Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford

Part of my work here involves reading books for discussion that I might not select otherwise. That being said, I am sometimes justified in my thinking a genre/author/style will not appeal to me and sometimes I am surprised. This is definitely the latter. I loved Jane Bites Back and read the two sequels all within ten days! This is definitely not serious reading, but who ever said it all has to have great literary merit to be worth reading? Anyway, I digress…

Jane Austen is a vampire running a bookstore in upstate New York. She was ‘turned’ (that’s vampire jargon for being made into one of the undead!) two centuries earlier and is just trying to live a quiet life within the confines of her state. She has to move periodically because she does not age, she tries not to build relationships because she can’t bear to hurt and be hurt when it’s time to move on, and ‘feeds’ only when required. She has been trying to get her latest novel, Constance, published but has been turned down by over 100 publishers. Suddenly, everything changes when her novel is accepted and becomes a bestseller, her feelings for a mortal get more complicated, and Lord Byron, her original seducer/vampire-maker, appears on the scene.

If you want to stick your toe in the water of ‘mashup’ fiction, consider Jane Bites Back. This is light, fun, and a true guilty pleasure.

CAS 

Sequels: Jane Goes Batty; Jane Vows Vengeance