Undead and Unemployed

Written by MaryJanice Davidson

Narrated by Nancy Wu

Betsy Taylor, Queen of the Undead, has snagged a dream job in a shoe store (just like a normal person!). But when vampires start getting killed off, Betsy enlists the help of the sexy vampire Sinclair. Now she’s really treading dangerous ground—but this time in brand-new high heels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 11, 2006
• ISBN: 9781436117302

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 Unemployed

[Brooke Murray · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this series. I've read them, but listening to them seemed like it would be a great experience. I gave the first book a so-so review for the audio production. I'm very happy I didn't let it deter me from listening to the second book. The audio book production for this book is greatly improved. Story wise it's a great book. Still a light mystery, still setting up the foundation for the world of Betsy, but moving quickly forward towards the sound footing of the rest of the series.

[Oney Black · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great series ? but Betsy is annoying ?. All she cares about is is shoes and clothes. Hopefully she will stop fighting fate and quit being oblivious ?

[perpetualrevision · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this one more than the first, and I really appreciated that the author toned down the soft porn scenes. I enjoy the story for the humor and otherworldly element, not because I need help imagining graphic sexual encounters between heterosexuals!

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked that the sex scenes were cut back from book one, but it just wasn't as funny as the opener "Undead and Unwed" which had me laughing out loud, something pretty rare for me even though I read a lot of tongue and cheek stuff. It's still a great read but I recommend starting at the beginning so you get the full storyline about how "Elizabeth Taylor", no not that E.T., becomes a vampire and how it changes her life or death depending how you look at it.

[allandanybooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This series must be the funniest books I've read in a while. Even though it's filled with serious happenings, Betsy just makes everything funny and you cannot do anything else but laugh. It always brightens my day, whenever I read these books. Also I was kept in the dark about the real vampire killer until the very end even though I had my own suspicions. It truly is entertainment at its best. Eric keeps getting better and better and I truly cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

[chrisweir-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

2nd in the Queen Betsy series. This has her moving out of her house and into the mansion. She also get her dream job in the shoe department at Macy's. This one someone is trying to kill off the vampires of the city and has succeeded a few times. When they target Betsy things don't go quite as they'd planned. Not only do they not succeed they have a sit down with her and the others and they learn that not all vampires are bad. While they call a truce another murder happens so there's still others out there. All in all just light fluff, but super fun to read.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This series of books are essentially silly vampire chic-lit, but they're written so well, and with such a sense of fun that they are a joy to read. Perhaps the whole shoe thing was a little overdone in this book, but it's all part of the development of the main character. A book I enjoyed far more than I thought I would.

[jimmaclachlan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

More like 2.5 stars, but again the reading by Wu was excellent. The story was fun, but not even as filling as a Sookie Stackhouse story. Queen Betsy & all the rest of the characters are more caricatures than 'real' people. The world isn't very complex nor all that imaginative. So it was OK & I'm really only giving it 3 stars because Wu does such a great job. Still, I'm on to listen to the next one.

[crazy4reading · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another great story in the Queen Betsy series. Elizabeth Taylor continues to be undead and a queen. She prefers Betsy.Undead and Unemployed has the vampires being killed by someone. Eric, Tina and a few other vampires go to the Queen for help. Betsy isn't to interested in helping. She didn't want to be a vampire nor did she want to be queen. When Tina is attacked Betsy get's concerned.The vampires set a trap and set up Betsy as the bait. Nothing happens until they decide to call it a night. That is when the vampire hunters decide to attack. Betsy is her typical self and just talks to them trying to get them to understand that not all vampires are evil.Jessica, Mark, Eric, Tina, Monique and Sarah meet the Blade Warriors when they decide to go to Betsy's house to make sure she is a vampire. This is when we meet Jon, Ani, and Father Marcus. Betsy talks with them and they start to see that not all vampires are evil.Betsy realizes she can see ghosts and at first is terrified by this. It was touching to see how she finally adjusts to this. She helps the ghost re-unit with her mother who just happens to be the vampire Sarah. The Queen also learns that when she kills a vampire she gets all their possessions.I wasn't surprise by who was the one getting the vampire hunters to do his/her bidding. It was funny with how the ending went. I will be continuing this series just for the laughs.

[tivonut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it the second time around also. It is not as good or as LOL fun as the first book but very fun. You kind of get use to the spaziness and idiocy of Betsy. It is a fun read but still light and no real serious story line. I'll probably continue on until I get bored.

