expression possible. "What about it?"
  "Will I be having it?"
  "That's sort of up to you."
   Jamie moved toward me and put his hand on my thigh. I shot to my feet and backed away to a distance that wouldn't get me put on some sort of watch list.
  "No, no, no. That's not how this works at all."

- "My only regret is that I can't track down a boyfriend or two and use my evil vampire powers to hypnotize him into stripping naked and dancing the Highland Fling every time he hears the word 'hello'.
  "But he would hear it several times every day." I told her.
  "What's your point?"

- "Darling, I bid good-bye to singleness the moment I met you."

I'm leaving the romance rating off this one because it focused more on the events than on the actual romance. Gabriel and Jane's love life seemed to be placed on hold because of the gaining a childe and all. Overall, I gave this one 4 out of 5 roses.  It was fun to see the fallout Jane received for turning Jamie into a vampire from the community. Plus, I enjoyed Gabriel and Jane finally tying the knot. Oh, and if your were wondering, it's now official Ms. Harper has been added to my list of favorite authors. Her books are guaranteed to put me in a good mood and make me laugh.

Order of series:

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