Customer Reviews

La Vida Vampire (Oldest City Vampire, Book 1)

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La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock



La Vida Vampire, is the first book in the Oldest City Vampire series, set in St Augustine, FL.

Meet Francesca Marinelli a 227 year old (young) most unique vampire, who has spent over 200 years of her unlife, chained and locked in a coffin underground as punishment and then forgotten, until a renovation of the house over her, unearths her. Cesca now loves Wal-Mart, her sponsor into 21st century life,surfing (think Gidget) and Super K-Mart,(after all they are open 24 hours!!!) and she has a job as a ghost tour guide.
Cesca loves her new job, right up until a woman from her very first tour winds up dead and Cesca is of course, suspected.
The mystery was of medium difficulty to figure out who-done-it with, enough surprises thrown it to make you doubt yourself once in a while.


The words "fresh, new, unique" have been used to describe many a vampire novel lately , but I swear, this time it's true. I haven't enjoyed a debut Vamp book in such a long time. This one had me giggling and loving every minute of it. More mystery than romance (although don't get me wrong, there IS romance, and you may be surprised with who!) Don't forget, everything Cesca has learned about men is around 200 years out of date *grin* there is, of course, the obligatory Vamp/Creature hater, Vigilantes, a retired Vamp hunter, Uber rotten Vampires, a bevy of Ghosts and assorted other weird goings on.

I think I will take some time today and re-read it just because I loved itso much and can use the laughs.

I picked this up at the library because I was looking for a new series about vampires and failed to see "paranormal romance" stamped on the back. It's cover has some beautiful metallic artwork and I really wanted to like it, but until the corpse turned up in chapter 7 I was struggling to keep reading. I might have missed it Cesca never had a "age" and it made her behavior harder to gauge. I thought the entrance of Triton might make things interesting, but he was dismissed and I was disappointed. Most of the story revolved around Cesca's new life as the only vampire in town. She doesn't act like a vampire or use powers, instead she sleeps and shops at the all-night Walmart. I was looking for more of a thriller and less of a one-dimensional mystery. There was just no excitement, no build-up.

Plot Summary: Vampire Francesca Marinelli was locked into the ground over 200 years ago, and was accidentally unearthed during renovations on a Victorian-period house. She's been tagged with a GPS chip, has a `sponsor', and gives ghost-walk tours in St. Augustine, Florida. Life is peachy keen for this surfing, bridge-playing, Wal-Mart loving vampire, until one of her tour guide clients is found floating in the ocean with a broken neck and bite mark. Preternatural investigator Deke Saber suspects Cesca and sticks to her like white on rice.

I was conflicted on how to rate this book, and I kept vacillating back and forth all afternoon. Here's my problem -- Cesca is a wonderful character with a voice that leaps right off the page. She's modern, she's funny, and I loved being inside her head. BUT, the romance and sex was like a 2-liter of Dr. Pepper that's gone flat. Given these considerations, I've got to say this is good, but not great. Happily, this is only the first book in this series, and I think Haddock clearly has the talent to pull this up by the bootstraps as she goes. Since this is a debut novel, I'm expecting great things to come.

It's a little hard to reconcile Cesca's thoroughly modern voice given that she was born in the late 1700's, but we learn that while she was trapped in the ground, Cesca used astral projection to stay in touch with the times. It also helps that our heroine is a pop culture junkie, and watches TV like an addict. In addition to the normal vampire powers we'd expect, Cesca can tolerate daylight in limited doses, and she is psychic. Despite being such a powerful package, she acts more human than most homo sapiens. Turning her back on her vampire skills baffles the detectives, frustrates the blood-sucker groupies, and enrages her fellow vampires.

Considering how much face time we get with Deke Saber, it's disappointing that he remains so two-dimensional. He's obviously prejudiced against vampires, and has to overcome his knee-jerk gag reflex, but Haddock doesn't clue us into whatever is driving his inner turmoil. To further muck this up, about half the scenes with Saber and Cesca involve intricate `who done it' discussions. After about the third or fourth go-around, I started thinking, is this a mystery or a romance? All they talk about are potential suspects. I want more lovey-dovey and less Sherlock Holmes. That said, it's a worth-while read just to visit with this refreshingly unique vampire lady.

Francesca "Cesca" Marinelli is a tour guide with a ghost tour company in St. Augustine. In her spare time, she loves all-night shopping at Wal-Mart, learning how to salsa and surf, and studying design. So far, so good, right? Except for the fact that Cesca's a vampire who hates the smell of blood (it literally makes her sick), goes out during the daytime if the sun's not too strong, doesn't use her vamp powers, and she's on the prowl for Mr. Right. After being buried for most of her (undead) life, she's determined to live her life to the fullest. As a vampire, she's required to wear a tracking chip and to have a human sponsor, but other than these small inconveniences, her life is pretty normal. Like Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire novels, there is a violent anti-vampire group, the Covenant, that seeks to find and destroy vamps.