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Betsy gets a job in the shoe department at Macy’s, which she calls “Heaven,” but unfortunately she misses work a lot because someone’s trying to kill the vampires. I was really hoping it wasn’t Buffy (spoiler alert: it’s not!). Betsy also wears yummy sushi jammies, which has to be a nod to Buffy, because if it isn’t that’s an incredibly improbable coincidence. I still don’t really like Betsy that much because she is kind of vacuous, but I love Tina, Jessica, Marc and the yummy Eric Sinclair, so I’m going to keep reading these. They’re light, fast-paced, and fun.

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My introduction to Betsy the Vampire Queen was one of the later volumes, which our local library has on CD. It made me laugh so much that I listened to it again before returning it. Yes, I was spoiled for some revelations in this book, but it didn't matter. I read this series for the humor and there was plenty of it. It's probably just as well that Betsy's language is not exactly 'suitable for all ages'. I might have been tempted to quote too many of the great lines, especially the one where Betsy tells the vampire hunters what she thinks of the name they call themselves. Sigh -- Chris Long's cover is amusing, but I'm not that fond of cartoony covers. (Chris Long did the cover of Betsy reading the 'help wanted' section of a newspaper while sitting on a white coffin. Blue, yellow and orange, and green shoe boxes are on the floor. There's also a purple shoe box and a red & pink one. We can see the shoes in some of them.)There's an 8-page preview of Derek's Bane by the same author, followed by a 12-page preview of For Pete's Sake by Geri Buckley, at the end of this book. I didn't read them.

[talksupe3blogspot · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

read full review at talksupe.blogspot.comThis book continues the antics of our reluctant Vampire Queen, her Consort Eric Sinclair and their variety of human and vampire friends. I like how Mary Janice Davidson sort of puts a 'humanistic' spin on our Vampire heroine. Turning into a Vampire hasn't turned Betsy into to cliched dark and mysterious dark hunter. She's still as immature, superficial, snide and vapid as ever. And the fact that Betsy insists on living a 'normal' like just like she did before is a breath of fresh air in the typical vampire genre. The humorous banter between Betsy and friends makes these books a quick and easy read

[mrsmich02 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Betsy Taylor back in action this time determined to get back to the working world. She lands the dream job of shoe sales associate at Macy's (the choir sings aaah). Of course, Betsy's wish for the simple things in life just don't work. Because her house is falling apart due to termites, the trio move to the most upscale street in town. Out of town vamps start to come by to meet-and-greet with their new queen. They are also under attack from an organized little unit of vampire hunters. Betsy's also got a couple new tricks this time around. *SPOILER* First, they discover that she can see ghosts...and hear them and actually touch them. Second, in the confrontation in the nightclub at the end of the book, we find out that along with Betsy's other in-vulnerabilities (crucifixes,holy water,churches,etc.)she can now add on 'can't be killed by wooden stake through the heart'. Wow. What's next for this girl? Go, Betsy :)

[crazybatcow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the funniest books I've read in awhile - some terrific one-liners that made me laugh out loud at the (intentional) ridiculousness of it all.The plot - well, it's par for the course. The characters are mostly caricatures who are clearly only there for Betsy to play her humor off. But this isn't a bad thing. The book is short and fast and funny - not at all romantic, and there is even very little porn this time too.

[onyx95_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book 2 ….. Queen Betsy comes across as a parody of every other vampire book out. She is a shoe hound and a klutz and she has no clue what she is suppose to do. While she is the Queen, her King is the supposed epitome of the vampire royalty, the problem is he seems to forget himself whenever Betsy is around because he is (I guess) so besotted with her. Everyone seems to forget to tell ‘her majesty’ things that she should know, or needs to know and then she ends up defying all vampire laws anyways so maybe it doesn’t really matter that she didn’t know. With this particular book, I liked the addition of Marie even if the end of that situation kind of sucked (ha ha - had to do it sorry). Crazy, crazy but good for a laugh even if I don’t get the shoe fetish.

[gollywollypogs · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Light and funny. If I shared (or even understood) Betsy's shoe fetish I'd probably give it another 1/2 star but those parts bore me.

