Undead and Unemployed

Queen Betsy, Book 2

By: MaryJanice Davidson

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Betsy needs a job and amazingly lands the perfect one: selling designer shoes at Macy's. But the other vamps, including sexy Sinclair, don't want their queen selling shoes. And the vampire hunters are becoming a real pain, murdering innocent vampires. It seems that everyone wants something from Betsy.

MaryJanice Davidson is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. Her Undead books are extremely popular paranormal romances.

Dying for more? Don't miss the other titles in the Undead series.

©2004 MaryJanice Davidson (P)2006 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Davidson's witty dialogue, fast pacing, smart plotting, laugh-out-loud humor, and sexy relationships make this a joy to read. And Betsy's second adventure, following her debut in Undead and Unwed, will have readers begging for more." (Booklist)

so awesome

I'm enjoying this series. stay up really late because don't want to pause to sleep

uses the r word

Sorry. It is just not acceptable to call anyone a retard. You are a writer. Use another word.

Doesn't take itself too seriously

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

“Oh. This sucks. This totally and completely sucks. The vampires all hate me and everyone’s trying to kill me!” ~Queen Betsy

Undead and Unemployed is the second book in MaryJanice Davidson’s QUEEN BETSY series. In the previous book, shallow and too fashionably-conscious Betsy died, came back as a vampire, and managed to kill the vampire queen, which makes Betsy the new queen. Her roommates and friends are determined to make sure Betsy gets the kind of royal treatment she deserves, but Betsy has no interest in fulfilling her exalted role. She just wants to work at her new dream job as a salesperson in the shoe department at Macy’s. But when someone starts killing vampires in her city, her consort Sinclair insists that Betsy do something about it.

As I mentioned in my review of Undead and Unwed, the first QUEEN BETSY book, I didn’t expect to like this series. I picked up the first book only because it was on sale at Audible. I was surprised that I liked it after all — I thought it was cute and funny — so I said I’d pick up the next book when I found it on sale. And it did, so here I am.

Betsy is finally getting used to her undead state, though she’s still really squeamish about drinking blood and she doesn’t know what to think about her sexy consort. Betsy’s a shallow person with a genuinely good heart (when she decides to listen to it). Her previous life was simple and silly and her biggest problems involved deciding which shoes to wear. She’s had a hard time transitioning to her new undead life. But even though Betsy seems like an airhead most of the time, she’s actually pretty smart and she can be tough when she has to be. And since she’s got some major vampire superpowers, that means she can be deadly.

The plot of Undead and Unemployed is simple, the characters are props (e.g. sexy hunk, rich black girl, gay doctor), it’s obvious who the bad guy is, and the romantic tension is silly. But that’s kind of the point. The best thing about the QUEEN BETSY series is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It basks in its shallowness and glories in its insignificance. And in doing so, it’s genuinely funny. The second best thing about the series is that the books are short. MaryJanice Davidson seems to know exactly when to stop. She knows when we’ve had enough snark.

The audiobook is a fun way to spend 7½ hours. Nancy Wu is an excellent narrator — she’s got Betsy’s voice just right. It took her a bit to warm up to the role in book one, but here she is flawless. Book three, Undead and Unappreciated, was on sale, too. I need a little break from Betsy, but I’ll be back.

Killing me with laughter

I LOVE this series! There are no deep plots and the series isn't destined to become fodder for high school English teachers, but it's light-hearted and hysterically funny. These books make me laugh until I cry and it's been a long time since a book has made me laugh out loud so many times that my child wanted to know what I was reading and if they could read it too!

Cute, funny, and relaxing to listen too!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, The whole series! The reader is delightful and the story line interesting and fun!

What does Nancy Wu bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her interpretation of the characture!

These books are pretty funny

I was bit hesitant about this series, but after finishing the second book in the series on hooked and want to find out what stupid thing Betsy is going to say or do!

Fun series and characters

This is apparently the second book in the series. I haven’t read the first one, but I will seek it out as well as subsequent books in the series. The narration is not bad at all. Nancy Wu Does a good job differentiating the various voices. My only complaint is that she makes the male protagonist, Eric Sinclair, sound like a snobby middle-aged woman, which renders any supposedly romantic scenes awkwardly offputting.

LOL

The story was a tad weak in this one butttt I still enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next one.

great fun

This book, like the previous one in he series, was good lighthearted fun. it doesn't take itself too seriously and I appreciate that. A relaxing listen.

Betsy's still going strong!

A great sequel to the first book, and a lead into what promises to be a great series. Betsy was again true to her nature as the slightly-ditzy/annoying heroine, but she's lovable, and I didn't really see the plot twist at the end coming.

The story was worth listening to despite the sub-par voice acting. Most of the characters sounded the same, and it was hard to tell when Betsy was actually speaking versus making sarcastic comments to herself. I'm hoping they'll eventually get someone new to read!