Book 84, 2021

[chez_jae]

Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I finished reading Happy Hour at Casa Dracula on my lunch break yesterday. It's the first installment in the "Casa Dracula" series of paranormal romance by Marta Acosta. The story is told in first person pov by our intrepid heroine, Milagro de los Santos.

Milagro is in a rut. Her career is fizzling, her love-life is non-existent, and her fabulous ex-boyfriend is in town to promote a new book. Milagro goes to the party, but instead of lusting after Sebastian from afar, she finds herself attracted to Oswald Grant. Mil ends up leaving the party with him, and when they return to his hotel and engage in some heated kisses, they accidentally mingle the blood from their cut lips.

Milagro comes to her senses and leaves, but she soon falls ill. Now Sebastian is trying to hunt her down, not because he still cares for her, but so he can drive a stake through her heart. Fortunately for Milagro, Oswald's family rescues her and whisks her to a country estate where she can recuperate. There, she learns that members of Oswald's family have a genetic anomaly ("We are NOT vampires, thank you very much."), and exchanging blood with Oswald now has Milagro showing the same effects. She also meets Oswald's svelte and poised fiancee, Winifred.

It doesn't take long for Milagro to realize who the real monsters are, and it's not the so-called vampires. When Sebastian's cabal makes its move, it will be up to Milagro to save the day.

What a fun, lite, and hilarious story! Milagro is both sassy and vulnerable, not to mention conflicted. I loved her relationship with Edna, Oswald's irascible grandmother. It was especially fun when Edna chose to address Milagro as "young lady" all the time, and then the rest of the family took to calling her Young Lady as a joke. For a romance, it didn't feature as much interaction between Milagro and Oswald as one might expect. I honestly didn't mind; it was fun to watch things unfold as they did. My only complaint with the book is that the resolution was rather quick and drama-free. Just fine for a lite story, but the build-up seems like it deserved more.

Favorite lines:
♦ But just looking at him made me panic like a hemophiliac in a pin factory.
♦ Calling me a slut was one thing, but calling me melodramatic was going too far.
♦ When in the presence of an alpha female, one should never show fear or she'll attack like you're the slow gazelle at the watering hole.
♦ My mother Regina had often said, "I'm sure you won't be making smart remarks on your deathbed." I wanted to call her and tell her she was wrong, but then I'd have to talk to her.
♦ When is a chicken just a chicken and when is a chicken an apology?
♦ "An hour? An hour's not enough time to have fun. Three hours." We bickered and settled on one hour and forty-seven minutes.

Very cute, enjoyed it much, laughed while reading it. Four stars!

Comments

[oracne]

I read this a while back! I liked it a lot, but never went on because I was in the process of burning out on too many paranormals at the time.

[chez_jae]

I don't read paranormal romance much any more, but I am loathe to just get rid of the many ones I bought, back in the day. I do enjoy them (for the most part) when I pick one up to read; however, I'm much more into cozy mysteries and urban fantasy these days. Still, this was a delightful read!

[oracne]

I recall it was a nice change from the usual run...possibly, I'd been reading too many long-running series.

[felaine]

Hadn't heard of this series but, it sounds fun

Love the weak gazelle line, so true.

[chez_jae]

It was very fun! I did laugh out loud while reading it.