[ankhet_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Betsy Taylor, the new queen of the vampires (and a most unwilling queen too, might I add) is back - and in need of a job. (Hey, designer shoes don't grow on trees, you know.) On top of needing to find - and then keep - employment, she also has the small problem of figuring out all the recent vampire murders.Even though many people call this series a romance series, I just can't see the romance. Yes, Sinclair is head over heels in love with Betsy (though he has an odd way of showing it), and yes Betsy does love Sinclair (though she'd rather die - again - than admit it, even to herself), but really this series just doesn't have enough elements of a romance to truly be a romance series. Heck the main character ends up determined to stay away from the romantic lead by the end of the book! (As Betsy says, "Nothing good can come of having sex with Eric Sinclair.")After reading the first book I was annoyed with Betsy but intrigued by the story. Now, after having read the second book, Betsy is growing on me. She's like Buffy, only slightly more vapid, much vainer, and not quite as kick-ass. But still charming.

[drebbles · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor won't let a little thing like being undead keep her from getting a job. She manages to land the perfect job for her, selling designer shoes at Macy's. She'd be happy if she could just work at Macy's and forget the vampire stuff, but someone is killing off vampires and the other vampires want their Queen to stop the killing. When Betsy herself is targeted, she is able to identify and catch the would-be killers, but even they don't know who their ringleader is. Betsy, her vampire friends (including the sexy Sinclair), and her non-vampire friends Marc and Jessica, team up with Father Markus and his group of Blade Warriors to find out just who is behind the vampire killings. As if Betsy wasn't busy enough selling shoes and tracking down vampire killers, she's also trying to help a mysterious little girl, Marie, find her mother. "Undead and Unemployed" is the second book in Mary Janice Davidson's Queen Betsy series (the first is Undead and Unwed (Queen Betsy, Book 1)). It's a very funny but light read. While Betsy is an engaging character, she's a bit too shallow, especially considering all she's been through. While her job at Macy's is perfect for her, that plot line is never really developed since Betsy never seems to actually go to work. Davidson has a lot of fun tweaking the vampire myth. Betsy is unharmed by Holy Water, crucifixes, and even wooden stakes. The addition of Father Markus is a nice, humorous touch. The other supporting characters are nicely done, especially Jessica, my favorite character in the series. While there are plenty of funny bits in the book, a barbecue at Betsy's father's house is especially funny; the plot line is very thin and relies a bit too much on humor. For example, the Blade Warriors name seems to exist merely so that Betsy can make fun of it (Bloody Warthogs, Word Barriers, Blond Warriors) which is funny for awhile but wears thin. Readers will catch on to Marie's secret long before Betsy does. The ending of the book simply sets up for another sequel. Readers looking for mindless entertainment will enjoy "Undead and Unemployed".

[susanbevans · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Undead and Unemployed is the 2nd book in Mary Janice Davidson's Queen Betsy Series. Elizabeth Taylor - a.k.a. "Betsy" - a.k.a. Her Majesty, Queen of all Vampires - has had a rough couple of months. After being killed, (and coming back from the dead, btw) she has had nothing but trouble. In the first book in the series, Undead and Unwed, Betsy was integral in the over-throwing of the old vampire ruler, and in doing so became the de facto "Queen of the Vampires" (whether she likes it or not.) Unfortunately, many of her new "subjects" refuse to acknowledge her - calling Betsy a false Queen - and as if that's not enough, Betsy's house is crawling with termites, she needs to find a job with night hours, and Etienne Aigners did not put out the lavender pump this season! Oh, and there's a serial vampire killer on the loose - what's a vampire Queen to do?I am so glad I gave this series another chance! Undead and Unemployed is a better book than Undead and Unwed (book 1.) It is fun, fluffy, and fantastic! Betsy is exactly the kind of Queen the vampires need - smart, sensitive, and sassy as hell. She is a charming and captivating heroine - I am definitely in her thrall and totally hooked on this series now. Undead and Unemployed is a light, fast read - more like a "vampire sitcom" than your typical doom and gloom, dramatic vampire story. I read it in a single sitting, and couldn't put it down! The mystery/suspense aspect of the story was extremely compelling, and the cast of characters - Sinclair and Tina, Betsy's guides in the afterlife; Jessica and Tina, her "urban family;" and of course the "Blade Warriors," a gang of adolescent vampire slayers - all make for some hilarious scenes that had me laughing (and snorting) out loud!With interesting plot twists and and entertaining characters, Undead and Unemployed had built on the foundation set out in Undead and Unwed, and taken the story in a delightful new direction. I will be picking up book 3 today - another new series for Susan!

