I only read this to continue the Betsey series. Not impressed with the mermaids ( )

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, although the climactic face-off with the villain was amusing.

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 them. 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 mojos 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 daughter, 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. ( )

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.
( )

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. ( )

The Good: I sort of enjoyed Betsy and Fred meeting and working together. They're conversations were epic and that's what made the story. I sort of loved the Lara Wyndham story, even though I was sure I wouldn't. Lara all grown up, leading the pack and finding her mate was adorable and creepy all at once. The mystery here was a good one and made this book a must read for anyone who follows Davidson's werewolf series.

The Bad: The title makes the book seem like the next in the Queen Betsy series, which will really upset some when they pick up this book and realize it isn't. I wasn't all that pleased myself. The middle novella about a woman in HR with superpowers was pretty ridiculous and not in that fun MJD style we're accustomed to. Her powers are strange, the mystery sort of anti-climactic and the whole thing just feels like a throw-away college writing exercise. ( )