Nice Girls Don't Live Forever: Volume 3 (Half-Moon Hollow, #3) (Jane Jameson, #3)

by Molly Harper

UNEXPECTED UNDEAD
BREAK-UP

Nothing sucks the romance out of world travel like a boyfriend who may or may not have broken up with you in a hotel room in Brussels. Jane Jameson's sexy sire Gabriel has always been unpredictable, but the seductive, anonymous notes that await him at each stop of their international vacation, coupled with his evasive behavior over the past few months, finally push Jane onto the next flight home to Half Moon Hollow -- alone, upset, and unsure whether Gabriel just ended their relationship without actually telling her.

Now the children's-librarian-turned-vampire is reviving with plenty of Faux Type O, some TLC from her colorful friends and family, and her plans for a Brave New Jane. Step One: Get her newly renovated occult bookstore off the ground. Step Two: Support her best friend, Zeb, and his werewolf bride as they prepare for the impending birth of their baby...or litter. Step Three: Figure out who's been sending her threatening letters, and how her hostile pen pal is tied to Gabriel. Because for this nice girl, surviving a broken heart is suddenly becoming a matter of life and undeath....

• ISBN10: 1416589449
• ISBN13: 9781416589440
• Publish Date: 29 December 2009
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

Review appeared first at Fantasy is More Fun

My Initial Reaction...

I expected hilarity and I got it. I expected to love the characters and I did. I was not expecting a mystery with unexpected twists and turns, but I got that that too! Nice Girls Don't Live Forever was definitely the best book in the Jane Jameson Series so far.

The Narration...

I feel like a broken record by now, since I seem to sing Amanda Ronconi's praises at least once a week. But I'll say it again, just in case you didn't know - Ronconi is an amazing narrator, who brings her characters to life through unique voices that embrace each individuals personality and ultimately improves every book she touches with her skills. I mean it says something that she makes it into at least one book review a week doesn't it? I will listen to anything she narrates. In fact, I chose to read this series because of her, not the story, the characters, or the author. I stuck around because all those elements came together beautifully, but she's what got me started in the first place.

The Characters...

When we left Jane in New Girls Don't Date Dead Men, she had inherited the bookshop and finally gotten access to all her funds (which was a huge amount of cash apparently) from killing Missy in Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs. Her newly acquired financial security was accompanied by a renewal of her relationship with her sire and on-again off-again boyfriend, Gabriel, who planned to whisk her away on a romantic trip to Europe. So I fully expected a chipper Jane when I started Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. But things weren't going exactly as planned; Jane and Gabriel's trip was a disaster on all accounts and within the first few pages (or minutes if you were listening like me) Jane runs off to Half-Moon Hallow alone, not quite sure if Gabriel has just broken up with her or not. So, while Jane continues to entertain with her dry, sarcastic humor, we had a much more sombre Jane in Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. She's not sure where her relationship lies, she's not sure what Gabriel's been hiding from her, and she's really not sure how or where she's going to find answers.

Gabriel is true to form. He's continuing to be secretive and mysterious, even leaving her alone for hours at a time on their romantic getaway. He's receiving mysterious notes and he puts up no argument when Jane presents a flimsy excuse to leave the trip early. He's not exactly winning any boyfriend of the year awards, that's for sure. I have gone from thinking he seems like a nice character, to a boring character, to an enormously frustrating character over the span of the series so far. I'm not sure what the future holds for Jane and Gabriel, but I sure hope it includes a much needed attitude adjustment!

For me the secondary characters, and Jane's interactions with them, make this series. Zeb and Jolene have reached another milestone in their relationship already- Jolene's pregnant and because she's a werewolf, that means a shorter pregnancy. And their house still hasn't been built. So think of all the ways that could turn into a clusterfuck - especially with their respective families - and you've got the hilarity that ensues. And there's plenty of Dick (come on you know you just laughed!), who continues to be one of my favorite characters. He's changing because of his relationship with Andrea and I think I like the new Dick as much as the old one, if not more. And Jane's family continues to make her life...interesting. Her mom's in rare form in Nice Girls Don't Live Forever and I loved every minute with her in it.

The Story...

So the story is actually a bit more complex than usual. A big part of the story centers around the gang in Half-Moon Hallow, with all their relationship/family drama and the day-to-day business of running the bookstore, including the hilarious new addition of the Half-Moon Hallow Chamber of Commerce, aka the Stepford Wives Club. There's something else going on though, and it may explain what's up with Gabriel - and that's where the mystery lies.

There was more drama, more action (soft-action?) and more mystery in Nice Girls Don't Live Forever than in any of the previous books. And it managed all that without sacrificing the humor you've come to expect. In fact, I can think of more moments that had my laughing my ass of than in the previous book (though the first one, with her death scene remains the best moment of the series).

Concluding Sentiments...

If you're looking for a book heavy on the fun and laughs, with a bit of drama and mystery to boot, you'll enjoy Nice Girls Don't Live Forever. I'm looking forward to moving on to Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors very soon!

Get it on Amazon

[tellemonstar]

Oh Gabriel. Don’t you know anything about girls, especially Jane? You should just tell her what’s going on instead of having her freak out and think your cheating on her – especially when you’re in a beautiful hotel room in Brussels. Quit with the over-protectiveness already.

As we begin the third of Jane’s tales, we discover that she may or may not have been dumped by Gabriel as she leave him in Brussels to deal with a break-in at the shop. She also has to help deal with Jolene’s impending pregnancy – werewolves are only pregnant for 5 months; deal with the only contractor who hasn’t been chased away from building Zeb & Jolene’s dream home by Jolene’s crazy werewolf family; and try to figure out who is sending her creepy, stalkerish letters. Very similar to the ones Gabriel was receiving whilst they were on holiday.

One of the funniest parts of the book is Jane’s foray into the town’s Chamber of Commerce. It’s overrun with a surprisingly large number of Stepford Wives-esque women named Courtney. They all have rather funny and sometimes slightly mean nicknames (Cankles Courtney, Head Courtney, Short Courtney, etc). You can imagine Jane’s surprise later on when her sister Jenny decides to join up as well.

Eventually Gabriel tells Jane everything, who is behind the crazy letters and why he was hiding it from her. (The usual, he was trying to protect her, but he was also feeling guilty about it.) There are a couple of showdowns in the book; one with Jane and Jenny – they finally work things out, in pretty spectacular (and funny) fashion. Jenny also punches Head Courtney in the face, which once you’ve read the novel you will she how badly she had that coming. The other showdown is between Jane and crazy stalker lady. Also Emery is involved and Andrea is kidnapped but if I go into specifics I will ruin it.

Again I would recommend these to people who like a little PNR mixed with humour and realistic characters.
See full review here

[EBookObsessed]

The humor in these Jane Jameson stories is perfect.

Be back with a full review.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com

[MurderByDeath]

I read this book in one day. I love the characters and their story lines and this book didn't disappoint in the area of character development. A lot of changes occur with more than a couple of the relationships. The plot was very good and a couple of twists at the end took me completely by surprise, which doesn't happen often enough.

A really strong entry in a very enjoyable, humorous series. I'm looking forward to the fourth book.

[Linda]

The plot was a little more developed here, and it was refreshing to finally see a little more of Gabriel's background. Jane is still a little too prone to drama in my opionon, but this series is still nice.