Tuesday, March 4, 2008

La Vida Vampire-Nancy Haddock

La Vida Vampire
Nancy Haddock
Berkley, Apr 2008, $14.00
ISBN: 9780425219959

In St. Augustine, after spending the last two centuries underground, Francesca Marinelli is finally freed when Maggie O’Halloran finds her burial spot while renovating a Victorian estate. Maggie helps Cesca obtain work as a guide of the Old Ghost Town Tour although she knows she will need plenty of sun lotion; she also hopes to find some lively men to enliven her afterlife after two hundred years of abstinence.

However, while leading a tour group, Cesca literally trips over a corpse. Preternatural crime investigator Deke Saber introduces himself to her and obtains her help, which she enjoys giving as he is a hunk. As they investigate the homicide she fell into, neither is aware that a powerful individual has Cesca in the cross hairs.

This humorous romantic paranormal mystery stars a likable heroine whose chick lit commentaries on modern day life after skipping two centuries make for an amusing whodunit. The story line is fast-paced, but totally driven by Cesca who finds La Vida for a vampire in the twenty-first century is the only way to live. Her romance and inquires with Deke are fun to follow as Nancy Haddock provides sub-genre fans with a warm lighthearted frolic.

Harriet Klausner

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