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Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs (Jane Jameson #1)
Molly Harper
Published: March 31, 2009 (Pocket Star)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review Source: purchased
Reviewed by: Jannelle
Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars
Jane Jameson is a newly unemployed librarian and an even newer vampire. She lives in Half Moon Hollow which is an eccentric small town in middle America, full of humans, ghosts, werewolves and of course, vampires. On the night she is let go from her job at the local library, Jane goes out for some drinks and, getting mistaken on her way home for a deer, shot. She wakes up three days later in the house of Gabriel, whom she had met and shared drinks with the night of her dismissal, only to find that she is a vampire and he is her sire… and maybe her boyfriend?
Adjusting to her new lifestyle, Jane struggles with the high expectations she should have met according to her parents and sister: husband, children, an actual job, not being a vampire. Having been left the family house in her Aunt Jettie’s will creates more turmoil than usual as her family blatantly attempts to get their hands on anything they can inside the house (including the house itself). Did I forget to mention that her Aunt Jettie is also a ghost who has become Jane’s (not so silent) roommate? Because yeah, there’s that, too.
There were a lot more contemporary elements in Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs than in any other paranormal romance novel I have read to date. The need for Jane to find a job to establish and maintain her independence isn’t something I feel is stressed upon much in the fantastical genres. Jane’s need to have a stable income made the novel relatable in a way that’s different from most other PNR books.
My only critique here would be in the world building—there was too much of it, all at once. It dragged on a bit and stalled the plot building. I found myself wanting to move forward with the story and skip over it. Now, being an urban fantasy fan, I love world building. I love the complexity of it all, watching bits and pieces form big pictures as you read along and getting completely immersed in these worlds. Here, it felt a bit forced. I will say that it does, however, leave you well-acquainted and helped produce a stable base which then enabled the story to move forward at a steady pace.
What I love the most in Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs was the protagonist’s sharp humor. Jane is hilarious and lacks the filter required in day-to-day conversations. This honesty (and lack of certain social skills) leads her to new friendships and relationships as well as helps her maintain her old ones like the close friendship she has with Zeb.
I thoroughly enjoyed Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs and am in love with Harper’s prose. No cliffhangers here but Harper has created a world with loveable characters that I am dying to know better. If you are a new to the paranormal genres and are into contemporary, this is the book for you.
Sexual content: Kissing, scenes of a sensual nature
I listened to this audiobook and I didn’t like it as much as you did, though I do like many of Harper’s other works. After reading you review, I think I might know why. You mention how this book has more contemporary elements than most paranormal reads. As I don’t normally read contemporary romance, I think that might have been part of my turn off. I love the humor in the series and in all of Harper’s books and the narration that Amanda Ronconi does is great. I still mean to get to more of this series, it just isn’t high on my list.
Great review.
I love Molly Harper. All of her books are guaranteed to be full of humor and a lot of fun.
I’m not usually drawn to stuff like this. Seriously. But for some reason I picked this up and LOVED it-proceeded to devour the entire series. So glad you liked it!!
Molly Harper is one of the few authors that I buy without even reading a synopsis. I know it will be fantabulous!