Happy Hour At Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

Before I dive right in today, let me just remind you that today, June 30th is the absolutely LAST day you have to enter for my team contest with AuthorIsland.com. Click here or the link over in the sidebar, and get your entries in! Also, check out this post on the AuthorIsland Author News blog and find out how you can get in on the All Day chat scheduled for tomorrow. I'm telling you, you don't want to miss these chats. Authors stop in to chat, share excerpts and hold special chat day contests. In addition, you get to "meet" some really great readers too! And of course, I need to say a special "Thanks" to DeNita and LuAnn for helping put together the great contest! And now, on with it!

Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta
(BCC)

Vampires don't exist in this day and age . . . or do they?

Milagro De Los Santos needs to get her career on track - and a sexy man to come home to. At a party for her ex-boyfriend, she meets the unusually attractive Oswald Grant, who sweeps her off her feet. But when he bites her in the heat of passion and she instantly falls ill, Milagro realizes Oswald is not just any fabulous man - he's a vampire. Whisked away to his family's estate to recover, Milagro learns the ins and outs of vampirism while falling for a wickedly inappropriate man. But when the vampires' lives are threatened, Milagro uses her wits, her wiles, and an incredibly whacky scheme to bring down a power-mad secret society that refuses to let the undead live and love in peace.

Milagro De Los Santos (Mil) is a Reading Consultant for the wealthier population of The City and works part-time at a local nursery. She’s also a very dedicated writer, “I worked diligently on my novel every single possible second that was available after going out, thrift store shopping, spending quality time with my friends, and finding gyms that offered the first month free.” When one of her Reading Consultant clients decides to hold a reception for a Sebastian Beckett-Whitherspoon, Milagro really doesn’t feel up to going. You know, seeing how he was her ex-boyfriend, who just stopped speaking to her.

But go to the reception she does, since it would be an excellent opportunity to maybe further her writing career. At the reception, she gets a less than friendly greeting from Sebastian, flirted with by a gay waiter, and picked up by a fabulous man named Oswald, who asks her to leave with him so they can discuss her writing, and since he seems as if he’s in the publishing world, and he’s well, fabulous, Mil doesn’t see the harm. But when the hotel bar is full, Mil finds herself in Oswald’s room, and wildly attracted to this man she suspects is most certainly NOT a part of the literary world. But one thing leads to another, and Mil and Oswald find themselves locked at the lips when Mil notices a bit of blood. But before things can go too far, Sebastian pounds on the hotel door, Mil feels sick, and the gay waiter is in the lobby trying to help her.

Mil finds herself very ill, with weird cravings, and suddenly kidnaped by Sebastian. When she manages to get free, the waiter is once again there, whisking her away to the family farm, where she meets people who aren’t exactly happy she’s there, finds out she’s a vampire, and may, or may not, live from the “infection”, and worse than that, discovers that the man who infected her not only wasn’t a part of the literary world but in engaged. Even worse, she’s still attracted to the guy! She also finds out she can’t leave, because the once love of her life, is now wanting to become head of an organization that wants to wipe out the vampires, and he knows she’s become one of them, and will stop at nothing to see Mil and her new friends wiped from their undead existence.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this book. Seriously, I laughed so hard I cried. Told in the First Person, Mil takes us through her journey with tons of snark, wit, and personal insight.

I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that my love of the Paranormal genre has been seriously compromised as of late. Oh sure, I still enjoy my tried and true, and occasionally find myself with a great new find, but all in all, I’ve felt disheartened by the forced lore and seemingly thrown-together-to-please-the-market books that have been flooding the shelves. Basically, we’re seeing the same story, told the same way, over and over again.

Acosta’s vampires are NOT the norm, and the writing is so freakin’ fresh and funky, that I couldn’t put the book down. I didn’t want to put the book down, and I cussed myself stupid for not having the second book already at hand to continue in the world. With a heroine so real she could be you and a great cast of secondary characters, HHACD is a book you’ll want, and if like me you're just now finding this wonderful series, you'll want to kick your own hiney for not finding it sooner. But make sure to have a back-up, because trust me, once you’ve read it, you’ll want everyone you know to have a go, and they won't want to let that book leave their hands!

Filled with Sex, Danger, Snark, Blood, a little bit of love, and a ton of laughs, Paranormal lovers have got to get their hands on this one!

Take Care

ETA: I tried to do this really funky font thingy using my Word Perfect, but blogger won't let the font transfer. Does anyone know if I'm doing something wrong or if I just won't get to do use all those cute fonts?!