This anthology is three novellas. The first "Super, Girl!" would only get a 2-star rating if it was a stand-alone work. A superhero who has to eat staples and dirt or anything handy to maintain her super abilities is a little off-putting, though I'm happy for her that she found a true love that found it hot. The story just didn't hold together. I felt like I was skimming along the surface, and it wasn't enough."Undead and Underwater" is the humorus meeting of Davidson's two primary heroines, Betsy Taylor, queen of the vampires, and mermaid-human hybrid Dr. Fredrika Bimm. The plot involves a mad scientist who wants to destroy the Undersea Folk after testing his doomsday device first in the large ocean tank at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA, with Fred as his test subject, but it plays a distant second fiddle to the interactions of of Betsy and Fred. Neither knows what to make of the other, and it is has the interesting side effect of reminding Betsy fans that Betsy is an apex predator and can be downright terrifying in between the slurpies and shoe talk. More important for any future Fred stories is that Betsy is finally the one to get through to Fred that she cannot hide from her responsibilities to her people and not asking for it changes nothing. "Incomer" is a jump forward in time 2025, and the teaser promotes it as Lara Wyndham, now pack alpha after dad Michael retires, facing crisis while trying to fight her attraction and feelings for Jack Gardner (son of Derik). That is only half true, and those plotlines are only half of the overall story. It is more a story of the Michael Wyndham family and the Derik Gardner family, with special emphasis on what led Michael to retire and the strain of Derik's self-imposed exile on both families. In many ways the story belongs as much to Sean Wyndham, the beta son and brother of Wyndham alphas as it does to his sister and Jack. What a great character Sean is! Betsy Taylor and Fred Bimm make cameo appearances, and it is kind of comforting to know that things are going relatively well for them in the future (that future at least). Not sure why but I didn't expect to like this story, but I really did. I was drawn to this book by the Betsy Taylor story, but I was tickled to see the story of the super hero who works in HR. The Wyndham story was readable, I just don't seem to enjoy those anywhere near as much as the Betsy Taylor stories.I find it interesting that in all three of these novellas, the villains are given very little attention (and very little respect, for that matter). The villains are mocked and minimized rather than made to seem impressive. The main characters' inner conflicts are the main foci (or focuses, if you prefer) of the stories. The villainous plots help create the conflict needed to push the main characters into facing their internal issues, but it is main characters' attitude adjustments that take center stage, rather than the achievement of identifying the villains and unraveling their evil plans (though that happens, too).
Do You like book Undead And Underwater (2013)?
3.5 starsit started slowly, the second short story picked up and the third was awesome.
—Sara
I did enjoy reading the stories, but they just weren't her best work.
—miraei610
What I really liked was "The Incomer" and the sacredness of bacon!
—princessruth9
