ACCIDENTALLY DEAD – Dakota Cassidy
Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 978-0-425-22159-4
July 2008
Paranormal Romance

Hackensack, New Jersey - Present Day

Nina Blackman expected to do many things in her life. Waking up dead, or undead as is the case, is not one of them. The fact that she knew immediately what had happened is less to do with an open imagination and more a reaction to the circumstances that resulted in her friend Marty sporting a tail some months ago. Still, fangs are not something Nina is interested in sporting and she will go to any lengths necessary to regain her mortality, including tracking down the ratfink jerk who did this to her in the first place.

A painful tooth ache sent Greg Statleon to an unknown dentist’s office. Unfortunately, a bad reaction to anesthesia had him clamping down on some poor woman’s hand, and now she’s a vampire as well. Then again, after meeting Nina and getting a reaming from the sharp edge of her tongue, ‘poor woman’ doesn’t even begin to describe her. How can such a delicate and beautiful woman have such a potty mouth? Well, whatever she is, Nina is definitely different from all of the other women in Greg’s life and oddly attractive, even in her mistaken belief that he’s got some goal to make the world his vampire minions.

Between Thursday night dinners in her grandmother’s crucifix-filled (read: hellacious) home and trying to fight the desire to eat her hamster Larry, Nina continues the search for the cure for her condition. With her best friends Wanda and Marty providing physical and moral support, not to mention plenty of vampire-filled romance novels for research, Nina does her best to adjust to her new life. If only Greg’s gorgeous body wouldn’t keep distracting her from her quest. Will Nina find the cure or realize that fangs do become her?

ACCIDENTALLY DEAD, the hilarious sequel to THE ACCIDENTAL WEREWOLF, follows the wonderfully caustic Nina Blackman’s rebirth. Though a painful past toughened Nina up, her friends keep her grounded. They can do nothing about her mouth or attitude though, and, as Greg soon finds out, both are in your face and taking names. Witty and fast-paced dialogue, mostly Nina’s rants, keeps the story moving at pretty decent clip. Secondary characters, including Nina’s friends, Wanda and Marty, return to add their own brand of charm to the tale. Greg’s mother, Svetlana, and Nina’s grandmother Lou, are sweet additions to the paranormal romp, along with Larry, who just wants to roll around in his exercise ball.

For a laugh-out-loud good time, pick up ACCIDENTALLY DEAD. One can only wish being dead could be so funny!

Kathy Samuels