Last Vampire Standing [Paperback]

Over two centuries old, vampire Francesca Marinelli feels undead life is great since she regained her freedom due to her new friend Maggie digging her out of the ground while renovating her house. She loves living in St, Augustine where she was born in 1780 and now is considered royalty by the local press and has a boyfriend paranormal crime investigator Deke Saber. Cesca likes having friends who are loyal because of their relationship not her rank and working as a tour guide of St. Augustine's Old Ghost Town. However, on the down side is her recent battle with the French Bride Killer (see LA VIDA VAMPIRE) has given her unwanted publicity amidst vampire circles who detest the Vampire Princess as the media calls her.

The PR proves ominous when Jo-Jo of the Atlanta vampire nest begs Cesca for sanctuary from a vamp who wants to stake the stand-up comic for certain jokes he told. Finally her shapeshifting childhood friend Triton keeps sending her telepathic warnings that she is in trouble while an insane vampire comes to Florida seeking to kill Jo-Jo and anyone protecting him.

The second humorous Vampire Princess urban fantasy is an enjoyable lighthearted thriller filled with tension somewhat abated by the amusing observations of modern life by the heroine, who was buried in 1803 so has the late eighteenth century as her reference points. The story line is fast-paced as trouble from Georgia comes to the Sunshine State. Nancy Haddock provides a jocular tale even with a paranormal psychopath coming to kill anyone harboring Jo-Jo ergo Cesca.

Harriet Klausner

Last Vampire Standing by Nancy Haddock

I knew with the very first chapter of La Vida Vampire (Oldest City Vampire, Book 1)
that I had found something worth my book reading time, my patience and my cash. I don't think I had even actually finished this book before I was off and running recommending it to anyone that would listen to me. I just knew that here was finally an author that knew how to write a fresh, funny vampire mystery/romance series. Now with the release of Ms. Haddocks newest, "Last Vampire Standing (Oldest City Vampire, Book 2) I am positive that we have the making for a long running series; a wonderful roller coaster ride that has me chortling with glee, and already anxious for my next fix of Princes Francesca, or Cesca (rhymes with Fresca) as she likes to be called!

All Cesca ever wanted from her underdead life...er...death was to make up for the centuries of being buried. She wants to live her life like a semi-normal human being. She wants to blend with the humans, shop Wal-Mart, surf (yes; a surfing Vampire, who knew!) have a boyfriend and give her historic ghost tours. After all she is living history. But alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and what could she do when the fates brought to her doorstep Jo-Jo the Jester? Yep J J the Jester (Ms Haddock has a real creative imagination!)
Then comes more trouble in the shape of Ike the head vamp from Daytona, his henchwoman Laurell (who braids her hair using human bones as decoration) and Vlad the head honcho from Atlanta (what mother would name her baby Vlad?) and Marcus, a blast form Cesca's past. Toss into the mix Cesca learning how to fly, helping J J with updating his comedy act, some new Vamp powers of hers coming on line, a prophecy starting to come true, an old very old friend helping her out, a shape shifting cat and a surprise from her boyfriend Deke--and you have the makings of a rollicking good read.


This second book in the series delivers a more difficult mystery to be solved, wonderfully fleshed out secondary characters and even some pretty humorous tertiary characters like next door neighbors Hugh and Selma Lister.

Run, walk, fly or down-load it to your Kindle; I don't care how you do it, just go and get this book. If you haven't read La Vida Vampire yet, then may I suggest that you splurge on that book too, although you don't need to have read it to understand what is going on in this second book in the series!

Happy reading!

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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