MaryJanice Davidson

I've read each "Queen Betsy" from the first with both delight and tolerance. It's intentionally silly,ribald and supernaturally cock-eyed. The series and Betsy's antics have been funny enough, up to now, to ignore the crass factor. (especially as the author has been known to make fun of it herself) Based on the Acknowledgement/authors comments this installment appears to be an attempt to correct the last book,(which apparently wasn't well received.) but comes off more like a parody of the series, and more than a little confused by itself.

I've Lost interest.… (more)

MYSTERIA LANE is a paranormal romance anthology, though I would add humor to that description as all the stories in the collection are sure make you chuckle occasionally. MYSTERIA LANE, like its predecessor MYSTERIA, is set in a mystical town called Mysteria where it's not unusual to see a lady dressed in the latest fashions beheading some wicked demon from another plane of existence.

The fun of MYSTERIA LANE is that the four authors—MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, Gena Showalter and P.C. Cast, four recognizable authors of the paranormal genre—have created an endless resource for which they can make stories about. There are enough secondary characters and characters with the briefest introduction to create several more stories. For instance, the Desdaine triplets from MJD's story, Disdaining Trouble, are familiar pranksters from the first anthology and are mentioned in the other three stories as well.

The only trouble I had was time relativity from one story to the next. The stories aren't told in Story A first, Story B second, etc., but from various times scattered about. This can get confusing. especially when the events of Disdaining Trouble, the first story of the anthology, aren't referenced in the other stories. As something rather big happens to the characters therein, this was surprising. I'm not sure if this was intentional to avoid giving away details of each individual author's story, or if it was merely overlooked for the grander picture.

However you look at it, the anthology is an enjoyable read. Fun, witty characters make Mysteria a town everybody would want for their own—even with temperamental wishing wells and horny ghosts.… (more)

I've heard so many great things about MaryJanice Davidson's writing, and I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, very little about it worked for me. I didn't find the humor funny. I don't think I even chuckled once. And I really disliked Fred. She was so snarky - and not in a good way. She seems to hate everyone, even those closest to her, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what the two male leads saw in her. Not to mention that the entire romance plot thread seemed contrived to me. They fall in love with her after knowing her for a week? Please. I thought this was an easy read, and I made it all the way through, but I won't be reading any more in this series.… (more)

Three women, friends since middle school days, are drawn back together when one is suspected of murder. Cassandra came from an abusive home. Her father beat on her mother until the day he caught Cass in the face with a fishhook and his wife killed him. After Iris went to prison, Sydney's family took her in, and they finished high school together. Then the three, including Amanda who owns her own bookstore, formed Operation Starfish where they rescued spouses in abusive situations. But when one of the abused women went back to her abuser who promptly killed her, OpStar ended operations with Cassandra leaving town and her friends behind. Now she's back and the friends need to reunite to find out who is trying to frame Cassandra. Amanda has a love interest in the brother of one of the women they helped in the past who is a former cop turned private eye. Filled with snappy dialog and lots of pop culture references, this was an engaging story of three women's friendship. Oh, and the mystery gets solved too.… (more)