| View Larger Image | Last Vampire Standing (Paranormal Romance (Berkley)) | Paperbackby Nancy Haddock (Author)
| List Price: | $14.00 | | Price: | $10.08 | | You Save: | $3.92 (28%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Berkley Trade | | Edition: | First Editionth Edition | | Page Count: | 320 Pages | | Publication Date: | May 05, 2009 | | Sales Rank: | 96,324th |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780425227541
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Second in the delightful series featuring a vampire princess in the Sunshine State, adjusting to life, undeath, and that brutal Floridian sun. 228-year-old Francesca Marinelli thought her past was dead-then a stranger from the Atlanta vampire nest crashes her home looking for sanctuary. A budding stand-up comic, Jo-Jo's running from an undead superior eager to drive a stake through the heart of his dream job. But Jo-Jo's bad jokes aren't the only dark clouds on the horizon. A psychotic vampire with a murderous agenda has followed Jo-Jo to Florida, putting everyone close to Francesca in danger. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 10 reviews)
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Give me more Cesca and Saber!! by Leslee Sears (Florida)  5 Stars
November 14, 2009
Last Vampire Standing takes place a couple of months after the events in La Vida Vampire. Maggie has finished renovating the Victorian house that she found Cesca buried under. Cesca has finished decorating the carriage house/guest house that Maggie renovated for her. Saber is still very much a part of Cesca's life, their relationship growing closer. On the night of their housewarming party, it is crashed by a subservient vamp by the name of Jo-Jo. Once a jester in medieval times, he wants to break into stand up comedy. He is on the run from the leader of his nest and needs Cesca's help. He needs protection and to polish his act. Cesca is hesitant to help because she doesn't like vamps and doesn't want to be around them. But Jo-Jo is endearingly sweet, so unlike the other vamps, and wants to fufill his dream of a career in show business. So she decides to help him as long as he promises to leave St. Augustine when he hits the big time. Then it seems that trouble has followed Jo-Jo from Atlanta. Can Cesca figure out what is going on before she ends up dead for good?
My synopsis is a little thin because there is so much going on in this book that I want readers to be as surprised as I was. Nothing is always what it seems in Ms. Haddock's world which is what makes it so engaging. The quirky nature of these books makes for an amusing and fun read. But what brings it to another level is the intricate mystery and the history that Cesca can't escape. Cesca and Saber are becoming closer but at the same time are not rushing things. It makes for a very believable relationship. They aren't promising forever, they are just letting their feelings grow and see where things go. Maggie and Neil are great secondary characters but again Ms. Haddock doesn't let the focus slip from Cesca and Saber. More of Cesca's past gets explored in this volume which I love, love, love! It is so wonderful to see what creative minds can do by taking a subject like vampires and taking it in such a fresh direction. I really hope that more people get hooked on this series. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.
Originally reviewed for Night Owl Romance
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Despite loving the original, I just couldn't get into it by Veggiechiliqueen  3 Stars
September 01, 2009
I loved Nancy Haddock's La Vida Vampire (Oldest City Vampire, Book 1); the heroine Cesca is a very hip, snarky gal who loves surfing and home decorating, works as a ghost tour guide, and oh, happens to be a vampire who hates blood (it makes her queasy, and she'll only drink caramel macchiato-flavored blood from Starbloods). In "Last Vampire Standing," Cesca ends up aiding Jo-Jo, a fugitive vamp who seeks to be America's next greatest comic and also serves as Cesca's instructor for flying lessons. The original novel was snappy and funny, but "Last Vampire Standing" never gets off the ground, much like Cesca's attempts at flight.
Part of the plot is a carryover from "La Vida Vampire": Cesca's girlhood crush on Triton plays a role in "Last Vampire Standing," and Pandora the shapeshifter is back, as is Cesca's love interest, Deke Saber. Now for the bad: the numerous plot threads dangle (example: a major character makes an appearance in the first twenty pages, and isn't heard from again until Chapter 21). I just wasn't interested in the several weak side plots. The novel dragged along; sexual innuendo and bedroom romps serve as frequent page filler rather than actual action or intrigue (sort of parallel to Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Series' slide into Sookie's bedroom antics). I realize that this is a paranormal romance, but Cesca was an innocent, blushing vampire virgin in the first book; she seems to have been attending Kama Sutra cram sessions in the interim. We do get to see more of Cesca's psychic powers in use, but there are no other vampire powers at work (the flying lessons were a definite dud). The flashbacks to Cesca's human life were well-drawn; I would have liked to hear more historical details from early St. Augustine.
Jo-Jo is a weak, annoying character. You'd think after centuries of experience as a court jester, he'd have picked up some remotely funny one-liners, but no. He doesn't really serve much of a purpose; although he swears to serve as Cesca's protector, he's never around after getting a contract with a high-powered agent and ditching Cesca for Leno and Oprah (amazing, since the guy has ZERO talent except for the vampire novelty factor). The novel's baddies are just mere sketches, here and then gone, and the central plot point appears in one chapter and is never fully explored. There is some good material here, but it needed to be more developed (the various plots lack cohesiveness and the secondary characters are forgettable). I really wanted to like this after loving "La Vida Vampire," but it was a struggle to finish reading it.
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Last Vampire Standing by Paul Jutras (Florida, USA) 5 Stars
August 22, 2009
Not easy being a vampire in sun shine state of Florida. Fran has made the best of it with her ghost tours and putting a restraining order against the local vampire hunter. With a virus going around infecting vampires mind Fran and her cop boyfriend finds themselves against a killer vampire that may or may not be framing the local vampire nests and make our undead bloodsucker truely dead. Things get heated up when she stand having contact from her former shape shifter boyfriend who believes they have a destiny together.
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http://maryinhb.blogspot.com/ by Mary L. Jacobs (Huntington Beach, CA USA)  4 Stars
July 29, 2009
As soon as I finished this book, I wanted another installment. This is a good solid paranormal-mystery. The characters of Cesca and Deke are a great couple and the additional of J0-Jo was wonderful comic relief. Parts of the story reminded me of Christopher Moore and the author keeps the pages turning. Now, how long do I have to wait for more?
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Loved It! by Melissa J. Wallace (Quincy,Florida) 5 Stars
May 27, 2009
This is a great summer read! It was as good as the first book if not better. I would and will tell my friends to read it.
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