Dead Over Heels

I decided to continue reading MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series; I've been wanting lighter fair recently. Dead Over Heels is another collection of novellas.  If I had read things in the right order (oops!), I wouldn't have been reading two collections back to back.  Oh well, I enjoyed it. Again, I'll be commenting as I read each story.

Undead and Wed

Undead and Wed is the story of Queen Betsy's honeymoon. It's also a great play on the title of Davidson's first Undead book, Undead and Unwed.  You know what you probably DON'T want on your honeymoon?  You're friend tagging along.  Not just your friend, but your friend and her boyfriend who hates you (and all vampire kind).  It's not really what I expected from the story of Betsy's honeymoon.

Unlike the first story in her last collection, though their was some sex, it wasn't all sexed up.  There was a real story.  There was a plot and a mystery to solve. I really enjoyed the story, the characters.  It's what I was looking for in the last collection. Undead and Wed reminded me why I started following Betsy in the first place.

Survivor

Survivor is a mermaid tale.  It takes place after the second Fred the Mermaid book.  I've never read this series of Davidson's, but now I think I want to.  This story doesn't involve Fred, but more reflects the results of her actions.  Survivor is about Ree and Con, a mermaid and a human man.  I really enjoyed them.  They were in a situation that I have not seen with Davidson's vampire and werewolf characters.  If a vampire was in Con's situation, he probably would have died no matter what Ree did.  What Survivor did more than anything was make me interested in Davidson's Mermaid world.  It is different from the Undead world.  I want to know what led Ree to the point where she made the decision to help Con.

I've also noticed that Davidson is a fan of the antagonistic love/hate relationships.  Her fictional couples bicker a lot.  Some more than others, but there's always some kind of argument happening.  Do couples in real life bicker/argue as much as her characters?  Sometimes, it's friendly couple bantering, oftentimes it's real arguments.  It's making me think, which if a paranormal romance story can make me think, I guess it's a good one.

Speed Dating, Werewolf Style; Or Ow, I Think You Broke The Bone

Werewolves are weird. Mating is a weird werewolf compulsion. Cain has to find a mate before her thirtieth birthday or... what? She'll be shunned? Go crazy? Drive Saul crazy? What? It's not a male/female thing either. They're all crazy about mating/marrying. Bur maybe that's how Davidson likes them. 

I thought for a minute that my assessment after reading Survivor was wrong.  For half the story, the couple were being so nice to each other.  There were kind words and meals shared. It was really sweet.  Then Blam! Antique end tables are being thrown across the room. I have come to the conclusion that Davidson writes antagonistic couples. But that's cool. I still really enjoyed this story. I can't really say much more about it without giving the plot away. 

In Conclusion...

I really enjoyed Dead Over Heels, though there were only dead people in the first story. It was a fun collection. I definitely liked it better than Dead And Loving It, I think because there was more plot in the novellas. There was character development, which made me invested in their outcome. Though I was quite happy with Undead and Wed, I think Survivor was my favourite out of the three. I might end up reading Fred the Mermaid one day. Dead Over Heels is a must for any Davidson fan. I'm glad I decided to read all these entertaining stories.