Odd Melody by Virginia Nelson

Odd Melody, book 2 in Virginia Nelson’s The Odd Series, is just as fun and satisfying as book 1. Half-fae/half-siren, Janie Smith, hasn’t had an opportunity to catch her breath since she came fully into her siren powers and found out that all sorts of magical creatures really exist. She’s just trying to heal from an acrimonious divorce, enjoy her new vampire boyfriend, and keep her precocious daughter, Vicki, protected from all the supernatural goings-on. Of course, Fate is a cruel mistress (haha!). Janie’s found her soulmate and no amount of protesting can change the fact that it’s NOT her boyfriend.  Odd Melody is a wonderful mix of emotion, action, and hijinks. I HAVE to know what happens next in Janie’s crazy life!

VNelson-OddMelodyJanie Smith is ready to get her life in order.

She just needs to control her powers, feed without killing someone, deal with a sick witch sneezing spells, a vampire boyfriend committed by fate to another, and an ancient serial killer’s ghost hidden inside an unsuspecting human. Oh, and she must also put up with Queen Mab’s unwanted elfin fiancé while dodging Chance, her supposed soul mate, while helping her daughter adjust to life after divorce.

Seriously, not a big deal.

Janie is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. She’s clumsy, flawed, and is just trying to survive her lot in life while single-handedly raising her daughter. Usually, I am not a fan love triangles or cheating of any sort (those are hard limits for me!). But Janie doesn’t seem to have much of a choice in her life. She has this super-sexy vampire boyfriend, Vance, but she is also inexplicably drawn to her soulmate (and maybe bad guy?), Chance. No one knows what Chance is – only that he’s crazy powerful (and also super sexy!). That’s saying a lot considering Janie’s dad was Siren royalty and her mom is Queen of the Fae. We’re tagging along for the ride as Janie attempts to negotiate her awkward personal relationships with moderate success (kind of like my life!).

Interestingly enough, Janie’s daughter, Vicki, gets a little more page time. Vicki has powers in her own right (mysterious though they may be) and wisdom beyond her years. The interactions where Vicki goes from old soul to recalcitrant child were humorous and intriguing. There isn’t much information, but based on her lineage, Vicki is likely to be a VERY powerful whatever-she-is.

The mystery plot, in which Janie works with the FBI to solve an OLD serial killer case, felt out of place until the very end. Almost distracting from Janie’s crazy life – which I love – the murder plot didn’t make much sense. The resolution, however, gave me pause and really opened up possibilities – for Janie and for her friends. There was a pervasive importance on friendship, family, and loyalty that I really appreciated. All of this craziness and heartache just may have a purpose. The heartwarming ending has several characters starting to heal past hurts and truly beginning to move forward.

I am really enjoying this series and highly recommend giving it a try. There are elements (mainly characters) that remind me of some of my favorite Kim Harrison books mixed with a little goofy luck not unlike Stephanie Plum.  Odd Melody was in perfect tune from start to finish and is a great reminder that odd doesn’t necessarily mean bad.

Read Order:
Odd Stuff
Odd Melody
Odd Wolf

About Sarah 47 Articles
A 30-something mother of a teenage (going on 30) daughter, I read between 4-8 books a week. Between work, chauffeur responsibilities, and reading, I don’t have much free time . However, I do like to knit and crochet in the winter (quality scarves and hats are highly underrated!). My favorite genres are urban fantasy, contemporary romance, and paranormal romance. I tend to binge read when I find a great new series, so I love to discover new-to-me series that already have several books out.