Since I didn't buy any books last week, I took a break on Sunday. I was planning to get some posts ready, but I ended up reading till 3am... Let just say that I was dead yesterday LOL. But it's okay, because I have this review done :) I discovered Molly Harper previously with her Jane Jameson series. While I really enjoyed the series, I never got around to review the books ^_^; And I really didn't want to let Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbors slip through the cracks! One day, I hope to re-read the first three books and review them. But for now, you'll have this review :)
Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbors by Molly Harper
published by Simon & Schuster in February 2012
Just as Jane Jameson’s unlife seems to be stabilizing, fate sinks its fangs firmly into her butt. Despite her near-phobia of all things marital, her no-frills nighttime nuptials to her sexy boyfriend Gabriel are coming along smoothly. But the road to wedded bliss gets bumpy when a teenage acquaintance is fatally wounded in front of Jane’s shop and she turns him to save his life. The Council pronounces Jane responsible for the newborn vamp until he can control his thirst.Genre: Paranormal romance
Jane’s kitchen at River Oaks barely holds enough Faux Type O to satiate the cute teen’s appetite and maintain Gabriel’s jealous streak at a slow simmer. As if keeping her hyperactive childe from sucking the blood out of the entire neighborhood isn’t enough to deal with, the persnickety ghost of Jane’s newly deceased Grandma Ruthie has declared a war on the fanged residents of River Oaks. Suddenly, choosing monogrammed cocktail napkins and a cake that she can’t eat seems downright relaxing in comparison.
Tensions inside the house are growing... and outside, a sinister force is aiming a stake straight for the center of Gabriel’s heart. Most brides just have to worry about choosing the right dress, but Jane fears that at this rate, she’ll never make it down the aisle for the wedding all nice girls dream of...
Series: Jane Jameson, Book #4
The Story: The blurb is pretty accurate. After all that happened, Jane is settling down with her HEA ending. Gabriel has moved in and Jane has finally acquiesced to marry him after his third proposal. And while she really hoped to elope, she has resigned herself to a wedding ceremony and reception. If only she can contains her mother, who is ecstatic that her daughter is finally getting married, from going crazy with the wedding plans. She hopes that by hiring Iris Scanlon, Half-Moon Hollow’s only daytime vampire concierge, it will help.
However, as customary with Jane, things get complicated and not always because of Jane... First, her grandmother, who has always been critical of Jane and obsessed with Jane's house, dies and grabs the opportunity of to be mistress by haunting the house. Then, when Jane witnesses Jamie, the kid she used to baby-sit, being run over by a car and dying, she decides to turn him. So now, she lives with her boyfriend and her childe and let just say the two men in her life are not getting along well. Finally, someone seems to be after Jane's life... but she has no clue who it could be!
Is a HEA ending really attainable for Jane?
My Opinion: The best way to describe the Jane Jameson books is that they are a blend of paranormal romance and chick-lit and therefore, very fun to read :) At first, I was a bit hesitant about the style and had difficulty getting into Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs... but in the end, Jane and her entourage as well as the story just sneaked on me :) Before I knew it, I was devouring the series! So when I found out that Ms Harper was writing another Jane Jameson book, I was really, really happy!
Some say that Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbors was an unnecessary book in the series and while I can see where they come from, I have to say I really enjoyed revisiting Jane and her entourage. For me, it was really a fun book and I liked that we got to see her HEA ending. I think a part of me wasn't convinced at Gabriel's commitment to Jane... The relationship seemed a bit uneven to me where Jane was the one more into Gabriel. This feeling was partly because he didn't have much "screen time" in Nice Girls Don't Live Forever and therefore, not enough interactions with Jane. However, after reading Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbors, I really can imagine Jane and Gabriel together forever as they indeed matched and Gabriel does love Jane a lot :)
I actually think that Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbors was the perfect continuation to the series :) Jane will never have her own babies, so the next best thing is to become a sire... And while it was unexpected, it worked out well :) Not only was Jamie one of her acquaintance, she's actually baby-sat him when he was younger. So she knew Jamie and did have maternal feelings towards him. Also, I think Jamie fits Jane's entourage very well LOL. The last scene where she's talking to Jamie's girlfriend - those were hilarious.
Another thing that I really enjoyed was Jane's interaction with her friends and family. It was great to see that Jane and her sister have made up, have come to an understanding in their relationship and are now close. That's really something I was wondering about. And surprisingly to me, Jane's mother isn't as annoying anymore :) Actually, Jane is really lucky that her mother never turned her back on her, never stopped caring. One thing though is that I wished we've seen a bit more of Zeb, Jolene and the twins. Otherwise, it was simply great to see Jane live her life and be with her friends and family. I think Jane has really found her place and the life she wanted to live :)
There was also an intrigue in Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbors where someone seems to be after Jane and Gabriel. It was actually quite amusing and well-done, but at the same time, I could have done without it ^_^; I don't know, it just seems like Jane deserves a break. Why does she always finds herself in those situation? Also, there was a twist at the ending concerning Jamie and that, I really did not expect!
My Grade: B. Overall, the entertaining value of Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbor was really high. I simply had fun being back in Jane's head :) And I think this slice of Jane and Gabriel's HEA ending concludes this series on a high note for me, better than Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. Now, I'm really looking forward to the spin-off series and hope it'll be as good and fun!