[rhinoa_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Betsy is back and is trying to refuse being made Queen of all the vampires. It seems her special vampire powers set her apart from the others and the prophecies say she is their Queen. Unfortunately she has been saddled with a King which she is not happy about at all. To make things more complicated it seems she can see and communicate with ghosts.Betsy gets a job in a Macy's shoe store, her dream job, but her vampire life keeps interfering. Sinclair won't leave her alone, determined to be her consort in all aspects much to her bisgust (and silent enjoyment). Unfortunately there seems to be a slayer in town killing vampires. They don't seem to understand that not all vampires are blood thirsty monsters and some are good and don't inflict pain and suffering on humans.Another great installment, I am definitely hooked on this series and will be continuing with it soon. I love the humor, the sexiness and the attitude.

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have to confess, I found this second book not as good as the first one. It was just average. I like the sarcasm and tone (which I was more prepared for this time), but the plot felt sort of hollow to me. Most of the book is Betsy arguing with other people over various issues – where to live, whether or not to work, who loves who, etc. I didn’t think there was really enough chemistry between Betsy and Sinclair here, though they do have their moments. And they don’t really solve the mystery as much as they just happen upon the solution. I find the series entertaining enough to continue, but I’m hoping for a little more oomph in the next one.

[lewispike · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Betsy is a few months older and settling in to being a vampire. Someone is staking female vampires on alternate Wednesdays and as queen it's up to her to sort it out. She also gets a job selling shoes (where else?!).Although the elements that made the first book so much fun are still there (and come back again in the next one) I found this book weaker, at least because I'd worked out who the bad guys were very, very quickly.

[hjjugovic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This series is very entertaining, and Undead and Unemployed is no exception. This series can be described as vampire chick lit comedy, and it does a great job making you laugh, making you scared, and making you believe the romance. The characters are great, the plot moves along quickly, and Betsy is laugh-outloud funny. Recommended for light reading.

[ruthiesbookreviews · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Betsy has destroyed the biggest of vamps in the last book and now is considered in reine. Surrounded by wonderful humans, including her best friend (who loves the fact that she is one of the undead), and Sinclair. She is guided through the book and has to figure out who is killing other vampires. Being rebellious the whole way, she decides to get a job (shoes shoes shoes), trying to protect herself from danger and meeting her first ghost. Exciting storyline and again with the comical phrases in the book, keeps you turning the pages! This series is a must-read for comedy and vampire lovers.

[cozylover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This second book in the Undead series is as good, if not better, than the first. Filled with humor, sexual tension, fun characters and shoes! Queen Betsy Taylor is one in a million.

[readingrat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is probably more like 4.5 stars for me. The story started to drag a bit for me when the vamps and the vamp hunters all sit down to a tea party, but fortunately that didn't last for long. Plus the author needs to dig up some new alliterations pretty quick, or the recycled prose is going to start getting annoying. Still a really fun read though.

[phyllis2779 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

OK. Better than some of the later ones.

[gerleliz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun light read. Very enjoyable

[lman_45 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Undead and Unemployed resumes the antics of Betsy Taylor, three months into her life as a vampire and the anointed Queen of the Undead; though not all believe in her royalty.Betsy, herself, is far more concerned with finding a job to pay the bills and adorably finds gainful employment in Macy’s shoe department – after all, the girl knows her shoes! Unsurprisingly her job does not please her fellow vampires and is difficult to maintain due to the responsibilities of her monarchy; especially when there is a spate of vampire killings, seemingly by a well organised group of vigilantes, and her working hours are continually interrupted by all and sundry.Suffice to say, this book is another hilarious romp through the various interludes in Betsy’s new life: from moving into a huge mansion with Jessica and Marc, dealing with her family and their attitudes, contending with ghosts, undertaking to discover the perpetrator behind the well-planned vampire attacks, all the while attempting to work her rostered hours. And as events unfold, Betsy, along with the reader, learns more and more what The Book of the Dead foretells, in regards to her capabilities, her limitations, and her obligations towards her followers.MaryJanice Davidson has created a clever spin on the paranormal with this series – simultaneously side-splitting, sophisticated and irreverent, while delivering a broad-side to parts of today’s society. Full of wit and much hilarity, these books are a fun, frothy entertainment, yet deliver far above their weight; a rip-roaring riotous read I look forward to the next.