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Haunted Honeymoon by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

Haunted Honeymoon by Marta Acosta

Marta Acosta wrote a terrific series that joins chick lit and vampires, the Casa Dracula series. The fourth and final installment, Haunted Honeymoon, gave a well deserved ending to heroine Milagro de los Santos. Readers first met Milagro when she was a simple human, but after meeting and falling for Oswald Grant, Milagro has blended seamlessly into the vampire world with vampiristic capabilities and being the only human to survive infection. After the engagement between Milagro and Oswald ends, Milagro begins dating the Dark Lord- Ian Ducharme- but catches him noshing on the blonde next door. Milagro finds vampire activist Wil and engages in a small affair with him, but Wil is murdered- and someone set up Milagro to take the blame. Wanted for possible murder and unable to solicit any help from Ian, Milagro must make some difficult decisions to keep herself- and the vampire clan- happy again.
Overall, I loved this Casa Dracula series. Milagro is the perfect heroine, feisty, funny, independent, but also a little misguided at times. The new romance between her and Ian was exciting to read about in Haunted Honeymoon¸ and there were just enough twists in the plot along the way to keep me guessing how the ending would work out. I think readers will appreciate how Acosta closes the series, and will make them a bit sad that we might not hear from our friend Milagro anymore. I would love to know what happens to her in the future!
Rating: 4.5/5
See my review for other books in this series:
Happy Hour At Casa Dracula- 4 stars
Midnight Brunch- 5 stars
The Bride of Casa Dracula- 4.5 stars

December 30, 2010
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The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

Milagro de los Santos is in for challenge. Now engaged to the undead Oswald Grant, Milagro has the task of planning the vampire nuptials. She hits a wall when she wants to stand firm on some of her American traditions, and the vampire counsel doesn’t take kindly to her requests. They also want her to move out from the house she shares with Oswald, and she has to deal with her smarmy wedding planner from hell on top of that. Milagro starts to think someone is sabotaging her wedding after she is involved in a suspicious car accident, her wedding rings goes missing, and more wedding details go awry. Could it be her deceptive wedding planner? The vampire counsel? Or could someone else- or thing- be behind all the mayhem?
Marta Acosta keeps the funny going in the third novel from the Casa Dracula series. The ending through me for a surprise, but an enjoyable one, and I think chick lit fans will keep loving the world Acosta has built. The Grant family now seems like my own family, and I enjoy watching their lives grow alongside Milagro’s and Oswald’s. If you haven’t picked up the first Casa Dracula novel yet, I would highly recommend buying the whole series- you won’t regret it!
Rating: 4.5/5
See my review for other books in this series:
Happy Hour At Casa Dracula- 4 stars
Midnight Brunch- 5 stars

December 27, 2010
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Author Profile: Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Authors

Author Profile: Marta Acosta

Author Name: Marta Acosta

Website: http://www.martaacosta.com/

Bio: Marta is from the San Francisco Bay Area and has degrees in English & American Lit and Creative Writing. Before becoming a published author, Marta worked for non-profits and a theater company, and loved to read books and talk about them. She then became a frequent contributor of home, gardening, and style columns and features for newspapers and magazines. Marta now has published novels under her own name, and also under the name of Grace Coopersmith.
Titles: Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, Midnight Brunch, The Bride of Casa Dracula, and Haunted Honeymoon.
Bio Retrieved from martaacosta.com

http://chicklitplus.com/author-profile-grace-coopersmith/

December 23, 2010
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Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta

Marta Acosta follows up her enjoyable Casa Dracula debut with Midnight Brunch¸ still following the life of heroine Milagro de los Santos. Milagro is the only known human to survive a vampire infection, making her quite popular in the vampire world. But Milagro has eyes only for the dashing Oswald, and now lives with him in the family estate. Milargo is upset when she learns she isn’t allowed to attend the naming ceremony for the new baby in the family, simply because she is not family. Already feeling left out at times around Oswald and his clan, this only angers Milargo further. When Oswald departs on a humanitarian trip, Milagro decides to follow a few leads to understand more about the vampires and their culture. She doesn’t expect to find herself in a desert spa, playing assistant to a celebrity actor, and having her life threatened by quirky vampires who are determined to take over the world.
I know a lot of people say that sequels never stack up to the original, but I loved Midnight Brunch- even more than Happy Hour at Casa Dracula! I knew Milagro and Oswald and their story, and I was happy to see that the action picked up with barely a stitch in time going by. It was like welcoming old friends. Milagro is the same sexy heroine, living on the dangerous side by choice this time, and I liked watching her and Oswald’s relationship grow. I would definitely recommend readers to the Casa Dracula series, even if you aren’t vampire or paranormal fans. I wasn’t, and hadn’t read a paranormal book before Happy Hour, and I’m sure glad I did! Acosta’s writing and the world she created are too good to pass up.
Rating: 5/5

December 20, 2010
1 Comment
In My Mailbox: Week of October 10
Updates

In My Mailbox: Week of October 10

In My Mailbox: Week of October 10, 2010

Title: Happy Hour at Casa Dracula
Author: Marta Acosta
Received: From Marta Acosta
Synopsis: Despite her Fancy University (F.U.) degree, Milagro de los Santos isn’t having much success at life. She can barely pay the rent and all of her boyfriends are as frivolous as beach reads. Then, at a party in honor of her successful ex-boyfriend, she meets the unusually attractive, quirky Oswald Grant.
Who knew that her passionate kiss with Oswald would result in serious illness, a craving for raw meat, and an aversion to sunlight? Well, her ambitious ex knew, and after he attempts to kidnap Milagro, she must hide out with Oswald’s snobby family at their country estate to recover and learn the truth about their mysterious “genetic condition.”
When Oswald and his family are threatened, Milagro uses her wits, her wiles, and a whacky scheme to bring down the power-hungry creeps who refuse to let the undead live in peace.

Title: Midnight Brunch
Author: Marta Acosta
Received: From Marta Acosta
Synopsis: Hip, funny Milagro de los Santos thinks she’s finally found love and a home at the California ranch of fabulous Oswald Grant and his urbane relatives, who have a rare genetic disorder that some call vampirism. But Milagro is bewildered when she’s excluded from an ancient and mysterious midnight ceremony whose participants include Oswald’s unfriendly parents, a creepy family elder, and Milagro’s ex-lover, the powerful and decadent Ian Ducharme. What skeletons are the vampires keeping in their designer closets?
When Milagro’s life is threatened by a rogue family member, she flees to the desert to hide. Instead of solitude, she encounters an egomaniacal actor, a partying heiress, a sly tabloid reporter, and a lavish spa full of dark secrets — all of which might help her find a way home.

Title: The Bride of Casa Dracula
Author: Marta Acosta
Received: From Marta Acosta
Synopsis: Milagro de los Santos is having serious problems planning her wedding to fabulous Oswald Grant, M.D. Her future in-laws loathe her, her dog just died, and Oswald’s family has a genetic anomaly that makes them crave blood. Then her extravagant best friend hijacks the role of wedding coordinator, and the secretive Vampire Council assigns conniving Cornelia Ducharme to guide the couple through the ancient vampire marriage rituals.
To top it all off, Milagro’s career is on the skids. She’s reduced to ghostwriting the memoirs of a loony little man who claims to be a shapeshifter. And why does Cornelia’s decadent, way too attractive brother, Ian, always show up whenever Milagro is away from Oswald?
When a series of accidents interferes with wedding plans, Oswald worries that Milagro is cracking under the pressure. Is she just paranoid, or is a hidden enemy trying to make sure Milagro doesn’t wed the undead?

October 10, 2010
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