Cesca is a refreshing narrator; a psychic, her take-no-prisoners attitude is tested when she's involved in a murder investigation; special investigator Deke Saber rubs her the wrong way. Cesca's never been romantically involved, and Deke starts to get on her nerves in other ways that she didn't expect. Cesca starts to resent all the happy couples that surround her and fears that she'll be single forever, but fate has other plans.

Things get weirder for Cesca as the same tourists appear for repeat ghost tours (and yes, ghosts do make appearances), and a mysterious magical cat follows her around. As the evidence piles up, so does the danger facing Cesca and her friends. There was enough suspense without being overly gory, and enough twists and turns that I was left guessing until the end. A fun, fast-paced blend of romance, suspense, and magic, La Vida Vampire was a rockin' read and I can't wait for more of Cesca's adventures in Last Vampire Standing.

Francesca "Cesca" Marinelli is not your typical vampire. She is taking online classes, learning to surf, and just started a part-time job as a ghost tour guide. However, her first shift working as a tour guide doesn't go quite as planned; everyone seems more interested in Cesca's life as a vampire than in the ghosts! In fact, someone is a little too interested as someone from the tour winds up dead and of course Cesca is a suspect. Preternatural crimes special investigator Deke Saber is called in to assist on the case. Deke doesn't like vampires, but will he see that Cesca is different? And just who is behind all the mysterious happenings around Cesca?

Nancy Haddock breathes new life into the vampire genre with LA VIDA VAMPIRE. Cesca is definitely a one of a kind vampire and her story is sheer fun, from her unique approach to being a vampire to her take on modern day living. After all, what other vampire book has the vampire surfing?

LA VIDA VAMPIRE isn't just a fun book as it is also full of intrigue. The hints about the mystifying cat that keeps appearing will keep the readers guessing as to where the series is going as there are some unsolved plot threads, ones that will hopefully be resolved as the series progresses. The main storyline involving the murder and the mysterious but deadly vampire-hating Covenant is also fascinating as there were just so many possibilities! Nancy Haddock keeps the suspense level high as LA VIDA VAMPIRE is a book in which anything can and often does happen.

LA VIDA VAMPIRE is a phenomenal entry into the genre. Nancy Haddock puts her own spin on things so that both Cesca and Deke keep the reader entertained. LA VIDA VAMPIRE is a hit!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Being dead isn't all it's cracked up to be. Take it from Francesca Marinelli, trapped underground for over 200 years and rediscovered during the renovation of a Victorian mansion in historic St. Augustine. A tourist attraction herself, she's well suited for a job as an Old Ghost Town Tour guide. Francesca's due for a new lease on afterlife-and with enough sunblock, she can finally live it.

Unfortunately, everything she learned about men is a little dated. And when people in her tour group turn up dead, naturally the police suspect her. After all, she is a vampire. Which is why a crazed vampire-hunting vigilante squad is out to get her as well. Between the dead bodies, the stalkers, and a seriously non-existent love life, she's starting to wish she was dead. Or at least buried, where she was safe.

La Vida Vampire was different from any other vampire book I've read. Readers will be hooked from page one and will stay up in the dark finishing the book.Even though Cesca is a 200+ vampire, it's easy to relate to and her narrative makes you laugh and care for her.The mystery is the book was well-written and kept me guessing up until the end. It was a fast read that never lets your attention wander and the ending leaves you waiting for the sequel. It doesn't end in a cliffhanger and the crime is resolved at the end of the book but you still want to read about what Cesca is going to do next.The romance in this book was great and there was just one scene in the book that isn't for young readers but other than that readers will devour this book in one sitting. I liked how other supernatural creatures were added to the book. It added a je ne sais quoi to the story. This is a perfect beach read and I suggest that you pick up a copy at a bookstore near you.
-Carol
www.bookluver-carol.blogspot.com

Francesca Marinelli - call her Cesca, which rhymes with Fresca - is a vampire, online student, surfer chick, and historic city tour guide aficionado in a city that is near and dear to my heart, St. Augustine. She's a feisty, quirky, independent-minded but socially-conscious vampire who doesn't drink in front of people. She holds her nose when she has to drink blood at all, in fact. Her greatest ambition after spending 200 or so years chained and imprisoned underground is to chisel out a normal life, free to come and go as she pleases - with respect to the GPS chip in her arm that keeps tabs on her 24/7, and so long as she doesn't slip too far from her vampire sponsor - who's also her roommate and best friend.

She's sassy and quick-witted, politely sardonic. I love her!

