Undead and Underwater

Written by MaryJanice Davidson

Narrated by Nancy Wu

New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson “continues to put her own unique spin on paranormal romance” (Fallen Angel Reviews), and in this allnew anthology, she’s three times as outrageous as ever before …Super, Girl!

Meet Hailey Derry, human resources representative and round-the-clock superhero. Born with the ability to convert anything she eats into crime-fighting energy, Hailey is now faced with her toughest challenge: the sexy new hire who has a mad crush on her. But how does Hailey break the news that she’s more of a Wonder Woman than he can imagine? She’d better think of something fast, because letting this guy go would be a crime.

Undead and Underwater
Betsy, queen of the undead, and Fred, the dour could’ve-been-a-princess mermaid, reluctantly team up to help a mutual friend in trouble. After all, a friend in need is a friend who, well, can really test your patience—because Betsy and Fred aren’t exactly BFFs. What they do have in common is the source of the problem: a man. And what’s more troubling than love?

Incomer
As leader of the Pack, it’s Lara Wyndham’s job to usher her breed to safety after the cataclysmic Kardashian Riots of 2025—and fend off the advances of Jack Gardner, a sexy Packer with alpha urges and a knack for getting into trouble. Nomatter how bad Lara wants it, she doesn’t need it. Not that intoxicating scent of his, or his talented mouth, or that perfect ass. Then again …

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781470335908

MaryJanice Davidson

MaryJanice is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several novels and is published across multiple genres, including the UNDEAD series and the Tropes Trilogy. Her books have been published in over a dozen languages and have been on best-seller lists all over the world. She has published books, novellas, articles, short stories, recipes, reviews, and rants, and writes a bi-weekly column for USA Today. A former model and medical test subject (two jobs that aren’t as far apart as you’d think), she has been sentenced to live in St. Paul, MN, with her husband, children, and dogs.

Reviews for Undead and Underwater

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Undead and Underwater is a collection of three stories by MaryJanice Davidson. They vary in quality. I own an audio edition, so I can't just flip through pages looking for names.1, Super, Girl! ** The superheroine in this one has the same power as the Legion of Super-Heroes' late Matter-Eater Lad except she derives power from eating. The public has given her the same name as early movie star Clara Bow: the It Girl. She hates the name. Although she's a highly effective human resources director in her secret identity, the chronic lateness caused by her superheroine activities makes her unpopular with the other employees. She and a new employee are romantically attracted to each other, which improves her life. This is the least interesting of the stories. I can't even remember their names.2. 'Undead and Underwater' **** is both Queen Betsy 11.5 and Fred the Mermaid 3.5. The setting is Boston. The damsel in distress is an intern at the New England Aquarium, Madison Fehr What brings Betsy and her husband, Eric Sinclair into the mix? The intern is the adopted daughter of a vampire. Her mother asked for Betsy's help. Our first view of Eric is of a man enjoying being out in the daylight even though it's not sunny. He misses his beloved black Labrador retriever puppies, Fur and Burr, so he calls home and gushes over him. This is why Betsy keeps referring to him as her 'insane husband'.Fred is getting married. Unlike Betsy, Dr. Fredrika Shea Bimm, Ph.D., is not enthusiastic about the wedding planning. That's up to her best friend, Jonas Carrey, whose presence enlivens this story. Fred's first meeting with Betsy doesn't go well because the vampire queen mojo's Fred's mind in order to get inside the NEA. Fred's mind isn't completely under, so she does not react well when Betsy's control breaks - as in, had Betsy still been human, she might not have survived. Once it is established that the ditz and the grouch are both going to help Madison, the conversations between Fred and Betsy are a lot of fun. Fred has to prove she's a mermaid to Betsy, who marvels about the Undersea Folk's existence longer than Fred is comfortable with. The villains of the piece, dubbed 'the Skittle Boys' for their rainbow of different colored T-shirts, attack while our heroines, Madison, and Jonas are getting drinks. Madison and Jonas are captured, and the main villain has a Doomsday Device, so Fred and Betsy are forced to accompany them and the Skittle Boys into the NEA. The main villain is bigoted against the Undersea Folk, whom he blames for his maiming. Betsy gets shot. She's the only one present who knows her death won't be permanent. The mopping up is satisfying, although Jonas is a bit worried about leaving the survivors to the vampires.For my money, this is the best story in the book.'Cry Wolf' *** is set in the future. Michael Wyndham of the Wyndham Werewolves is bucking tradition and retiring instead of remaining Alpha until his death. His daugher, Lara, is the new alpha. There are several flashbacks. Lara learns why she's always been secretly afraid of Derek's son, Jack, in a scene that 'traumatizes' her brother (Respect the bacon!) and upsets her father. The leaving of a shredded bat outside one door and a dead fish outside the other gives the author an excuse for Lara to call Queen Betsy and Dr. Fred. Those conversations were fun. The villain of this story is another bigot, and I enjoyed the way Lara handled the twit. The first part of the novella didn't grab me, but after the breakfast room scene, it picked up.If Lara's little brother ever mates with Fred's daughter, I wonder what the child/children would be like.Nancy Wu's narration is as entertaining as ever. While the first story is barely worth listening to, the second is as much fun as most Queen Betsy books, and the third picks up as it goes along.

