If Betsy Taylor has learned anything about ruling Hell it’s: 1) she can’t do it alone, and 2) she doesn’t have to.  She’s got the help of a devoted vampire king, a dateless zombie, an exhausted new mom, an unshowered cop, a bitchy ghost, a kindly dead priest, and her late stepmother (“Go Team Satan!”).  But the latest major hurdle in her post-dead life is so big she can’t even see it until it’s on CNN.

Betsy’s father and half-sister Laura (a former Anti-Christ with a grudge) have outed Betsy to the world. It doesn’t take long for the story to become 24-7 headline news. What’s more, people are not only prepared to believe in vampires, they want to kill them. For Betsy, social media has never felt so…unsocial.

Before long the mansion on Summit Avenue is swarming with reporters, would-be vampire/zombie killers, and desperate emos begging to be turned. Betsy has been forced into the unenviable role as the reluctant face of the vampire nation. All she knows is, she has to look good—this is hi-def!—and stay true to who she is. H8ers be damned.

So, I just finished Undead and Unforgiven and I’m sorry to say that it took 8 books to come to one that I loved as much and the original ones involving Betsy.  This was funny and snarky with a mix of sadness (involving the mini unnamables).  The last couple books have felt forced and trite when following along with the royal household and their friends; so much so that I did not read a couple books in the middle.

Betsy is growing into and embracing her position in the supernatural universe.  I didn’t have as many “my goodness you are dumb and I want to slap you” moments.  There were times I was proud of her sticking up for herself and emphasizing her status as a monarch and her place as a co-spouse not a subordinate.  I would have loved to have more of Baby Jon in her life, but we haven’t really seen much of him since they returned from the Cape and found out he was invulnerable to supernatural harm (see, haven’t forgotten about this!!).  And I want to see Baby Jon with the twins, he should be able to grow up and interact with his cousins.

Eric Sinclair, sexy as every!  There is one scene here that, no, it’s not as graphic as some of their other interludes, but there is such a connection with them and it builds with their attraction to each other’s bodies.  For future reference, I want Eric in jeans at some point, maybe just to show that he can relax, even just a bit from his designer suits.

I have major feels still for Marc, that is kinda constant, and this book totally brought on my inner girlie girl squealing and giggling with joy for him… nope, no spoilers!  I feel something building between Tina and Marc that cannot end well, I feel heartbreak on the horizon coming, but then Betsy will probably pull some of her monarchy power and change everything.

So, enough speculation, I really enjoyed Undead and Unforgiven, fantastic book.  I think it brought back some of the spirit we have been missing from the story so far.  

Heather