Cesca's bopping along, mapping out just about every spare minute of her life, when a member of her most recent tour group ends up murdered and - no surprise to her - she's looked at as being a suspect. Not everyone's too keen about her afterlife status, after all. While police inquiry is a drag, though, it DOES introduce her to superhotty Deke Saber - the supernatural forces special agent who at first thinks she's as guilty as can be.

As details start to flesh out the mystery and threats start fluttering at Cesca more intently and dangerously, Saber vows to not let her out of his sight - an even MORE dangerous proposition to the positively virginal (literally) Cesca.

I really enjoyed La Vida Vampire. It's original and charming, and Cesca is a witty and spunky protagonist who is no one's patsy. That the book is also set in St. Augustine, my absolute favorite southern city and just down the road from my old stomping grounds, was a particularly decadent frosting on a full-flavored cake.

La Vida Vampire's got a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, and a bit of mysticism. Ghosts and witches and shape changers are flitting around in the background too. Which actually leads to a small bit of objective criticism on one of the plot threads in the book. While I believe this thread may be indicative of a wider arc through the upcoming series, and is included to add depth and breath to the plot, the paranormal aspects (uh...I mean other than the vampires and the ghosts) seemed oddly out of place and read more like a more somber and dark urban fantasy. It was sort of odd mixed in with bad hair days, surfing, nighttime dashes to the 24 hour Wal-Mart, and the daily doses of caramel Starbloods.

Other than that, though, there's a solid, original story here with a lot of style and class...and a YUMMY agent Saber there to fan all those flames. Strongly recommended if you like irreverent heroines with a lot of self respect who still manage to get themselves in very sticky but funny situations.

Francesca Marinelli isn't like most vampires. She doesn't like black, won't drink in public, refuses to use her vampire powers, and...she's a virgin. She's been locked beneath an old house for centuries and now free. What's a girl to do? Well, she needs to work, and being a tour guide for late-night ghost tours of historic St. Augustine, Florida, seems up her alley. What Francesca doesn't anticipate, though, is that she'll become the target for sex-starved honeymooning French couple, for an angry anti-vampire bigot, for a man who insists on pretending to be Gomer Pile, and, when she discovers a dead body, the police.

Having the police after her is bad enough. One particular cop, Deke Saber, has a reputation for murdering vampires and he won't let Francesca out of his sight. But when her car is vandalized while she's under Saber's watch, he has to admit she might not be guilty--and her suspicions might not be fake.

Author Nancy Haddock creates a charming take on the vampire myth. Francesca twists the standard vampire romance genre. Instead of sexy male immortals bringing their blessings to hapless (or occasionally spunky females), Francesca doesn't especially like being a vampire, is interested in surfing, interior design, and hanging with friends. Deke Saber makes an effective foil as Francesca busts his prejudices and shows him that it's about people rather than about special talents or dietary requirements.

I would have liked a bit more depth to the mystery--a few twists to make me question where the story was going but Haddock didn't write this as a serious mystery. If you're looking for a light take on the paranormal, and if you're not too stuck on your vampire prejudices, I definitely recommend that you check out LA VIDA VAMPIRE.

How neat is this? A totally new take on vampires, way far away from what I expected. A pretty "young" vampire with a real job: leading ghost tours in one of our oldest cities. Nancy does a terrific job of taking us just far enough into the future to give us this new take on a frankly kinda tired topic. This is not the dark, menacing vampire we've come to expect. As a vampaire, Cesca is something of an innocent while sharp as tack, a little bit headstrong and a little bit shy - a very appealing character. I love the way Nancy has given us a mystery, a "home town" and a whole cast of characters -- led by Cesca and the very sexy Saber -- that I want to know better. I hope the next "La Vida" hits the bookstores soon!

Francesca Marinelli is having to get used to the afterlife. Having been turned into a vampire in the early 1800s and then trapped underground for 200 years, she is having to play catch-up with culture and history, mostly through watching films. Cesca is living with her friend Maggie and working on her education along with taking a new job as a Ghost Tour Guide in St Augustine, Florida.

Francesca's first day as a tour guide hardly goes smoothly when one of her guests turns out to be a vampire killer. When another guest turns up dead with evidence of vampire bites Cesca is considered a suspect. When it becomes clear that her life is in danger one of the policemen, Deke Saber, has to act as bodyguard - will Cesca's awakening hormones and wildly-changing life be able to keep up with all the events going on.

This was a really good fun book, lighthearted and quirky yet also interesting. The murder mystery was well written with a wide variety of suspects, magic and other vampires all playing their part. There was a side plot about a giant Cat and a wizard working to protect Cesca that felt rather incomplete but that was, I presume, setting the ground for a future novel. The story of Cesca was well resolved and there were amusing moments as Cesca surprises those around her by not conforming to vampire norms. This is the author's debut novel and she's clearly an author to watch.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2008