Driving Mr. Dead

By: Molly Harper

Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Miranda Puckett has failed at every job she’s ever had. Her mother just wants her to come home, join the family law firm, and settle down with Jason, the perfect lawyer boyfriend. But when Jason turns out to be a lying cheater, Miranda seizes on a job that gets her out of town: long-distance vampire transportation.

Her first assignment is to drive vampire Collin Sutherland from Washington to sleepy Half Moon Hollow without incident—no small feat for a woman whom trouble seems to follow like a faithful hound dog! And she has to do it without letting her passenger—the most persnickety, stuffy, devastatingly handsome vamp she’s ever met—drive her crazy. As she and Collin find disaster on the roads, they also find an undeniable spark between them. Could Miranda have found the perfect job and the perfect guy for her?

©2012 Molly Harper (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Wish it were longer...

... and I think that's actually a very high compliment. I was having such fun listening to this story, that I didn't want it to end. This is just fun fiction. Don't expect great themes or lessons. It's just storytelling at a wonderful level. Miranda Puckett is exactly the kind of character you'd expect Molly Harper to write if you're a Molly Harper fan. She loves and respects women. She hates male a-holes. And she is OK with a "contest of equals" when these strong women come up against guys who might have the manliness to actually respect these strong women... even when being thoroughly annoyed or confounded by them. Molly Harper is a true storyteller. I'll read or listen to absolutely anything she cares to write.

A winner, as always!

Miranda is my favorite character yet!! Molly Harper never fails to impress. Delightful and chaotic!

repeat listen

This is one of my favorite Molly Harper Box will prevent listen to it over and over again.

It was building up into something 5☆

I really enjoyed this one! My only complaint was the story line was rushed....there needed to be at least 2 more chapters to develop the ending. It was like Molly Harper got tired and slapped the characters together and be done. She writes such great stuff and this one was like a tease. Her very best series will always the Mystic Bayou, though.

I really loved this book

I really have enjoy all the Jane books and this spin-off is as well written and fun to listen to as they are. I laughed out loud several times and then when the tie in's to the other Vamps in Halfmoon Hollow occured it was fun to hear old friends meet new friends.
When's the next book?
Jane, Miranda, both in 1 book.
I'm waiting!

Hilarious

If you like road trips with quirky characters. you will enjoy this story. What should be an uneventful trip from Washington state to Kentucky turns out to be one wacky event to another. The narrator brings the individual characters to life and the author writes laugh out loud moments. It was highly entertaining.

Beware of food and/or Drink

If you love Molly Harper's Jane Jameson books then you will love this novella! Just be sure that you don't have food or drink while you are listening to this because you will LOL!

FREAKIN' HILARIOUS!

What did you love best about Driving Mr. Dead?

I always have to watch where I listen to a Molly Harper book since spontaneous bursts of uncontrollable laughter are bound to happen! Great book! sooo funny! great to listen to when you want a pick me up or a good laugh.

If you like Jane you will Love Miranda

Love the narration and Molly Harper just keeps making me laugh :) Glad that Dick made a cameo in this book.

Entertaining paranormal romance

Originally posted at FanLit.

Miranda, daughter of two lawyers who own their own firm, has been a disappointing daughter. She doesn’t want to practice law, doesn’t want to marry her lawyer fiancé, and generally doesn’t want to conform to her family’s expectations. Unfortunately, every time Miranda thinks she’s found the perfect job for her talents and personality, some weird disaster happens and she ends up unemployed again.

She’s got a new job now — one she thinks she’s going to love. She’s a chauffeur for vampires. For her first assignment, she has to drive Collin Sutherland across the country. It doesn’t sound like a difficult job, but whenever Miranda’s involved, things always go awry. Even before Collin gets in the car, Miranda’s series of unfortunate events has started.

I knew going in that Driving Mr. Dead wasn’t really my thing — I’m not crazy about vampires, paranormal romance, or sarcastic female leads. I read this, though, because 1. I try to regularly read books that are out of my normal comfort zone, 2. It’s a short book, so I didn’t have to invest much time, 3. I got it really cheap at Audible and 4. It sounded like it might be entertaining.

For a book that I didn’t expect to love, Driving Mr. Dead did turn out to be pretty entertaining. I was listening on audio and multi-tasking while I listened, which worked well since the plot moves very quickly, is a little predictable, and requires no special cognitive skills. Molly Harper’s writing style is pleasant and the narrator of the audio version, Amanda Ronconi, is excellent.

The characters are likable — Molly Harper gives Miranda a backstory and a current dilemma (with her fiancé and job situation) that made me care. Miranda isn’t as sarcastic as some of her urban fantasy contemporaries (thank you, Ms. Harper) and she occasionally made me chuckle (e.g. “I have a feeling that when I look up ‘hoyden’ in the dictionary, I’m going to be really pissed at you”). I didn’t really perceive Miranda to be as eccentric and chaotic as I was supposed to. To me, she just seemed like a confused young woman who couldn’t decide what to do with her life. Collin is handsome and a bit irritating in his fastidiousness. I had a hard time believing in the romance between him and Miranda since the two have opposite personalities. But Driving Mr. Dead is a book that asks me not to think too hard, and I’m perfectly willing to comply.

Driving Mr. Dead is a spin-off novella from Molly Harper’s NICE GIRLS series and the beginning book in her HALF MOON HOLLOW series which is about the vampire concierge service in the town of Half Moon Hollow. Based on this sample of Harper’s writing, I’d recommend that paranormal romance fans give Molly Harper a try.