[glennis.leblanc · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Two out of three of the novellas are from series that she has written. The first story is a stand alone as far as I can tell and I liked it the least. Just something about the plot didn't work for me at all. The second one is the title story and crosses two main characters from separate series. The nice thing is you really don't have to have read either to know what was going on. The third one follows the promotion of Lara as leader of the werewolves and her finding a mate. Light breezy reading but I have to admit the first story almost had me not reading the other two.

[janersm · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

If you look at the title of the book, you think that it's going to be about the world of Betsy Taylor, vampire queen extraordinaire. Looks can be deceiving. Yes, I knew that it would have novellas, but I figured that since it's an "Undead and..." book that the stories might actually fit within the Undead series. Just one of the three stories is, though. The final story does have a connection with the Undead series as well, with a cameo by the queen herself.The stories themselves were somewhat okay. The final one was more enjoyable. It still wasn't of the quality that I really expect from MJ. All of the stories come across more as writing exercises than actual developed novellas. I wish that they were all a little more developed, so that they all would have felt less like a waste of time.

[dearheart_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book contains 3 novellas. Overall, I’m glad I got this through the library and didn’t spend any money on it. All three of the stories are humorous.Super, Girl is unrelated to any series the author has written before and the best word I can think to describe it is chaotic. Hailey is the head of an HR department, but regularly has to write herself up for not being there. Why? Because she’s out being the hero, “It Girl.” She meets with a new hire and both of them stumble over their thoughts and words as they’re both attracted to the other. At no time in this story do we see any act of heroism although we hear about it. We do see what she’s like afterward, and that’s rather unique. Due to the circumstance described, I could see this becoming a series. 2 starsUndead and Underwater brings Vampire Queen Betsy and Fred the Mermaid together when a human working for the New England Aquarium has called for help and they have to save the Underfolk. The two had never met, might never actually like each other, but learn to respect the other. A great deal of time is spent chatting; too much. Sinclair is there, as is Fred’s best friend, Jonah. But I did enjoy seeing the two series come together even though at times it was difficult to follow just who was saying what. They do confront the bad guys and other than the different characters meeting, this was probably the best part of the story. 3 starsIncomer deals with Lara’s first day as the Wyndham leader of the Pack after her father decides to retire. Now we knew she knows Betsy, but I hadn’t been aware the Wyndhams knew Fred as well. Much of the story keeps jumping into the past so we understand what’s going on today – and there is a threat. And we get to know Lara’s younger brother Sean and Derik’s son, Jack. I enjoyed this story the most as it felt less chaotic than the other 2 and the last chapter is something I’ll remember for a while. 3.5 stars